Introduction to the Christian Boss

I would like you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

! Before we take the text in hand, I do want to make one brief announcement. On Saturday,

! I know that Jared and Emily Piles and Caleb Gibbs, who is their deacon, would

greatly appreciate if there were adequate individuals to help with the move. I must

confess that I had volunteered to help with that, and then my dear companion in the gospel

reminded me that I'd already scheduled something else, and so I need many able-bodied men to

help with that. And all God's people said, Amen.

Amen.

Well, I'm going to have to have your help in prayer.

However, my father is not doing well, and it goes without saying that my dad's been my

hero ever since I've known him. Very truthfully, I've watched my dad grow in grace. He retired

at 80 from being active in medicine. And he only retired because other people suggested

it was appropriate. We had to beg him to move down here because he didn't want to be a burden

to us as a family. And that took me about three years of telling him that, Daddy, I need you

to do this for me, not for you. He came down here to help us. And when he came down here,

he moved into this congregation, and within a couple weeks, my mother knew all of your names.

She has a far better memory than probably two of the rest of us put together, me included.

And by the way, when she went home on Sundays, she would take the pictorial directory, and she would

kind of review, and she'd quiz herself just to be sure she had names and faces and had those details.

And I only say that because I do want you to understand that my heart has mixed emotions,

feelings, okay? Frankly, I don't know how Kathy read the last chapter to her father's book.

Where is she? Oh, there you are. Where you normally sit even, you know? It's like, okay.

There will be no reading by me, you know, if that time comes. I may have to preach.

Preaching is truthfully an exercise that takes a man relying upon the Spirit to look at the

Word that is settled in the heavens. And you know, as I have said over and over again, that

when I sit there before I come here, there is not a week that goes by that I am not moderately

afflicted, but that's just the way I've been hardwired, so it's not like, ah. And there are

three things that console the frailty of my heart. Number one, I believe in the power of the Word of

God. I believe in the Spirit of God, and I believe in the power of the Spirit of God.

And I believe in the power of the prayers of God's people. So let's pray and hear God speak.

Every word of Scripture is settled in the heavens. Valuable, profitable for the believer.

Father, that we may be completely furnished for all the things that we need in life.

And I am thankful this morning that we can take this book, which you in your infinite wisdom

have given to us, and we who know Christ may call upon the Spirit of God to understand it,

and then to be formed and shaped by it, that we grow to be more like the Lord Jesus.

Why? So that He who receives the praises of angels may be worshipped and adored,

Lord, first in our hearts, but also in the context in which You have set us, at home, at work,

at school. In every place that we who are Your living representatives go, that people seeing our lives

and our conduct would have to admit that there's something about us. And we, not taking credit for

what we don't deserve, would say, and it's the Spirit of God, and it's the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ,

who has saved us, that makes us different. And we ask Your power as we proclaim Your Word. Amen.

Amen. Last week, as I was waiting in the hospital, in this case, I wasn't at OSU with my dad and family,

but I was in another hospital waiting for an individual who was going into our fellowship,

having a surgery, and I happened to pick up the newspaper. You know, it's about you're waiting,

waiting, waiting for the pre-surgical team to come out and say you can go and visit and have prayer,

etc. And I happened to grab the editorial page, and I started reading. And I was kind of caught by the

headline or the opening line, and really, it drew me into paying attention to the article. And the flow

of the article was this. Essentially, it was saying that while it is very common to hear the recitation

of the commonly believed idea that there is substantially no difference in the behavior

of professing believers and unbelievers when it comes to the areas like divorce or drunkenness or

unwed pregnancies or immorality, those kind of things, that's a very common theme. You hear it said,

well, there's no real difference. This article, not written, and by the way, it was in the Columbus

Dispatch so you can know for certain that it didn't come from some right-wing or some kind of

evangelical article. There it was. It was saying, actually, there is a substantial difference between

those who go to church at least three times a week or three times a month, I should say, and those who

don't. And the article was going on to explain that while there are most of us, everybody you bump into

at one fact on one side or another, it says, well, I'm religious. But it comes down to what do you mean

when you say I'm religious? And the article was recognizing that those who actually practice their

religion on a regular basis are fundamentally different. Now, that's not a surprise to me,

is it? To you? Truth of the matter is, we are expected to be different.

And the things that we are looking at today in Ephesians really kind of amplify the underlying

truth of the Scriptures that if any man be in Christ Jesus, he's what? What's the word? What's it say?

