Let's read the context. We'll
be in Cautions 3. Tonight we'll be covering verses
21, or 22 I mean, to 24. But let's read the context of
the verses. We'll read verse 16 to 25. And
we could include verse 1 of chapter 4, but I'm just going to do that
to the end of the chapter here. So verse 16, let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever you
do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, given
thanks to God and the Father by him. 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. Servants, obey in all things
your masters according to the flesh, not with eye services
man pleases, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever
you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing
that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance,
for you serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall
receive the wrong which he hath done, for there is no respect
of persons. So once again, I pray that the
Holy Spirit will illuminate the scriptures tonight and teach
us the things of Christ. If my words are the only words
you hear, there be no profit. But I pray the Holy Spirit will
take the words of scripture and apply them to our hearts. And
may they be a balm, a balm of Gilead to us. And may we find
what we need to strengthen us for this week, for this week
in the scriptures. and it'll be all for His glory
and all for His honor and all for His praise. Now last week
in our study we looked at verses 18 to 21 and we looked at how
submission is appropriate in several relational spheres from
scripture, right? Remember, I'll just go over this
quick, and we won't go to the text, but I'll give you the text
if you want to write them down. Biblical submission is appropriate
in several relational spheres. The wife to her husband, which
is found in our text here, and in Ephesians 5, verses 22 to
24, And children to the parents,
which is found in Ephesians 6.1. Believers to the elders of the
church, Hebrews 13.17 and 1 Thessalonians 5.12 and 13. Citizens to the
state, Romans 13. Servants, employees to their masters. which are the employers first
Peter 2 18 and we'll see some of that tonight to our next net
actually for one will deal with chapter 4 verse one will deal
with the masters tonight will be looking at the serpents which
would be employees in our day each other each believer to every
other believer in humble service Ephesians 521 and we also looked
at how Christ himself was submissive to the father's will all through
his his journey on on earth here being weaving the code of righteousness
that that were clothed in for us well he was here upon this
earth being fully submissive to the father's will member he
said not my will but by will be done I will be done so we looked at how a last week
we looked at what submission was in verse 18 and we also look
at what it was not It's a voluntary yieldness to the authority which
God has established. But we also looked at how husbands
are to love their wives and be not bitter against them. And
how the husband is exhorted to love their wives as Christ loved
the church. It's a sacrificial love. We are
to cherish our brides. were to cherish our bride. Scripture
says in Ephesians 5.25, husbands love your wives even as Christ
also loved the church and gave himself for it. So believers
are to have a sacrificial love. Believing husbands are to have
a sacrificial love for their wives. Then we looked at verse
20 where fathers are instructed to not provoke children to anger
lest they be discouraged. We fathers are professionals
at doing that. And we ought not to be, though, because it doesn't
take long to flare a child up at all. And I know every dad
has done it. Every dad has done it. But we
also saw how the key to all of this, of what we're exhorted
to do, and it'll continue for tonight, too. Everything that
we're exhorted to do, remember the key was found in verse 17.
The key is found in verse 17 of Colossians chapter 3. Colossians
3, verse 17, where it says, and whatsoever
you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. By Him. So verse 17 is the key for this
portion of scripture. Because what does verse 17 do?
Again, verse 17 puts Christ in the rightful place, His rightful
place, which is the preeminent one, the all-sufficient one.
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. It puts us in our spot
in the dust before Him. It puts Him in His rightful place
because let us never forget that He alone is worthy of our praise.
He alone. No one else is worthy of our
praise except our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's consider
one of the verses we'll be looking at tonight, verse 22. It says,
servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh,
not with eye services, man pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing
God. I won't get into the story Brother
Newell told me, but remember that story you told me about
that fellow you sat behind? That kind of reminded me where
he only worked when you were watching. And as soon as you
left, he stopped working. I was chuckling today over that
story you told me about that. So here before us, though, we
have an exhortation to believers. For us today, it would be we
who are employees. We are employees. At the time
this was written, servants probably had reference to slaves, those
who were purchased for the purpose of serving the one who owned
them, whether it was in the fields or in the homes. Joe Terrell
wrote this about slavery in biblical times. Vicky brought this to
my attention today on a thread that he had been talking to someone
about on Facebook about this issue, about slavery. He wrote
this. He said, slavery has never been
right or condoned by God any more than polygamy and so forth. But he did regulate it so that
the slaves of the Jews were treated better than the slaves of other
peoples. And also in the commentary, this I found really, really interesting.
