The Solution to Every Problem

You won't believe the title of
this message tonight. You won't believe I'd attempt
such a thing. I got your attention now, hadn't I? But it's a fact. The title of my message tonight,
and I've found it, and it's God's Word, and it's the truth, undeniably
the truth. The title of my message tonight
is The Solution for Every Problem. You don't have one, never have
had one, never will have one, for which this is not the solution.
This is the solution for every problem. And my text is Colossians
chapter 3, verse 17. Colossians 3, 17. Now, if there is such a thing
as a key verse in a chapter, this 17th verse is the key verse
of the chapter which Brother Jeffers just read. Now, you heard
him read the scriptures. You paid careful attention to
the things that were written. This is the key verse right here,
if there is such a thing. And whatsoever you do, in word
or deed, do all in the name And that means for the glory, in
the name of, and for the glory of, and because of, and for the
praise of, the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father
by Him. Now the whole of morality is
summed up in ten commandments, written on two tables. Thou shalt
have no other God before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee
any graven image. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy. Honor thy father and thy mother.
Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit
adultery, thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not lie. Then if that's
not concise enough, now that's the whole of morality, outward
morality. And if that is not concise enough,
our Lord summarized these two tables, this whole morality,
in just two commandments. The Master brought it down to
two. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, thy
mind, thy soul, thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself. is brought into a shorter range
for the one word, one word, L-O-V-E, is the essence of the whole divine
law. That's bringing it down into
a key word, but that is it, that's so. The whole of morality is
summed up in the Ten Commandments, but our Lord brought it down
into a shorter range and gave it to us in two commandments,
the whole table of the law. And then our Lord brought it
down to one word. Now about it, faith, hope, and
love, but the greatest of these is L-O-V-E, all divine love. Love is the essence. So we have
here in our text a rule applicable to every believer, a rule applicable
to every action, whatever you do in deed. a rule applicable
to every word or thought, whatever you do in word or deed. In every
place, under all circumstances, someone says here, we have here
a rule of life, we have here a standard of morals, we have
here a guide to holiness, we have here a solution for every
problem. We have here a key that we can carry, if we want to,
in our own hearts, easily accessible. every moment. And which will,
if we have the grace to put it into practice, if we have the
will to use it, will never fail. Absolutely never fail. It will
never fail on any occasion. It will never fail under any
circumstances. It will never fail whatever you
do. In word or deed, do all in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this rule is not, I repeat,
is not applicable to all men. There are people sitting right
here that cannot use this. This doesn't apply to you in
any shape, form, or fashion. You've got to be in Christ before
you can do anything in the name of Christ. The root has to be
changed before fruit can grow. You can have no fruit if you
don't have the root of the matter. The heart must be broken before
love can bloom. Love cannot bloom from an unbroken
heart, from unfallowed, unplowed, unsewn ground. Self has to be
dethroned before Christ can be enthroned. There's no way for
Christ to share the throne of your heart with self. It can't
be done. It has to be dethroned. Christ
cannot be enthroned where self occupies the preeminent place.
Pride has to go. There's no way. that humility
can enter where pride rules. I'd be utterly, absolutely foolish,
and I'm not that foolish. I am foolish, but not that foolish,
to give you the impossible task, the utter impossible task of
producing what only God can produce. Our Lord said to the disciples,
that which is impossible with men is possible with God. He must be born again. No man
can do anything in the name of Christ until he's born again.
Your nature has got to be renewed. No man, no woman can do anything
in the name of Christ until that nature is renewed. Until we put
on the new man created in Christ Jesus, until Christ, the hope
of glory, is formed in us, we're not capable of walking in newness
of life. We're not capable of doing anything
in the name of Jesus Christ. We can do things in the name
of religion, in the name of our profession, in the name of morality,
in the name of the law, in the name of our church, in the name
of our profession of faith, in the name of our doctrine, but
not in the name of Christ. The only man or woman who can
do anything in the name of Christ and for the glory of Christ is
that person who is in Christ. There has to be a living union
with the living Lord in order for us to live, in order for
us to walk with him, in order for us to talk with him. And
if we have reached that impasse, that impossible situation where
we strive to produce what we cannot see and produce what we
cannot feel and produce what is not there, it may be the fountains
dry. If I went out to a well and I
kept pumping and pumping and pumping and never saw any water,
I draw one conclusion. The well's dry. And if we keep
pumping and pumping and pumping and looking for this grace of
God and glory of Christ and new man and fruit of the Spirit and
it never comes up, why don't you admit it? The well's dry.
