A Daily Devotional

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Business Structure: Servants

“Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.” (Colossians 3:22)

Most of the world accepted slavery as ordinary social strata for much of recorded history. Slavery was certainly normal during the time of Roman domination and therefore public routine when the apostle Paul wrote to the Colossian church.

The most common term (and the term most often used by the apostles) is doulos, a bondslave, purchased by an owner and viewed as property under the legal system of Rome. Many of the biblical instructions are given to the doulos of a household or business enterprise.

The English word “employee” of today is essentially the same as the servant of biblical times. The “master” of today purchases service with wages rather than buying the life of the “servant” from a slave broker. The biblical instructions to employees are just as valid today as they were to the doulos of Bible times.

    “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers” (Ephesians 6:5-6).
    “Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour” (1 Timothy 6:1).
    “Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward” (1 Peter 2:18).

All similar commands insist that a godly doulos should give the same effort and same quality to his employer as he would to the Lord Jesus. “But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18). HMM III

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Business Structure: Masters

“Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.” (Colossians 4:1)

Kurios is the common Greek word for a person with authority. It is most often translated “lord” and is used frequently as part of the title and descriptions of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The most obvious focus of the term is the right to exercise that authority.

The short sections in Colossians and Ephesians about basic human relationships include the relationships between servants (employees) and masters (bosses). The employees are expected to work consistently and maintain loyalty as if they were working directly for the Lord Jesus Himself.

The bosses are expected to behave toward their employees with “just and equal” treatment (our text) and to forbear any “threatening” that might be the result of favoritism, since there is no “respect of persons” with the Lord Himself (Ephesians 6:9).

For those “masters” among the family of God, prompt payment of earned wages is required (Leviticus 19:13). Nor is the focus to be centered on becoming rich (Proverbs 23:4), particularly not if the focus is to get rich quick (Proverbs 28:20-22)! Rather, those to whom the Lord has granted wealth (through diligence—Proverbs 10:4) are to “do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate” (1 Timothy 6:18).

Finally, our Lord Jesus made it abuntantly clear that none of His leaders are to “exercise dominion” or seek to “exercise authority” over others. But in contrast, “it shall not be so among you: whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:25-27). HMM III

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Watch in Prayer

“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds.” (Colossians 4:2-3)

This strong command is composed of two very similar Greek terms—gregoreuo, meaning “vigilant” or “alert,” and agrupneo, meaning “be awake.” A similar emphasis is at the end of the classic passage identifying the armor of God: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18).

Our watching must also be with a conscious attitude of thanksgiving during “every remembrance” of each other (Philippians 1:3), particularly since the intercessory request should be focused on asking our Lord Jesus to provide an open door (Revelation 3:8). The Lord is indeed the One who opens the door, but the process for obtaining His action is recorded in Luke 11:9-11. We must ask for the gift of the open door, seek to find the door that He is opening, and then knock once we are at the door that He is ready to open for us.

However, as Paul notes, when the Lord opens a “door of utterance,” the spoken Word of God conveys the power of God—and that message and its power will bring the attention of the Enemy. “For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9).

Any fear that might lurk in our minds should be overridden by the necessity to be spokespeople for this wonderful “mystery of Christ.” There is no “salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). HMM III

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Redeem the Time

“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” (Colossians 4:5-6)

Time is the most precious resource available to us. Obviously, it becomes available moment by moment, and there is absolutely no way to recapture what has moved into the past. “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

Our lifestyle should be recognizable from the wisdom that comes from the “fear of the LORD” (Psalm 111:10). So much so that our everyday conversation should not be “in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13).

“Every idle word that men shall speak” will one day be evaluated “in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36). It is clear that “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).

That is why we are to “redeem the time.” The Greek term is exagoradzo, meaning to buy up or to make the most of time “because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). Our speech must be consciously planned to “answer every man” in such a way that it is “alway with grace, seasoned with salt”—two apparently opposite characteristics.

Our words should be “as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24), “but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it?” (Mark 9:50). It is the combined power that is important; “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15). HMM III

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Godly Examples

“Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.” (Colossians 4:15)

Some Pauline epistles, which included the letter to the church at Colossae, were written during Paul’s imprisonment in Rome approximately 60 through 62 AD. Three cities (Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae) were close together and were near Laodicea. Paul instructs Nymphas to read the Colossians letter to the church at Laodicea.