In the commentary I was reading today, the commentator made a
point that slavery springs out of the depravity of man. It springs
out of the depravity of man. What man will do to another man? And over in 1 Corinthians, turn
if you would to 1 Corinthians 7. We look at verses 21 and 22. Paul encourages those who are
called in the Lord, those who are called in the Lord, that
while they're in slavery, to remember that they're the Lord's
freemen. They're the Lord's freemen. They're free in Christ, even
though they find themselves in the circumstance of slavery.
Look at 1 Corinthians 7, verse 21 and 22. Art thou called, being
a servant? Care not for it, but if thou
mayest be free, Use it rather, for he that is called in the
Lord being a servant is the Lord's freeman. He's the Lord's freeman. Likewise, also he that is called
being free is Christ's servant. So we're servants of the Lord,
we who believe. We who believe. So Paul's telling
those who are in slavery that you're the Lord's freeman, even
though you may be in bond, you're the Lord's freeman. And Paul,
look at Colossians 4.1. We'll be looking at this later
on in our study. But Paul also humbles the slave owner who's
a believer, who's being converted over in Colossians 4.1. Look
what he says here. Masters, give unto your servants
that which is just and equal, knowing, knowing what? That ye
have a master in heaven. See, there's an exhortation to
Christians who have, and we know Philemon was a slave owner. And
Paul wrote to him about one of his slaves that had departed
on thismas. And how Paul said, put his debt
on my account, which is a picture of Christ. It's a beautiful picture
of Christ. So in our day and age, servants
would refer to employees. those who are in the workplace
and several commentators bought this out brother may have bought
this out uh... it would be would refer for us
to employees who are in the workplace and in men who have authority
over them in that place and uh... i touched a pinch on this last
week that we have a responsibility is one who is hired to do a day's
work to make sure that we're not cheating our employer uh... and that were to do it Do our
work unto the Lord. Do our work unto the Lord. A
true believer should give their employer a good, honest day's
work. As again, we're working for the Lord. We're working for
Him. Vicki and I used to do that when
we had our cleaning business. We did our work unto the Lord.
It was Him who provided it all. And remember that, anyone who
has a job, the Lord provided that job for you. He gave it
to you. And so, we are to serve Him in
it. And the true believer, again,
always gives a good honest day's work is if we're working for
the Lord, not just in appearance, but with a dedicated heart. Ephesians
6 5 says this servants be obedient to them that are their masters,
according to the flesh with fear and trembling. in singleness
of your heart as unto Christ. Again, do you see how Paul even
takes everyday life and centers it around Christ for us? All
the time. All the time. Bringing it back
to He who is the most important aspect of our lives as believers. It's Christ. Again, you take
Christ away. We have absolutely nothing, nothing
at all. But in Christ, we have everything.
So we should give our best effort and we should put into what we're
best effort into what we're getting paid for is, again, doing our
work unto the Lord and our attitude towards those who supervise us.
Those who are over us in authority should be that which becomes
a child of God. We should be quick to obey and
not to argue. Even if our boss is one of those hateful arrogant
hard to please individuals you know I guess you have a choice
to either find another job or Work through it we and we've
all had difficult people in our lives that we have had to deal
with and and we just pray that I remember, I think it was Brother
Henry who said this, he said, if someone's getting at you,
pray for them. It's hard to get mad at people
you're praying for. So just keep praying for them. Just keep lifting
them up to the throne of grace. So we still might not like our
boss's attitude, but the Lord has put that person in authority
over us. And Jesus Christ is the one who
has put them in authority. We must remember that. Masters,
again, also have obligation. We saw that in Colossians 4.1. And we'll look at that later
on in our study. Brother Mahan bought this out.