Christ said, if you come to me, out of your belly shall flow,
not ought to flow, shall flow. wells of living water, and it
never runs dry. He that drinketh of this water
will never thirst, never thirst, for he shall be unto me a well
of water." So like I say, the fountain has got to be there
before the water will flow. The root has got to be there
before the fruit will grow. And the heart has got to be dealt
with by the Spirit of God before love can bloom. Love is not a
flower that blooms in the garden of man's human nature. It is
a flower, the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley, planted
by God himself. So this has nothing to do with
the unregenerate. This scripture has nothing to
do with the man who's never been renewed in Christ. This is for
the believer. This is for the believer. And it's a solution
to every problem. Let's go back to verse 1, chapter
3. If you be risen with Christ, if you be risen with Christ,
if it is true, is it true? Is it true that I am crucified
with Christ? Is it true that I am buried with
Christ? Is it true that I am risen with
Christ? Is it true that Christ and I
are one? I'm not just believing he died
on the cross, but we're one. His death was my death. His burial
was my burial. His resurrection was my resurrection. And I am seated with him in the
heavenlies, if that be true. I'm not, Paul said, taking for
granted that it is. I'm saying if it is true. If it is true. Then he says, you seek those
things which are above. If this is true. If this is not
true, you won't. You can't. You don't have any
inclination to do so. But if it is true, if Christ
really dwells within you, if Christ really lives in your heart,
if this be true, you seek those things which are above. What
are those things? Four things. One, you'll seek
heavenly communion. John said our fellowships with
the Father. And with his Son, Jesus Christ. I walk with the King. That's
what the song says. Hallelujah. I walk with the King.
Praise his name. What company I keep. The King
and I walk down life's road together. What company? Heavenly communion. I'm seeking heavenly communion.
I'm never alone. No, never alone. Seek heavenly graces. More faith. Faith, more faith. Love, more
love. More love. Patience, more patience. Meekness, more meekness. Kindness,
more kindness. Humility, more humility. I'm
seeking heavenly graces. Let this mind be in you which
was in Christ. Be like Christ. Be like Christ. Seek thirdly, heavenly motives.
Heavenly motives. Christ who was rich for your
sake became poor. That you through his poverty
might be rich. What's that motive? He loved
his own. Oh, I loved him. Using what I
have for the good of all in the glory of God. not motivated by
myself. If Christ had been motivated
by selfish purposes, he'd have never come, he'd have never died,
he'd have never suffered. But having loved his own. Oh,
what love! Oh, what love! That, gee, he
should die for me. Oh, what love! Heavenly motives. The love of Christ constraineth
me. The love of Christ restraineth
me. The love of Christ motivates
me. Fourthly, seek heavenly joys, righteousness, peace, peace that
passeth understanding. Peace starting right here. The
life and heart and spirit of an unregenerate man is like the
troubled sea. He's nervous, upset. He can't
find any peace on any circumstances. He's always looking for it but
never finding it. But Christ said, you come to me in my peace,
I'll give you rest. I'll give you rest. You enter
into his rest. You don't sit around and talk
about it, you enter it. Joy, joy, righteousness, peace
and joy, that's my kingdom. We seek heavenly joy, seek to
walk and to live the resurrected life, the countenance of Christ,
the joy of Christ. Moses came out from the presence
of God and his face was radiant with the glory of the Lord. They
couldn't even look upon him. Had to put a veil on his face
so folks could look at him. If you be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.
Nothing said here about assurance. Nothing said here about my place. Something said here about seeking
those things which are above, heavenly communion, heavenly
graces, heavenly motives, heavenly joys, if you're risen with Christ.
And then he says in verse 2, set your heart, set your heart,
your affection on things above, these things. These are the things
we're talking about. Set your heart on these things.
Not what you shall eat, what you shall drink, what you shall
wear, what you shall put on. Set your heart on these things,
not on the things of this earth. That's where our conflict comes.
That's where it comes from. It's between those things and
these things. It's between those things which
are above and these things which are seen and felt and Fleshly
enjoyed and you know why he says set your heart on these things
because where your heart is that's where your treasure is And where
your treasure is that's where your heart is And where my heart
is makes all the difference in the world all the difference
in the world My concern is where my heart is My desire is where
my heart is my interest is where my heart is Most of the time
the body will be where my heart is Set your heart, set your heart
on things above, if you be risen with Christ. And then verse 4,
5, he says, mortify, what does the word mortify mean? It means
deaden, deaden, deaden these fleshly desires and passions,
fornication. What? Uncleanness, inordinate
affection, evil concupiscence, covetousness. What? In the believer? The people of God are human.