There is a group labeled “fellow workers” (Colossians 4:11)—Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Marcus, and Justus. They were the men who ministered to Paul in Rome. There were also friends from the third missionary journey: Epaphras, Demas, Nymphas, and Archippus from the cities around Colossae who kept in close contact and probably supported Paul financially. Luke, the “beloved physician,” apparently joined Paul on the second missionary journey on the trip to Rome (Acts 16—the “we” passages).

Several godly attributes are identified. “Beloved brother” is used to emphasize the intense relationship that Paul had with some of these men. “Faithful minister” (a “deacon”), along with “fellow servant” and “fellow worker,” stresses the service Paul enjoyed with them. “Fellow prisoner” is an obvious identification.

“Labouring fervently” (the Greek word agonizomai) is used to speak of Epaphras (Colossians 4:12), who was always praying for the church at Colossae with great zeal. This and other lists such as the 16th chapter of Romans give us precious insight into the lives of godly men and women who shared the lives of key leaders and made their ministry more effective.

May it please the Lord Jesus to have us so named in “the books” of eternity (Revelation 20:12). HMM III

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A Marvelous Thing

“The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvelous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.” (John 9:30)

A “marvelous thing” in the Bible is something that generates awe or wonder. Sometimes it refers to a miracle but more often to something very unexpected and remarkable.

But the most marvelous thing of all is that unbelievers still persist in their unbelief. In our text passage the Lord Jesus Christ had just performed one of His most amazing miracles of creation—making perfect eyes for a man blind from birth. As the man testified to the frustrated Pharisees: “Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind” (John 9:32). Yet, these religious intellectuals, so opinionated in their prejudices, refused to believe what they saw and heard. Similarly, “when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things [i.e., ‘marvelous things’] that he did...they were sore displeased” (Matthew 21:15).

There are none so blind as those who refuse to see. One of the saddest verses in the Bible is John 1:10: “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” And, “he came unto his own, and his own received him not” (v. 11). Even when He raised Lazarus from the dead, “the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus” (John 12:10-11).

Modern “intellectuals” are still the same, rejecting the overwhelming testimony of the created complexity in the cosmos to the fact of a personal Creator in favor of an impossible scenario of chance origin. “Herein is a marvelous thing!” Such people “willingly are ignorant” and “without excuse” (2 Peter 3:5; Romans 1:20). HMM

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A Resting Place

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” (Titus 3:5-6)

Certainly one of the most precious doctrines of all Scripture is that reflected in our text. Our salvation depends not on our own “works of righteousness” but upon His mercy and grace, given us freely through the atoning work of Jesus Christ our Savior.

The grand old hymn “My Faith Has Found a Resting Place” reflects this theme. Let us use its four verses and chorus to focus our study as well as our hearts these next four days.

My faith has found a resting place, Not in device nor creed;
I trust the Ever-living One, His wounds for me shall plead.
I need no other argument, I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died, And that He died for me.
Nothing we could do (i.e., device) or nothing we or our church could believe (i.e., creed) can provide a resting place for our faith. “For we which have believed [i.e., faith, same Greek word] do enter into rest....For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works” (Hebrews 4:3, 10). The only work that counts for anything is that which the ever-living One accomplished when He died on the cross. “Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes [i.e., wounds] ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). It is not so much our physical health in view here but the healing of our sin-sick souls.

Since “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3), there is no more penalty to be paid. Since He rose from the dead, He conquered both sin and its power, and our faith can rest. JDM

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Enough for Me

“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past.” (Romans 3:24-25)

Jesus has done all that is necessary to bring us into right standing with a holy God, if we but believe and accept His free gift of salvation. Jesus saves! It is enough! “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). The second verse of the hymn “My Faith Has Found a Resting Place” further explains this.

Enough for me that Jesus saves, This ends my fear and doubt;
A sinful soul I come to Him, He’ll never cast me out.
I need no other argument, I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died, And that He died for me.

