Paul's Epistles - Ephesians - Part 12:
Children, Employees and Employers
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org
SERMON INTRODUCTION
In Paul’s 35 years of ministry, since his
conversion in Damascus, we have recorded in the Holy Bible many of his
epistles, or letters.
Paul’s first journey took place from 33AD
(the year of his conversion), through 46AD, leaving Damascus in 38AD.
Paul’s 2nd journey began in
50AD, four years later; during this time he wrote 1st and 2nd
Thessalonians, and Galatians, with his second journey ending in 54AD.
Paul’s 3rd journey began in
55AD and lasted until 58AD where he found himself imprisoned in Judea from
58-60AD. During his 3rd journey Paul wrote 1st and 2nd
Corinthians, and Romans. We have no record of writings from Paul during his
prison time between 58-60AD in Judea.
After his release from Judea, Paul
traveled on his voyage to Rome from 60-61AD, writing Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians and Philemon, and finding himself in a Roman prison in 63AD.
Released soon after his incarceration,
Paul then writes the epistles Hebrews, 1st Timothy, Titus and his
final letter before his death 2 Timothy, which was written from a Roman prison
he was placed in during 66-68AD.
Though the bible does not tell us when or
how Paul died, it is believed by scholars that he was beheaded in 68AD in May
or June.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCE Ephesians 6:1-9
Children, obey your parents in the Lord,
for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and
mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that
you may enjoy long life on the earth.”[a]
4 Fathers,[b] do not exasperate your
children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with
respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when
their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your
heart.7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were
serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward
each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same
way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and
yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
Paul explains how the Body of
Believer’s are to live as Spiritually Mature, and many need to Instructions for
a Christian Household.
The
message of this epistle to the church is “The Church, The Body of Christ”.
Over the past few weeks
Paul has explained the need to be Spiritually Mature and walking in Love like
Christ before building the Christian marriage, home and family.
Last week we looked at
husbands and wives and their responsibility to each other, submitting to one
another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives turning to your
husband’s in all things, and husbands loving your wife with your entire life,
giving all, even yourself for her.
Once you have become
spiritually mature, and walk in the Love of Christ, you may have the Christian
marriage.
When you treat your
spouse properly, according to God’s Word, you can have the Christian household
proper for raising children.
Today Paul gives
instruction on raising Christian children in the Christian household.
I. CHILDREN
HONOR YOUR PARENTS IN THE LORD, FOR THIS IS RIGHT
a. In the Lord
i. Ungodly parents can still be honored without having to obey ungodly
instruction
ii. Just as instructions to wives to honor their
husbands, they are not commanded to obey ungodly requests
iii. Honor simply put means to show respect for
b. Honor your
father and mother
i. Which is the first commandment with a promise
ii. “So that it may go well with you, and you may enjoy
long life on earth.”
c. Deuteronomy 5:16
i. “Honor your father and
your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that
you may live long and that it may
go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
ii. If God is leading you, what He has in store for you
will be based on your obedience.
iii. Honoring your parents is an act of obedience which
is rewarded by God Himself, and His promise is you will live long and life will
go well with you in the land He gives you.
II. FATHERS,
DO NOT EXASPERATE YOUR CHILDREN
a. Exasperate =
frustrate
i. Do not provoke your children to the point of wrath
1. Anger, annoy, irritate, antagonize
ii. We can do this by
1. Continually
nagging
a. Once an issue is dealt with, let it go
2. Purposely pushing
a. correct a path with proper discipline, do not annoy
or antagonize the child
b. Empty threats, broken promises, lack of proper
discipline, this is just pushing your child around, and teaching him that you
(and authority such as God) is unstable, untrustworthy, unreliable, incapable
of caring for you, and cannot be leaned on or turned to in life when you are in
trouble.
3. Picking on for
your enjoyment
a. This only frustrates, irritates and angers your
children
b. You are teaching them they are a toy for your enjoyment,
rather than a treasure from God
c. Psalm
127:3 “Children are a gift from
the Lord; they are a reward from him.”
