your Bibles to Colossians chapter
4. We'll be starting the final chapter
tonight, but we will be reading verses 18 of chapter 3 to verse
1 of chapter 4 to get the context. The name of the message is Christ,
the one master. Christ, the One Master. Colossians 3.18 Wives, submit
yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands,
love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey
your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing unto the
Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they
be discouraged. Servants obey in all things your
masters according to the flesh not with I services man pleasers
But in single so heart fearing God And whatsoever you do do
it hardly as to the Lord and not unto man Knowing that of
the Lord you shall receive the reward inheritance for you serve
the Lord Christ But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong
which he hath done and there is no respect of persons Masters
give unto your servants that which is just and equal knowing
that you have a master in heaven Now a preacher of all commented
about this verse Being in chapter 4 rather than 3 He said this
tonight. He said That this verse belongs
to the preceding chapter it has no connection with with that
which follows and we have to remember that This preacher went
on to say this, I sometimes think that the good man who chopped
the Bible into chapters for it is not in chapters in the original,
the original Greek, their letters, there's no chapter breaks, must
have hoped that we should not read this message to the masters
as he had put it in another chapter. So it naturally fits into from
from 18 to 41 is one section. Because we see Paul dealing with
the servants in verse 22 and now he's going to deal with the
masters. And so it's all connected that way. And the preacher went on, but
I never like to read about the servants without also reading
about the masters. There is six for one and half
a dozen for the other. And as usual it is in the scriptures
they are balanced duties. So again, we see the servants
being spoken to, and then we see the masters being spoken
to as well. If there is an exhortation to
the children, there is generally one to the parents close by.
And if there is a word to the wives, there is one for the husbands
too. So let us read that verse, masters give unto your servants
that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a
master in heaven. So let's look at a quick review.
Last week, we looked at verse 25, and we see there's a tie-in
again for verse 1 of chapter 4 with verses 18 to 25, which
we read the whole context of it. In verse 25, we looked at
how God is no respecter of persons. He's just not. He grants faith
and repentance to whomever He's pleased. To whomever He's pleased. Also, in that great day of judgment,
it won't matter if one was rich or poor. is God is no respecter
of persons, and those who do wrong will receive for the wrong
that which they've done. And they'll hear these words,
I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Those
who have received mercy from God though, which is God's people,
His elect, those who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God,
Those who serve the Christ of God out of a willing heart, right?
We willingly serve our Lord and King, doing the things that they
do for His glory. We'll hear these words. We'll hear these words. Well
done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of
the Lord. Wonderful words, melodious words. And Scripture declares there
is no respect to persons with God. So again, it doesn't matter
who the person is, rich or poor, illiterate, Jew, Greek, mighty,
weak, noble, unknown. If we are God's chosen blood-bought
children, we will enter into the joy of the Lord. We will,
if we're His elect. If we are serving the Lord Christ
for His glory, For his honor, we will get a well done from
the lips of our king. And we we serve our Lord in Christ,
in Christ Jesus, our Lord, and we're to give him all the glory
for everything, all the honor and all the praise. And from
the lips of the king is we are we will get a well done as we're
ushered into his eternal presence forever. Forever. Again, it doesn't
matter, think of this on the flip side of that, it doesn't
matter who the person is, rich, poor, educated, illiterate, Jew,
Greek, mighty, weak, noble, unknown, if their faith is not in Christ,
if they're not serving Him for His glory, they'll spend eternity
in hell. That's sobering. And the words
in Matthew 7.23 will be directed to each one of them personally
from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ, which says, I never knew
you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. And as the scriptures
proclaim, again, there's no respect to persons with Jehovah God.
It doesn't matter the standing that a person has. Now, in this
world, as we looked at last week, in this world, judges can be
swayed by people who have money. This judge is not going to be
swayed by anyone. By anyone. And the only reason
we receive mercy is because we're in Christ Jesus our Lord. These
are sobering words to ponder when we think, I never knew you.
