All right, well, please open your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter six, and this morning I'll be reading from verses one and two. And this is the word of God. All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.

When these words were first read in the church where Timothy was serving, he was sent this letter and then he, it was for him, but he read it to the congregation as well. I guarantee that a good many of the hearers in the church were slaves. And so when he said, all who are under the yoke, they perked up their ears, because this message was especially for them. And that was typical in early churches of that time. So this morning, as these words are being read, none of us are slaves or have been slaves. We don't have a master in that way or an owner in that way.

So what should we do with these verses? Should we skip it, move on to the next one? Well, I'm sure you have found yourself, or find yourself today, in a situation where there's some elements of injustice in the situation, but some elements of legitimate authority as well, and wisdom or necessity or both tells you that you have to remain in this situation. and it's hard, it's hard for you to be in it. How can you be in that situation and remain in that situation for as long as the Lord has you in it? In a way that honors the Lord.

And so that's how I wanna apply this passage on slaves. And the situation that I've described I think is not rare in this imperfect and sin-cursed world that's been subjected to futility. I don't doubt you've found yourself in a situation like that before. I don't doubt you find yourself in a situation like that now.

And for many of you, it's at work. and I know of that, I know of situations in the church that are like that, that are just onerous. In the workplace, and there's just a variety of reasons for that to be, it can be nonsense coming down from bureaucracy, it can be someone trying to carve out their own private kingdom at work, and you've gotta fit into that, it can be a toxic work environment, it can be a political oppressive atmosphere where you just feel squelched, It can be good reason to quit, but you need the job. You need to put up with it, at least for a time, maybe permanently as well. Everything is temporary, but permanently as far as you can see.

And so how do you honor the Lord in that situation? Well, as bad as your situation is, take some comfort from this, your situation is not worse than that of a slave. They were being addressed here, who were owned 24-7. Their will was subject to the will of their owner. Their work was not a matter of choice, but they had to perform it whether they wanted to or not. And you can thrive as a Christian. in that situation. In fact, you're commanded to thrive in that situation. The slaves that were part of this church were commanded to thrive in that situation.

If they can, you can, at your job, in whatever situation you encounter some injustice that needs to be endured, or even in slavery. And so in the midst of that, God sees you, he knows, he cares, and there's resurrection power at work in you, in the midst of it. It doesn't come from you, it comes from Christ. He doesn't tempt you beyond what you're able, and he gives you strength for each day as it comes.

There's quite a bit of instruction in the New Testament to slaves, and I won't go through all of it. You could add it up throughout the epistles, and it would be a lot. There were a lot of slaves that were Christians in the first century. And if you added up the instruction on slave, it would touch on a lot.

It would touch on the value of work. Work has intrinsic value, that's clear. All kinds of work have intrinsic value. It would touch on that. It would touch on the motive for Christian living. It's not to earn God's favor. But you have God's favor freely in Christ, and so it's simply to please him because you want to. And that's the motive for Christian living, and that's given to slaves who are told to obey, not by way of eye service, as if they're pleasing to men, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. That's the way a slave is to approach his work, is to please the Lord, and so small things are important. Small things are important in your job, in your daily life, in wherever you encounter a situation like this. Martin Luther loved to say, this was kind of a refrain of his, that the lowliest servant girl sweeping a floor does more good works than all the monks throughout history put together because they're doing it to earn God's favor.

If she's doing it in faith, she's doing it, she has God's favor and she's simply doing it to please her father in Christ and it's more worthy of reward and of God's favor than the other. So there's plenty to be learned from the instructions in scripture on slaves.

This passage that we look at only makes a couple of points, just a couple of really narrow points. Paul doesn't repeat all that. Some of it they had heard, like in the letter to Ephesians that was part of the history of this church. But he gives them just two narrow points for slaves in this situation. I'm not gonna give you an imaginative outline, just straight from the passage, and you can apply it to your situation as well.

The first is how you're to regard your master, for slaves, in your heart while serving, and that's in verse one. That's the only thing he addresses there. And then the second is how this changes or doesn't change if your master is a believer, and that's in verse two.

Okay. Slavery. Not only is it a little bit foreign, it's a little outside of our experience today, but it's also offensive to us today. And I think rightly so, I think rightly so. And maybe especially for us in our country where our gift to the world as a country I think is freedom. That's what's wrapped up in our history, that's what's wrapped up in our heritage as nowhere else. Even when it's kind of lost today, We have some sense of it just because we live here in this country. Freedom can be defined in a number of ways, but the way it's defined negatively is not being a slave. And our founders were even very clear on that. It's not being a slave. And so it's especially prized in our country. And I think it should be. I think that's a biblical, actually.

