If you have a pure Bible you can find our passage on page 1194. 1194. Titus chapter 2 verses 9 and 10. I'll ask the congregation to stand as God now speaks. As God now speaks.

Hear now the word of our God. Urge bond slaves to be subject to their own masters in everything. To be well pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. May God bless the reading of his word. Amen.

Amen. You may be seated. In Titus, what has been Paul's aim so far? What has Paul been up to so far in his letter to Titus? Well, he's been instructing Titus on how to pastor the household of God.

How to pastor his flock. Titus, you're to put things in order in the church by first establishing elders, pastors. That's chapter one, church leadership. And then in chapter two, Paul tells Titus, here's how you are to instruct your church members. Here are the ways in which doctrine, the gospel, comes out of their fingertips.

Older men, older women, young women, young men, and now slaves. That's the Greek word there in verse 9, doulos, slave. It shouldn't surprise you that Paul now addresses slaves. Conservative estimates are that there were three slaves to each free person in the Roman Empire, perhaps closer to five slaves per each free person. That's a lot of slaves.

And the conditions that slaves faced at that time, they were far from uniform. Some slaves lived in harsh and abusive conditions with evil masters, while other slaves lived in wonderful conditions. They loved their masters. It's not just a uniform, this kind of slavery going on in this day. Some slaves, they were doctors.

Some slaves were teachers and skilled craftsmen. And yet slaves and others were given basic menial labor. Their vocations varied from doctor to the common laborer. But all of that is to say that there's a lot of slaves in Crete. There are a lot of slaves where Titus is at.

And necessarily then in the churches of Crete where Titus is at, there might have been more bond slaves in those congregations in Crete than free men and free women in those congregations. Just think on that. In the churches of Crete, it might have been that Titus had more church members that were slaves than not. It's possible. And so it should not surprise you then that in Paul addressing all of the members of his church, in Titus addressing all of the members of his church, he must address those who are slaves.

Verse 9, urge bond slaves to be subject to their own masters in everything. Why? Why be subject to your master in everything? End of verse 10. Here's the answer why.

So that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. The way a bond slave works, the labor of a Christian, regardless of his social status, demonstrates the kind of savior that that laborer belongs to. That's mass. The way you labor demonstrates to those you labor for the kind of savior that you belong to. This is exactly the same thing that Paul's been saying all the way down the list of Titus chapter 2 for men, women, young and old.

What comes out of your fingertips, what comes out of your mouth, your behavior is a reflection, a mirror of the glory of Christ. When a wife submits to her husband in the fear of the Lord, the word of Christ is honored. That's Titus 2 verse 5. When a young man is sensible and an example of good deeds, sound in speech, it makes it real difficult for the enemies of Christ to say something bad about us. That's Titus 2, verse 8.

And now here again is Paul saying the exact same thing, even more explicit, slaves obey your masters, show good faith, work hard, labor diligently, because in doing so, you adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. You show Christ to be glorious when your behavior is consistent with the gospel. That's verses 9 and 10. So I'm going to say it again. The way a bond slave works demonstrates the kind of savior that that slave belongs to.

And that savior sets men free. Now that's what's so incredible about all of this. There's an intentional irony here in these letters that are saturated with gospel. You have Paul addressing slaves who are in the church of Jesus Christ. And what is Jesus Christ in the business of doing?

He's in the business of redeeming sinners. He's in the business of making sinners born again. Jesus is in the business of setting slaves of sin free. We just sang it a moment ago, didn't we? My chains fell off, My heart was free.

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee." He breaks the power of canceled sin. He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest clean. How do I know? His blood availed for me.

That's what Jesus the Son of God has done in the lives of these men, these women in Crete, that though they be slaves in Crete, They actually belong to a greater master, Jesus the Christ. Though they be slaves in Crete, they are no longer spiritual slaves of sin. Though they belong to a master in Crete, they belong to the great master, Jesus the Christ, who purchased them with his blood. They belong to Jesus. And that changes everything about the way they view their status as bond slaves in the world.

