Problem Solving Techniques for Christian Living, No. 2

Colossians 1:25-29

COL-209

2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All scripture is inspired by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

1 Corinthians 2:9: "But just as it is written, things which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him."

1 Corinthians 2:10: "For to us God revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God."

Romans 15:4: "For whatever things were written in earlier times, were written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope."

We are studying Colossians 1:25-29. Our subject is "The mystery of the church, segment number 24.

The Church-Age Believer

God has provided the church-age believer with His thinking in the form of Bible doctrine, recorded inherently in the Scriptures. Thus, every Christian knows the divine rules governing right and wrong. There is no guessing upon this subject, and these rules of God are not subject to human revision. They're not subject to being evaluated by the mind of man. Every Christian, therefore, has an objective basis of divine viewpoint truth, and the provision of the indwelling Holy Spirit, in order to guide him through the Word of God; that is, the mind of God, in order to give him power to obey the will of God.

The Old Testament

None of this was true in the Old Testament. They didn't have a full scripture. They didn't have the indwelling Holy Spirit. They didn't have a full knowledge of the principles of doctrine. And they didn't have the power to do right. They just had the encouragement and the inspiration, but they always failed.

So, we have something very special in this particular age that Paul speaks about in Colossians 1:26, where he describes, as a mystery (a secret) in past stages – the dispensation of the church.

How Christians Meet Problems

God the Father has also given Christians a variety of solutions for meeting the problems in this life during the dispensation of the church. We have already looked at a number of these.

The filling of the Holy Spirit received through the confession to the Father of one's known evil, to restore and to maintain temporal fellowship, provides us with the basis for successful living. It's the difference between being a loser and a winner in life – the simple filling of the Holy Spirit. So, when you're finding yourself a loser in life, you need to go back and say, "What's my status on temporal fellowship?

There's the faith rest technique in dealing with problems beyond one's human ability to resolve.

There is meeting one's needs in life through prayer, which has originated in heaven, and therefore, is the request of the will of God.

We have pointed out the development of divine viewpoint for our personal guidance in life by storing full knowledge doctrine – doctrine that we have learned, and are positive toward in one's human spirit reservoir.

We have seen that we counter mental-attitude sins with mental-attitude love, which comes from the fruit of the Spirit. The result of being filled with the spirit gives us mental attitude love – being angry without sinning, and never permitting the anger to continue beyond sunset.

Meeting one's personal death with the special grace of God for dying, which comes to the grace-oriented Christian. Marital strife is resolved by obedience to God's distinct roles of authority for husband and wife, as revealed in Scripture, and avoiding trying to meet those problems with the intensity of emotion.

We have seen meeting personal temptation to evil from the sin nature of the world system, and Satan by dependence upon the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to do right. And one of the ways we learn to do right is by not learning about evil.

Then we have been told about dealing with the ever-present neglect that is inherent in the Christian life – the neglect of attending the local church worship services on Sunday. And that is to be resisted in obedience to Scripture, which requires such attendance for our spiritual nutrition, and without which we will be defeated. It is no small problem to be absent from the local church services. And, sooner or later, Christians who embark upon that path get farther and farther away from reality. And I don't care how much of the Bible you know, or how long you've been a Christian, you cannot escape that biblical principle. Do not neglect the assembling of yourselves together.

Let's look at a few more problem areas of major importance now. And again, I remind you that these are just some examples. We have scores of them through Scriptures. And, of course they're all dependent upon positive volition.

Giving

So, let's deal with the very touchy one right off the bat this morning: overcoming resistance to providing generous offerings to finance a genuine local church ministry of the Word of God. Why do I not give offerings? I'm too young. I'm just starting off in life. I'm not rich. I have debts to pay off. Oh boy, is that a great one? The devil loves that one more than anyone: I have debts to pay off. I've got to get credit cards cleared off. I'll do it someday, as soon as this deal I have comes through. I'll do it when I get a little more reserve of security. I have to take care of my family; and, on-and-on it goes. And not a one of them is valid. Not a one of them, in view of some Scriptures.