Depart from me ye that work iniquity. Sobering words. Sobering words. As we think of the mercy of God
which we believers have received, knowing it is only God who has
made us to differ from those who hear those words in Matthew
7. That's the only difference. It is God's mercy to us in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Turn with you to 1 Peter chapter
2. 1 Peter 2, verses 9 and 10. Look at this. And I know we've
read this before, but this verse is so fitting for right now,
as we think of this God's distinguishing grace. But ye, and Peter's writing
to God's elect, to his people. 1 Peter 2, verse 9. But ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should
show forth the praise of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light." We were in darkness, weren't we?
We're born into this world dead in trespasses and sins, just
like everyone else, in utter darkness to the things of God,
to anything spiritual. We have no clue that we're one
of God's elect when we come into this world. As a matter of fact,
we're shaking our fist along with everyone else at God. But
God's people, God's people have been called out of darkness into
his marvelous light, the light of Christ. And then look what
it says, which in times past were not a people, but are now
the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but what?
But now have obtained mercy. And that's to every one of God's
blood-bought children. Everyone whom Christ shed his
precious blood for, they have obtained mercy. Mercy. Before conversion, there was
mercy in God's heart towards his elect, right? Because he's
loved us with an everlasting love. So there's mercy in God's
heart towards his elect, and there's everlasting mercy also
in the covenant of grace, which was shown in the provision of
his son as our savior, dying as our substitute in our room
and place. And this love is manifested to the elect of God when we are
born again. When we're born again. When God gives us hearing ears
to hear the gospel. Born again, and don't forget
too, we're born again according to His abundant mercy. It's mercy. It's abundant mercy. I love what
Peter and Paul both penned. We've obtained mercy. We've obtained
mercy. Abundant mercy. We're regenerated
by the Holy Spirit of God and it's an evident display of God's
mercy towards His people. in an application of His pardoning
grace and mercy through the blood of His Son unto them, for those
whom Christ died for on Calvary's cross. And God's people are called
by the predestinating love of God the Father in His purpose,
choice, and will, and particularly chosen to a union with Christ. Think of this, beloved, and just
let this sink into your heart. Before the foundations of the
world, you were chosen to have a union with Christ, to be his
body. Before an angel ever flew in
the sky, before there was ever heavens and the earth, God chose his people in Christ.
It's incredible. It's absolutely incredible. And
we know because that he did that, that there's nothing in us that
would cause us for him to choose us. So that lie that people say
that God looked down through time and saw those who choose
him, that's a lie. That's a lie from the pit of hell. No. God looked down and saw us all
lost and dead and trespasses and sins and said, Nancy, you're
mine. Ruth, you're mine. Isn't that
incredible? It's amazing. It's grace. It's
mercy. It's mercy, mercy, absolute mercy. We're we're chosen to a particular,
particularly chosen to a union with Christ. And we are specifically
the objects of the regenerating grace of God, the Holy Spirit. He is the one who does a work
in us. In us. My, and God's people are called
from the darkness of the Adam's nature of sin. When Adam fell,
we fell with him. He's our federal head. And we're
bought into the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ by a miracle
of grace, by a miracle of grace. My goodness. And think of this, the scripture
declares there in 1 Peter 2, verse 10, it says, which in times
past were not a people. Think of that in light of our
unregeneracy before we were saved. We were enemies with God in our
minds. Now he knew us, but in our minds, we were all altogether
unconscious of God's electing love, of God's electing grace. We had no clue. We had no clue
that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world. We had no idea. So when our minds were not a
people, we were enemies with God, although we were his sheep
from eternity. And but now, but are now the
people of God all through God's abundant mercy and grace by his
regenerating power. Those who were chosen in the
father are regenerated by the Holy Spirit of They were redeemed
by Christ at Calvary's cross. We were ruined, we were redeemed,
and we're regenerated. My goodness. And it's all the
work of God, beloved. It's all His work. So therefore,
in that sense, in the sense where we were unconscious of God's
electing love, of God the Father, in that sense it might be truly
said to be far off. We had no head. We didn't know
Christ was our head. We had no idea. We're not formed
into a people. But now by the renewal of the
Holy Ghost, being born again by the Holy Spirit, being shed
upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord, we're botanized.