They belong to Jesus. Christ is their master. And that changes everything about the way that they labor and work and obey their earthly masters. Because in subjecting themselves to their masters here on earth, they mirror the glory of Christ who was a servant himself. Do not forget Mark chapter 10.

Do you remember that? A long time ago, we worked two years through the Gospel of Mark And one of the peaks of Mark's Gospel was Mark chapter 10. Jesus did not come into the world to be served, but to be what? But to be a servant, to serve. Jesus did not come into the world to be served, but to serve.

How? By giving His life as a ransom for many. By buying slaves of sin back. To be slaves of righteousness. Christian, you're in the same boat as those in Crete if you're in Christ.

Through repentance and faith, Christian, you have been bought. You Christian, bought with a price. The cost for your freedom from sin was the Son of God's life on the cross. You've been bought with a price. You are not your own.

You belong now to God. So glorify God in your body. No matter the social status that you and I possess, we are children of God, bought with a price, with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master. So that's why this is incredible. Because here at the end of verse 10, Paul is saying that by the way that you faithfully labor as servants, as bond slaves, your masters will see Christ.

Your masters will see the glory of Jesus Christ. They'll see the gospel of Jesus Christ coming out of you in every respect. They will see a glory in you that they themselves do not possess. Now, I'm really sorry if you're not getting it, but I'm going to come back to you. Got some glares going on.

OK. It will be unlike anything your masters could conceive of, this reality, that you, their slave, their worker, their laborer, you who are lower than them, that you, their possession, would possess something that they do not possess, Christ. This is what makes this remarkable. You're going to work in such a way that the master over you, in this case these slaves, a possession of a master, They possess something that their own master doesn't and it confounds them. You possess a particular glory that they don't.

And it's like that scene when in one of my favorite movies, The Count of Monte Cristo, where Edmund Dantes, he's the main character, he's a poor, low, social status, boat hand. He's basically the equivalent of a servant, a slave, almost. He's the lowly son of a clerk. He doesn't really have anything. He's betrayed by his wealthy and affluent friend.

In terms of material possession and social status, Edmund has nothing, and his friend has everything, and yet in the middle of the movie, Edmund is happy and his friend is not. Edmund is content, his affluent friend is not, And so really the turning point of the movie, his friend betrays Edmund. And Edmund, as he's being betrayed and led away into torture, Edmund, the lowly Edmund cries out, Why? Why would you betray me? And if you've seen the movie, you remember the reason.

That friend who has everything, his friend replies, because I'm betraying you because you're the son of a lowly clerk, and I'm not supposed to want to be you. You're the son of a clerk. I'm not supposed to want to be you. That's what Paul is driving at here. You're a slave, but you are more free than your master.

Show it! In the way you work for the glory of Christ, show it! That's adorning the doctrine of God our Savior who sets men free from sin and makes them alive under good works. And so in the middle of all that, that's the argument of 9 and 10. In the middle of that, in verses 9 and 10, Paul gives four descriptions of the kind of labor, of the kind of work that adorns the gospel of Jesus Christ in this way.

Faithful labor is Number one, to be well pleasing. Faithful labor is number two, not argumentative. Faithful labor is number three, not pilfering, no thievery. And faithful labor, number four, is showing all good faith. Or to put it In other words, faithful labor that adorns the doctrine of Jesus Christ begins with a heart that longs to please, which comes out of an agreeable mouth, with hands that bring increase, and all summed up in one phrase, steadfast behavior.

That's how to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior through faithful labor. And so before we give ourselves to those four things, I need to briefly address two questions very briefly. So I just gave you the four points of our sermon. We're going to get there. Real briefly, two questions that I'm not sure I've addressed and you'll have them probably plaguing your minds and I just want to get rid of them right now.

Question number one. Why does Paul say that slaves are to submit to their own masters in everything? Everything. It's a common question I get sometimes from church members. It's the same question people ask that aren't church members that are outside the church that are lost.

