Well, what a joy it is to be
with you and to see you again. Many of you are in the exact
same seat as I saw you last time. I'm assuming you went home after
the conference two years ago. The front row here, they're in
exactly the same place, so John MacArthur calls them the front
row funnies, so there you are. Well, the theme of our conference
is, right now counts forever, right? And so, your work right
now counts forever. It really matters how you do
your work. And so, I want you to take your
Bible and turn with me to the book of Ephesians, Ephesians
chapter 6. And I want to begin by reading
verses 5 through 8, and in this message, we're going to survey
the whole Bible. And as time would permit, we're
going to look at a lot of different verses, but this will be the
launching pad, the beginning place. The title of this is Working
as for the Lord. And so in Ephesians chapter 6,
I want to begin reading in verse 5, slaves. Be obedient to those who are
your masters, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling
in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ. Not by way of eye
service as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the
will of God from the heart. with good will render service
as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing
each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave
or free. And masters, do the same things
to them, and give up threatening knowing that both their Master
and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him." In
these verses, we clearly see that your work matters to God. Whenever the people of God have
come back to the Word of God, they always come back to the
fact that your vocational calling is a sacred calling unto God. As Martin Luther once said, there
are no small occupations. that everything that you do,
whatever that is, whether you're a white-collar or blue-collar
worker, whether you work in a field or in an office, wherever God
calls you to put your shoulder to the plow and perspire in the
field and to work, you are to do that as unto the Lord. And it was this realization that
the Reformation, the Protestant movement of the Reformation,
came back to recover. It was known as the Protestant
work ethic. It was known as the Calvinistic
work ethic. And our country was founded,
even in New England, with this Calvinistic work ethic, that
your work is a part of the will of God for your life, that you
have not been saved to sit, that you have been saved to work,
and that your work is a means by which you will glorify God. And in the Reformation with the
five solas, that apex sola, soli deo gloria, for the glory of
God alone, they understood that as the umbrella over not just
salvation, but the umbrella over everything. that not only is
your salvation unto the glory of God, but how you carry out
your work is to be done for the glory of God. And so, if right now counts forever,
and it does, then your work counts forever. And so, what I want
to do in the time that I have with you is to is to really have
a quick survey of the Bible, and I want to set before you
six headings as we think about work as a Christian. And so,
the first heading that I want to set before you is work assigned,
work assigned. And if you'll turn back to the
book of Genesis, if you have trouble finding it, go to the
table of contents and turn to the right. and it'll be the first
book after the table of contents. Genesis chapter 1, and I want
to begin reading in verse 26, and everything begins here as
it relates to work. And we read in verse 26, then
God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. And so, we as human beings, beginning
with Adam and then Eve, have been uniquely made in the image
of God, in the likeness of God, to be like God in a way that
is distinct from the rest of His creation. such that we are
set apart in the created order in a higher place than animals
and trees and rivers. We uniquely are made in the likeness
of God. We are image bearers, imago Dei,
of God. So what is number one on that
list? What is the first thing that God assigns here in verse
26, and it will be repeated in verse 28? Number one on the list
in this text is that Adam would work. because God is a working
God. And if Adam is to be like God,
then Adam must work because God is a working God. God is not
a sitting God in the sense of being inactive. Though He is
enthroned in the heavens, He is working the affairs of providence
every moment of every day. God is answering prayer. God
is opening blinded eyes to see the truth of the gospel. God
is opening hardened hearts to receive the message of saving
grace. God is overturning the resistance
of the world to the gospel. Every second, God is working. God's not passive. God is active. And because of that, we are made
in the image of God. And we are made for a task, and
