05 "How Christian Laborers Hear Well Done" Colossians 3:22-25 | Sunday, September 5, 2026

the book of Colossians, chapter 3. If

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

you're not sure where that's at, you'll

find it toward the middle end of the New

Testament. Colossians, chapter number

three.

We completed our series in the book of

Acts last Sunday. A rich, wonderful

series that I think really helped set

the focus for our church over the last

couple of years. And next Sunday, we're

going to begin a new sermon series

through the book of Daniel entitled The

Most High Reigns. So looking forward to

introducing that book to you next

Sunday. But I felt like this would be on

Labor Day weekend a good time to breathe

in between series and uh the book of

Daniel will take us probably into early

into midspring.

Um, but wanted to take the opportunity

on Labor Day to address our theme this

year, which is well done. And we've been

talking all year about how we can manage

what God puts in our hands to magnify

Christ's glory. And that's how we hear

well done. And it's fitting on a Labor

Day weekend that we would talk about,

well, our labor, our earthly work that

God puts into our hands. And it's not an

apples to apples comparison this morning

because we do not live in an empire like

Rome that was dominated by slavery.

Some 60 million people, it's estimated,

were slave workers in the Roman Empire.

Half the population was.

And so what that tells us is that it was

not going anywhere anytime soon.

Now, thank God that Christian principles

in the hearts of the vast majority of

the abolitionists

uh were able to lead the way in

abolishing slavery in most parts of the

world. We give thanks to God for that.

God's plan, when you study the book of

Deuteronomy, God's plan was for slavery

to eventually become abolished in Israel

through their love and care for one

another. That was God's plan. But Israel

never followed God's plan. And thus,

slavery continued. And so I just want to

clear off a spot here at the beginning

as we come to talk about this text

that Paul was not he you don't you don't

find anything in the New Testament that

says the church needs to revolutionize

the world and abolish slavery. You just

don't find that. If you follow Christian

principles, you're going to realize the

kind of harsh slavery that the world has

known for ancient history even until the

last couple of hundred years. was not

pleasing to God. And you'll find that

the principles contained in the New

Testament would eventually serve to work

its way toward abolishing it. But what

these people needed in this moment was

to know how do I live as a Christian

in the particular culture in which I

live.

And so we're going to talk about

servants and slavery and masters are

mentioned in chapter 4 verse one. But I

want you to understand that that was the

the half of the Roman world at that

time. That was the workforce essentially

that wealthy patrons had house full of

slavery of slaves who worked in their

fields who worked and managed their

estate. They weren't all just harsh

labor that some of them were

accountants, some of them were

educators. This was just the way that a

lot of people worked was the wealthy

patrons would house the servants and the

servants would take care of particular

needs and in exchange the master would

[snorts] would pay them but would also

feed them and clothe them and have a

place for them to stay. That was the

world that this was brought into. There

are times you might wish that your boss

paid for the clothes on your back. And

there might be times that you wish they

provided you with housing, but you

probably also enjoy your freedom to be

able to come and go as you please. I

would expect, but it wasn't quite that

way. And so I just want you to

understand while we're going to draw

some parallels today, what Paul is

specifically talking about is the work

ethic. It's the work ethic. And I think

as we read our text, you're going to see

how this ties into our theme. Let's

begin reading in verse number 22 of

Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

He writes, "Servants,

obey in all things your masters

according to the flesh, not with eye

service as men pleasers, but in

singleness of heart, fearing God. And

whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to

the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that

of the Lord ye shall receive the reward

of the inheritance. For ye serve the

Lord Christ, but he that doeth wrong

shall receive for the wrong which he

hath done. And there is no respect of

persons. And we're not going to cover

chapter 4 verse one, but I want to go

ahead and read it so you see that this

is a two-way street. Masters,

give unto your servants that which is

just and equal, knowing that ye also

have a master in heaven. This shows us

that God cares

about your daily work. He does. Whether

you're an employee or an employer,

whether they were slaves or masters, God

cares about how we work. I want to

preach to you this morning the title,

how Christian laborers hear well done.

Let's pray. Our heavenly father, we ask

for your help to understand your word. I

pray your spirit would make it clear

where I do not. And I pray that we would

glean the truths that you have for us

and that we would live every day in our

work environments in a way that we could

hear. Well done. I ask these things in

Jesus name. Amen.

>> [clears throat]

>> Tomorrow,

for the 132nd time, our nation will

celebrate the Labor Day holiday.