You're different. I like the lines from Kathy's song. By the way, Kathy wrote that. She didn't let

you know that, but I can say that. Blame me afterwards. But I thought it was good. And one of the lines,

Kathy had to go, you don't have to stay the way you are or something like that. I said, yes, I believe

that. I'm very thankful for that. And what we are dealing with here in Ephesians chapter 6, look at

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

verse 9, is the third set of comparative statements made about how being a believer who is spirit-filled

really helps us be different than the unbelieving world. Look at the verse. We'll read it. It says,

Masters, do the same to them and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their

master and yours is in heaven and that there is no partiality with him. You see, what Paul wants us to

understand as we are working our way through the book of Ephesians is that genuine believers live

and really do act differently than unbelievers do. And I want you to recognize that. You're sitting here

this morning, and if you know Christ, there should be a difference between you and the unbelievers that

you are around in a number of different ways. There are some good reasons for that. And let me touch on

several of them here just at the beginning of what we're going to study. But I want you to understand

that kind of looking in a global or overview, we recognize that genuine salvation makes us new and

different. Genuine salvation makes us new and different. It says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17,

2 Corinthians 5:17

if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a what? He's a new creation. You're not the same as you used to be.

And if you're sitting here today and you profess, well, I came to Christ when I was 7, or I came to

Christ when I was 19, or I came to Christ when I was 31. And the truth of the matter is, is there is no

difference in your life and your heart. My encouragement would be this morning, one of the

things that you do is you check your birth certificate and know whether or not you genuinely are

a convert. You know Him as your Savior. You see, salvation makes us new and different. Furthermore,

salvation gives us a different power source. It's not just that coming to Christ kind of gives you a new

address. And that is true. I'm thankful as I think about the prospect of my father's eventual home

going. I think to myself, you know what? I'm going to see Him again. And when I see Him, He and I will

enjoy the presence of Christ. And there comes the day when we will enjoy Christ with a glorified body.

I was reading in Ecclesiastes chapter 12, and it is a fairly...now don't go there because we're going

Ecclesiastes 12 · chapter mention

to be in Ephesians, but I have to make this comment, so just bear with me. But in Ecclesiastes 12,

it's talking about the fact that getting old is not what you thought it was. It's just all downhill

until we go to our eternal home. Dust to dust and the Spirit to God. But you know what? In 1 Corinthians,

it tells us that it's not just dust and Spirit, but the body is going to be glorified. The best thing

that is going to happen to this body is after I die, I am going to be transformed at the resurrection.

And I will have a glorified body. And I'll tell you what, it's going to be a whole lot better

than what I have now. You see, salvation doesn't just give us a new address, but it also gives us

a new power source. And tells us in Romans chapter 8, verse 11, that we who are believers have the

Romans 8:11

enabling of the Spirit of God within us. In fact, you know something? If you're sitting there and just

saying, I can't help myself, you are either making a theological aberration or you're speaking

inaccurately or you're declaring the fact you don't know Christ. Can I say that again slowly?

If you have the Spirit of God, you don't have to stay trapped in acting like an absolute witch

or just an absolute boor. How many of you understand that? You have the power of God to change.

It says this in Galatians chapter 5, it says, walk by the Spirit and… anybody help me here with this

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

one? And you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You don't have to be that way.

Third, genuine salvation actually gives us a new set of operating instructions. That's pretty nice.

Prior to conversion, we were running by a miserable, wicked set of rules. Do you understand that?

It's all about me. It's all about myself. It's all about my interests, you know? And with conversion,

I am given the prompting of the Spirit of God to pay attention to the Word of God,

and the Spirit helps me understand the Word, and the Word becomes the system whereby I live

and bring glory to Christ. And so now we're looking in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 9,

Ephesians 6:9

where we find the third set. First was wife-husband. Second was child-parent. Third is slave-master.

And in these three sets that cover basic relationships, the apostle is wanting us to see

clearly what Spirit-filled people act like. Let's look first at a significant command.

Verse 9, masters, do the same to them. And the Word is a command. It's one that reflects our Lord and

Savior speaking with equal authority to those who are servants or slaves or subordinates or employees,

and also speaking with equal authority to all of you here who have authority over other individuals

and serve in one capacity or another as a boss. And so the question that follows is to ask yourself,

so what does it mean to do the will of God from the heart? That's what it says there in verse 9.

