Sunday’s Sermons

Text: 1^st Timothy 6:1&2                                                  5/25/08 a.m.

Thesis: God in the gospel is the most important thing.

 

Intro: In a day defined by individual rights and a you can’t tell me what to do attitude our passage this morning is near impossible to understand.

What I’m saying is in a culture that views all authority as inherently evil and social status as the highest good 1^st Timothy 6:1&2 cannot make sense.

If one or any combination of your job, your family, your income level, your authority level, or even your personal freedom is the most important thing in your life such that if you didn’t have it you would die then you’re missing the richness of the gospel.

I don’t want you to miss out. The gospel is the truth that through faith in Christ every believer is restored to God who alone is supreme over every individual, institution, or thing.

When the active righteousness and atoning sacrifice of Christ are applied to us we are made into aliens not of this world who learn to love God more than this world.

My hope this morning is that you will leave this place just as satisfied with God in your American freedom as 1^st century Christians were satisfied with God in their Roman slavery.

If God is big enough and glorious enough to satisfy a man under the yoke of slavery then God is big enough and glorious enough to satisfy you.

Our God has been, is, and always will be supreme over everything.

Read 1^st Timothy 6:1&2

 

I) The basic principle is this: God is more important than your freedom

a)      Let’s define slavery

i)        Verse 1 is addressed to all those who are under a yoke as slaves.

ii)      Now, Jesus talked about us coming to him and taking his yoke upon ourselves and learning from him.

iii)    That’s an invitation to come and be owned by him.

iv)    The farmer, generally speaking, owns the oxen that are under his yoke.

v)      So the masters here in verse one are human masters who own other humans and based on that ownership demand work from their slaves.

vi)    It is true that during this time slavery was not racially driven, people were known to sale themselves into slavery, manumission or freedom was not a fairy tale dream but a real hope for many, and some slaves who were offered their freedom would turn it down in order to remain in the security of their masters’ house.

vii)  That being said, we are still talking about the messed up system where one person owns the life of another.

viii)            To understand the all encompassing call of God on your life you must understand that your life is not the most important thing.

ix)    Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (Lk 9:23).

x)      As a Christian you do not have the right to live as you see best, you have the call of Christ to pick up your means of death, pick up your cross, every day and follow Christ.

xi)    Follow Christ willing to live sacrificially and die triumphantly so that others will receive what they need.

xii)  We live the way He sees best.

xiii)            The call on every Christian is not first to be socially free. It is true that if a slave could get his freedom then he should go for it (1 Cor 7.21).

xiv)            But the call on every Christian, slave or free, is to live a life that testifies to the supreme value of God.

xv)  God is better than life or death. God is better than freedom or slavery. God is better than poverty or riches. God is better.

xvi)            And I’ll do anything and everything I can do show you.

b)      We must guard ourselves from living any other message

i)        Look at verse 1 again (read it)

ii)      ‘Regard’ means to think and live in such a manner that testifies that the slave’s master is worthy of all honor.

iii)    Don’t give the master lip service working only under his watchful eye but slacking off and bad-mouthing him when he’s away.

iv)    This is nothing new. The church should honor true widows. The church should honor hard working pastors. And slaves should honor their masters.

v)      Why is that? Is it because slavery is inherently good? May it never be!

vi)    Slaves should honor their masters so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed.

vii)  God’s reputation and the gospel of Jesus Christ are more important than your social standing.

viii)            Making the gospel of Jesus Christ known is more important than every other calling on your life.

ix)    Sharing the gospel is the calling on your life.

x)      Being a Christian is the central defining characteristic of every person that claims to be saved by grace through faith.

xi)    But Christians throughout the ages, slave or free, have been notorious for pride and a subservient attitude.

xii)  I’m sure you’ve seen a Christian employee deliberately disobey a non-Christian employer solely on the grounds that since the employee is a Christian he knows better.

xiii)            Christianity is not first about getting our way. Christianity is first about exalting God.

xiv)            It is serving to our hurt. It is serving through great sacrifice. It is serving to our deaths because we have tasted the deep satisfaction of knowing God through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

xv)  It is giving so others can know what we know.

xvi)            Life is not about advancing ourselves it cannot be about us. Life is about advancing the name of God life must be about Him.

xvii)          Here’s point one: God and the gospel are more important than personal freedom.