So why then does the New Testament so forcefully, and you might say so placidly, just tell slaves to submit to their masters. And so this is something that preachers deal with when they teach on these kinds of passages. Once you open the box to this topic, there's kind of a lot to say. So let me take a run at it, and then come back to our two points, which are just narrow points for the slaves in this situation.

But one, you can see, even in verse one, The reason given for slaves to obey their masters or to regard them in their hearts in a certain way. All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. And the reason that he gives is not because God instituted slavery. That's not the reason he gives. but simply for the reputation of the gospel. And that's different from how the Bible treats other kinds of authority.

Authorities that are legitimate because God created them. It's God's idea, such as authority in the family, or the church, or the government. God's given a measure of authority to each one of them in creation, it's the way he created, or at least as a remedy for sin. And they're really God's institution. and God's idea, and so when he's encouraging submission to authority in some of those, he'll say, you know, to submit wives to husbands, for Adam was created first, and then Eve, you know, the whole thing is God's idea. Or children, obey your parents in the Lord. for this is right, this is right. It's fitting in God's eyes for this to happen. Or be in subjection to government authorities because those which are exist are established by God and it's a minister of God to you for your good. But this reason that's given here, It's not a timeless reason like that. It's not because God ordained this.

It's simply so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. And so he doesn't say, you know, slaves obey your masters because God created masters first. And then he created slaves. No, he doesn't say anything like that. Or he doesn't say, be in subjection, slaves to masters, because that authority exists because it's established by God and it's a minister to you for your good. No, he doesn't say any of that, but gives a different reason.

Furthermore, Paul instructs Christian slaves elsewhere If you can get out of slavery, do. And that's in 1 Corinthians 7, verse 21. Were you Caldwell's slave? Do not worry about it. But if you're able to become free, rather do that, do that. So if you're a slave, and you can't get out of it, it's okay. Don't worry about it, don't be obsessed by it. You can serve the Lord in that situation.

But if an opportunity comes for you to get out of it, do, because it's best, all things being equal, it's best for you to not be under that kind of authority. You won't find the Lord saying that about the authorities that he's created. He doesn't say, if you find yourself as part of a nation or a church or a family, try to get out of it if you can. He doesn't say that, but he does say that about this. If you find yourself a slave, you're a master, and you can't get out, it's okay, but if you can do, it's better for you not to be under that kind of authority. And so it's an authority that comes from man, God, and God. tolerates it, regulates it to some extent in this imperfect world, but not one that comes from God in some of those other ways.

Another thing to be said, this is often pointed out, there's different kinds of slavery throughout history, and some are worse than others. And the kind that first comes to mind, I think, for us is the kind that existed in our country before the Civil War, and that is one of the worst and most depraved forms in history. It was racial, it was permanent, it was generational.

Not like the slavery in the Old Testament, which God permitted and regulated in an imperfect world, it was kind of a benevolent form, it was actually a way to deal with debt. for Israelites that scripture says is its own kind of slavery. The borrower becomes the lender's slave. It was temporary, meant to be temporary, and it was benevolent to the one who found himself in that situation. I would say that Roman slavery, and that's what he's dealing with here when he tells these slaves to submit to their masters and to think of them in a certain way, is sort of halfway between. It's not as benevolent as the kind that God sanctioned in the Old Testament, but not as bad as the first kind that might come to mind in our country.

It wasn't racial at all as a way to deal with debt, falling into debt or becoming a prisoner of war and your life being spared. It was not permanent. And it was not generational, mostly because the Romans were afraid of having a ballooning slave population, and so they wanted the slaves to be some kind of a stakeholder where you could get out for yourself, or at least get out, get your kids out, get the next generation out of slavery. And so the slavery of this time was certainly no picnic, but maybe better than the first kind that comes to your mind.

I think it's no accident that slavery was finally abolished in Christian lands. after many thousands of years, and even Protestant lands. It was abolished first in England, and then America. I'm not sure we were second, but we came after England and connected with that. It was not abolished in the Muslim world. I don't think that's an accident. It was abolished because of the Bible. It was abolished because of the whole counsel of God together on the subject of slavery.

And I think actually, in fact, freeing slaves is something that is actually close to God's heart. The act of the Old Testament that reveals God's character more than any other is the Exodus. It's the act of freeing slaves that's important to the story. That puts God's character on display.