I direct your attention first of all to 1 Corinthians 16:2: "On the first day of every week (that is, Sunday), let each one of you put aside and save as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come." Historically, Paul is referring to a special fund which is being raised to relieve the famine that is taking place in Jerusalem, and the poverty of the Christians who are there. And he's going about. The churches are collecting these funds, and he's taking it together, and then, with a committee, he's taking this to Jerusalem.

So he says, "Here's the way Christians collect money. You do it on the basis of a freewill choice, because you're not under the Law of the Old Testament. Therefore, you don't tithe. The reason you can't tithe in the church age is that you don't have anything to tithe from. In the Old Testament, the Jew possessed certain things. It was his – not God's. Therefore, he could give 10%. A Christian cannot give a 10% tithe, because it all belongs to God. He can't give God what's already his.

So, don't ever disgrace yourself, and show that you don't understand the principle of the grace age by talking about tithes and offerings. As soon as you hear anybody say that, you know that person is out of touch with the marvelous reality of the dispensation of the church. He's still living back there in the Old Testament. You and I don't have a thing.

Job

2 Corinthians 9:6-8: "Now this I say: he who sow sparingly shall also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudging or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed." Wow. Verse 8 says, "You can't out-give God. God is able to make all grace abound to you. And he's talking about money here, in this context: "So, that always having all sufficiency and everything, I'll give you logistical grace. I'll take care of you. You'll have your food. You'll have your clothing. You'll have your basic shelter, and the basic needs of life." You may have an abundance for every good deeded, so that the more you give to God's work, the more He's going to give you back.

So, do you have some debts you can't pay? The way you pay them is by paying God (taking care of God's work) as the Spirit of God guides you. But you never do nothing for the Lord's work.

2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 are the place that gives instruction for Christian giving. There's a little bit here and there elsewhere, but this is the basic place you find Christian giving. And, of course, there is not a syllable about tithing in these two chapters. There is not a bit of it, because this is all grace, church-age different. And you have to learn how to live under this principle, or you will not receive, even for your giving, done the wrong way – there will not be rewards in heaven for it. And this is one of the great ways you store treasures in heaven.

2 Corinthians 9:7, "Let each one of you do just as he has purposed in his heart (between you and God), not grudgingly" – not because somebody's forcing you, like passing an offering plate under you so that everybody can see whether you slip something in or not: "For God loves a cheerful giver." That's why we have offering boxes. This is between you and God. It's one of the spiritual sacrifices of your priesthood. And it's nobody's business. It is only between you and God.

However, how much you give, 2 Corinthians 9:6 says, depends on how much you get back from God. If you sow a small crop, you'll get a small harvest.

Then there's Luke 16:13-15, "No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon;" that is, money: "Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things, and they were scoffers at Him."

This is one of the most irritating things about proclaiming the Word of God. And you've had the experience, as I have it all the time. People who will not darken the doors of our meeting hall here again because they heard something they didn't like, or that they didn't approve of. Or somebody was mistreating them by expecting them to rise to the standard of Scripture, and they didn't like that.

Now, here's these Pharisees, who were lovers of money, and here's the Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Teacher of doctrine, and they're ridiculing Him. They're scoffing. They're saying, "That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Can you listen to this guy – this poor carpenter? What does he know, telling us that you can't love money and serve God?

"And He (Jesus) said to them, 'You are those who justify yourselves.'" You complement each other and you make each other feel good: "in the sight of men. But God knows your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God." And I'll guarantee you that if the Bible ever said anything that's true, that is true. God despises anybody who loves money.

So, don't be a big greedy lover of money, and walk around saying, "God is very fond of me." He's not. The Holy Spirit used "kataphroneó" (kat-af-ron-eh'-o) – the English word "despises."