If you're a hypocrite, don't be a liar. People have got a
human. They have a struggle with the
flesh. They're still in the flesh. The very fact that we're told
by Paul to mortify these things and to deaden these things indicates
that they still exist. Paul wouldn't tell you to go
out and beat a dead man. He's already dead and buried.
Why go beat on him? These things aren't dead. And
the very fact that we're told to mortify them, that we're told
to deaden them, that we're told to put them to death, indicates
that they still exist to a greater or lesser degree in the believer. But maybe that's not your problem.
He goes on down and he deals with what is your problem. Verse
8, put off. Now he wouldn't tell you to put
off something that you didn't have to put off. If these things
were not dangerous, if these things were not evidently still
to some measure alive, he wouldn't tell you as a believer who is
risen with Christ, who is seeking those things which are above,
whose heart is set on these things, not on things of the earth, to
put off these things. Three of them have to do with
the heart. Three of them have to do with the mouth. But that's
where it starts anyway in the heart. You don't start by saying,
I'm not going to say ugly things anymore. No, you don't start
there. You quit thinking ugly things
and then you quit saying ugly things. You don't say, I'm going
to hold my temper and I'm not going to say, I'm not going to
bawl folks out anymore. No, if you quit bawling them
out in your heart, you quit bawling them out with your mouth. You don't say, now I'm not going
to curse anymore. I'm just not going to take God's
name in vain or curse anymore. I don't believe a believer will.
But that's not where you start. You quit blaspheming in here
and then you automatically quit blaspheming out here. I'm not
going to cut a person again. I'm not going to say things that
will hurt and offend. You know why you do that? Because
in here that's the way you are. You mean to do it. Yes you do. You say, I didn't mean to say
that. You did mean to say that. If you hadn't have meant to say
it, you wouldn't have said it. That's where you start. You start in
here. Our Lord said, that's what's wrong with you Pharisees. You've
been so busy cleaning the outside of the cup, and you've neglected
the inside. On the inside, you're full of
dead men's bones. Now, if you clean up the inside,
the outside will be clean. Not might be, will be clean.
Here's where you start. You get rid of anger in the heart.
And then you quit blaspheming. You get rid of wrath, and then
you quit saying mean things. You get rid of malice, you quit
hating people, and then you quit talking hateful. But there is
no way under God's shining sun you're going to quit talking
hateful until you get the hate out of your heart. Until God
does, you can't do it, God will have to do it. And he says, put
on the new man. He's put off this old man, and
verse 10, put on the new man. The Spirit of Christ. Put on
the Spirit of Christ. What is it? Well, look over here
at verse 12. Here it is. Here's what it is.
Put on this new man. What's this new man like? He's
a man of pity, bowels of mercy, inward mercy, inward feeling. When you hurt, he hurts. When
you weep, he weeps. When you're in sorrow, he's in
sorrow. When you rejoice, he rejoices. It's bowels of mercy. Kindness, that's the new man. Humility of mind, not like Bruce
was praying while ago. It's not humility of looks, looking
religious, acting religious. It's humility of mind. It's meekness. It's long-suffering. It's forbearing
one another and forgiving one another, even as Christ forgave
you. to the same extent, in the same
measure, for the same motive, if any man have a quarrel against
another, even as Christ forgave you, so do ye also. And verse
15, let the peace of God, not just dwell, that's not what it
says. It says let the peace of God
rule. Let it rule. Rule in your heart,
not just dwell there, but actually control. Let the peace of God
control and rule your words and rule your actions and rule your
thoughts and rule your looks. I've been in this business of
preaching so long, people a lot of times don't have to say a
thing to me, not a thing. I know there's a problem. They
don't have to say a word, they just have to look. The condition of our hearts is
expressed by our countenance. That's not infallible by any
degree, but it's so. Let the peace of God rule in
your hearts. Rule in your hearts. Verse 16,
let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Teach one another.
Encourage one another. Be an example to one another.