In Ephesians 5, Paul uses the exact same language but for wives to submit to their husbands in everything. For those that don't like Paul, typically they use the phrase in everything to point out that Paul had to be wrong. Paul clearly can't be trusted. I mean, even if a husband or even if the master wants you to do something evil, sinful, you do it anyway, because that's what in everything means. Paul must be wrong here.

He said in everything. And what's the answer to that? The answer is read the entire passage. Paul precludes the possibility of doing evil by saying to wives and Ephesians 5 as to the Lord. Submit in everything as to the Lord.

Submit to your husbands out of obedience first to Christ. And Paul precludes the same possibility in saying here to the slaves in Titus, Jeopard 2, verse 10, you labor in good faith. You adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. That's verse 10. You submit in ways that are consistent with faith in Jesus Christ.

You submit in ways consistent with the doctrine of Jesus that is taught herein. That's verse 10. So when Paul says in everything, he means everything in light of verse 10. Keeping good faith consistent with sound doctrine. Question number two.

If this passage is for slaves, does it really have anything to say to us today? Does this passage apply to this body today as there are no actual bond slaves in this congregation? There's a number of different ways I could answer this question. Let me start here. First, if you've ever doubted the triumph of the gospel of Jesus Christ on a national or worldwide scale, the very fact that slavery in the Western world has been abolished, at least on a policy level, should be remarkable to you.

It should just be remarkable to you. It should demonstrate to you that the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not just affect personal lives, but it actually is so triumphant that it affects the lives of a nation, a people, collectively. The Gospel impacts the rule of kings, national leaders, the Gospel of Galatians chapter 3, in that there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free man, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. By God's grace, that works itself out in governments to such a degree that a nation abolishes Slavery. That's gospel triumph.

I have to point that out. It's gospel triumph not just in one life, in the life of a nation covenanted before God. So if you're under the impression that the gospel doesn't have any place in politics or in the public sphere, then what about slavery? Why is slavery a thing we got rid of? Here's the answer.

Because the gospel of Jesus Christ triumphed in the public sphere. And it affected national policy. That's why. But I still haven't really answered the question, does this passage apply to us? Because this passage deals with slavery and does that not mean that of course Titus II, IX, and X no longer apply to you and I in America.

Where at least on a policy level, there are no bond slaves. What's the answer? Of course these apply to us. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable. Though not bond slaves, many of us are basically bond slaves.

Many of us, we all labor for somebody. You've got to serve somebody. It's not whether you serve, it's who, which, not whether, but which. We all labor, we all serve somebody as employees or even if you own your own business, we all serve some customer or employer as our master. And our work, your labor, still very much adorns the doctrine that you believe.

Your work, Christian, your labor, men and women, makes credible that which is taught from this very pulpit. I am teaching you doctrine this morning. And you're going to take it, and you're either going to lend credibility to what I'm saying this morning by what you do tonight and tomorrow, all the way into the next Lord's Day. The way you labor, if you're well pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, showing good faith in your work, you're going to give credit to what I'm saying this morning. Or you're going to discredit what I say by laboring unfaithfully and you're going to tell a lie about Jesus when you do that you're going to tell a lie about Jesus if you don't make a faithful You're going to be telling people in your workplace and in the world, Jesus is nothing special.

That's what you declare because your work, your labor is nothing special. So if your labor is nothing special in the next five days, the next six days, if your labor is nothing special, what you're declaring to the world, to your employer, to your master, Jesus is nothing special. Your labor, your work matters. What you do in changing diapers, what you do in baking bread and preparing meals and keeping house and educating children and a thousand more labor, sisters, it is a mirror of The glory of Christ, beloved sisters. And what you do in your labor and framing a home, and pouring concrete, delivering packages, coding, programming, communications, whatever it is, your labor, brothers, is the mirror of the glory of Christ.

So do it well. If you are going to have the glory of Christ coming out of your fingertips, your work as a laborer must be characterized by a heart that belongs to Jesus, a heart that is yearning to please, which then produces an agreeable mouth, which then produces a hand that bring increase, which is all summed up in steadfast faithful behavior. Those are the four characteristics of faithful labor. So let's turn to number one now that we've covered our bases. Number one, this is what must characterize your labor in the Lord first, a heart that longs to please.