We're botanized. by the blood of Christ, by the
precious blood of Christ. And we're made heirs. We're made
heirs and we have a hope of eternal life. And it has nothing to do
with us. I was thinking about this today.
We're just simply recipients. We receive the gift of grace
and salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord. See, religion tells
you you got to do something. Grace says it's already done.
And that the work is all God's work. It's all his work. He's done it. Christ has done
it all for his people. We have the hope of eternal life.
And the believer says, glory to your name, Lord. Glory to
your name. Let's look at verse one of chapter
four tonight. Keeping that in mind. Masters
give unto your servants that which is just and equal. knowing
that you have also have a master in heaven. The apostle having
exhorted servants to proper discharges their duties in verse 23, right? Take a look at verse 23. Servants obey in all things your
masters according to the flesh, not with eye services man pleases,
but in singleness of heart, fearing God. Proceeds to instruct those
who would hire and work servants, masters in our text. And they
are exhorted to treat their servants in a just and equal manner. Turn
if you would to 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6. The master is to treat the servants
with respect, encouraging them. in their work and giving them
fair wages. Now this is speaking of a Christian
master. Let's make this specific, because
even the servants, it's speaking to those who are... Paul's writing
to those in the church who are servants and those who are in
the church who are masters. And one of the commentators brought
out that Philemon was one of the ones who was a master. Look at 1 Timothy 6, verses 1
and 2. 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 blasphemed. 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. So again, the master is to treat
the servants with respect and the servant is to give due honor
to the master. Now we could put this into an
employee, an employer, because we don't have slavery right now
and praise God we don't. And so it's the same thing when
we go to work and we are to give 100% or more and give honor. to those we work under, or if
you're a master, you're to treat the servants just and equal,
just and equal. And again, let us remember that
during the time of this writing, slavery was very common. But
look in verse 11 of chapter three, look at this. Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free, But Christ is all in all. Now in the Christian church,
there's neither bond nor free. And this is revolutionary during
that time. Because the master was always
looked at as over and better. The servants were basically nothing.
So this is revolutionary in thought. What's occurring here in verse
11, where there's neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in
all. One commentator said, thus provides
and opens a spiritual asylum within which is equality of the
highest kind was enjoyed and master and slave were not in
such a relationship recognized. So now, in Christ, they're equals. They're equals. But the servant
still had to serve the master. And the master is still over
the servant. But in Christ, they're equal. Now, God, God chooses some to
lead in the church, and he does. But we're all equal in Christ. You see, it's the same thing. The master has been given a place
of authority, but he's but in Christ, in Christ, we're all
one. We're all one. and the leaders to lead. But
I like what Brother Norm says. He says, I lead in the midst
of God's people. In the midst, right beside them. So both master and slave were
alike the free servants of a common Lord in the body of Christ. In the body of Christ. And that's
what Paul's bringing forth here, is that in Christ, you both have
one master. Whether you're the master or
the slave, you have one master who you serve. And they're to
do everything for the glory of God. Christianity gave freedom
in slavery. Again, and this is one of the
special distinctions at the time of the writing of this book,
this was unheard of. This thought was unheard of during that time.
As I said, slaves were nothing but just, people just used them
for whatever they wanted. So here's Paul writing and saying,
okay, to the slave you need to obey your master, and to the
master you need to obey, or you need to treat your slave with
justly and equally. And then he pens in verse 11,
right, that they're all one in Christ. That's unheard of during
that time, beloved. My. Now notice the motive behind
giving God all the glory. Notice the motive for the master
and the slave. Look at this, knowing that you
also have a master in heaven. Knowing. Knowing they know that
they also have a master in heaven. Paul again brings what's Paul
doing here? Like we've seen all through this
epistle, right? He's bringing Christ to the forefront. He's
bringing Christ to the forefront. This is what's most important,
is Christ and him alone. Let us remember, beloved, that we have a master. We have
a master in heaven. And he's almighty. He's just. He's all-knowing. He's ever-present. And he's all-powerful. Now, in
the Greek word, master, it can be used generally as the possessor,
owner, and master of property. It's also used of a supreme sovereign,
a Roman emperor. It's also an honorary title of
address specifically to superiors. It's spoken of God and Christ
also. God and Christ. He's the Lord
God Almighty, our great King. And the word Lord in Revelation 4.8 is the same Greek word for master.