Manifest a happy spirit. Listen to that. Singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord. how beautiful is the person who
can fit into the unity of the body. I watched a fellow walk
down the street one day, and he had some kind of nerve condition,
and he wasn't in coordination This hand was jerking like this,
you know. And this one was going this way,
you know. And his leg would go out every once in a while. And
I thought, that's just like most of these churches, you know.
You ever watch a person walk in perfect health? Everything's
in coordination. This hand swings with that one.
This foot walks with that one. And he walks like this. But here
goes this fellow, you know. And that's what people It takes
a lot of grace to fit into the body, to walk in unity, walk
in coordination. Instead of pulling that way,
I don't like, I want to be different, I want to be recognized, I want
my way. This hand is not willing to move
in union with that hand. It wants its way, you know, and
it goes that way, and this hand wants that way, and the feet
want that way, and after a while it's a mess. Let the peace of God rule and
teach and admonish one another and sing with grace in your hearts
to the Lord with one voice, with one mind, with one heart. Oh,
boy. Preacher, I know, where do you
do that? All right, secondly, verse 17, here's the solution.
Whatever you do, whatever you do, I don't care, Cecil, if it's
shoveling that snow out there. I don't care, Mike, if it's playing
that piano, Martha or Bruce Reed. I don't care if it's taking up
the offering, teaching a class, sweeping the floor, at home on
the job, wherever, the body of Christ, the Church of Christ
is not this building, it's people, living stone. Whatever you do,
do it in the name of Jesus Christ. for the glory of the Lord. Without
him I can do nothing, nothing spiritually, nothing. I can do
all things through Christ. You think this is a tall order?
I can do it in Christ. What I've got to do is quit finding,
and this I believe is a terrible fault, and I warn myself and
you too, don't hide behind this hide behind this straw man, God
will burn it. I must quit finding reasons in
my own nature for not doing what God commands. I must quit trying to find reasons
in my own flesh. Well, that's just the flesh.
Now hold on here now. That's all right for a baby in
Christ, that may be all right for a young man in Christ, but
that's hardly, that's hardly characteristic of those who have
walked with him a while. I've got to quit finding reasons
in my old nature for not doing what God tells me to do for his
glory, and find in Christ a reason to do them. I want to tell you something
else. I've thought a whole lot about this today. We speak as if this route was
the difficult way. But it's not. His commandments are not grievous. He says put off anger, wrath,
malice, mortify these evil sensual desires, put them aside, forgive
one another, Love one another, be kind to one another. We say
that's so hard. There's nothing hard about that. That's the best way. That's the
smooth way. That's the happy way. Is it not
better to love than to hate? Is it not better to smile than
to look ugly? And which is best? Is it not
better to forgive than to hold a grudge? Is it not better to
live in peace than to live in conflict? Is that not better?
Is it not better to rejoice than to go around mourning? Is it
not better to greet one another with a Christian brotherly greeting
than to quarrel and ignore one another and not speak to one
another and walk around with your hands in your pockets, acting
like your feelings are hurt all the time, which is best? Is it not better to walk with
God than to walk in rebellion? Is it not better to bow to authority
than to be a rebel? Is it not better to keep a beautiful
countenance than an ugly countenance? Is it not better to say kind
things than cruel things? Then where is this saying, I
can't do this because that's the hard way? That's not the
hard way. The way of the transgressors
is hard. Christ said, My yoke is easy. The reason most folks think it's
hard, they never tried it on. And other than that, I've got
no reason to live. He's my banner. The banner over them is Christ. Christ our banner. The glory
of the Lord. Whatever you do, in word or deed. Now stop and think about it.
That's so hard, preacher. I tell you, it's a lot easier
to love than to hate. It's a lot better. It's a lot better on you spiritually.
It's a lot better on you physically. A bitter spirit dries the bones. A merry heart doeth good like
medicine. You never tried it. I'm talking about something you
never tried. Turn to Ephesians 4, verse 30.
Ephesians 4, verse 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit,
whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness... Let me tell you, that's the hard
road. That's the hard road. and wrath, and anger, and clamor,
and evil speaketh, let it be put away from you, with all malice,
that's the hard road. If that's where you live, you've
missed Christ. And be ye kind, kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven
you. That's the easy road. That's
the happy road. That's the Christ road. That's
the Calvary road. That's so. That other route's
hard, the route of the snobbish and the haughty and the arrogant
and the rebel. It's a hard road. It's a hard
road. Folks blame it on inferiority
complexes, and this complex and that complex is blamed on every
complex under the sun except the one that's responsible, and
that's sin and self and satanic power reigning in the heart.