For most of us, it's like a random

holiday where we just get an extra day

off work, extra day off school, have

some family cookouts, go camping, go

hiking, something of that nature. But it

was originally established to celebrate

the efforts of the labor movement to

secure fairer wages for the daily

worker. It was to celebrate the way they

fought for safer workplaces, for

reasonable hours, and for weekends off.

And so if you have weekends off, you owe

it to that labor movement because they

fought for it. Do you realize even in

the Bible that they had a sixth day work

week and the seventh day was the day of

rest? So if you only work a 5-day work

week, you ought to celebrate Labor Day

every year, right? Labor Day gives us a

chance to remember and celebrate the

workforce upon whose backs this country

has been built and continues to thrive

today. The vast majority of occupations

carry vitally important roles to our

society functioning as we know it.

Whether it be our military service

members defending our freedoms overseas

and here or if it be our police officers

securing our cities software engineers

working on that latest and greatest

iPhone and developing the next

technology.

Or it could be our everyday retailers,

food service delivery drivers or

construction workers, those who work on

farms. Each of those workers among

countless others are vitally important

to our society functioning as we know it

today. But as Christian workers, we have

a doubly important role because of the

fact that in whatever occupation you

serve, you also represent the Lord Jesus

Christ to a world that is lost and

unbelieving.

the person who sits beside you in the

truck or in the cockpit or the person

who is hospitalized that you are caring

for as a nurse or doctor or the

receptionist you walk by at the office

every morning. They are all precious

souls that God loves and that Jesus gave

his life for. Every one of them. They

need salvation.

And I would submit to you that God has

strategically placed you where you work,

not only to provide for your needs

physically, but also to provide for

their needs spiritually.

God's done that. See, when Christ

forgave your sins, secured your

salvation, he also gave you a whole new

life. A life he desires to redeem

entirely. And that includes even your

work life.

See, when Christ changes your heart, it

ought to change how you work.

That's what Paul is getting across in

this letter to the Colossians.

He's showing these believers how to live

on earth in light of the glory to come.

Would you just look back at chapter 3,

verse one? Look what he says. He spends

the first two chapters painting this

glorious picture of the all sufficiency

and preeminence of Jesus Christ. And

then in chapter three he moves to the

practical side of things and he says if

you then be risen with Christ seek those

things which are above where Christ

siteth on the right hand of God. Set

your affection on things above and not

on things on the earth. For ye are dead

and your life is hid with Christ in God.

When Christ who is our life shall

appear, then shall ye also appear with

him in glory. Do you get what he's

saying here? And because of what Christ

has done for you, because you've been

risen from spiritual deadness in Jesus

Christ, you ought to set your heart and

your mind and your eyes upon that which

is above from heaven, on the glory that

is to come when Christ appears. And look

where he starts in verse 5. Mortify

therefore your members which are upon

the earth fornication. He goes into a

list of sexual sins and of violence and

and and slander. And you just get the

perspective that he starts with the

individual life, individual holiness.

And then he's going to uh talk about

church life. Verse number uh 12, he

says, "Put on therefore as the elect of

God, holy and beloved, bowels of

mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,

meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one

another, and forgiving one another." And

so he begins to deal with their

interpersonal relationships in church.

But then [snorts] and he tops it off in

verse 17, saying, "And whatsoever ye do

in word or deed, do all in the name of

the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and

the Father by him." Then he shifts to

the home.

Wives in verse 18.

Verse 19, husbands. Verse 20, children.

Verse 21, fathers. Verse 22, servants.

That seems like a strange place to put

servants and masters in the home

until you remember how the first century

churches were established.

They were not established in big

buildings like we get to be in today.

They were established in homes.

We see that in Acts 16 in Philippi. When

Paul and Silas went to Philippi, they

went to the outskirts of the city and

they came across a women's prayer

meeting and there was a woman there by

the name of Lydia.

She converted to Christ. And remember

the Bible says that she was a seller of

purple, the color of royalty. That means

she did business with kings and

governors and rich people. And that

means therefore that she was a wealthy

person herself.

She even had a home. And what did she

do? She invited Paul and Silas to stay

with them. And indications are that her

home became the host of the church at

Philippi.

You know what else she would have had in

her estate? Servants.

And what we find in the book of Acts is

that there were whole households that

were saved. And the household does not

just refer to the the man and the woman

and the children. It also refers to

their servants that are in their home as

well. And so now you've got you've got

both masters and slaves

becoming Christians.