4. This is one of
the many reasons Abortion is wrong with God
a. Psalm 139:13 “For you created my inmost being; you
knit me together in my mother's womb.”
b. God says it is wrong to “murder”
i.
Genesis 9:6
ii.
Matthew 15:19
iii.
Matthew 19:18
iv.
Mark 10:19
v.
Luke 18:20
vi.
John 8:44
vii.
Acts 3:14
viii.
Romans 1:28-29
ix.
Romans 13:9
c. The unborn IS a person according to God
i.
Psalm 15:5
ii.
Luke 1:44
iii.
Jeremiah 1:5
iv.
Matthew 1:20-21
d. Scripture calls the unborn “children”
i.
Luke 1:41
ii.
Exodus 21:22-23
e. The unborn are “known” personally by God
i.
Psalm 139:15-16
ii.
Jeremiah 1:5
f. God’s Word is clear that the unborn ARE people!
i.
And God’s Word is very clear, murdering people is wrong.
ii.
Abortion is murdering people and morally wrong in God’s eyes.
5. Some argue it’s a woman’s right…
a. It is, it is everyone’s right to sin against God,
it’s called freewill.
b. However, You better be careful not
to help others in their sin.
c. 1 Timothy 5:22 “…do not take part in the sins of others, keep
yourself pure.”
d. 1 John 3:9 “no one born of God makes a practice of sinning.”
e. Acts 5:29 “We MUST obey God rather than men!”
b. Bring them up
in the training and admonition of the Lord
i. Training means discipline, education
ii. Admonition means warnings and rebukes
iii. In other words, raise them educating them about the
discipline of Christianity (following Christ), and correct them with warnings
from scripture, and rebukes (or disciplines for wrong behavior) as scripture
dictates.
c. Training and
instruction of the Lord
i. Remember, this can only work if;
1. You are spiritually mature
2. You are walking in the Love of the Lord
3. You are treating your spouse scripturally
4. THEN you will be able to raise your children
accordingly
III. SLAVES (BOND SERVANTS) BE OBEDIENT TO YOUR MASTERS (BOSSES)
a. Bond servants
(slaves) in Roman times
i. Were workers for masters (employers)
ii. Usually in trade for room and board and a small
plot of land
iii. Some were bond servants because of debt they could
not pay
iv. Some were voluntarily bond servants because they
had no family, or land or were very poor
b. Bond servants
(employees) respect your masters (employers)
i. Respect with fear and sincerity of heart
ii. Just as you obey Christ
1. Why?
2. Scripture says to
3. Not only to win favor when the bosses eyes are on
you, but as slaves to Christ, doing the Will of God from your heart
c. Serve
wholeheartedly
i. As if you were serving the Lord not people
ii. Because you know the Lord will reward each of you
for whatever good you do, whether bond servant or free man
d. Masters
(employers)
i. Treat your employees the same way!
ii. Do NOT threaten them since you know that HE who is
both their master and yours is in heaven.
CONCLUSION – THERE IS NO FAVORITISM WITH HIM
The theme we
see in Ephesians is clear, we are all the same in God’s eyes.
There are only
two kinds of people, those who belong to the Lord, and those who do not.
Whether you are
Jew, Gentile, Bond servant or free man, you MUST treat others with respect, and
do not consider yourself better than them.
Romans 12:3
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not
think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself
with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to
each of you.”
You must
examine yourself, with sober judgment, and recognize that we are all the same.
God is NO
respecter of persons, and demands we treat each other with respect.
So, if you are
Spiritually mature, walking in the Love of Christ, treating your spouse
according to scripture, you will have the ability to raise your children
correctly, and there will be a pleasing environment in your workplace, whether
you are the employer or the employee.
Of course, if you are not spiritually mature, there
will be problems.
If you are not treating your spouse according to
scripture, there will be problems.
If your foundation is broke, then your children
will not be raised correctly, and there will be problems.
If you are not an employee working as if you are
working for the Lord, there will be problems, or if the employer is not
treating his employees with the same respect, there will be problems.
However, we can call on God through prayer to
reveal these things to us, so that we may correct where we can, and God can
work where we cannot.
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