That's what the fault is. When we become one with Christ,
we're molded and melted, baptized into the body of Christ by the
Holy Spirit of God, and we walk in union, union with our head. Our head tells us what to do.
Our head's authority. We follow the head. The head
tells that hand to move, and the head tells that foot to move,
and the head tells that eye to see, and the head tells that
tongue to speak. And then last of all, look at
verse 19, verse 18, wives, verse 19, husbands, verse 20, children,
verse 21, fathers, verse 22, servants, verse 1, chapter 4,
masters. Now Paul goes to the duties which
relate to believers as they're members of a family. And this
is a great big family. And in that family there are
three pairs. in that great big family, their
three pairs, their wives and husbands, their children and
parents, their servants and masters, in every family. I'm not talking
about your local family now, I'm talking about the family
of God. Their three pairs, husband, wives, children, parents, servants
and masters. In verse 18, he said, Wives,
in order to have a happy home, a well-ordered home, a place
of love and contentment. In order to have a home as it
ought to be, these things have to be true. Can't be any other
way. Have to be true. God won't suffer
it to be so any other way. Wives must be in the Lord in
subjection to their husband. Have to be. That's God's divine
order of authority. Have to be. Have to be. Your husband, God said to Eve,
shall rule over you. And then husbands, you want a
happy home, you want a place well-ordered, a place of love
and contentment, you want a home lived in the name of Christ,
for the glory of Christ, love your wife. Love your wife. Respect her. Be tender. Understand, speak kindly. No
home can be built for God's glory where unless these be true. A
wife who is in subjection and submission in the name of Christ,
for the glory of Christ, for the praise of Christ. I can do
all things through Christ which strengthens me. Now you girls
don't intend to be in subjection to your husband, don't marry
him. If you don't intend to follow his leadership, don't marry him.
Stay single. If you don't intend in the name
of Christ and for the glory of Christ to be the kind of wife
that God tells you to be, don't marry. And then husbands, if
you don't intend to love your wife and speak kindly, why don't
you quit speaking like an idiot to your wife, like a heathen,
bawling her out, screaming at her, finding fault with her.
Why don't you speak kindly? Why don't you treat her like
the weaker vessel? Why don't you speak nice to her
like you do to other women? Why don't you do nice things
for her like you do for other women? Huh? Why don't you speak now? Why don't you talk in a way tender,
understanding, with respect? I tell you, we're in trouble
today in this country. These homes are in trouble. It's
not because there's any weakness in the gospel, any weakness in
the home. It's devilment and Satan in people. They're not
doing it for the glory of Christ. I'm going to build my home for
the glory of Christ. And it takes two. One person
can't do it. All right, then he goes to children
and parents. He said, children, you want to be happy? Obey your
parents. Honor and respect your parents.
They're children of this congregation who are killing their mothers
and fathers. I tell you, it breaks my heart I see a woman, she gives
part of her life to give birth to a child. She carries that
child, and she goes through agony, and it takes part of her life
out of her every time she gives birth to that child. She nourishes
it, and cares for it, raises it, and it gets a little bigger,
and then it starts killing her all over again, by killing her
heart, and killing her spirit, and bringing her sorrow, and
causing her to cry. I'm glad I'm not a judge. Obey your parents. Show respect
and kindness. Quit being so sullen. Quit being
so hateful. Quit being so rebellious. Quit
acting like you know everything. You don't know anything. You
don't know anything until you experience it, do you? That takes
a long time. But then he comes to us parents
and says, parents, fathers, don't provoke your children. Some of
you are too hard on your children. Some of you are too easy on them.
There are two pitfalls in raising children, two errors. I've made
them all. Barnard used to say, well, he said, I don't know which
one of these doctrines of the second coming are right, but
I've been right one time because I held them all. Well, we can
speak about these things because we've made every mistake there
is to make. But there are two dangers in
raising children. One is to be too hard on them,
unreasonable. And when you're unreasonable,
you provoke your children to rant. You discourage them. Well, it ain't no use trying,
I can't please the old man anyway. The girl said, no use trying,
I can't please the old woman anyhow. She'll find fault with
me if I do this and find fault with me if I do that and say
no on this and no on that without reason, unreasonable. Provoke
your children, make them rebels, make them rebels. Sometimes we
do it ourselves. We're too hard. We're too unreasonable. We forget.