I'll just touch on it quickly. The masters are to give them
fair and equal pay as they have families to support. So a boss
or a supervisor. Because they enjoy the same things
you enjoy. And the masters is not to be
unreasonable with their employers. Brother Mahan made this comment,
and I really like this. A man may dress poorly or have
a less ability in education, but if he is a son of God, beloved,
he is an important person in the eyes of God. So let's always
remember that. So our text proclaims, again,
in verse 22, servants obey in all things your masters according
to the flesh, not with eye services, man pleasers, but in singleness
of heart, fearing God. Now, man-pleasers are those who
attempt to make themselves look good when the boss is watching,
which is what the story Brother Newell told me, so they can gain
favor with him, but they're lazy when the boss isn't looking.
That's a man-pleaser. Now, the Greek word for man-pleaser,
I looked up the Greek word for man-pleaser. It's defined as
studying to please man, courting the favor of man. Now, see, a
preacher is never supposed to be a man-pleaser. We serve the
Lord. whoever teaches the same that
what we're not we're not man pleases we we preach the gospel
Lord Jesus Christ knowing knowing that it may be offensive the
summit it's not our intent to be offensive but the gospel offends
destroy surprise especially when the Lord when the Holy Spirit
uses it to show us what we are who we are it just devastates
the pride it brings us right down But the preacher's not supposed
to be a man-pleaser. He's to proclaim Christ, and
not to be mean-spirited either, though, and not accessible. He's to be accessible to the
body. He's to be empathetic. He's to be compassionate with
God's people, caring. I could tell being your pastor,
I love you guys and I pray for you and I'm concerned for your
souls. And my prayer is that we grow.
We would grow in the grace and knowledge and truth. I know I
say that when I pray too, but it's truth. My words are just
words unless the Holy Spirit takes them and uses them to build
you up in Christ and the scriptures and takes those scriptures and
uses them to build you up and to give you what you need. And
that is the hope of the preacher, that you would just draw nigh
to Christ. Draw nigh to Christ. So the Greek word for man-pleasers
is defined as, again, studying to please man, courting the favor
of man. Now, I-service is defined in the Greek as this. Service,
and this is only used twice, and the Greek word is only used
twice in the New Testament. Service performed only under
the master's eyes. For the master's eye usually
stimulates to greater diligence. So if the boss is watching them
and the master, they work twice as hard. But when he's not, they
just back right off. is back right now. And then it
says this in the Greek to his absence, on the other hand, renders
his work sluggish. Again, we can see how this ties
and look at verse 17. We can see how this ties in with
versus this is exhortation by Paul. Again, look at verse 17
and whatsoever you do in word or D. I do all in the name of
the Lord. Do it for the best year. And notice he says, in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, he centers them around
Christ again. And we have to keep the context
of these verses. You cannot rip these verses out
of context. That's why I always read the
context of the verses, because it's so vital. People will take
and rip out these verses about servants and say, look, the Bible
condones slavery. It's just a lie. is I like what
that commentator said. Slavery springs from the depravity
of man. And the wicked things that man
will do themselves left to themselves is unthinkable. Unthinkable. So it should be our sincere desire
to please the Lord Jesus Christ in all that we do, to serve him,
to serve him. Let's look at the latter part
of verse 22. Servants obey in all things your
masters according to the flesh, not with eye services, man pleasures. Look at this. But in singleness
of heart, fearing God. Fearing God. Turn back to Psalm 111. Psalm
111. Now the believer in Christ is
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. We're a new creature
in Christ. We saw that earlier in the chapter
that we put on the new man and it's not by our power. It's by
what the Holy Spirit has done in us. The Holy Spirit of God
at work in our lives. And here before us, and we also
saw in Colossians 4.1 that we have one master, right? One master,