I Timothy 6:9: "But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare, and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction." Do you want to get rich, by not giving offerings (that's one way to get rich)? You will fall into temptation. The more money you have, the freer you are to do evil things. Therefore, you'll fall into snares. If you do not know how to handle your prosperity with great spiritual maturity, you'll do many foolish and harmful things, and they will eventually plunge you into ruin and destruction (that means: in terms of your spiritual potential). And nowhere will that destruction be more evident than at the Judgment Seat of Christ – what might have been that you blew.

Then there's a very sobering statement about the exercise of the dealing with making the spiritual sacrifice of our substance, which does not come easy, and which some Christians find very hard to do. And the problem solving is, in part, a comparison with other people. How does it work out for them?

Luke 12:20: "But God said to him." This is the man who was so rich that he had to build more barns to hold his goods: "You fool". In verse 19, he has the barns full. Everything is there. It's all packed in – added buildings are flooded with his goods: "I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come. Take your ease: eat; drink; and, be merry.'"

Where in heaven's name has any Christian ever picked up the idea that his purpose in life is to eat, drink, and be merry – the good life? We are soldiers. We are working under hardships. We are working under limitations. We are working under scraping together what we have to do the best, on occasion, that we can. At the same time, we rejoice in great prosperity that God gives us, which gives us great freedom for an outreach. But it's always in the battle.

"But God said to him, 'You fool. This very night, your soul will be required of you." You're going to die, and now who will own what you have prepared.

Now Solomon, because he was smart, in the Book of Ecclesiastes, observes this exact thing. He says, "I'm packing up things. I'm cumulating riches on every occasion. That's all I spend my time doing – business. And it just occurred to me that I'm not too crazy about my kids who are going to be spending this. I'm not going to spend this. I'm going to leave somebody behind. They're going to spend it. And are they going to spend it in a way that it ends up treasures for me in heaven?" No.

Solomon realized that only he could take the money he had. And if he didn't spend it before he died, to see that it went into heaven, it wasn't going to happen after him.

Luke 12:21" "So is the man who lays up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward God." Yes, this man had it, and he left it all behind, whereas he could have taken it with him by sending it up ahead.

1 Timothy 6:17-19: "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited, or to fix their hope on uncertainty of riches, but on God, Who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy." There's a great deal of truth in the old adage that says: "here today; and, gone tomorrow," or: "the prime of life now; and, frailty tomorrow. That's what this is talking about. You are rich in this present world. You have your security. All is well. No, it isn't, because your heart is confident that your riches are there to carry you through. You have everything you need. It is God Who richly supplies us with the things that we need to enjoy.

1 Timothy 6:18: "Instruct those who are rich to do good – to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasures of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed." What is "life indeed?" What you have in heaven, and what you will enjoy of eternal rewards. That's where real life is – not the rewards that you have here.

We have so many verses. I grabbed a sheet of paper, and I started writing down. I went from top to bottom, one verse after another. I'm giving you just a highlight collection here.

There's Matthew 6:19-21, on the subject of giving our offerings, and of our material integrity: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Why do Christians not want to give? Why do Christians come into this room Sunday-after-Sunday, and never hit those offering boxes? For the simple reason: their treasure is in themselves on this earth someplace else. Their treasure is not in heaven. So they don't worry about sending it up there, where it will really be a blessing and a virtue for them.

Luke 6:38 handles this particular problem in life: "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure; pressed down; shaken together; and, running over. They will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure, it shall be measured to you in return." Oh boy, how stupid do you have to be? That's good old plain, ordinary, Holy Spirit English right there. If you really want to get more, then you give more. Give, and it'll be given to you by God. And it'll be given in good measure. It'll be pressed down. It'll be shaken together, so it's as packed as it can be. It'll even run over. Your container (your spiritual maturity structure will not be able to hold what God will give you. And then you will understand what the psalmist meant when he said, "My cup runneth over."

"They will pour into your lap." Why? Because God's going to give to you the way you give to Him: "For by your standard of measure, it'll be measured to you in return." That's it. That's the way it works. You can't change it.