But then there's that other side of the coin being too easy. Being
too easy. It's a hard job. It takes a lot
of grace. But you know, if we could learn this right here,
this husband-wife deal and this children-parent deal, if we could
learn what we do, do it in the name of Christ. Do it for the glory of Christ.
If it costs, if it's a sacrifice, if it's a surrender, if it's
a submission, If it costs, if it's for Christ's sake. Not just,
you know, I heard about a preacher one time. A fellow was telling
this. He thought he was telling something good. He told about
a preacher whose daughter got in trouble. She came home, told
her father, and he went up in his room, shut the door, and
stayed there for about six weeks. She'd shame the family, and shame
the community, and shame the church, shame this, that, and
the other. You know what his problem was? That wasn't it at all. It was his pride that was hurt.
That's exactly what it was. is his pride. He wasn't thinking
about the glory of Christ. He could have actually, if he
had shown some compassion and concern, like another fellow
I know, his precious little girl came in one day and told him
the problems. He looked at her and tears came
down his cheeks and he said, well, honey, I'll tell you this,
I bet you and Daddy can work it out together. I bet we can
work it out together. Now, which one's a bigger man?
Which one really acted for the glory of Christ? I think sometimes
This heart is so deceitful, so desperately wicked, I wonder
if we, when we think we're doing something for the glory of Christ,
we're not doing it at all for the glory of Christ. We're doing
it for ourselves, to protect our reputation, to protect our
business, or to protect our character, or to protect our profession,
or our doctrine, huh? We're doing it for the glory
of Christ. All of this conviction and principle we have for right
and wrong, is it really for Christ's sake? Who picked the ears of
corn and fed them to his disciples on the Sabbath day? The law wasn't made. Man wasn't
made for the law. The law was made for man. Sabbath day. Man wasn't made
for the Sabbath day. God didn't make me for a law.
He made that law for me. He made that day for me. Now
you think about that. When we come to this place of
this unbending principle and unbending conviction and all
that, I don't think it's for God's glory at all. I think we've
got us a little religious Idle built up and we bow to it and
when somebody chips it we get all annoyed, you know and defend
our position He'd be flexible Not where the gospel is concerned
Paul wouldn't tolerate any compromise on the gospel But he'd have Timothy
circumcised to keep offending the Jew He'd leave off meat to
keep offending that one. He'd do this. He'd do that He'd
go to the synagogue on the Sabbath day keep offending this one.
He could be he was flexible He had a heart. He had a heart. He knew people were people. He
knew they were human beings. He knew they were failing, frailing,
foolish human beings, because he knew he was. That's one of
our problems. That really is where we need
to take inventory. Who am I? What am I? I know what
I am. And when I found that out, it's
a whole lot easier. It's a whole lot easier to be
kind and patient. That's the reason God lets us
fall. You know, falls are good for us. Stumblings and these
things are good for us. I've seen religious people, religious
leaders, and I've thought to myself, I wish God had knocked
that soup out of him. Not that I want to see him hurt,
but I want to see him helped. I want to see God just bring
his nose right down into the ground and rub it good. And then
he wouldn't have to look down to see everybody. He could look
straight out, you know, and there they are. Oh, I wish he would. That's what God's doing to us.
If he ever uses us, Martin said, don't ask God to use you, he
might. But if God is using us, he's going to get us down here
where we know what we're talking about. Parents, don't provoke your children to
anger. It won't be too hard. Don't be too hard, lest they
be discouraged. Don't make them perfect. You
aren't. Don't require them to be without fault. You aren't.
Don't require them to do everything that you think they ought to
do. You don't even do everything you think you ought to do. Don't
require them to walk too straight a line. You've never walked it.
Don't saddle on them a burden you can't bear. And then servants and masters.
Servants, I put in the bulletin Sunday, the way to solve all
these labor problems is right here in these two verses. Servants,
obey your masters, obey in all things your masters according
to the flesh. Not with our services, men pleasers, apple polishers,
is that what we used to call them in the Navy? Apple polish,
that's not it at all. But with singleness of heart,
fear in God, whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord. You know, if I went to work for
Don McGinnis there, and I went to where I got a job for working,
and you well thank God we got jobs. Instead of murmuring, complaining,
thank God we got a job to go to and got the health that enables
us to go. I know a lot of folks in the
hospital in traction, you know, laid up, paralyzed from the waist
down, give anything in the world to get up and go to work. They say I've got a job with
Don. The thing for me to do is go out there and work. Put in eight hours of work. Treat
that company just like I owned it, or better, just like God
owned it. And do my job. And don't pick up anything, take
it home that belongs to him. That's not mine, that's his.