Do the same thing to them. Do the same thing to them. Some have actually taken this passage,

and some scholars, some theologians, I think, have been misguided in making the assumption that

really what this is saying is that the Christian boss and the Christian slave, they kind of meld

together, and there's no structure, no authority plan or anything. It's a little bit like when two

good Christian gentlemen show up at the door at the same time. How many of you know what happens?

You first. No, you first. No, you first. No, you first. No, you first. You know how it goes?

That's not what's being proposed here. And as you look at this passage, I think it's always important

to keep things in context, and so I do not believe it has application. The antecedent does not go back

to verse 5, obey, but actually to the latter part of 6 and then 7, and pay attention with me, if you

will, to what it says there. It says, as servants of Christ, you who are in a position of authority,

don't lose track of the fact that you are really Christ's slave. And then in verse 7, it says,

rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man. So what we see here is that the

Christian boss is a slave to Christ and is committed to the will of God. Well, if you are in a position

of authority, you have the right of giving instructions to other individuals, the way in which you do that

really is not about you getting your way, but you're making Christ look good. I want you to look at two

different passages in which we kind of can put this together. Turn in your Bible first to Philippians.

That's not a far way away, but Philippians, if you would, at chapter 2, verse 3.

Philippians chapter 2, verse 3, it says,

Philippians 2:3

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourself.

Do you follow that? Don't be full of yourself.

Think about the other person. Now, so that we understand you can do the will of God and not

compromise the structure of authority that is woven in to every aspect of God's thinking in

relationship to society, etc., I want you to turn back in your Bible just for a moment to John chapter 13.

John 13 · chapter mention

John chapter 13, Jesus does something that absolutely stuns the disciples. In John chapter 13,

John 13 · chapter mention John 13:3

verse 3, we read this, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands and that He had

come from God and was going back to God. Stop just for a moment. That is a significant theological

statement about the supremacy of Christ. Would you admit that? It's a biggie. He's going to judge

and everything's in His hand. He came from God. He's going back to God. That's verse 3.

He rose from supper. We have this grand overarching view of the glory of Christ, and it says,

He rose from supper. He laid aside His outer garments and taking a towel, tied it around His waist. Can you

imagine what was going on in the disciples' minds when He did that? I mean, now we've all seen paintings

of the Last Supper, and I don't know exactly how it happened, but I can tell you this, that everybody

knew where Jesus was in the room, and when He decided to stand up, everybody went, okay, what's next?

What's up? Center of attraction. People were paying attention to Him. And then He grabbed a towel and He

put it around His waist. Now, that wasn't bad enough. Then He poured water into a basin and began to wash

the disciples' feet. Do you know what feet did in the good old days? Listen to me. They weren't covered by

socks. They weren't covered by leather shoes. And for the most part, when people padded around the roads

in Jerusalem or anywhere else, guess what was out in the streets? It wasn't paved. It was where all the

refuse of life was thrown out. Growing up in India, one of the things that my father drilled into my head

was this, do not go barefooted. Because every conceivable pathology could be picked up, walking

around, stepping on things out there. Don't go there. It was a dangerous thing to do. Don't go

barefooted. But people stomping around. And so, here's Jesus washing feet. And that was a task that was

reserved only for the lowest of slaves. And here's Jesus doing it. I want you to know that when He

chose to wash the disciples' feet, sorry, feet, take that out. For you who are teaching at home,

that is not a good illustration. Pastor said this. Okay. Listen to me. When He did this, He did not lay

aside His glory or His position in the disciples' lives. In fact, He says, let me tell you something.

I'm your Lord and Master, and I'm doing this. And I'm doing it so that you get the message. You

understand that leadership is servanthood. And as we look at this statement going back, if we will,

to Ephesians chapter 6, we recognize there it says, Masters do the same things to them. It's saying,

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

hey, listen, you, masters, are really to do the will of God from your heart. Now, let me kind of

put that together for you so you think about, so what is expected of you who are leaders?

For one, you not have an overinflated view of your importance.

Christ was profoundly humble. And it is inappropriate for you, when you are in a position of authority,

to have an overinflated view of who you are, because it's contradictory to the grace of God and what

He has done. And furthermore, what you have, you didn't really earn. How did you get it?

We're going to come to that later, but to shortcut, it says this,

a man can receive nothing except to be given.

Whatever you are, whatever the position you have, whatever the place that God has put you in,

one of the things that humility should prompt your heart to recognize is that I am who I am by the

grace of God and the position and the authority, the responsibility I have, has been given to me by

God, and I am a steward of it.