It means all powerful. all powerful, might, power, master, owner. He's the Lord of heaven and earth,
same Greek word. It's spoken of our Lord Jesus
Christ in reference to his abode on earth as a master and a teacher. He is the supreme Lord overall
And he's the head of the church He's the head of the church.
He's the one who has supreme power whether people believe
it or not And if you're saved that's your
Lord That's your Savior And that's sweet to God's people because
we know Said it many times if it was up to us. We'd lose our
salvation a thousand times a day But the believer's salvation
is in Christ. And if Christ has us, we have a firm foundation. We
have a nail in the sure place, the scripture says. And it's
Christ in him alone. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 23. Matthew chapter 23. So Paul, in our text, reminds
the masters that you don't... Think of this, too. Paul, in
our text, when he says, knowing that you
all have a master in heaven, he reminds the masters that they
don't have a mortal master, but they have a heavenly one, who will not allow them to abuse
the authority which he has given them, which he has given them. The apostle reminds the masters
that they are also subjects of the master on high, the Lord
Jesus Christ, when he says, knowing that ye also have a master in
heaven. And beloved, if you're one of God's blood-bought saints,
you have a master in heaven. A master in heaven. And we're
subjects to our master. We're his subjects. Look at Matthew
23, verses eight to 11. But be not ye called rabbi, for
one is your master, same Greek word, even Christ, and all ye
are brethren. And call no man your father upon
the earth, for one is your father which is in heaven. Neither be
ye called masters, for one is your master, same Greek word,
even Christ. We know, then look what it says,
but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. So
God's people are servants. of Christ. He's our master. And think of this. Our master
is our redeemer. Our master is our savior. Our master is the one in whom
we're justified. Our master is the one whose righteousness
we're clothed in. And his name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he is our master. And we
willingly serve him, don't we? There was a time when we looked
at 1 Peter when we didn't know him and we didn't serve him.
But now we love him. And it's only God, again, who's
made us to differ. It's only God and him alone.
Turn, if you would, to Ephesians chapter 6. Here's a parallel
passage to what we've been looking at so far in the verses 18 to
25. Parallel passage in Ephesians
chapter 6. And notice Paul does in Ephesians
chapter 6 exactly what he does in Colossians, pointing the believers
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter 6 verses 5
to 9. Paul, think of this too, because
where do we get in trouble when we start to look at circumstances,
right? That's where I'm at. I don't
know if you're all the same, but for me, if I start to look
at circumstances and get my eyes off the Lord, then I'm in a heap
of trouble. So what Paul's doing, he takes
their eyes off the circumstances that they're in. Think of it.
The guy's a servant, or the lady's a servant who's born again. He
takes their eyes off the circumstances and points them right to Christ,
right to Christ. Look at this in Ephesians 6,
verses 5 to 9. Servants, be obedient to them
that are your masters, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling
and signals of heart, as unto Christ. There's that music. Ting! Right? Getting their hearts and
minds set upon Christ. Not with eye service as man pleases,
but as the servants of Christ. There it is again. Doing the
will of God from the heart. with good will, doing service
as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatsoever good
thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord. See how he's constantly bringing
the Lord to the forefront. constantly before their eyes,
whether he be bond or free. And ye masters, do the same things
unto them, forbearing, threatening, knowing. Remember our text in
Colossians 4, verse 1, it says, Masters, give unto your servants
that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a master
in heaven. Look at this in verse 9. and
ye masters do the same things unto them for bearing threatening,
knowing that your master also is in heaven, neither is the
respect of persons with him. So there's a parallel passage
to what we've been looking at in Ephesians chapter six. Again,
Paul continuously takes their eyes off circumstances and points
them right to Christ, right to Christ. in Christ alone. Let's go back to our text in
Colossians chapter four. And I want you to just keep your
finger near the you're probably on the same page. I hope hopefully
anyways of Colossians chapter three verses one and two. But
let's look at four one first. Masters give unto your servants
that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a
master in heaven. Now, now remember the situation.