And use his tools, and use his electricity, and use all these
things as if it were mine. as if it were God's. And if you
give me a job to do, just do it with concentration and enthusiasm
and zeal as if I was doing it for Jesus Christ. That's what
it says here. Do it as unto the Lord. Just
work and put in my time. Don't sit around and wait on
the whistle to blow or talk about wanting this and all these different
things, but just give myself like I was working for God. and
my wages be content to a certain extent as he has the ability
to pay. I'll tell you this, if I produce good material, and
like I was talking to a man, a businessman the other day,
if he said, if I could get people to do their job and not have
so many rejects, I could pay them more money. But they do
a halfway job and I send out the product and they send it
back and do a halfway job, send it out, send it back, there goes
all the profit, I can't pay them anything. Do it right. Do it the best you can. And then
he goes down here, chapter 4, verse 1 says, Masters, all right,
now Don's got an obligation. I got an obligation to him, I'm
the servant. And it's no, listen, servant? Man, I tell you, since
when did the working man become any less than anybody else? I
tell you, there's character in hard work. That man digging the
ditch, that man working under the house, there's some glory
to that. Dirt on your hands and sweat
on your brow is to the glory of God. I tell you who dishonors
God is the man that makes a living and does not work. The man who
makes a living by taking from somebody who does work. That's
the no count. The loafer, that's the no count.
The man that tries to see how little he can do, that's the
man that doesn't know God. That's the man that doesn't know God.
God said to Adam, you make your living by the sweat of your brow,
dirt on your hands. That's glory to that. Glory to
that. And he says, Master, all right,
Don, you got a responsibility to me. Now, give your servants
that which is just and equal. If I hire a man to work for me,
I got a family, I know what it costs to feed a family. It would
cost the same thing to feed him. I know what it costs to drive
an automobile. It costs him the same thing. I know what it costs
to put kids through school. It costs him the same thing.
It costs him the same thing. And I'm supposed to pay him what
is just and equal. That's right, according to his
responsibility. And I'm supposed to get, not
put him, I'm supposed to treat him like I'd want to be treated.
Treat him with respect. The man that comes to work in
a suit and a shirt and attire is entitled to no more respect
than that man who's got greasy overall. He's a man. He's creating
the image of God. He's a child of God. He's due
just as much respect as anybody else. Just as much respect. How are you, sir? I'm glad to
see you this morning. I'm fine, sir. How are you? Will
that be good? and not put him under condition.
If I want a vacation, he likes vacations, too. If I want to
take a day off that I need to go somewhere, he needs a day
off, too. The whole thing's right here.
You wouldn't have to sit across the table and say, you give me
this, I'll give you that. I won't give you that. You will
give me this. I'll quit. Oh, no. Not people who know God. People who know God follow God's
Word. They follow God's word. That solves the whole thing.
That's family. That's family business. But they say that's
utopia. All right, but it's still, I
may not bring it to pass in the whole world, but I'll tell you
one place I can bring it to pass. I've got a little old study in
there and a pulpit out here, and I'm going to do my dead-level
best to serve for the glory of the Lord. And you've got a little
old place where you work, you women in the home, daddies and
parents and children, and servants and masters. I may get laughed
at and ridiculed and everything else, but I tell you this, I'm
going to do what I do in the name of Christ, for the glory
of Christ. And you know what it said over
here? Turn back there to Colossians in just a minute. In Colossians
4, it says, Masters, you remember this, verse 1, you've got a Master
in heaven. Oh, boy, you've got a Master
in heaven. It's not always best to be the
boss. He's got a terrible responsibility,
because he's going to give an account. He that is put in charge
of many things is going to give an account. Whatever you do, after the service, whatever you
do, in word or deed, do it in the name Our Father, we thank Thee for
the Word. Oh, how convicting, how it slays us, brings us down
into the dust. But Lord, we can do these things
for Christ's sake and through Christ which strengthens us.
If it pleased Thee to reveal Christ in us and shed abroad
his love in our hearts, make us one with him, walk with him,
the mind of Christ will be ours. We seek not to know Christ only
to have the benefits of Christ, but the nature of Christ, our
Lord, to be like him. O Lord, do a work for us which
we can't do for ourselves, and may we glorify his matchless
name. For Christ's sake we pray.

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