Furthermore, that the position that you are in is not one that you are to be self-serving in.

It's not about getting your way.

It's not about gratifying your own preferences.

It is not about finding however you can manipulate the situation to serve your personal interests and

inclinations. I'll never forget a number of years ago when we were making the transition

musically, and it was one of those tenuous times in our fellowship, and I had one of the dear ladies in our

fellowship come to me and said,

Pastor, I have heard it rumored that you really prefer the hymns.

I said, well, I really do like the hymns, yes. And she said, well, then why don't we sing them more?

I said, well, let me tell you something. When the Kenoyers meet together for Sunday dinner,

I very seldom get my preference at the menu. I said, in fact, one of the things that happens when we have

a family dinner is that we kind of look around and decide, okay, who gets to pick next? And that

person decides. And I rarely get to pick. In fact, someone gave me liver. You know, I need to preach

about liver more often, by the way. And I was actually thinking I would, if I had my way, do you

follow what I'm saying is if I had my way? If I had my way, we would have liver and onions several weeks

in a row on a Sunday dinner. But the only time that we have actually fed the whole family liver

and onions was when I was laid off once and someone kindly gave me liver and onions and we fed the

whole family. And I had one of my children announce to me, if I eat this, I'm going to vomit. I said,

not a problem. You'll just use the spoon. Okay. And now I'm serious. You didn't want to grow up in my

home. But back we go. I said to this dear lady, when we have Sunday dinner, I very seldom pick

because the people I love are important to me and I want to know what they want.

You see, being a Christian boss means you and since are not all about you. The job of a Christian boss,

listen to me carefully, is to help your subordinates succeed. That's what it's all about. Helping them

advance. Be accomplished. I so appreciate working with Pastor Saul. And this is not in my notes, so

he can't blame me. But one of the things I know about Pastor Saul from the time he came on as

our pastor, particularly after Kevin Brock left, Pastor Saul made it part of his job basically to

work himself out of a job. And I had to retire to get there. But one of the things that he's done over

and over again, whatever area he has touched, he has added a level of planning to so that in the

future someone can come in and instead of having it be oral tradition, it's there and we can follow it.

It's about helping other people succeed. You see, a Christian boss is also one who is inclined to

kindness and mercy. Now, why is that? Everybody listen. Because those who have been richly blessed by

God's mercy should be individuals who show God's mercy. Isn't that right? Isn't that right?

So it is God's will, and that's what we're really dealing with here in Ephesians chapter 5 or 6 verse 9,

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

it's really God's will that His bosses are thoughtful and kind, genuinely interested in the well-being

of their subordinates and interested in the progress and growth of their employees.

Now, by the way, this may be a surprise, but the truth of the matter is, is that the employees you

hired are not perfect. But here's another truth that goes along with that. And the next employee

that you get if you decide to get rid of this one for just subordinate reasons or whatever, you don't

like him, the next one's going to be pretty much like him. Do you understand that? At the end of the

day, listen to this, good generals win battles with the soldiers they have, not the ones they wish they had.

And so a Christian boss says, all right, this is what I got. I'll do the best I can, and we'll make it happen.

The poor part-time worker at Meijer or Walmart or wherever else, the hourly employee that is in your

charge, the young person that mows your lawn or helps you with chores should secretly desire,

man, I hope the person I'm working for is spirit-filled today. Is that fair?

By the way, parents, teach your children to be discerning about character and help them understand

that when they eventually grow, they're probably going to move to the point that they are a boss,

not just a subordinate, and their opportunity will be someday to show the kindness and the mercy

and the character of Christ. And by the way, guess who they get to practice with?

Brothers and sisters. Isn't that right? Isn't that who they get to practice with?

Okay. I want you to look secondly at spiritual restraint. We find there in Ephesians chapter 6,

Ephesians 6:9

verse 9, it says, do the same to them. Now it says, stop your threatening. Stop.

Why would you think that's there? Do you know what stop your threatening implies?

That it was going on. It was going on in the church in Ephesus. And here is Paul, by the way,

some estimates, and it all depends on which scholar you read, but some estimates suggest that almost 50%

of the community culture were involved in slavery at one point or another. And so when Paul writes to

the church, there were probably as many slaves sitting in the congregation as those who were not

slaves. And so he says, hey, you guys who aren't slaves, stop acting this way.

A Christian boss must not be a little tyrant. Now, if a Christian father is not to be a little tyrant,

right? And we got that the previous past, did we not? What does it say over there in verse 4?

Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the disciplined instruction

of the Lord. Now we find here it says, Christian boss, you are not to be this little demagogue and

little pouty, moody, arrogant, manipulative boss. Now, I want you to understand in the ancient world,

abuse and mistreatment of subordinates was something that was the normal way of dealing with slaves.

In fact, it was written in to instructions for masters, here's what you have to do to get

the attention of slaves. You have to beat them. I'll never forget.

The very first day, I talked about the fact that I worked at International Harvester in Fort Wayne,

and I'll remember the very first day that I came on. Remember I told you about being given a job,

and it's like, I get paid that much? It was amazing. And my first day, I worked with a guy named

Joe Freiberger. Does the name tell you anything? Joe Freiberger. He's not alive, so I can say this

safely. But I remember, they said, you're going to be broken in by Joe Freiberger. What is this?

And I went into the foreman's office that was a den of smoke. I mean, I could hardly see across the

room. Everybody except me was in there smoking. I got all the secondhand smoke. I didn't have to pay

for a cigarette. It was like, anyway, there I was. And I had been in the foreman's office for about,

probably about five minutes. He said, sit over here. I sat down. And Joe Freiberger got a call

from Department 37. I can remember this. And he picked up the phone and found out who it was. The

guy's name was Jerry. And the next thing you know, I thought he was going to have a stroke. I mean,

he was yelling and shouting. And then he slammed down. These were in the days were bakelite phones.

You know that, I mean, they were made of Gorilla Glass before they had Gorilla Glass. And he slammed

down that phone. And he said, follow me. And I was running following this guy. He goes down into

Department 37. And he is standing this far from the face of another foreman. And Spittle is just going

all over the place. And he goes, yo! And we're walking back. And I thought, well, there wasn't

anybody got killed, so that's probably good. And he said, sometimes, Tim, you have to make yourself

plain. Okay. About a week or two later, he said to me, Tim, you're not going to make it here.

Well, I didn't think I was. I got to tell you, honestly, I didn't think I was.

I grew up in a Christian home, went to a Christian school, went to a Christian college,

taught in a Christian school, went to a seminary, and then went to International Harvester. Do you

understand that? I thought that I had landed in the belly of the beast. About a week or two later,

Joe says, Tim, you're not going to make it here. I said, bring it on. What do I need to do? He says,

you need to lose your temper. Nobody's going to respect you if you don't get in the face.

And, well, I never did get there. And I got promoted. Do you know why? Because I'll tell

you, one of the things that I did every day when I drove one hour from where I lived to

where I worked, I prayed, Lord, help me make you look good.

Paul says to Christian bosses, don't be like the unregenerate world.

The spirit-filled boss cannot be abusive and unkind without dishonoring Christ.

Be fair. Be just. Deal with laziness. One of the things that they learned at International

Harvester is if I told them I was going to write them up, guess what? I had already thought through

what they deserved it for. And I'd also understood that I was going to get a call from the union.

There was no such thing as a good, clean write-up until I began working at putting all the pieces

together. Document, document, document, document. And then when the union steward came up and tried that,

you know, the typical thing, it's like, hey, well, here's what I said and here's what I did and blah,

blah, blah. Pretty soon it's like, Tim, did you write them up? Okay, I'll go talk to them.

You know? A Christian boss is one who pays attention to what's right. And Paul says, hey,

don't act like an unbeliever. That's a short story. Now we come to the reason. I like the logic that

Scripture has. It says, masters, do the same to them and stop your threatening. Now we come to why

you ought to be this way. Here it is, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven.

You're not the top of the food chain. Do you understand that? In fact, somebody decided to

put you in that position and him in the other one. And you better not forget that where you are

is not something that happened by your little pea brain, but God did it.

The Christian boss has a master in heaven. And because of that, we ought to pay careful and

close attention. Now, God is not the least bit impressed with titles or offices or reputation

or authority. And I want you to understand that his judgment in dealing with you as a believer is

not going to be weighted by the fact that you happen to have had X number of years of seniority,

or you happen to have been given such and such an educational title or whatever. No!

He has you where he has you because he chose to put you there. And you better live in a very

circumspect and humble spirit, remembering that where you are is by his divine assignment.

So let me bring some practical thoughts in relationship to this. Number one, don't get a big head.