False teachers have come in and they're they're causing all kinds
of trouble. all kinds of trouble. So Paul, again, does what he
does in all his epistles, brings them right to Christ, brings
them right to Christ. Look at Colossians 3, verses
1 and 2. And think of this, I read this
today and I thought this was marvelous. Paul does not attempt
to resolve the issues brought up in verse 318 to 4.1 in a horizontal
way. which would be each person dealing
with each other, right? Paul doesn't do that in a horizontal
way, meaning slave to master or master to slave, but he resolves
them in a vertical way. Looking right to Christ. Looking
right to Christ. And it's the theme of how he
started this chapter. Look at verses one and two. If
ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth. So Paul's just continuing what
he started. We know from studying this epistle,
he's been pointing us to the supremacy and all sufficiency
of Christ all through the whole epistle. And if you read his epistles
with that in mind, that that's what he does, even in 1 Corinthians. Before he corrects the Corinthians,
he chimes Christ all through the first chapter. It's beautiful. Setting the tone, setting their
minds upon Christ before any correction needs to be done.
It's marvelous how the Holy Spirit had him pen it that way. So Paul's
main concern for the Colossians is their relationship with God,
which will lead to the believer in Christ loving the brethren
and serving God where they are. So let us consider this, as one
grace preacher mentioned. You can be sure that when our
attitudes and words create strife, confusion, and division, it is
not the wisdom of God where wise men and women worship. And those
are men and women who've been made wise in Christ. Because where those who have
been made wise To the things of Christ, there's
love, peace, and unity. Love, peace, and unity. Beloved,
if God so loved us, we ought to also love one another. And
we do. We love God's people. Galatians
5.13 says this, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty,
only use, not liberty, for an occasion to the flesh, but by
love. serve one another, it'll just
flow naturally. It'll just flow naturally. If
someone's causing strife and division, that's not of the Lord.
That's not of the Lord. And then scripture declares this,
above all things put on charity, which we know is love, which
is the bond of perfectness, the bond of perfectness. We are to
put on the new man, put on Christ. And when we put on Christ, we
put on love, for he is love, he is love. When the love of
Christ radiates from us, it is His glorious light, beloved,
that is shining for the glory of God, our Father. We are to look to Christ. We
are to set our heart and our mind upon Him and Him alone. So from this section, from verses
18 to 3.18 to Colossians 4.1, we have been
dealing with the things that accompany salvation, things that
are referred to as practical godliness. And I've mentioned
this in a few lessons in the past, but it's worth repeating
that if we teach practical godliness without preaching the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, it will only produce self-righteous
Pharisees. The gospel must be preached.
must be preached. It humbles the pride of man.
It brings us low. It helps us to set our minds
upon Christ, we who believe. And we need to hear the gospel
again and again and again. Most false religions teach moral
living, and there's nothing wrong with moral living, but they teach
moral living is the way you get there. Well, the majority of those involved
in false religions give an outward appearance of godliness. Boy,
you talk to them and you think, these are the most holy people,
I can't even compete with them. And we can't, can we? Right?
Because we're sinners, and we admit it. You tell someone in
religion you're a sinner, they look at you so strange. Trust
me, I know, I've talked to a few of them across, and they look,
what? Oh, I'm a saved sinner. Yeah,
I'm a saved sinner. My. And then they point out the
faults of everyone who's not doing their little checklist.
It's ridiculous, but turn, if you would, to Second Timothy,
Chapter three. They have a form of godliness, but they deny the
power thereof. And Paul gave us a warning about
this in Second Timothy, Chapter three. Look at verses one to
nine. 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verses
1 to 9 This know also that in the last days perilous time shall
come now. We've been in the last days since
Christ rose up to heaven For men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers,
false accusers, incontent, fierce despisers of those that are good,
traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure, more than
lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the
power thereof. From such turn away. For of this
sort are they which creep into houses and lead captives, silly
women, laden with sins, led away with divers' lusts, ever learning,
ever learning, look at this, ever learning and ever able to
come to the knowledge of the truth. Boy, they can give you
Bible verses. They don't really know what they
say, some of them. And when you confront them with
a scripture about election or something, they just recoil so
fast it's not funny. Now as Janus and Jambres withstood
Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds
reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further,
for their folly shall be manifested to all men, as theirs also was. Let us think of this. Jewish
scribes and pharisees were devout religious men, weren't they?