In the Old Testament, the Jews had a very definitive standard. God said, "I'm going to make a deal with you. 90% is yours. Do what you want with it. But 10% of what I give you, you put aside. That belongs to Me. And you don't touch it. It is Mine. And you give it, week-by-week. This was pointed up in many places, but the problem was (this is hard to understand): they weren't satisfied with nine-tenths. They started stealing from the nine-tenths, and giving God one twentieth instead of a 10& – giving Him a little less.

Well, Malachi, in the last book of the Old Testament, has something to say about this. And I mean, here we are, coming right down to the end of the book of Malachi, and of all things, what does God talk about to the Jewish people, before he is going to be silent for the next 400 years? About their offerings. Now how much of a brain does it take to suggest to you that this must be very important with a person's spiritual and eternal wellbeing in heaven – what he does with his money now.

Malachi 3:7-10: "From the days of your fathers, you have turned aside for My statutes (among them, My rules about 10% tithing), and have not kept them. If you return to Me, and I will return to you." You start obeying My rules, and I will start blessing you, "says the Lord of hosts. But you will say, 'How shall we return?'" What did we do wrong? What do we have to do to get your blessing?

Malachi 3:8-9: "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me. But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me." That was true of the whole nation. The whole nation was encouraging each other to cut short the 10% tithe which belonged to God. Now, if that part belonged to God, they couldn't touch it. To keep it was to steal.

However, we, in the New Testament – we don't have anything. Anything we use of what God has enabled us to earn, belongs to Him. So, all of this is bunko about: "I have bills to pay. I have salaries to meet. I have credit cards to clear up. I have to take care of my college things for my children, and on and on." It doesn't matter. Nothing comes first ahead of the offerings that belong to God.

Now, if somebody gives you a bank account, and says, "You may keep this, and care for me, as my steward, so that it may grow, and then you take from that person's bank account to pay your personal needs, that's called embezzlement. That is a crime. That's a very serious felony. And unless you're the executive head of a nation, you'll go to prison for a felony. Otherwise it's okay. You won't have to worry about that. But that's embezzlement. Can you imagine how many Christians are embezzling from God? They never walk up to an offering box, but they keep walking up to that paycheck. They keep walking up to that paymaster at their work, and collecting the check. And here it is: a whole check. You're God steward. And what do you do with it? Just have a good time. And God is wondering when you're going to take care of His, which should have been first. You're embezzling. Do you think you're going to get away with that?

Malachi 3:10 says, "Bring the whole tithe." Now, this is not for us, but this is a spiritual lesson for the Jews: "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse (to the temple), so that there may be food in My house. And test Me now in this,' says the Lord of hosts, 'and see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.'" There's that same principle again. Give to God, and you haven't given anything? It's His to begin with. But if you'll be a faithful steward, He'll keep taking care of you here. But He'll give you a great reward for doing what? For giving to Him what belongs to Him in the first place. That is really something terrific.

Then there is one more verse to look at. 1 Corinthians 4:2 is the bottom line: "In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards (which you are) of God's money – that one be found trustworthy." If you do not give an offering week-by-week on the Lord's Day, don't compliment yourself. Don't list all these things that are the problems that you feel you must, as a Christian, in integrity, take care of first. Integrity is not embezzling from God's funds to use on your funds, which came about in the course of whatever dealings you have pursued in life that brought about these circumstances.

So, there's a lot in Scripture to help you to overcome this personal human problem of not providing generous offerings to finance, especially, a genuine local church ministry that's propagating the Word of God. That's even more serious. There are a lot of places you should never give money to. And what might God do if we have a people who gather together Wednesday night – either they pray or they just are there, and we ask Him for these big things, such as I listed for you this morning? He just might blow us out of the water, and do it. He's just sitting in heaven tapping His foot, waiting for people of the grace-age, who have magnificent privileges, and powers, and blessings already stored, waiting to be checked on, and brought down from heaven. All you have to do is qualify for them, by your own personal filling of the Spirit and integrity.