that is to work. God never intended life to be
a vacation. He intended it to be an occupation,
and we are to work. And so we read, continue to read
in verse 26. You can see it for yourself in
your own Bible. Let us make man in our image
according to our likeness. Now, here's number one. and let
them," notice the them, it's in the plural, so this goes beyond
just Adam, and I think beyond Adam and Eve, this extends to
all whom Adam would represent as the federal head of the human
race, this would apply to you and me as well. let them rule
over," and now in this verse, over is used five times. So, we see the emphasis that
God is placing here that we are to preside over God's creation,
and we are to work. let them rule," which means to
have dominion and to subjugate, over the fish of the sea, over
the birds of the sky, over the cattle, and over the earth, and
over every creeping thing. And so here God assigns work. to Adam. You'll also note that
this precedes the fall. This precedes original sin, that
the curse is not assigning work. God assigned work before there
was original sin and before there was the curse. This is the perfect
will of God for man to work. And so, we learn much here about
work assigned. And this creation mandate has
never been rescinded. It has never been annulled. It
is so foundational that in a sense, it's never been repeated in the
Bible because it is so glaringly foundational that everything
else will be built upon this creation mandate. And it is still a part of God's
will for our lives that we do the work that is assigned to
us to do. Therefore, idleness is a sin,
and industry is a virtue. Therefore, laziness is ungodly,
and labor is godly. Receiving a handout if you can
work is ungodly. Working to earn your livelihood
brings honor and glory to God. So that's where we begin in our
survey, Work Assigned. Now, if you will, come to Genesis
chapter 3, and I want you to see the second heading. which
is work hindered. First, work assigned in Genesis
1. Now second, work hindered in
Genesis chapter 3. And I want to look specifically
with you at verses 17 and 18, because sin has left a devastating
effect upon man's assignment of work. And so, in verse 17,
we read these startling words. Cursed, severely judged, is the
ground because of you, because of your original sin. In toil you will not eat of it
all the days of your life. This word toil in the original
Hebrew speaks of pain, hardship, sorrow, back-breaking sweat,
producing labor and work, And so, the creation mandate, the
work assigned will continue, but now you're going to be pushing
the rope uphill. Now there will be difficulty
in a fallen world because of God's curse upon the world. Nevertheless, you are to continue
your work. And he ends, or he says in verse
17, at the end, he says, all the days of your life. This curse
will never be lifted, and you will work all the days of your
life as long as you are physically able to do so, and by this you
will continue to glorify God. So we come to verse 18, both
thorns and thistles it shall grow for you. And now there is
the introduction of difficulties. Literal thorns and thistles and
many other speed bumps and roadblocks and difficulties and challenges
are now thrown into the planet that makes the workplace a very
challenging and difficult thing. And this was done not by Satan,
this was done by God Himself. And so He says, and you will
eat the plants of the field. To be vegetarian, of course,
is part of the curse. Sorry, I'm just biblical. Romans 14, 3 says, he who is
weak in faith eats vegetables only. So, sorry, just quoting the Bible. So, verse 19, by the sweat of
your face, and he's talking about your work, that there will be
perspiration streaming down your face, and it will be dripping
off the tip of your nose from your hard labor. by the sweat
of your face, you will eat bread till you return to the earth."
So, Adam, and for all of your descendants, you will no longer
be living in a garden. You will be living in a thorn-infested
field, and you are to continue to glorify Me by carrying out
the work that I have assigned to you, and it is to be a continual
remembrance of original sin. that this human race has risen
up, as R.C. would say, in cosmic rebellion
against Me. And you are to work till you
return to the ground. And God created Adam out of the
dust of the ground, and he was to continue to work until he
is placed back into the ground. So I would say to you from this,
as long as you are alive on planet earth, there is work for you
to do. Work in the sense of a vocational
calling, and work in a sense, even after you would retire from
whatever your career has been, nevertheless, you are to work
until you are placed back into the ground. And so, you may retire
from your career, but you will never retire from the work that
God has assigned to you. At the end of Moses' life, he