You're a Christian boss, don't get a big head. Think with me just for a moment back to Romans chapter 12,

Romans 12:3

verse 3. Romans chapter 12, verse 3. Paul, as he is moving from the 11-chapter theological explanation

Romans 12:3

of the glory of salvation, now comes to the practical matter of how we act as Christians. So,

you're saved. Now make him look good. Romans 12, 3. It says,

for by the grace given to me, I say, and here's Paul. Now, isn't that a neat way to introduce what

he's going to say next? In essence, what he's saying is, I am nobody special. The only reason I

have this opportunity to speak to you is because God found me as a wicked, despicable wretch, and he

saved me, and now he's asked me to communicate lovingly to you, here, don't have a big head.

How should we think? To think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God

has assigned. That's a very interesting statement. And so, let me flesh it out with two different

passages that will help you understand. John chapter 3, verse 27. By the way, was John the Baptist a

John 3:27

significant individual in the economy of the Scriptures? And what's the answer? Remember what

Jesus said? There ain't nobody like him. And here's what John said. He said, a man can have nothing

except to be given him. The day you stop realizing that who you are is an extension of the grace of God

and for the glory of God, you're in deep trouble.

Secondly, 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 7. And I want you to look at that passage just for a moment.

1 Corinthians 4:7

1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 7. I have it underlined in my Bible. I don't know about you, but 65 years of

1 Corinthians 4:7

practice at doing this, I sometimes think too much of myself, and then I go to the opposite extent and

think nothing of myself because I'm thinking too much of myself. Did that confuse you?

I think about that. It'll make sense. I have it underlined because I need to be reminded. Here's

what Paul says. What do you have that you did not receive? In other words, where'd you get it from?

Well, he gave it to me. Okay. If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

Hmm? Don't get a big head. Secondly, understand that more authority means more accountability. Does that

make sense? More authority means more accountability. I look out here and I see Jeff Merrill, who is

responsible for Original Mattress Factory. Am I right? Give or take. There are other people that help you with

that. But Jeff probably at the end of the day has to answer for a whole lot more than a person who's

working on the line. Or I see Todd sitting in the back. The further up you are, just the more people

expect from you. Isn't that right? And I'm reminded of what it says in Scripture. It says,

unto whom much is given, much is what? Required. One other thing in relationship to that, remember the

story of the talents? One man got how many? Five. One man got three or two. And one man got one. How,

why did they get the number that they got? Does anybody know? Everybody pay attention because you

need to follow this according to their ability. God gives you what He's given you for His glory and

according to what He believes you can handle. Now, here's the deal. Do the best with it and don't get

a big head for what you have. Third, make much of Christ. That's pretty simple, isn't it?

So, when you go off to work Monday, I would encourage you as you're driving in, okay, let's do this.

Get the weather, you know, a little microburst on your phone or whatever else, and then let it go.

Don't worry about Facebook. Don't worry about the radio. Don't worry about the news. The plane has not

been found yet. Okay? Just relax. Focus on the important thing, and it is make Christ look good.

Pray about it as you're driving in. Lord Jesus, I am so thankful that while I was yet a sinner,

Christ died for me, and you have saved me from the pit. You have made me your instrument of

righteousness, and you are sending me into that den of iniquity, and you're sending me there to make you

look good. And I cannot be there and be a petty, self-centered, arrogant fool and have Christ glorified

at the same time. I want Him to look good. I think about the passage where it says,

you have not because you... What? Ask not.

The reason I'm not in heaven is because Jesus wants me here to do His work. Am I right?

That's why He has you here, if you know Christ. And so when you remind yourself of that little song,

hi-ho, hi-ho, and off to work I go. You know how that is, you know. I am going off to work to make

Jesus look what? Good. There's some of you here that can't say that because you don't know Christ.

I cannot preach

the glory of the gospel that calls for change

in the life of the believer. Do you understand that?

Without pleading with those who are here that don't know Jesus,

they would stop

their arrogant and stubborn struggle against the grace of God

and be broken

and contrite

and humble

and say,

I need Christ.

Let's close in prayer.

Without anybody looking around this morning,

if you are here today and you do not know Christ today,

now, I want to make an appeal to you that you,

where you sit,

would be humble enough to admit,

I need Jesus as my Savior.

No more games.

No more delay.

But with humility and brokenness of heart,

say, I don't need any more evidence

of the darkness and the depravity of my soul.

And there is no remedy

but what Jesus has done when he died on the cross.

And you cannot have everlasting life without

brokenhearted confession

and calling upon the name of the Lord.

Father,

unto you be glory

and unto Jesus be glory

in the church.

Amen.

Let's sing.