Satan's World System of Life

Then there's another problem – another really big, major one. And this one makes people hopping mad when we talk about it, so let's do it. We like to have something to offend everybody in every service, so that you feel it's been worth it. The attraction of Satan's world system of life. What's that system of life in this world? Well, it's based on force; on greed; on selfishness; on ambition; on pleasure; and, worst of all on pride. How many people have departed from God's work because of their pride? They had pride over some stupid triviality that, once they die, nobody's even going to remember, or that will be worth anything. But they've made major decisions of life because their pride has been injured.

What is it that attracts Christians to the world system? As I read to you the Scripture last week: Paul said, "Believers have become the enemies of God. And their lives, which were fruitful, have become useless." And he says, "We must weep for them." And I weep when I see Christians who once did such tremendous things, all of a sudden, chose to go with this world system in some respect: its moral values; its lifestyle; and, its lack of personal self-restraint, nobility, and honor, and all of a sudden there's nothing in life. It has all crashed down. And people who once carried great esteem, now carry people's great pity.

Now, having said that, I cannot leave it there, without telling you that that is not an uncommon human experience. But in the age of grace, there's always a way back.

David, when he fell into the case of adultery, very properly said, in Psalms 51:11, "Oh God, please don't take the Holy Spirit away from me. You've given me great wisdom, because I have the Holy Spirit, and other men don't. Don't take Him away." You can never pray that prayer, because He never will leave you – now for a moment. And for that reason, the confession of known sins (1 John 1:9), always brings you right back in. And once it's been confessed, you're back on the road up. If you keep going on carnality, you'll end up in reversionism, and reversion will end up in the sin unto death. You can stop it by your simple confession, and everything turns around. And you forget it. You put it behind you. And you never think about it again. And if some fool reminds you of it, you just treat it like the old Irishman did when the donkey kicked him – you just consider the source, and let it go at that.

But you don't grieve over what God has forgiven. He's forgotten it. So have you.

However, in the meantime, it's very easy to get trapped by the world system. It is so glamorous. Even poor Demas, Paul's associate, did.

I John 2:15-17: "Do not love the world, nor the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lusts of the flesh (the sin nature), the lust of the eyes (greed), and the boastful pride of life (arrogance) is not from the Father. It is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lust, but the one who does the will of God abides forever".

Then there's Galatians 6:7-9: "Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever man sows (now, this is in the moral sense, at this point), this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh (that is, the sin nature) reap corruption." That means "rottenness." You'll have a rotten life, and you'll do rotten things. And everyone around you who sees you doing those things, will know that you're a rotten person, and doing rotten things, because of the sin nature – that rotten thing that runs your life: "But the one who sows to the Spirit shall, from the Spirit, reap eternal life" – living things. Your life will be alive with wonderful things. Your life will be fruitful. It'll be living, eternal things that will be the result. And that's the way it should be.

So, Galatians 6:9 said, "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for, in time, we shall reap if we do not grow weary." We do good because it's the thing to do.

Well, the psalmist gave us some good advice on how to deal with this attraction of the world. Solomon understood that. Ironically, he tells his son, "Don't have anything to do with a loose woman. Don't have anything to do with a loose girl, who indicates to you that she's an easy target, and she's pliable in your hands." Solomon says, "Give her a wide berth. Don't associate with her. Stay away from her."

Now, that advice goes for all kinds of things – not only the morally loose woman, but the one who is spiritually incompetent, and the one who is without the grace that a Christian woman can only have, who has been steeped in the Word of God. And Solomon had it on target, telling his son, "Do you want to mess up your life? Then you play with somebody like that instead of running in the other direction."

So, these kinds of things, and these kinds of people are attractive. What will turn me off toward someone like that, and onto Jesus Christ?