spent the last forty years of his life, the greatest challenge
of his life, leading Israel into the very precipice of the promised
land. And Caleb, when he was advanced
in years, He didn't retire. He said, I want the biggest mountain
with the biggest giants. You assign that to me. And the
Apostle John, at the end of his life, he's still writing books
in the Bible, and he is still serving the Lord. And so, this
is work hindered. And so, you and I just need to
understand this. There is not intended to be an easy job anywhere. And if you're looking for an
easy job, you're not going to find it because of the curse
that God has placed on creation. It will be met with difficulty
and challenges and roadblocks. Now, third, I want you to come
to Psalm 128. Psalm 128, and I want you to
note third, work blessed. Psalm 128, and I want to look
at the first two verses of this psalm. And it begins by saying, Despite the curse
that is upon work, the earth, and our labor on the earth, there
nevertheless is a blessing that God pronounces upon the worker
and the one who works to provide for his family and to provide
for others. And so, beginning in verse 1,
he begins, how blessed. In the Hebrew, it's in the plural,
which is, oh, the blessednesses, the multiplicity of blessing,
the fullness of blessing. How blessed is everyone, and
he now mentions three things. Number one, who fears the Lord,
synonymous with saving faith, synonymous with the one who stands
in reverential awe in the presence of God, realizing who he or she
is and who God is, and knows the Lord. How blessed is everyone
who fears the Lord. Every unbeliever fails to take
God seriously. It is only the believer who genuinely
takes God seriously from His Word. That's number one, fears
the Lord. Number two, obeys the Lord because
all true fear of God always leads to obedience to God. If you're
disobedient, then you have failed to fear God. And so he says,
who walks in His ways. Walks is a metaphor for daily
living. We would say today daily Christian
living. It's where the rubber meets the
road, one foot in front of another on a narrow path, headed to a
destination in front of us. It speaks of how we conduct ourselves
in life. He walks in His ways, not your
own ways. No, the one who fears the Lord
walks in the ways of the Lord. as a result of reverencing and
worshiping God. But there's a third step here
in verse 2. He says, when you shall eat of
the fruit of your hands. And the fruit of your hands is
really your work. In fact, the word for fruit in
the original Hebrew is translated labor or work. I'm preaching
out of the New American Standard, and it's metaphorically translated
as fruit, but it's literally, you shall eat of the labor of
your hands. And so, he says, you're to have
your shoulder to the plow. He says, you're to have your
hands out in the field and in the harvest. and you are blessed
of God." Now, the word blessing in the book of Psalms is used
in a twofold way. There is an eternal blessedness,
which is our state of standing in grace, justification by faith. But there's also a temporal dimension
to this word as it relates to one's personal joy, we might
say happiness, as we are graced and favored by God, we are satisfied
by God. And so what he is saying here
is that when you fear God, you will walk in His ways. And when
you walk in His ways, included on this path is the work that
God has assigned you to do, your vocational calling. and you will
be immensely satisfied as you carry out what God has called
you to do. Out of the Reformation, there
was the realization not only is the minister called to preach
the Word and shepherd the flock, but even the blacksmith is called
by God to do the work that he is called to do, that even the
farmer, the housewife are called by God to do what God has put
before them to do, but no one is not called who fears the Lord. And we glorify God and we honor
God by our work. And on the last day, when we
stand before the Lord, every Christian will stand in the judgment.
2 Corinthians 5 verse 10, for we shall all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. And that we refers to believers.
And we will be appraised by our Master as a servant slave to
our Master, have we been faithful in His household to do the work
that He has assigned us to do. And we will give an account to
the Lord on that last day for the use of our time, for the
use of our talent, and how we have employed it and invested
it in serving others. Martin Luther, when he preached
on Psalm 128, had this to say. Let me quote Martin Luther as
he is expounding on Psalm 128, verses 1 and 2. He says, your
work is a very sacred matter. God delights in it. This praise
of God, Luther writes, meaning God's praise of work. should
be inscribed on every tool and on every forehead and on every
face." In other words, that it would be constantly before us.