In fact, he waited till after that event to write in the Ten Commandments, you shall have no other gods before me. And he introduces himself according to that event. I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other God except for me, the God who does that, the God who releases slaves from slavery.

And in the New Testament, The cross and the resurrection is the preeminent act that reveals God's character even more than the crossing of the Red Sea and the Exodus. And it is often described as the act of giving freedom to slaves. And there's many passages on this, like Romans 6, if we died with Christ, were set free from sin. Hebrews 2, he died that he might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all of their lives. His death is a redemption for slaves. Or John 8, if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed. And so I think the idea of redemption from slavery is close to God's heart, close to his character.

Yet there's paradox in this too, in the cross. You know, God doesn't banish the word slave. He uses it in the New Testament with, I think, a different meaning. I'm gonna save that for my last point in how you're to think of your master when he's a believer, and I think that might even prepare us for the Lord's Supper. So I'm gonna come back to that, how the Lord abolishes slavery at the cross and then makes us to be slaves in a different kind of way.

But I'm thinking here, the instruction that he gives is in a situation like Joseph, who found himself a slave in Potiphar's house. or and then later in prison. And part of that was illegitimate. It was not right that he should be a slave in Potiphar's house. It was not right that he should be in prison. He was innocent of anything. But how was he to act in that situation? It was not wrong for him to try to get out of it. In fact, he did try to get out of it when the opportunity came. What about in the meantime? What about when he's serving Potiphar? What about when he's serving in the prison warden's house? How should he serve there?

Or the little Hebrew girl who was a prisoner of war and then she ended up being Naaman's servant and Del Tackett gave us kind of an unforgettable picture. of her that was not in her script to be Naaman's servant. The Lord had to step on her script and take her life a different direction. Then she wanted it to go and it would not be wrong for her to try to get out of that situation, but if she's stuck there... How should she serve in Naaman's house?

And so I think the instruction is for that kind of situation. Or Daniel and his three friends, his young teenagers, they're taken away to a totally foreign country to serve, to be slaves, to Nebuchadnezzar. How are they to think of him as well? Or for these slaves who first heard this message at church and part of their slavery is in a sense illegitimate.

For one person to own another is not God's best, it's not God's will, and yet part of it is legitimate. They're living in somebody else's house. Person is taking care of them with certain obligations. That's why it says they're not to be pilfering, because there's a certain authority that just goes with ownership of a house. It was okay for them to leave if they could, if they had the opportunity to do, but what about in the meantime? What about in the meantime? How should they serve? And I think that's what these instructions are for.

Or also for your situation. Maybe it's your job where you're suffering something that is partly unjust. Maybe if you have the opportunity to take another job, you should take it. But part of that authority is God given in the workplace as well. And so in the meantime, when you're there, how are you to be in that situation? Or perhaps it's not a work, it's whatever is a situation that has an element of injustice in it, and you're to be in that as well.

A lot of life is lived in that meantime. where you're not delivered from the situation, you're just there. And how are you to be serving the Lord? There's years that pass in that way. So how are you to be? Are you to resent your boss, your master, whoever it is that's being unjust to you so it eats at you? So it spreads to others. What is your attitude to be? And so after that kind of digression on slavery, back to our passage and back to the first point, and it's a simple one. How are you to relate to your master while serving? And it's here in verse one. All who are under the yoke of slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor. so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against.

And it's as if Paul is saying, don't forget. In the meantime, when you're serving, there's not a way out, there's not an opportunity that presents itself to be set free. You're under the yoke as slaves. Don't forget, in the meantime, you're first of all, and you're always, an ambassador of Christ, an ambassador of Christ.

Dylan just read that passage for us this morning from 2 Corinthians chapter five. And so the slaves under the yoke are to regard their masters in this way so that the name of God that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. So there's not an obstacle to his name. And his name is his reputation, and it advances through the gospel, through the gospel witness.

And that's the way in which we're ambassadors of Christ, is for the spread of the gospel. It's a full-time job. It's a 24-7 job. You may be in the meantime for getting out of a difficult situation, but this is always the case. You're always on, in season and out of season in this. And so we're to be thinking of that for this. And so what do you do because you are an ambassador of Christ in this situation?

What does he say? He says, all servants under the yoke as slaves are to regard their masters as worthy of all honor. That's the command. That's the command. It's how you think of your boss, or your master, or the person that's being particularly unjust to you in a situation that you just need to endure for a while, and how are you to think of them, you're to regard them as worthy of all honor.