Jesus, who loved us, said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). There is no fear here, for “there is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18). Nor should there be any doubt in Him or His intentions, “in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him” (Ephesians 3:12). Furthermore, “being confident...that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

The chorus of the hymn likewise presents a thrilling truth. It paints a picture of a courtroom and the interrogation of a defendant. When asked why one should be forgiven, granted eternal life and entrance into heaven, the argument or legal defense can be given that Jesus has died, and that is enough. No other legal defense or answer need be given. The plea has already been entered, and the court’s findings are guaranteed, “justified freely by his grace.” JDM

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Leaning on the Word

“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son....These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” (1 John 5:11, 13)

Our salvation does not find its basis in an emotional experience of the heart, although our emotional tendencies are God-given and not to be denied. Indeed, the salvation experience may be sweet and memorable, but all sorts of religions, non-religions, and cults have emotional experiences, like the Mormon’s “burning of the bosom.” But experiences alone are subjective and easily misinterpreted. Our faith should be a faith from the heart, and it should be founded on the written Word of God. The third verse of our hymn, “My Faith Has Found a Resting Place,” presents this timeless truth.

My heart is leaning on the Word, the written Word of God,
Salvation by my Savior’s name, Salvation thru’ His blood.
I need no other argument, I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died, And that He died for me.
The Bible, God’s holy Word, is a book about Jesus and how God, through Jesus, deals with man. Much more could have been written: “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31). “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). We were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

And this is sufficient! Nothing else needs to be done or said or paid! Christ’s blood is enough! His Word tells us so. JDM

[Soldier4Christ]

I Need No Other Argument

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)

Each of the four verses of the majestic hymn “My Faith Has Found a Resting Place” repeats the theme that Christ’s blood was shed on our behalf, and it is enough. Nothing else remains to be done. The final verse adds perspective to the other three.

My great Physician heals the sick, The lost He came to save;
For me His precious blood He shed, For me His life He gave.
I need no other argument, I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died, And that He died for me.
Christ was certainly “the great physician,” for He “went about all Galilee...healing all manner of sickness” (Matthew 4:23). But His ministry was not only to the physically ill, for as He said, God “hast sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives” (Luke 4:18). His mission was a deeper one, that of healing the sin-sickness of the soul. “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17). “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

As we read in our text, “we have redemption through his blood” and through his blood alone. As a result, we have “forgiveness of sins,” we are “delivered from the power of darkness,” and we are given a home in “the kingdom of his dear Son.”

And there we will join in singing “a new song, saying, Thou art worthy...for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Revelation 5:9). He has done it all, and He has done it “for me”! JDM

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The Pilgrims

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” (1 Peter 1:1)

These “strangers” to whom Peter wrote his two epistles were actually “pilgrims.” He used the same Greek word (parepidemos) in 1 Peter 2:11: “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts.” The word means a resident foreigner, and its only other New Testament usage is in Hebrews 11:13, speaking of the ancient patriarchs who “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

We give honor today to the American “pilgrims,” as they called themselves (thinking of these very verses), who left their homelands in order better to serve God in a foreign land. The “pilgrims” to whom Peter was writing likewise had been “scattered abroad” for their faith (note Acts 8:4).

For that matter, every born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is really just a pilgrim here on Earth, ambassadors for Christ in a foreign land. “For our conversation is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). That is, we are citizens of heaven (the Greek word translated “conversation” in this verse is politeuma, meaning “a community” or “citizenship”) and are here only for a time to serve our Lord until He calls us home.

And while we are here, we may endure many trials and sorrows just as did those Massachusetts pilgrims. But He nevertheless supplies our needs—just as He did for them—and we ought to abound in thanksgiving, as they did.

Thus, Christians all over the world have cause for thanksgiving every day. Since we are “enriched in every thing” through our Savior, this “causeth through us thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11), and we should be “abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7). HMM

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The Faithful Creator

“Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” (1 Peter 4:19)

This is the only verse in the New Testament describing the Creator as faithful. God had a very specific purpose in creating the universe and especially people, and He will surely accomplish that great purpose.

The Scriptures repeatedly stress God’s faithfulness. With respect to the physical universe, “for ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth” (Psalm 119:89-90). As far as His promises to His people are concerned, “know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:9).

The faithful Creator is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, and He rebukes the compromising church of the last days with these majestic words: “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Revelation 3:14). Although many professing believers will prove unfaithful to Him, “yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).