Psalm 39:4-6: "Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the extent of my days. Let me know how transient I am. Behold, You have made my days as hand-breaths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight. Surely, every man at his best (that is, when he is really physically in good health) is at best a mere breath. Surely every man walks about as a phantom (as a ghost already – the walking dead). Surely they make an uproar for nothing. He amasses riches, and does not know who will gather them." How true? And this is a prayer we constantly should ask. Pray it to God.

Psalms 90:12: "Lord, make me to know my end. Teach me to number my days." When you get that in mind, then you will not be forever waiting to do the right, and to fulfill the burdens that God has placed upon your heart. And you will not play loose with the opportunity of the moment. You're not going to be here forever: Here today; and, gone, just like that, tomorrow.

Then there's Psalm 90:10, "As for the days of our life, they contain 70 years, or if due to strength, 80 years. Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow. For soon it is gone, and we fly away." God says, I'll give everybody, normally, 70 years to live. For some of you, I'll give genetic, and other structures, and, you'll live to be 80. And for some of you, I'll even stretch it out a little beyond that. But it's all fleeting. It's all going. Up there is where it's real, not down here. And this business of living our lives as if only what's here is what it's all about, is to pay a very great price. And to wait for a better day – I warn Christians against that. I don't want anybody standing at the Judgment Seat of Christ, ever accusing me that I did not fulfill my duty of warning you to do what's right, and to do what you can now, not when you think you can. What God's work needs comes first in your life. That's it. That's all that life is about. If you don't think that's true, follow your star, and someday, at the Judgment Seat of Christ, we'll see who's right and who's wrong.

Then there's Luke 9:23-25: "And Jesus was saying to them all, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross (his life's mission), and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life (to live the good life here) shall lose it. But whoever loses his life (invested in eternity), for My sake, he is the one who will save it (who will have value from his life – save it for blessing at the Judgment Seat). For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses (or forfeits) himself?" That's a good question. What do you have? Everything on a material level, and security up to your eyeballs. And it is all left behind, and you go as a pauper to heaven. And you've lost the potential of a life of divine good service. If you've lost that, you don't have anything more than some unbeliever does.

Three hours before he was killed, Beatle rock-n-roll artist John Lennon was talking to a group of young people. He talked about the progress they had made, and the freedoms that they had come to, and the things of restriction that they had thrown off, and how they have prospered. He said, "And we should thank whoever, or whatever, is out there, that we've all done so well." And he did really well. He was where everybody would like to be in life on a material level. Three hours later, some madman assassinated him. And John Lennon now knows whoever or whatever is out there. And does he ever wish that he could be back here, and learn to number his days, and come into touch with reality – the reality that the Bible tells us all about, and that you people know so well. But the world out there is so blinded, and Christians, unbelievably, are blinded enough to play the same game. That is hard to understand.

The Evil Lusts of the Old Sin Nature

Here's the next one. This is a tough one too: the enslavement to the evil lusts of the old sin nature. Psalm 119:9: "How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your Word."

Psalm 119:11: "Your Word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You." These principles overlap one another. This is the person who is enslaved to doing right – the person looks you in the eye and says, "Yeah, I know what the right thing is to do, but I just choose the wrong. I can't do it." Well get into the Word then. It is the water of the Word that flushes out the sewage and the filth of the sin nature, and breaks Satan's deception and hold on you.

Psalm 119:156: "And I will meditate on thy precept (I think about them), and regard Your ways." I'll have respect for doctrinal principles.

Psalm 119:60: "I shall delight and Your statutes (your guidelines). And I shall not forget Your Word." If you do that, you're not going to have any stomach for the world's evil system. You'll find that the sin nature's back is very quickly broken. It has already been broken. It does not have any authority over you, once you became a Christian.

In Romans 6:6-7, Paul says, "Knowing this, that our old self (the old sin nature) was crucified with him." It was crucified on the cross with Christ: "That our body of sin might be done away with, and that we should no longer be slaves to sin." This control over us has been broken at the cross, so that our physical bodies don't have to be slaves of evil: "For He Who has died is freed from sin." Nobody has to explain to you that the vilest human being, once he's dead, and once he has his rendezvous with his destiny with the executioner – once he's dead, he doesn't sin anymore. Once that body is gone, he will not sin again. And we Christians have that sin nature broken. If we sin, we choose to do it.