even the masters have a master, and that's our master too. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. One master, one master over all,
and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. So let us never lose sight of
that, let us keep that in mind. this precious blessed truth that
Jesus Christ is the Lord of all. He's the Lord of all. And remember,
Paul's battling the Gnostics here. Now he's tied into what
one of the grace preachers said is practical Christianity, where
he's exhorting the believers, exhorting them, since they're
born again, these are some things that we should do, not in any reason to gain merit and
favor with God. I gotta preface that all the
time because it's not about that. Not at all. But we're new creatures
in Christ. We have one master. Now the Greek
word for singleness here, where it says In singleness of
heart, fearing God. The Greek word for singleness
means this. Simplicity, sincerity, singleness, mental honesty, not
self-seeking. Openness of heart manifesting
itself by generosity. We are to serve the Lord with
a singleness of heart, beloved. Singleness of heart. We're not
to be self-seeking. That's what the world does. God's
people are not to be self-seeking. Because why aren't we to be self-seeking? Because then we're seeking the
glory, and then we're seeking the preeminence. And who's the
only one who gets the glory? Christ, amen. God, he gets it
all. He gets the preeminence, he gets the glory. It all goes
to him. We are again, serve the Lord
with singleness of heart. And we do this fearing God, but
it's not a slavish fear. It's not a slavish fear like
in religion. Religion is a slavish fear of
God. Beloved, this is a reverent fear.
In awe of who God really is. Of his sovereignty. Of his power,
of his majesty. Look at Psalm 119. Look at this. This is a wonderful verse. Absolutely
wonderful verse. And I was thinking, looking at
this verse today, in the fact where it says, singleness of
heart, fearing God, right? So it's a reverent fear. Look
at this beautiful verse here. Look at what this word says.
He sent redemption unto his people. He hath commanded his covenant
forever. Holy and reverend is his name. We can take away right here from
this verse that God alone is worthy of our praise. God alone. And this verse proclaims that
he is holy and reverend is his name. This speaks of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. He's the name above all names,
beloved. Now look at this. Look what this verse brings before
us. Look what it declares. This verse declares God's work
and salvation is something that he sent. Look at this marvelous
little gems here. He sent redemption unto who? His people. What a testimony we have here
before us in these few words right here. That salvation is
of the Lord. It's of the Lord. He is the one
who sends redemption to his people. Who is our redemption in Christ? Who sent him? God, the Father
sent him to die, die for us as our substitute upon this upon
Calvary's cross. Oh, beloved, he is the one who
sends redemption unto his people and beloved, he has done that
in Christ Jesus and in Christ Jesus alone. And he is the only
one who we are to be in reverent awe of with a reverent fear. Christ is the one who has redeemed
his elect from the slave block of sin. That's what we were on. We were slaves to sin below.
And he hath redeemed us from the slave blocks of sin, which
we willingly sold ourselves into sin. People talk about free will. Will is bound to the nature.
And when we have a dead nature when we come into this world,
oh, we are slaves of sin right away, right away. And the only
one who can redeem us from the slave block of sin is the Lord
Jesus Christ. There is no hope outside of Christ.
None at all. And look at what it says. He
sent redemption unto his people. Just let that sink in. Christ
sent, if you're one of his, God the Father sent Christ for you. My beloved. We are bought with a price, aren't
we? It's the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And only
He has the power to deliver us from sin because He is rich in
mercy and full of grace. And He dies. He dies to save
His people from their sins. He dies, the sinless, perfect,
spotless Lamb of God. God incarnate in the flesh dies
for sinners. And remember this. Remember this. In order for the Lamb to be accepted,
it had to be spotless. It had to be sinless. And the
Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect, spotless Lamb of God. And our sins were laid upon Him.