He says, the world does not consider labor a blessing, but flees from
it and hates it. It cannot wait to stop working. But, Luther writes, the pious,
referring to the godly, who fear the Lord labor with a ready,
cheerful heart. The world inverts the thought,
meaning the world has it the complete opposite of what the
Word of God says, and I wonder how much have we been influenced
by what the world says about work, as though we can hardly
wait to get out of it. The world inverts the thought
and says, miserable shall you be. for these things must forever
be endured and born." No, Luther understood that there is a vocational
calling on every believer, and as long as we are on planet earth
and breathing, there is work to be done that is placed before
us by the Lord. Now, I want you to come to the
book of Ecclesiastes, and this leads to the fourth heading,
which is work enjoyed, work enjoyed. And I want you to come to Ecclesiastes
chapter 1, and what we're going to discover is that this work
that God has given us to do, has assigned to us, that is hindered
by the curse, it is so empty. if you do not fear God. It is
so meaningless to go to the office if you do not live with an eternal
perspective. If you only do this for your
employer, how empty and vain it is. If you do not do this
for the ultimate sovereign of the universe, no matter how mundane
or trivial it might appear to be to the world, then it's just
going to be vanity of vanities. All is vanity. So, please note in chapter 1,
beginning in verse 2. Vanity of vanities, says the
preacher. Vanity of vanities. It's repeated
twice to bring emphasis. All is vanity. The word vanity literally means
vapor or breath, like a puff of smoke. The idea is there's no substance
to it. There's no meaning to it. It's just hot air, but it's
empty. It's meaningless and pointless.
It's futile and unsatisfying. That's what this word means,
vanity of vanities, meaning this is the epitome of vanities. And when he says, all is vanity,
that includes work. Now look at verse 3, lest there
be any misunderstanding that this includes work. Verse 3 says,
what advantage does man have in all his work? That's what
we call a rhetorical question, the answer of which is so obvious
it does not even need to be answered. The value, the profit is nothing,
nothing eternal, nothing that glorifies God. What advantage
does man have in all his work? The answer is a resounding nothing. Now, the word work here means
trouble, labor, toil. And it is analogous to working
by the sweat of your brow, which is assigned to every one of us. So what meaning could there be
in going to work? What meaning could there be to
go into the marketplace, to go into the office space? What meaning
could there be to stay at home and be a housewife and go through
the endless routine? Well, look at verse 8. He intensifies
this and says, all things are wearisome. That includes work. All things are wearisome, in
other words, grueling. He says, man is not able to tell
it, not able to tell just how grueling it is. The eye is not
satisfied with seeing. As you behold the fruit of your
labor, you can never be ultimately satisfied if it's just you and
work. And then he says, nor is the
ear filled with hearing, and no matter what feedback you receive
from others, and where Solomon is headed with this, if God is
not the driving motivation of your heart and your soul, and
if you do not believe that you are there in the very epicenter
of the will of God for your life, and that God has created you
to work, then your labor It's going to make no sense to
you. So, verse 9, that which has been
is that which will be. In other words, your going into
the office will just be same old, same old. You're just going
to be going through the empty, vain repetition and circles of
life. You're not going anywhere. It
doesn't amount to anything. At the end, you die. You leave
it all behind. What was this about? What was
this for? So come now to chapter 2 and
verse 18. And in chapter 2 and verse 18,
Solomon addresses the futility of work and labor if it is done
without fearing God. And so in chapter 2 and verse
18, thus, I hated all the fruit of my labor, in which I had labored
under the sun. I don't have time to do word
studies on all these words, but what he is saying, for all the
toil, for all the trouble, for all the labor, I found zero pleasure
in it, any lasting pleasure in it. I saw no purpose in it. And so in verse 20, therefore
I am completely, I completely despaired of all the fruit of
my labor. It was, I'm just left hopeless. So note verse 23, because all his days, your entire
working career. your entire life, because all
his days, his task, referring to work, is – note these next
two words – is painful, Hebrew word meaning sorrowful, and grievous,
that's a Hebrew word that means full of anger and vexation and
intense negativity. Even at night, his mind has no
rest. What's this for? What's this
about? Where is this going? Now note
verse 24. This is an important – this is
a tipping point. There is a sudden shift in his
attitude about work. I want you to see this. There
is nothing better, and this word for better is the word used in
Genesis 1, God saw it and it was good. God saw it and it was
good. Same Hebrew word, tov. There
is nothing better, nothing more pleasant, nothing of greater
excellence for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself
that his labor is good. So what made the difference?
How did this go from grievous and painful and vanity of vanities
to now His labor is good? How did this shift? How did we
go from grievous to good? How did we go from painful to
pleasurable? Look at the end of verse 24.