Be well pleasing. A faithful laborer is to be well pleasing. A faithful laborer is one first in the heart. And this really is Paul's argument for all of chapter two. He says in chapter two, verse one, but as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.

It starts with doctrine getting lodged deep in here, because what you believe in here will come out. And this is the reality of the entire Bible. This is the doctrine of regeneration that Jesus himself taught that without a change of heart, the best that you can be is a whitewashed tomb. It must start with the heart. Consider Romans chapters 1 through 11.

The first two-thirds of the book of Romans deal directly with doctrine. Doctrine, doctrine, doctrine. The truth about how you're a sinner damned to hell as a lawbreaker But God sent his son to be the propitiation for your sins the substitutionary sacrifice for your sin He died in your place so that in Christ you would be justified in Christ. You would be declared righteous He rose up so that in Christ you would be made a new creation. In Christ you would be made holy, day by day, sanctified and ultimately glorified on the day of your death and into glory.

Truth after truth after truth after truth. Sound doctrine after sound doctrine concerning the finished work of Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, reigning. And then he gets Romans chapter 12 in light of all of that. And Paul says, Therefore, in light of that doctrine, treasured up in your heart, in light of the doctrine of Jesus Christ, therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, in view of the doctrine, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. A faithful laborer is to be well pleasing.

A faithful laborer is one first in the heart. So that as Ephesians chapter 2 teaches, that as they are new creations in Christ Jesus, as laborers they've been created to do good works. And these good works, Paul says, are to serve your masters. They're to serve your employers. They are to do good work.

To the end that it pleases God, who has marked you out as His own. Christian, you bear His name. You bear His name. That's massive. You bear the name of the Lord Jesus, who redeemed your life from the pit.

He has redeemed you with His precious blood. He's declared His name over you. At your baptism, He did this. And in each time you partake in the table every single time he is reminding you you bear my name. So if you're a plumber you make it your aim to be the best plumber in town.

If you're a carpenter You make it your aim to be the best plumber in town. If you're a carpenter, you make it your aim to be the best carpenter this side of the Mississippi. If you wash clothes, ain't nobody going to have cleaner and fresher clothes in your household. Why? Because you bear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And each work that you produce has not just your name stamped upon it, whose name is stamped upon it. His. It's massive. Massive. If you don't think that your labor matters when you leave this room, Well, that's silly.

You bear his name, and so necessarily, that which proceeds from you bears his name as well. He has his name on you and the good works that he has prepared you for. So when I get home from work, I love it. I love it for a lot of reasons. But I love it when my children, it doesn't happen every time, but sometimes My children will come bounding up to me all at once.

And I can't get all the stories straight, because it's four different mouths, soon to be five. If you haven't heard, we are expecting a fifth. So we are excited about that. Please pray for us. I didn't mean for it to be funny, but it is.

So when I get home, my children would come up to me and they'll tell me, they all want to tell me sometimes how they've helped mommy in some way, right? They've helped mother cook, They've helped her with such and such a chore. They've done this. Why are my children bounding up to tell me how they help their mother? Why are they running up to me?

They are excited because they genuinely want to please their Father. And they're coming up to me because I am their Father. And I am well pleased because they're mine. They bear my name. All the more Christian.

You who belong to God, your Father, through the Lord Jesus Christ, you bear the name of Christ Jesus. So what an invitation to live well pleasing. You bear the name of him who said at your baptism, this is my beloved son, this is my beloved daughter, and you I'm well pleased. That's freedom to go out and labor diligently. Your labor for your employer, for your clients, for your customers.

It is ultimately labor unto the Lord. Colossians chapter 3 verses 22 through 24. Slaves in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." A faithful laborer is to be well pleasing in the heart.

And that heart that is well pleasing, things begin to come out of your mouth. A faithful laborer is to be well pleasing and not argumentative. To put it in the positive, a faithful laborer should be described as one with an agreeable mouth. Paul moves to the mouth. A faithful worker is not to be argumentative.