And He paid everything that was demanded. And then His perfect,
spotless righteousness is imputed that we would be. The great transfer
The great transfer. And Christ so paid for all of
our sins that God declares, your sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. Hallelujah. What a Savior. What a Savior we have. No wonder
scripture declares, holy and reverent is His name. Is His
name. Oh, beloved. He came in the flesh
as our substitute to destroy our enemies. and destroy the
power that had bound us. And it is Christ in him alone
who has satisfied the claims of God's law, which we have broken
time and time and time again. And he did this by offering up
himself once for our sins, for the sins of all his people, paying
the great sin debt that none of us could pay. and imputing His perfect spotless
righteousness to His children. He gives salvation. You see how foolish it is when
someone says that they came to Jesus. This scripture declares
that salvation is over the world. It's real claim. It's real. And we know from other scriptures,
right, there's none that seek it after God. There's none that
understand it. There's none righteous. Well,
the reason he sent salvation is because we couldn't obtain
it. We couldn't obtain it. We were his people from before
the foundation of the world. It leads the believer in absolute
awe. absolute all who are on the psalmist
declares holy and reverend this is me he sent redemption unto
his people he hath commanded this covenant look at this is
covenant forever it's the everlasting covenant in the blood of Jesus
Christ ratifies love it is the route you his blood ratifies
the everlasting and in scripture declares holy and reverent this
is This can only be said of him who is worthy of all praise.
Worthy of all praise. And there's only one name, isn't
there? Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. No other name. Jesus Christ and
him alone. And God has declared this. And
remember, we looked at it on Sunday. that what God declares
is not up for debate, no matter what anyone says. Aren't you thankful God revealed
Christ to you? Aren't you thankful that he sent salvation in Christ
Jesus' redemption for us, for his people? My. This name, holy and reverend,
is only to be said of the sovereign of the universe. We should never
call a man reverend. Because no sinful son of Adam
is reverent. None. None. Only the Lord Jesus Christ deserves
it all. We see it right here. Holy and
reverent is who? Is what? And love to have the preeminence.
That we who are brothers and sisters in Christ remember that
we are the children of the heavenly King. And we are God's people. His elect are servants, one of
another, esteeming the other better than themselves. Better
than themselves. And let us remember this, that
there's no special class of men in the house of God. We are the
elect of God. We are the elect of God. We are
all part of the body of Christ. We believe. And we gather here to worship
our great God and King. loans and there's a result a fearing
God in a reverent all we are exhorted in verse 23 again look
at Colossians 3 verse 23 3 and whatsoever you do do it heartily
as to the Lord and not on the map man the apostle in verse
23 lays the foundation of what he's
spoken of in verses 18 to 22. Because whatsoever is done in
word or deed is to be done heartily as to the Lord. Heartily to the
Lord and not unto men. So what he's exhorted them to
do, now he lays the foundation that they're to do it heartily
unto the Lord and not unto men. And this is also done not from
labors without. but from grace which is given. It's not of our own labors. This flows, this hardiness to
the Lord flows from grace which has been given to us. It's not
natural for us. But from a redeemed, born-again
believer, this flows from our hearts. Grace has been wrought in us
by the Holy Spirit of God. It's been given to us. Faith
and repentance has been wrought in us. We're new creatures in
Christ. So this flows from a redeemed
heart. When God works in His elect to
whom He gives bowels of mercy, they are new creatures in Christ.
New creatures in Christ. He creates the new creature.
He's the author and the finisher of our faith. We're born again
by the Holy Spirit of God, not by a decision. Basically, that's
what our meaning is. You can boil it down to decisional
regeneration. We believe in Holy Spirit regeneration.
God must do a work. God must reveal Christ to us. God must grant us faith. And
God must give us repentance. It's all his work. and we as
believers just marvel and we keep coming to Christ don't wait
and faith my that let's remember that the
child God can say and and none but the child God can can ever
say this I can do nothing by myself but I can do all things
price all saw So let us consider these truths.
Wives, submit yourself unto your own husbands heartily as to the
Lord and not unto men. Husbands, love your wives heartily
as to the Lord and not unto men. Fathers, raise your children
with a genuine loving concern for them heartily as to the Lord
and not unto men. Servants, obey your masters in
all things heartily as to the Lord and not unto men. See how
we can tie that in? And whatsoever you do in word
or deed, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto him. Do
it unto him. Do it for his good. Why? The answer's in the next verse.
Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance,
for ye serve the Lord Christ. Now, the children of God do not
serve the Lord thinking that we might receive more rewards
in heaven. that is a lie spread by religion. Do you know that the Lord Jesus
Christ in him alone is the believer's exceeding believer? Turn if you
would to Genesis. That's Genesis chapter. I have it in my notes. One second, please. Well, I can't find it right now.
The Lord tells Abraham that I am your exceeding reward. Well, I will have to find that. Christ is our exceeding reward.
We have everything, everything. Think of this. If we don't have
Christ, we have nothing. We have nothing. And let us consider
this. We know that of the Lord, we
will receive the reward of the inheritance. God, our father,
has appointed his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior,
heir of all things. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2 says,
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Our inheritance is in Christ
and him alone. He is the believer's reward.
Think of this. We have been made joint heirs
with Christ. joint heirs with Christ. Romans
817 says this, and if children than heirs, heirs of God and
joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that
we may be also glorified together. Number two, if you be Christ
and you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise
and all of God's elect, number three, have an inheritance that
is incorruptible. That means you can't spoil it. Why can't we spoil it? Beloved,
because it's in Christ. It's in Christ. And this is declared
in 1 Peter 1, verses 2 to 5. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the spirit unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace be unto you
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope. See, the believer has a
lively hope by the resurrection, by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance. you want to turn there it's first
Peter 1 for look at this it'd be good for us to look this quickly
first Peter chapter 1 first for look at this to an inheritance
incorruptible in on the file and that fadeth not away, reserved
for you, for God's people, reserved in heaven for you, look at this,
who are kept, we don't keep ourselves, we're kept by God, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. Turn, if you would, to Genesis
15, I found it. Genesis 15, verse one. Genesis 15, verse one, see, because
our reward is in christ because christ is our reward then the
inheritance is incorruptible on the fire because it's in christ
in him alone look what the lord says to abraham here look what
the look this is this is it right here after these things the word
of the lord came on the abraham in the vision saying fear not
abraham i am by shielding what by exceeding It's all about Christ. He is
our exceeding great Lord. This nonsense about all this
stuff that people make up, all it does is puff people up and
make them so prideful it's not funny. I remember one guy telling
me, this just, I told him I was disgusted with him. He told me,
back in Oregon, that because somebody, his friend, graced
him to the door to open up a door for a lady, that his buddy got
the crown before he did. That is the most pathetic thing
I've ever heard in my life. Beloved, my reward is Christ.
And he is everything to me. And I know he is to you, too.
Christ is our exceeding reward, beloved. It's all about Him. It's all about what He's done.
And think of this. God has predestined us to obtain
this inheritance, and it's in Christ and through Christ, right?
According to His own purpose and His own will. No wonder Christ said that Abraham,
I knew this. Because Ephesians says this,
in whom also we have obtained an inheritance. We've obtained?
Do you notice the verbiage there? We've obtained. We've obtained
it in Christ. It's in Him. Whom we have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him.
I love this look at all things all all things Think of this too when the Lord
brought us under the sound of the gospel and reveal Christ
to in his perfect work of redemption for us and he revealed it to
us he gave us a new home. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. This is a new man that we've
been talking about. And remember, I always stress
this and it's so important, regeneration always precedes healing. It's
a work of God. It's a work of God. It's a work
of God. And we will preach and proclaim
that as long as the Lord allows us to preach and proclaim from
this salvations of the Lord. It's all his work. It's all his. The Holy Spirit regenerates us.
We believe the gospel. He grants us faith and repentance.