II) Point two: the Christian has no excuse for being disrespectful and the Christian has every reason to serve

a)      Verse 2, those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers

i)        The Holy Spirit said in Galatians 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

ii)      For a slave to hear that and not receive his freedom from his believing master would obviously lead to being disrespectful.

iii)    The word disrespectful means literally to look down on someone.

iv)    !Who do you think you are saying you’re a Christian and not doing the right thing and making me free!

v)      Suddenly, ‘make dinner’ becomes an opportunity to spit in the master’s food.

vi)    ‘Do the laundry’ becomes an opportunity to ‘accidentally’ destroy a favorite garment.

vii)  ‘Go to the market’ becomes a justified opportunity to run away from the chains.

viii)            But just because we perceive that someone is not doing right by us does not give us the excuse to do wrong by them.

ix)    Now these Christian slaves are told a remarkable thing. Do what is right because your master is your brother.

x)      Christianity when lived correctly brings down the prideful and exalts the poor and humble.

xi)    He’s your master when it comes to authority but he’s your brother when it comes to love and service.

xii)  When Paul sent the Christian slave Onesimus back to the Christian master, Philemon, Paul told Philemon to receive Onesimus back “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother” (Philemon 16).

xiii)            In the letter to Philemon it is the master who is to realize that in Christ the slave has become a brother.

xiv)            In the letter to Timothy it is the slave who is to realize that in Christ the master has become a brother.

xv)  Someone who should be despised by worldly standards should be loved according to faith in Christ.

xvi)            God through Christ truly makes those who are not a people into His own people.

xvii)          I think the Apostle Paul would come into our churches and choke slam us when we get hurt feelings and part ways over carpet, music, buildings, and minor issues when he’s trying to bring together slaves and masters.

xviii)        Wouldn’t it just be easier to have a church for slaves and a church for masters?

xix)            But now I’m on a soap box.

xx)  Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers.

b)      Rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.

i)        Again, the Apostle Paul turns the social structure of the day on its head in Christ.

ii)       Believing slaves should work harder than expected so that they can give a benefit to their masters who are really their brothers.

iii)    Ephesians 6:5-9 says

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, ⁶ not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷ rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, ⁸ knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. ⁹ Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Masterand yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

iv)     In the New Testament both slaves and masters are instructed concerning how they should care for each other and serve each other for the good of the other.

v)      Work hard not because you will get the benefit but because the benefit will go to a fellow Christian; someone you love.

vi)    In Christ there is neither slave nor free. There is a new family formed through Christ made up of believers who love each other and work for the good of others.

vii)  Now, we don’t go from wanting to disrespect someone to wanting to serve all the better because we choose to.

viii)            Endurance and sacrifice are supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit that God works in us.

ix)    As we begin to see God correctly we begin to see the world correctly and that leads us to faithfully engage the needs of the world.

x)      “Outwardly we have our differences that’s plain to see but the closer we get to Christ the less important those differences are.”

xi)    He’s a believer and a beloved brother. He’s a believer and a beloved child of God. I will choose to see him through God’s eyes so that I can serve him faithfully.

xii)  So, in Christ we have slaves that should be angry at their masters becoming brothers that love and seek the good of their masters.

xiii)            And in Christ we have masters that should exploit their slaves becoming brothers that love and seek the good of their slaves.

xiv)            Often and rightly that meant giving them their freedom. Let’s close with this question.

III) How do we live so that others see that the gospel is the most important thing?

a)      From God’s word this morning, ask yourself this question: am I dishonoring someone in my life because of my attitude or actions? It could be your boss, your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, or any person.

i)        Are you ruining the name of God and the gospel of Christ by the way you treat people?

ii)      If so, ask God to forgive you, ask Christ to atone for your sin, and ask the Holy Spirit to change you so that you can bring glory to God and the gospel to that situation.

iii)    The answer is not to run away from the difficulty. The answer is to glorify Christ by faithfully doing what is difficult.

iv)    First question, are you dishonoring someone by your attitude or actions?

b)      Second question: if you believe someone is mistreating you are you in turn mistreating them? It could be your boss, your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, or any relationship.

i)        Have you justified hurting someone in word, deed, or even in your day dreams because they have done you wrong?

ii)      We must trust that God is big enough to change us so that we will see that person as a believer, love that person, and do good to that person.

iii)    It is only the beginning when we show the world the supremacy of God by repenting of our sins and putting our faith in Christ.

iv)    It is every day glorifying to God when through faith in Christ we seek to exalt the name of God and do good to others who the world says we should hurt.

v)      I believe with all my heart that Christ is here today to forgive us, heal us, redeem us, strengthen us, and unite us.

vi)    Let’s pray and let’s sing like people who believe in grace that does amazing things.