To possess an agreeable mouth, there is an order here for Paul. I hope you see the order. I want to make it clear for you. He starts with the heart. A heart that is well pleasing then moves to the mouth.

This is exactly what Jesus said. Out of the mouth comes the abundance of one's heart. What is in here will find its way out here. It will. And so a faithful laborer will not be argumentative.

Or as other translations might say, a faithful laborer will not talk back. Bottom line, this is a laborer who is respectful. You can imagine, I think quite easily, how this would have a massive impact on a slave master who had a very difficult, obstinate slave, right? This is a slave that was always upset about something. He's always pushing against the grain, and then that slave gets converted.

You just need to picture it, okay? You've got a slave master who has a slave who's constantly been arguing with him. A slave whose mouth is a flame thrower of stubbornness and evil. And all of a sudden, the slave stops all of it. He no longer lashes out with his words.

He's no longer stubborn. He no longer is obstinate, no longer argumentative, not given over to quarreling anymore. Instead, now he does what the slave master asks with respect. I mean, I got these little pictures in my brain. I mean, I've got this picture of a slave master just scratching his head.

This is the laborer who couldn't keep his mouth shut. This is the slave. This is the worker that I think woke up in the morning wanting to get into an argument. And now inexplicably, He's respectful. And perhaps while the slave master's scratching his head, trying to figure things out, like what just happened to this man?

He hears from maybe one of the other slaves, or maybe a fellow slave master. Oh yeah, oh yeah, that one, yeah, he's gonna become a Christian. He's gonna confess to sin, he's received forgiveness, He belongs to Jesus now. That's adorning the Gospel. You can hear the slave master say, well, I sure knew him before he was a Christian.

And boy was he a pill. Stubborn, unreasonable, always wanting to fight. I mean, no matter of discipline, no matter of whoopin's, would hinder this slave and his obstinacy. But what on earth is this? I mean, what is the power that could so change and bring such a wild man under control, whooping after whooping after whooping, nothing.

But now, what is this power that brings this wild man under control. It is the power of God unto salvation. That's what it is. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that slave, that laborer in this little picture I'm painting, that laborer has adorned that power.

He has made the power of God visible to his master. That's labor unto the Lord. That is adorning the doctrine of God our Savior. So men and women, brothers and sisters, faithful labor is done when what comes out of your mouth is well pleasing to God. It's not just what you say to your employers or customers, by the way.

It's also what you say to one another in the workplace. What you say amongst the other employees. You don't look at your other employees. You don't look at your master and say, what is their standard? No, no, no, no, no, no.

What is God's standard? What comes out of your mouth in the workplace? Do you gossip? Do you slander? Paul has already told you what God thinks about those things.

Gossip and slander make the gospel seem like it has no power. Think about an employer or a fellow employee. He might laugh with you at the expense of one in authority. He might laugh with you. He might chuckle.

Yeah, you're right, man. He's no good. But you're no different than the men who he hangs out with at the nightclubs in fact you're probably less funny you're no different than all the rest of his cronies I mean this same man that you're engaging in slander with against your employer or wherever it might be, you know the moment you turn your back, he's gonna dog on you just like you dog on this person. There's no gospel power in gossip or slander. There's only the power under slavery.

There's just slavery in that. But can you imagine the look that you would get in your workplace if your co-workers you know started gossiping around you, they started slandering, started saying some things. And you look at that coworker dead in the eyes, and you said, what you just said about our boss, have you told that directly to the boss? No? This conversation is over, man, because you're just slandering.

And the boss of my boss, the boss of your boss, Jesus, he's outlawed that kind of talk. So no more of that talk around me. That'd be a really good thing to say, wouldn't it? Now, I could tell you what I think would probably happen if you said that to a coworker. Probably they'd get red in the face and they'd probably turn around when you weren't looking and go to another employee and they'd gossip about you.