Here's your answer, "'This also I have seen.' that it is from
the hand of God, that it was God who put this assignment in
front of me. For Solomon, it was to be king
of Israel. For you and me, it's to be a schoolteacher, it's to
be a CPA, it's to be a housewife, it is to be a salesman. But if
you don't see that it's from God, you're going to be one frustrated
employee. You're going to be one frustrated
mom with four kids. You're going to be one frustrated
person if you do not see that God has assigned you work, no
one gets a free pass, and that this assignment has come from
God Himself And there is great enjoyment if you do it with a
God-fearing heart attitude. Now look at verse 25, the next
verse, for who can eat and who can have enjoyment? without Him,
capital H, without God? And this again is a rhetorical
question. The answer is so obvious it does
not need to be answered. There is no enjoyment in work
independent of the one who assigned it to you. There is no enjoyment
from work without the realization that this is the will of God
for my life. And there is no enjoyment from
God without realizing that there are no easy jobs on the planet,
that it has all been affected by the curse. If you're trying to find a job
that is easy, you'll have to go to another planet. Or it's really not a job. And so, he concludes the book
of Ecclesiastes in chapter 12, verse 13, the conclusion, when
all has been heard is, fear God and keep His commandments. And
that's the golden key that unlocks the door to a life of fulfillment. in the workplace. No matter how
menial it may seem to you, do it for the glory of God and give
a good testimony on the last day to the Lord. Now, come to
the New Testament, come to Ephesians chapter 6, the passage that I
read earlier, and this is the fifth heading, work rewarded,
because God promises a reward whether it's in this lifetime
or in the life to come. Nevertheless, God is an impartial,
all-knowing judge, and when He sees you doing your work as unto
Christ, He notes it. and He will reward it. So in
Ephesians chapter 6, I'm just going to have to quickly go through
this, slaves, and let me just say this applies equally to all
employees who are under an employer. Slaves, be obedient to those
who are your masters according to the flesh. Be obedient is
in the present tense, meaning you are to be always obedient
to them. It is in the active voice, meaning
you are to take action to be obedient. And third, it's in
the imperative mood. This is not an option. It's not
a suggestion. It is an apostolic command from
Jesus Christ. Be obedient to your masters. I'll never forget the graduation
service at the Master's University when John MacArthur addressed
the graduating class, and he said, I have one last thing to
say to the graduating class. Everyone just leaned forward.
People pulled out pens, got out paper, write this down. It says
two things. Show up early and do what you're
told to do with a good attitude. and you'll end up being the president
of the company. How simple is that? That's what Paul is saying
here to the slaves. Just show up early and do what
you're told to do, and do it with a great attitude. be obedient
to those who are your masters according to the flesh." And
notice how it is to be carried out with fear and trembling. I don't have time to do word
studies on this, but fear, phobos, phobia, and trembling, literally,
you take this so serious that there is an inner trauma is how
this word comes into the English language. It's traumatic. because
of what follows, in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ. So,
you don't work for that boss. He's just, even if he owns the
company, he's just middle management. The Lord Jesus owns the cattle
of a thousand hills, and the fullness of the earth thereof
is His. He is the King of kings. He is the boss of bosses. And
you're serving Him. You need this higher spiritual,
eternal perspective. Verse 6, not by way of eye service
as men-pleasing. In other words, you're not doing
this just to please the boss. What a… what a shallow worldview
that is. What a shallow perspective on
life that is. He says, but as slaves of Christ,
doulos. doing the will of God. What is
the will of God? For you to obey your Master,
for you to do the work that He has required you to do, and for
you to do it with fear and trembling, with sincerity in your heart,
not dragging your feet, not procrastinating, not trying to negotiate your
way out of this. Nike, just do it. For the glory of God, by the
grace of God, in the will of God. as unto God Himself. Then he adds, from the heart.