Then, in Romans 6:17-19, Paul says, "But thanks be to God that, though you were slaves of the sin nature, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching (doctrine) to which you have been committed – week-by-week, by the local pastor-teacher in the local assembly meetings: "And having been freed from that sin nature, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members (your body parts) as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now presents your members (your body parts) as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification." Let God set you apart. That is something terrific and wonderful.

Employment

There is time to touch one more. These are seemingly some of the most important: these last few. This one is on employment – in business, and dealing with your employer. How many times Christians have problems with the people that they work for? What problem solutions does Scripture have for that, whether you're an employer or an employee?

Ephesians 6:5-6: "Slaves or servants ('employees' in our terms), be obedient to those who are your masters (or your employers), according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in 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." You do your job with integrity even when nobody is watching you, because you understand that, as a Christian, you are serving God when you serve your employer.

Ephesians 6:7-8: "With goodwill, 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 he be slave or free." Now that is a great promise. Do you mean if I'm a faithful employee; if I do my job with integrity; I do a quality job; and, I put myself out for the money I'm paid for, that God is going to reward me in heaven? That's a divine good service. Yeah. Every time you are at work and do a great genuine service for your employer, you are storing treasures in heaven.

Ephesians 6:9, on the other hand: "Masters (employers), do the same thing to them. Treat your employees fairly, and give up threatening, knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven, and there's no partiality with Him." You are going to face God just as your employees will face God, and you'll be accountable.

Titus 2:9-10 has a good word on this: "Urge bond slaves (here again, employees, in our terms) to be subject to their own masters (or employers) in everything; to be well pleasing; not argumentative; and, not pilfering, but showing all good faith that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect." You do the job the way it's supposed to be done.

I've had Christians tell me that they've lost their job. I say, "What has happened?" They say, "Well, I had a better way of doing it, and they didn't like it." I say, "Why did you do it?" They say, "Well, they should have done it my way." Okay, you can go ahead and do it your way now, because you got fired. And don't hire your wife. She's always argumentative. She has better ways of doing things, usually. And you think it's uncomfortable that she often is right.

So, let's look at one more. 1 Timothy 6:1-2: "Let all who are under the yoke as slaves (or employees) regard their own masters (or employers) as worthy of all honor, so that, as believers, the name of God and our doctrine may not be spoken against. And let those who have believers as their masters not be disrespectful to them, because they are brethren, but let them serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefits are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles."

Now, it's nice if you're a Christian, and your employer is a Christian. That is a terrific combination, and they should be treated with even more respect and more honor, because you're partners in God's work in that very employment that you're engaged in.

Now, with our time gone, I have to leave one more that requires some more detailed examination, and you may not want to come to hear this one: family structures, and lines of authority and of duty. We have a whole government in this country that is hell-bent on destruction of the family in its biblical sense. And people all around us are getting crushed, and ground up, in the world's system of a destructive family relationship. These are men and women who don't know their roles; who don't rise to their roles; or, ho are wimps, instead of being as Scripture says. I love that old King James Version: "Quit you like men," which means conduct yourselves like men. And the women are to conduct themselves appropriately. There is a great joy, both now and for all eternity, for those who understand how to meet the human relationship of the family. And this is going to cover the husband; the wife; and, the children – next time.

Dear God, we thank You for the fact that the Bible, in our New Testament Scripture, is full of problem-solving guidelines for us. We have touched a few of them, and we thank You that these promises are here, and we pray that they'll help us to continue adding to our store of understanding. But now we've heard some really big ones this morning. They have a major place in Scripture. Now we pray that what we have heard would be received as the mind of God, with positive volition, and correction would be applied appropriate to our personal condition and our personal need. Help us not to resist, but to go with the flow of blessing. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1995

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