They'd try to slander you. But even in the slander, even in the he thinks he's better than me kind of talk that will necessarily proceed from that among lost people Your co-worker would actually just be telling the truth about you He'd know it There is a power in you that he doesn't possess. There is a goodness in you that he doesn't possess. And you know everyone else, when they're hearing from this employee that you said, hey, you stop slandering around me, I'm not gonna put up with that, because my boss, the boss of my boss, and the boss of your boss, Jesus the Christ, he's outlawed that kind of talk. All of your fellow employees that hear about that, they would probably feel a lot better about working with you too.

Because you'd be safe. You'd be a trustworthy laborer. Men would say of you, those Christians, they are crazy. I mean they believe in the resurrection of the dead. But man, they are really good to work with.

Man, I think they're a little crazy, but I can count on them. I can trust them. I know that this Christian man, though I don't love his God, he's the best worker that I have. Though I don't love his God, I love how he loves me. I love how he loves and takes care of his business.

I love how he treats me. I know he won't talk behind my back. I'd much rather work with Him even if I have to put up with His God, Jesus. Why? Because there's a power in that man that nobody else possesses.

He's Edmond Dantes, and I'm not supposed to want to be him. That's a reputation that adorns the gospel of Jesus Christ as a faithful laborer. So are you prone to argue? Are you prone to argue? Confess it.

Repent and believe the gospel and God will cleanse you. Are you prone to slander or gossip? Confess it. Possibly a work. Deal with it.

Repent and cling to Christ's crucified, risen and reigning and God will set you free. Are you giving over to complaining? Whining. You need to stop that if you are. Way too much complaining and whining coming from Christians.

I told you this last week, I'll tell you it again. Respect for that in our house. Complaining and whining communicate that what you believe about Jesus is baloney. He doesn't really take care of you. He doesn't really make you happy.

He doesn't really do anything really. That's what whining conveys. Confess it. Deal with it. Repent.

And then believe that the same power that rose Jesus up from the dead is at work in you, so that you might use your mouth to the glory of your Lord and Savior, your master, Jesus the Christ. 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 1, 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. The way you use this robs our enemy of the way he uses this. Honor God by honoring the master, the boss that God has put over you. Honor him with your mouth and honor him with your hands.

And that's number three. Hands that bring increase, not pilfering. This is the third characteristic of fateful labor. And this third characteristic is that labor should be done without pilfering. That's another word for stealing, Pilfer.

Isn't that a fun word, pilfer? I think I'm going to try to adopt it into my normal vernacular with my children. Hey, you just pilfered from your sister. Faithful labor cannot, by definition, be described as thievery because that would be breaking the law of God. It's fundamental.

Stealing is wrong. That is the eighth commandment. So in other words, rather than taking away the property of your master, rather than taking away the property of your employer, rather than taking away, you use your hands to bring increase. That's taking but not milfringing and turning it into the necessary positive. You're to use your hands not to take away but to give blessing.

And again, there's clear order here from Paul in case you haven't gotten it. It starts with a heart, a heart that is well pleasing, comes out of the mouth, with a mouth that is not argumentative and now Paul gets to the fingertips. The fingertips. Hands that don't pilfer. Hands that don't steal.

Take away. Hands instead that bring blessing. So you can see this with Joseph in the Old Testament. You remember Joseph? He's a slave in Egypt.

He works hard. There are abundant opportunities to take, to pilfer, to even steal one of his master's wives. But instead of abusing the trust of his master, instead of pilfering, what does he do? He brings increase. Time and time again in the book of Exodus you read that the Lord blessed the work of his hands.

The Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian for the sake of Joseph. You read that in the second half of Genesis time and time again. The Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian for the sake of Joseph. Jesus speaks of this in the parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 and the parable of the 10 Minus in Luke 19. The expectation from God, the one who bought you with the price of his son's blood, God, his expectation of you as a laborer is that you bring increase from what he has given you.

From your hands as a Christian are to come increase for the blessing of your master, for the blessing of your household, and indeed the blessing of the land. So don't pilfer. If you are to adore the doctrine of Jesus Christ, you may not steal. That includes stealing time. If there is one respectable sin among Christians who labor in the workplace, it is the respectable sin of stealing time.