Now it's interesting what it says here. It doesn't say, Treat them as worthy of all honor. And that would be pretty good. That would be a pretty Christian thing to do, to treat them in that situation as worthy of all honor. But it says something different. It says regard them.

Regard your own masters as worthy of all honor. And this is something that you do in your heart. Don't just treat them a certain way, but to regard them as worthy of all honor in your heart. That's something that I think Joseph did to Potiphar. He regarded him as worthy of all honor in his own house. What he did for the prison warden, what the Hebrew girl did for Naaman, what Daniel and his three friends did for Nebuchadnezzar, and what you're to do in your situation, in your heart, to regard with all honor.

And I think only a Christian can do this, to regard someone as worthy of all honor when they're actually not. worthy of all honor. But a Christian is equipped to do this because you know that your master, or whoever this person is, is created in the image of God, needs to be forgiven, just like me, and God, my Father, is sovereign over this situation.

He'll give me an exit. He'll show me through wisdom what it is that I need to do. But in the meantime, I need to serve completely and wholeheartedly and with a pure heart, with a heart that regards my master or my boss or a coworker who's causing me trouble as worthy of all honor. even though they're not. And so this is a heart issue, actually. It's how you think in your heart. It's not enough just to treat them as worthy of all honor. It's to actually think of them, to actually regard them in your heart as worthy of all honor.

And this is so that there's not an obstacle in the way of the gospel, so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. Now, let me say this. This is not the gospel. to regard someone that you're trying to minister and there's an obstacle to it as worthy of all honor. The gospel is a message about sin, about Christ. It's news to be told, it's a summons to believe in him from God. It's done with words. It's not done with something you just do silently in your heart regarding somebody as worthy of all honor. It's a message to be given.

But I believe this and I've come to believe it even more strongly that this is the environment where the gospel message flourishes and was meant to flourish. When this kind of obstacle is removed and where you regard someone as worthy of all honor, simply because you're Christian, and you do it before they're saved. You do it before they're saved as well. This is where the gospel takes root.

It's in a personal, face-to-face relationship an unlikely and surprising relationship, like this one, between a slave and a master, where you regard them, another human being, as worthy of all honor. Like your master, for a slave, like your boss, like somebody who's being a problem to you at work, your nemesis at work, like your liberal neighbor, maybe has their hair dyed blue, maybe believes totally differently than we do as well, and as a, removal of a hindrance to the gospel, to the name of God, and the doctrine, so it's not spoken against, so the gospel has a place to take root to regard them as worthy of all honor and relate to them in that way. Some things have been said recently about Christians influencing society from the top down, like passing righteous laws, like through media, through influence, and I think some of those things are worthwhile, can go hand in hand with gospel witness, have their place, but the explosive power of the gospel is from the bottom up. It's from personal relationships like these, like these slaves to their master and the kind of testimony that they were to have to their master by thinking of them in this way. And so this has always been the way that the church has advanced with explosive power.

It's not from the top down. I'm sure there's a place for that. It's from the bottom up. It's slow. It's one person at a time. It's in these kind of relationships for the gospel. That's the leaven. that the kingdom spreads that leavens the whole lump. And I've had a little bit actually of experience with bread making recently, and it's quite interesting. I've learned a lot. You take just a tiny bit of leaven, put it in just a part. of the dough, and amazingly, it permeates the whole lump, bit by bit, unseen, and it has explosive power as well.

And that's the way the gospel spreads, one relationship at a time. One slave, thinking of his master in this way, one person reaching out to their neighbor, interacting with their neighbor, human to human, regarding them as worthy of all honor, even though they're not. simply because they're a Christian. It starts out small, and then it spreads to everybody until the whole lump is 11, because it multiplies.

And that's the way in which the, that's the explosive power. The other is good, this is explosive. And so, and it starts in your heart. It starts at your work. It starts the way you think of your boss at work, starts in your heart. So is this what you're doing in your heart, in your situation?

That's hard. where there's an element of legitimate authority, there's an element of injustice in it too, and you're remaining in it. And how do you think in that situation? You're there until the Lord sends relief, a way out shows you a way to go, but until he does, how do you think of that person? And this is the way in which you're to think of that person. It's difficult for these slaves, difficult for us as well.

Regard your own master, whoever the person is who's difficult for you to regard in this way as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. Okay, two points. First is just simply how to regard your master in your heart while serving in a less than ideal situation. Second is how this should change if your master's a Christian, if the person that's a difficulty to you in this way is a Christian. Verse one says you're to regard your master as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine should not be spoken against. You're to regard him in this way because you're trying to reach him for the gospel or hoping somebody else will reach them for the gospel. So what if your master's a Christian?