The triumphant book of Revelation comes directly “from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness” (Revelation 1:5); and when He finally returns to Earth in power and glory, His very name shall be “called Faithful and True” (Revelation 19:11). He is both Alpha and Omega, and thus all His “words are true and faithful” (Revelation 21:5). Our salvation is sure, therefore, because “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24). HMM

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Adam's Failure, Christ's Strength

“By the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” (Romans 5:18)

When Adam rebelled against God, he experienced many new things—things that have haunted mankind ever since. All of these things were experienced by Christ in an intense way as He redeemed fallen mankind and the cursed creation.

Adam had never seen or experienced death (Genesis 2:17) until he sinned (3:19, 22). God had ordained nakedness (2:25), but sin distorts everything (3:7, 21). Before sin, Adam and Eve had known only blessing (1:28), but the universal curse followed (3:14-19). They had known joy and fellowship, but now they knew sorrow (3:17) and separation (3:23). They had lived in a garden (2:8), but now the plants would bring forth thorns (3:18). Prior to sin they had been assigned work to do (2:15), but now they would sweat (3:19) as they toiled. The angel’s weapon kept them from returning to the Garden (3:24), and outside violence reigned (4:8, 23; 6:13). Childbearing originally was created to be easy and frequent, but now was to be accompanied by sorrow (1:28; 3:16).

Likewise, Christ experienced death on the cross (John 19:30), but by His resurrection He conquered death (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). He experienced nakedness (John 19:23; Psalm 22:18); the full thrust of the curse (Galatians 3:13); sorrow (Isaiah 53:3); and separation from God (Matthew 27:46). Cruel thorns were placed on His head (John 19:2), and He sweat great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). The soldier’s weapon pierced Him (John 19:34), finally ending a series of violent acts (Luke 22:63; Matthew 27:26, 29-30; Isaiah 52:14; etc.). But through His suffering He overcame the curse and redeemed His fallen creation. As a result, many children have been brought forth (Hebrews 2:9-10), reborn into a glorious state through His suffering. JDM

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Inspired Words

“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.” (Luke 21:33)

The doctrine of plenary verbal inspiration, wrongly considered antiquated by many modern neo-evangelicals, is actually essential to the Christian faith. “All scripture [that is every word written down or inscribed] is given by inspiration [literally ‘breathed in’] of God,” not man (2 Timothy 3:16)!

We acknowledge, of course, that problems of transmission and translation exist, but these are relatively trivial in the entire context. We also acknowledge that the process of inspiration may have varied, but the end result is as if the entire Bible had been dictated and transcribed word by word.

This is the way Jesus Christ—the Creator, the Living Word, the Author of Scripture—viewed the Scriptures. “The scripture cannot be broken,” He said (John 10:35). “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18). “Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:...And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:25, 27). The Bible, therefore, every word of it, is divinely inspired, verbally without error, infallibly true, and of absolute authority in every area of our lives. The words of Christ who taught these truths are forever “settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89) and “shall not pass away.”

It is mortally dangerous, therefore, “unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book” to “add unto these things” as the cultists do, or to “take away from the words of the book of this prophecy” as the liberals do (Revelation 22:18-19). Would it not be much better to say with the psalmist, “Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors” (Psalm 119:24)? HMM

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Come Forth as Gold

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:7)

These words of Peter are certainly applicable today, but they have always been true. That proper character and testimony are of supreme importance to God was certainly recognized by godly Job in the midst of his heavy trials, for he claimed: “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). The context for this stirring statement of faith proves instructive.

Just as most people do, whether Christian or not, Job appealed to heaven for relief from his troubles (v. 3). Job felt he was suffering unjustly and wanted to state his case before God (v. 4), but more importantly, Job desired to know God’s will in the matter. “I would [i.e., desire to] know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me” (v. 5). He knew God well enough to know that God had a purpose in his suffering, and Job asked for knowledge of that purpose. Job knew God’s goodness, that He would not punish him for his questions, and felt that greater understanding would give him strength to continue. But without God’s revelation, Job knew he was unable to understand or even find God (vv. 8-9). God mercifully and lovingly allows trials to discipline, guide, and develop us. Such trials will, in the end, work to our advantage as impurities are removed, leaving behind only that which is lasting and precious.

The goal of our lives should be to bring “praise and honour and glory” unto our Lord, and if tribulation can best accomplish these goals, so be it! As David said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” (Psalm 119:67). God knows what is best for us. He knows what He is doing, and we can rest in that fact. JDM