I mean, this is just plunging deeper and deeper. There's no
escape clause. There's no escape hatch from
the heart. He says in verse 7, with good
will, it means the idea is kindness, render service as to the Lord. referring to Jesus Christ, who
is our ultimate Master, and not to men. What a limited way that
would be to live. I mean, you'd be playing handball
against the curb if you're living in such a low perspective of
life. He says in verse 8, knowing that
whatever good thing each one does, he, referring to the slave
or the employee, will receive back from the Lord. Now, your
master may pass you over for the promotion. Your master may
pass you by for the raise. That's okay. In this sense, the
Lord Himself sees, He knows, He's recording it, and He will
reward you. Now, it may not be in this lifetime,
or it may be in this lifetime. That's left to His sovereign
discretion. But one way or another, whether now or later, He will
pay you back because you work for Him. And He is a benevolent
master. He is a loving master. And He
will take care of you, and it will come back to you in the
end. whether slave or free. I just
have one last heading, and I'm looking at my friend the clock. And the sixth and final heading
is, work reinforced. As we come to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4, and then in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, I just need to add
this, work reinforced, because as we progress in the progressive
revelation, as the Bible continues to unfold, we do not see a diminishing
of work. If anything, we see a heightening
of work. And in 1 Thessalonians 4, beginning
in verse 11, and let me set the backdrop very quickly. There
were people so looking for the return of Christ, they were quitting
their jobs. They were withdrawing out of
society. Like sometimes we may feel like
doing the way the culture is going, and Paul has to address
this. No, you cannot stop working.
And so he says in verse 11, make it your ambition to lead a quiet
life and attend to your own business. Stop sticking your nose into
everyone else's business. You just do what has been given
to you to do. And he says, and work with your
hands, just as we commanded you, so that it's a command to work,
verse 12, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and
not be in need. And Paul's point is, it would
be a horrible testimony for you to loaf at work. It would be
counterproductive as a Christian, your witness to the world, for
you to try to pull back from your labor. No, you glorify God
and you give evidence that you've been made in the image of God
who is a working God as you do your work. And so, my last verse, 2 Thessalonians
3 verse 10, which was my father-in-law's favorite verse in the entire
Bible, I need to quote it here. He's in heaven right now. If I've heard this verse one
time, I've heard it a hundred times. If a man will not work, as he would say that to his son-in-law,
if you catch my drift, if a man will not work, then neither let
him eat because his hunger pains will give him a new perspective
on work. It will be a new motivation for
him to get working if there's no free handout. After I graduated
from seminary, they gave me the responsibility of being over
the benevolence ministry to give money to people who had no means,
and so they gave me, let's just say it's $20,000 in my budget.
So, I thought, okay, I came up with a list of work assignments. rake the leaves, take out the
trash, sweep the gym, and if you come passing through town
and the word was out, we'll just dole out money, great. We've got some work for you to
do, which elevates your dignity. At the end of the year, I still
had $20,000. in my budget because everybody
wanted a free ride. Everyone wanted a handout. Everyone
thought they were entitled to a free lunch. But if a man does
not work, neither let him eat unless you're physically or mentally
unable to do so. Well, do you get the point? So,
let me ask you this. Are you working? Are you perspiring? Are you laboring? Do you know what it is God has
you to do? Because there's no one on planet earth who has nothing
to do but hang out. You need to find the work, whether
you're paid for it or not. You could be a volunteer worker. You glorify God with your work. Now the last thing I want to
tell you in thirty seconds is this, you'll never work your
way to heaven There's only one way to go to
heaven, and that's by the work of another. The Lord Jesus Christ
and His finished work in His sinless life and substitutionary
sin-bearing death upon the cross, and it is only by the finished
work of Jesus Christ is salvation offered to anyone and everyone
as a free gift. And you must come to Him with
an empty hand and humble yourself and say, have mercy upon me,
the sinner. And Jesus only died for one kind
of person, and that's a sinner. He didn't die for good people.
He died for really bad people. And you must come to the place
where you recognize that you are what God says you are, which
is a sinner who has fallen short of the glory of God and that
there is only one way of salvation, and it's not through your works,
it is entirely through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ who
came on a mission to seek and to save that which is lost. And
if you've never committed your life to Jesus Christ, right now,
this moment, you are lost and you are perishing and you are
under the wrath of God. But if you will flee to Christ
by faith, if you will repent of your sins, you may enter into
the finished work of Jesus Christ and find rest from your labor
in Him. He says, come unto Me, all you
who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For My burden
is easy, and My yoke is light. Believe upon the One who has
done the work for you, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.