And this harkens back to the second point. When you argue, when you are prone to yammer and to be obstinate while you're on the clock, what are you doing? You're stealing time. You are pilfering. You are breaking the eighth commandment with your mouth.

You cannot break the law of God at your workplace, all the while believing in your heart that you're being well pleasing to the Lord. It's not confusing. So do not deceive yourself. Do not steal. As one brother puts it, the irony is in this passage that a Christian slave who is property is being required here in Titus 2 to respect his master's property.

You get that? A Christian slave who is property is being required here to respect his master's property. Why? Because the faithful laborer knows ultimately that he and his master's property all belong to the Lord of lords and the King of kings, Jesus the Christ. So work in such a way as to please your employer and the Lord will be pleased as you adorn his doctrine.

Friends, faithful labor begins in the heart, well pleasing. It comes out of your mouth, not argumentative. Comes out of your fingertips, not pilfering. And good faithful labor is all summed up by this final phrase, showing all good faith. Faithful behavior, showing all good faith.

That's our final consideration this morning. It's steadfast behavior. Now you'll notice the book ends, perhaps, of these four characteristics. Paul begins with a positive, if you look there in verses 9 and 10 Paul begins with a positive be well pleasing Then he has two negatives not pilfering not argumentative and then he ends with another positive showing all good faith That's a sandwich And I think in essence what this sandwich conveys is here is what, here is the summary of what faithful labor looks like. Pleasing to the Lord that comes out in behavior that is steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Your work, your nine to five, your business, your home keeping, is very much a part of the labor that is for and to the Lord. So I want you to listen to what the early church father Chrysostom, Chrysostom, how do we say his name wrong? Chrysostom. Here's what he said regarding steadfast behavior as a laborer in the Lord. Listen to this.

If you serve your master with good will, and the occasion of this service proceeds from your fear of God, and he who with so great fear renders him service, shall receive the greater reward. For if he restrains not his hand or his unruly tongue, how shall the Gentile admire the doctrine that is among us? But if they see their slave who has been taught the philosophy of Christ, displaying more self-command than all of their own philosophers, and serving with all meekness and goodwill, he will in every way admire the power of the gospel. Listen to this. For the Greeks judge not of doctrines by the doctrine itself, but make the life and the conduct the test of the doctrines.

Let me say that piece One more time. For the Greeks, for the pagans, for your lost coworkers, for your lost employers, they judge not of doctrines by the doctrine itself. They judge the doctrine not by the latest sermon you sent them, or the latest Bible verse you shared with them. That has its place. They must hear the gospel.

But they will judge the doctrine, Chrysostom says. Not by the doctrine itself, but rather, they will make your life, and your conduct, and your behavior, your labor, they will make those things, Christian, the test of the doctrine. You say Jesus is God? You say Jesus is Savior? Prove it.

How? By making your masters who are over you say, wow, This laborer, he counts all things as loss in comparison to knowing Christ Jesus the Lord. Remember friends, the truth that as you submit yourselves as bond slaves, as laborers, servants under others, remember that you follow the very footsteps of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, your Savior, Himself. So if you think, ah, laboring, Serving, being a servant, being a slave underneath, submitting yourself underneath someone else is a real glory in that. Did you not hear the third song we just sang?

Emptyed Himself and came in love. Remember that you follow the King of Kings footsteps in Philippians 2, he who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a what? Servant, slave, and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. That's Philippians 2. And when you get that, when you get Philippians 2 deep into your bones, that the Creator, your Creator, came as a bond servant for me.

Everything changes about the way you view your labor and work. Your work ethic completely changes for the glory of Christ, because you are following Christ. He has shown you this is the way. So hear this beloved Christian, no matter your station in life, this is the promise of 1 Corinthians 15, 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ who came. He did not come to be served but to serve. And to give His life as a ransom for many, to give His life as a ransom for this church. O Lord, our God, may You then impress upon us the need, the glory, the delight in serving you as we serve our masters until the day of Christ Jesus.

In His name we pray, Amen.