They were devout religious men. They were the religious who's
who of the day. But our Lord says unto them,
Woe unto you scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are like whited
sepulchres, which appear beautiful outward. Oh, they got all their
T's crossed and their eyes dotted. And they'll tell you what they
do. Get around religious people,
they'll tell you what they do. Oh, they brag. They just let it all
out. Trust me, I was one of them.
It's sad. But are within, full of dead
man's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so, ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity. Matthew 23, verses 27 and 28. Beloved, let we who are the Lord's
children, let us seek to glorify our great God and King. Let us
seek to glorify Him. In times of joy, in times of
sorrow, in times of health, in times of sickness, let us
never forget our great God's love. Towards us. And let us never forget it never
changes. It never changes. Now we, we
ebb and flow with circumstances, don't we? But God's love is constant
to His people because it's in Christ Jesus our Lord. It never
changes. It never changes. And His love
towards His people was manifest in the fact that God sent His
own Son. The Lord Jesus Christ, his love
for his people was manifest. Think of that. He sent the Lord
Jesus Christ from the glories of heaven. God, the son. To come down on this earth. Knowing. That he was the sacrifice
for the sins of his people. And God, the son willingly came
down. God incarnate in the flesh. Willingly
came down and as we looked on Sunday set his face like a flint
to Jerusalem Like steel unbending To die as our substitute and
to bear our sins upon the cross of Calvary What a Savior what
a master In Galatians 3.17 says this,
and whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of
our Lord Jesus, given thanks to God and the Father by Him.
And when we think about that sacrifice, it makes it easy for
us to glorify God, doesn't it? And then look at verse 23 in
chapter three. And whatsoever you do, do it
heartily as to the Lord and not unto men. The difference between
true followers of Christ and religious hypocrites is this,
the desire of every blood-bought saint of God is not to draw attention
to ourselves, but to bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ in all
that we do, in all that we do. We are dressed in the righteousness
of Christ, and we cannot become more righteous than we already
are. Let that sink in. My goodness. If we have Jesus
Christ, then He is our all in all. He's everything. And we
can't possibly earn rewards, as folks say, because Christ
is our reward. He's our reward. As He is, so
are we in this world. And you know we have a full inheritance
waiting for us. A full inheritance. that's undefiled, it'll never
fade away, reserved for you in heaven, because it's in Christ
and Him alone. We can't gain any more than what
we already have by our obedience, but we can bring glory to our
Heavenly Father, can't we? By drawing attention to His Son,
by pointing people to Christ and Him alone. And by doing the
things that we do in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our
God and our Savior, our Redeemer. And with the glory of God in
mind, think of this. With the glory of God in mind,
wives are to submit themselves to their own husbands as unto
the Lord. With the glory of God in mind, husbands are to love
their wives. as Christ loved the church and
gave himself for it. With the glory of God in mind,
children are to obey their parents and the Lord, for that is the
right thing to do. With the glory of God in mind,
servants are to obey their masters as the servants of Christ. With
the glory of God in mind, masters are to treat their servants well,
knowing that we have a master in heaven. We all have one master
in heaven. And with the glory of God in
mind, we are to submit ourselves one to another in the fear of
God. And whatever we do, beloved,
we are to do it heartily unto the Lord, heartily unto the Lord
and not unto men, knowing what Christ has done for us, what
he's done for us. Heavenly Father, we come before
thy throne with grateful and thankful hearts for your goodness
and mercy and grace towards us. Oh, each day your mercies are
new every morning to us. And we thank Thee, Lord Jesus,
we who are blood-bought, redeemed saints, we thank Thee for Your
goodness and mercy, which is bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus
our Lord. We pray that we leave this place
rejoicing in the marvelous salvation we have in Thee. And we pray
that You be glorified in our lives. In Jesus' name, Amen. Let's sing