Does that mean you should do less than this? Maybe that would be reason to respect them less, and so verse two deals with that. Those who have believers as their master must not be disrespectful to them, must not look down on them is what it means, to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles. If the master of the slave is a believer, you might have less reason to respect them for maybe a couple of reasons. One would be that the Christian slave might think, well, this master ought to set me free.

He's owning another person isn't quite right. In God's eyes, if it comes right down to it, there's an element of wrong in this. There's an element of legitimate authority. I'm in this person's house. God tells me to submit in this situation until it can change.

But perhaps this person should set me free. And I think there are reasons why This is all sort of unfamiliar to us, but I think there are reasons why immediate emancipation was not always the answer for the slave or for the master. I think in this society, they were mutually dependent on one another. Very often, I think that was not desirable for either one for very practical reasons. And so there are reasons why this should continue in that way. Perhaps another reason why a Christian might be inclined to look down on the master because they were a Christian is because a Christian master, if he's being obedient, would not be as harsh. as an unsaved master.

Ephesians chapter six, verse nine, New Testament includes not only instructions for slaves, but also instructions for masters. Ephesians six, verse nine says, the masters do the same things to them and give up threatening, knowing that their master and yours is in heaven and there's no partiality with him. So a Christian master would, if he's obeying this, would give up threatening, give up being a harsh master, and for that reason might be easier to take advantage of. from the servants, and the servants had certain ways to have leverage against their master as well, and might be more susceptible to that, and so perhaps that's part of what he means when he says, don't be disrespectful to them because they are brethren. But a master, a slave with a master who is a Christian, instead of having less reason to Think well, to regard his master as worthy of all honor actually has an additional reason. And so the first that's given to regard your master as worthy of all honor is for all slaves, all who are under the yoke, whether their masters are Christian or not. But if your master is a Christian, he says here, you've got an additional reason. Those who have believers as their master must not be disrespectful to them because they're a brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit, the benefit of the slave's labor, our believers, and beloved.

The slave of the Christian for a master has the original reason plus another even more compelling reason to serve the master well and that is that the father sent his redeeming love from all eternity for that person and the son died for that person in love and the spirit came and all of it was undeserved by that master and so it's fitting that that person also be the special focus of the Christian's love as well. A Christian is to do good to all people and especially to those who are of the households of faith, and so it's additionally fitting.

Now, a number of commentators point this out, so it must be right, and it is right, I'll show you. And it's something you wouldn't notice in translation. But the word that Paul uses here when he says, they must serve them all the more, all the more diligently, because those who partake of the benefit, that word, are believers and beloved, is a word, the connotation of it, was never a benefit from a lesser to a greater. It was always a benefit from a greater to a lesser. And so it would be kind of like our word, I was thinking of words that are like that, like charity, or philanthropy, or patronage, or beneficence. It's always something bestowed by a greater to a lesser. In fact, let me show you where this word is used.

Luke chapter 22, and verse 25 where the Lord teaches. He said to them, the kings of the Gentiles lorded over them, and those who have authority over them are called benefactors. People who do good to lessers. And it's the same word, that benefactor is the same word that's used here. And so he uses a word that perhaps would get their attention a little bit.

You're, you're, you're, A Christian slave, you're benefiting. Your master, not as a lesser to a greater, but actually as someone who's exalted to the highest position. And he's using his high position in order to benefit one who's at least equal to him or lower to him. And we left this thread when we were talking about how that redemption from slavery is something near to God's character. That's how he wants to represent himself as one who gives freedom to slaves, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. But he doesn't abolish the word slavery. He uses it. He uses it. He calls us slaves.

And it starts with Christ himself. This paradox revolves around the cross. Philippians chapter two. Verse six talks about Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, the highest position, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, held onto, or used as an opportunity to gain by grasping for himself.

But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. Taking the form of a slave. And let me say this, Christ was never more free than when he voluntarily gave His life away, and became a servant to us, and gave His life upon the cross, and we are to follow Him in the same. Have this attitude in yourself, which is also in Christ Jesus.

He used the highest position imaginable to take the lowest position. in order to serve. He was showing his disciples this on the night before he went to the cross, and their mind was, who knows where, they were thinking about the worst kinds of ambitions and things, and so he did something that would be imprinted on their memory, and he took an apron, he girded himself with a towel, he took the position of a slave, and that got their attention. And he began wiping their feet. And he said, if I, your Lord and master, do this, this is what you should do for one another as well.