We're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase possession
and to the praise of the glory of his grace. And again, who
gets all the proof? Christ. It all goes to him. Of the Lord, we shall receive
the reward of the inheritance. Think of this. We have already
received Jesus Christ and he is the hope of glory in us. We have already received eternal
life. You have to quicken. You have to. It's ours in Christ. We're just gonna step through
that portal called death one day and be in the presence of
the Lord. And he'll be right with us. He'll be right with us. Think of this. In Christ, we've
already received the spirit of adoption, whereby we call our
Abba Father. Now we're the sons of God. We're
his people. We've been His people from eternity,
but that's become a reality for we who believe. And we've already received all
the promises of God. Because where are all the promises
of God? Where do they find their end?
Jesus Christ our Lord and Him alone. They're all in Christ
and Him alone. And we have received faith to
believe God, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And right
now while we're here upon this earth, we walk by faith, not
by sight, we walk by faith. But when the believer departs
this life, when our appointment comes, when we receive our promotion, then our faith will give way
to sight. It'll give way to sight. And
then think of that, think of that day when we will see our
redeemer. face-to-face. And then, think
of this, we'll be forever in His presence. Forever. Because
our inheritance is incorruptible. It does not fade away. Nothing can take away our inheritance
because it's in Christ, in Him alone. He's our exceedingly worthy
Lord. That's when we will receive the
reward of the inheritance from our Lord, because Christ himself
is our exceeding reward. Fear not, Abraham. Abraham, I
am thy shield and thy exceeding reward. So let us look at the latter
part of this verse to close. It says, knowing that of the
Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve
the Lord Christ. what we have been looking up
love it these verses next rotation by the Apostle Paul and these things flow from the
believers heart these are not force things the things which
low believers heart religion is work it's labor what does
our Lord say to those come on I'll give you rest. Rest. Beloved, let us remember this. We serve the exalted, resurrected
Christ. And we do it willingly. grateful, redeemed heart. Let us close with this. Pondering
what an amazing God we have, beloved. He sought us out when
we were running from him. When we were loving the darkness
we were in, he quickened us. saving our souls, regenerating
us. He bought us under the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He did. It's not by chance that you were
saved when you were saved under the preaching of the gospel.
It's all ordained by God. And it's incredible, when you
stop to think about that, how your family got to where the
point where you would be born and where you would be bought
to the place where you would hear the gospel. Now, you can look back generations
and think that this family was moved here and here and here
and here, that you might be right where you were supposed to be
when God opened your heart. It is incredible. It's incredible. It's humbling. It's extremely
humble. But you see why we serve the
Lord? Because when we ponder these things, it just flows out
of a redeemed heart. He also sent his spirit into
our hearts, giving us eternal life and spiritual understanding.
We would never have known who he was, what he's done. We would not have known about
his work. We would have thought that salvation was by our own
works until God revealed it to us that we were desperate sinners
in desperate need of Christ. And then he showed us and revealed
to us who Christ was. The Holy Spirit does. And we
were generated by his power, we run to Christ. We run. And think of this. By our Lord's
divine providence, our Lord opens doors of opportunities, opportunities
to serve him where we are in the vineyard where we are. And
think of this beloved God, all that we have, all that we are,
all that we do was ordained by our majestic God before time. That's a guy. That's the God. That's the God, and that's our
Savior. So who gets all the glory? God gets all the glory. And think
of this. All the glory goes to our great
God for all that he allows us to do in serving him. He gets
it all. He gets it all. He gets all the
glory in our salvation. He gets all the glory in allowing
us to serve him. And what does that do? It brings
glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, to his name, to his name, all
beloved. May God be glorified in the preaching
of his word. Gracious Heavenly Father. Oh,
we are in awe and awe that you sent redemption for your people.
The Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer, our great substitute. Oh, Lord. I pray that you take
these scriptures and that they be a comfort to your people.
Scripture declares comfort, you comfort you, my people say to
the Lord, and oh, I pray that the scripture comfort us tonight.
Oh, that we. We would grow and in the grace
of the Lord, Jesus, you must increase, but we must decrease
and we love you and we know it's only because you first loved
us and we give you the glory and honor and praise in Jesus
name. Amen.