This is a vein that runs deep in scripture, Mark chapter 10. Verse 43, whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

First Corinthians nine, verse 19. For though I am free from all men, Paul says, I've made myself a slave to all. so that I may win more. That's the way in which Paul used his freedom. Galatians chapter five and verse 13 says, for you were called to freedom, brethren.

Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another. And that word serve is the word for slave. Serve is probably a good way to put it. I guess you could say be enslaved to one another. Use your freedom in order to become a servant, to become a slave.

Very similarly, 1 Peter 2, verse 16. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond slaves of God. Or 1 Corinthians 7, and verse 22. For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freedman. Likewise, he who is called while free is Christ's slave. And so there's a paradox to this, a deep paradox to this, but this is what freedom is for.

We've been set free by the cross from the guilt of our sin. We've been set free from death. We've been set free from sin, the power of sin itself. Eventually we'll be set free from the presence of sin. We've been set free, I think, in a very deep way from ourselves, from serving ourselves in order that we might give our lives to others, voluntarily serve others. And that's actually what it means to be free.

I'm reminded of 1 Corinthians 6, which I won't turn to, but it's talking about disputes among believers. talking about believers, how we treat one another, and disputes, different kinds of injustice that comes up, and the main rebuke that Paul is giving them is that they're going to law courts to be judged before unbelievers, and that's a loss.

Isn't there one wise man among you who can judge between brothers? He says, there's something else slipped in there, and you might miss it as he's giving that, and that is he tells them it's actually best to be wronged. by another believer. Now there's, often you're in a position of responsibility to others and wisdom dictates.

It's not loving to be wrong. You need to go in and settle the dispute, however it's to be. But as Christians, and I think this is what Paul's saying, we ought to be eager to be wronged. That's the most Christian thing you can do. If wisdom affords it, if it's the right thing to do, we ought to be eager to be wronged by, even by one another. and to just take in the wrong, not make a record of wrong.

Overlook the wrong. Love covers a multitude of sin. Why? Because that's for us amongst one another an apt expression of this agape love that he mentions here in this passage here because those who partake of this benefit are believers and beloved. But this is agape love, this mysterious love that comes from God himself and we as believers are the recipients of this kind of love and so we're to exercise it among one another. It's an apt expression of the love by which Christ took our iniquities upon himself. There's an element of injustice, so to speak.

It's perfect justice to God, but for him to take our wrongs and to suffer for them in our place, for us to be wronged by one another is just a very mild, a very dim expression and echo of that, and that's the kind of love by which we're saved, and it's the kind of love that he pours out in our innermost being. to make us actually transform. So that's the core of our being as well.

So you, in your situation at work or not, wherever there's an element of injustice in it, wherever you're experiencing a slight or an irritation or an inconvenience, maybe the person doing that to you is a believer. could be your boss, could be your spouse, could be a church member, and the Lord will give wisdom as to how to deal with it, but maybe not instantaneously. Maybe not at all. Maybe not at all. Maybe he just wants you to endure the wrong. Not eternally, not forever. It's all temporary. It's all in the meantime.

But you have two reasons to regard that person as worthy of all honor. in the meantime. One is that you're an ambassador, to not put an obstacle up for the gospel, even the way you treat another believer. And the second is that they're a special object of God's love for the undeserving. And so they're a special object of your love as well.

This morning we come to the special testimony that Christ has established for us of that love. And here's a reminder at the table of his love, actually the source of that love, where it comes from, from the throne. of God himself and it's expressed to us. It comes to its utmost expression in the death of Christ on the cross. And so we're to remember this love, remember its source, remember its utmost expression, and then remember how it reaches you, how it transforms you as well. All that is here at the Lord's Supper.

Let's bow before the Lord in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, We thank you for your love that is for us. We thank you that it reaches us, that it redeems us. We thank you that it also transforms us. So we pray that we would be ambassadors for Christ and for the gospel, not just mechanically, not just as a duty that we put on ourselves, but actually in love. That the people that we're ministering to, even if they are unjust towards us in some way, would be those that we would regard in our hearts as worthy of all honor. so as to be an apt expression of the gospel. And then we pray for the way in which we treat one another as well, as believers and involved in sometimes complicated relationships with one another. probably no more complicated than a master to a slave, but we pray that we might treat them as objects of your love and of our love as well, and would have even more reason to serve them as free men and as your bond slaves in Christ. And so we pray that you'd help each one of us in situations that are difficult, that you give endurance in these things, encouragement, and also love. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.