And that fundamentally changes their

relationship

because these who have been categorized

as masters and slaves have suddenly in

Jesus Christ become brothers and sisters

in Christ.

These who are on the total opposite end

of the socioeconomic

uh system are now equals.

Paul says multiple times in Christ there

is neither bond nor free.

That's what he's getting at. Can you

imagine how that would have changed

these relationships?

How they treated one another? How they

talked to one another? And so there's a

fundamental shift here taking place in

their socioeconomic system. It's no

wonder really that Paul teaches so

consistently about the master slave

relationship. He speaks about it in

first Corinthians, Ephesians,

Colossians, uh, uh, Titus, Phileiman. In

fact, the book of Phileiman is written

to a slave owner

and Paul sent the letter to him by his

former slave, a runaway slave to be in

fact to be sure. And so you can see this

was a very a very important detail that

that even Peter has to deal with as

well. They're constantly writing and

instructing the church not just how to

abolish slavery, but instructing them

how to live in this new relationship

between a Christian master and a

Christian servant. That's what they

needed in this moment. How do I live in

the system of my culture?

And so while we are so grateful that

eventually slavery was abolished, we

need to recognize here that they needed

instruction from God. How do I live with

my master? And as we saw in chapter 4:1,

how do masters treat their servants?

What did he say there in chapter 4:1?

Give unto them what's just and equal.

You know what that implies? Most masters

didn't do that. [snorts]

And he's saying that something has

changed here. masters, that is no longer

just your slave. That is your brother

and you need to care for his needs,

right? And so, he's going to give

instruction to the masters as well. But

I want us to focus in this morning on

the instructions given to servants.

Once again, while we can't by any means

compare modern employment to ancient

slavery,

Paul's instructions deal primarily with

how we work. And notice his argument is

centered on the reward that awaits the

believer in heaven.

It's very relevant to us today. Paul is

challenging servants to work with what

we have been calling this year the

welldone mindset.

We've talked about beginning with the

end in mind. Living today knowing you

will one day stand before Christ.

That's exactly what Paul's doing here.

You know what this means? that your work

that you do every day is not a mundane

necessary evil in your life as it

sometimes feels.

Rather, it is yet another stewardship

to be managed for Christ's glory.

How do Christian laborers hear well

done?

Well, first of all, Paul's going to

offer practical instruction for how we

ought to work. But then he's going to

provide us with the ultimate motivation

that can help us work in that way. I

want you to notice first of all that to

hear well done, you must work the right

way with the right heart. The right way

with the right heart. Well, what exactly

does that look like? In verse 22, he

says this, "Servants, obey in all things

your masters according to the flesh."

We don't like that word obey, do we? How

would you like it if you went into work

every day and your boss said, "You will

obey my commands."

You're probably going to think,

"Narcissist. What is wrong with you? Who

do you think I am? Your slave?"

Yeah. And so he he says here though that

you need to obey in all things. But this

word translated obey, it just simply

means to hear and do. It it conveys the

idea of following instructions.

See in their day the master would have a

particular way of conducting his

business. He would give very clearly

defined instructions. And the tendency

of the typical slave [snorts] was to do

it either how they thought best

or more often how they thought easiest.

See, they they had this tendency to cut

corners, to get by with the bare

minimum. And because of this kind of

behavior, slaves were often viewed in

that day as morally incapable.

And the reason why is because as I

mentioned with Phileiman and Onesimus,

Onesimus evidently ran away and stole

from Phileiman his his master. And the

evidence is that Phileiman was actually

the host patron for the church at

Colasse that this letter is written to.

I [snorts] don't know if you have this

in your Bible, but I have a note at the

very end of this book that says written

from Rome to the Colossians by Titicus

and Onesimus the slave. And when you

study the book of Phileiman, you find

that Onesimus evidently was saved while

in prison with Paul. Paul led him to

Christ. And Onesimus must have told him,

"I'm actually a runaway slave to a

Christian man back in the church at

Colasse."

And he said, 'Okay, when you're

released, I'm going to send you with

this letter and you need to go make

things right with him. And he calls

Phileiman to receive Onesimus, not as a

slave, but as a brother now that he has

converted to Christianity. And and Paul

even told Phileiman, [snorts] whatever

he owes you, put that on my account.

I'll pay his debt. What that what I want

to bring our attention to is that tells

us that this slave had run away and

stolen from his master.

That's how they were viewed. Morally

incapable.

But Paul's point as he goes through

Colossians 1 and two is to show who

Christ is and what Christ has done in

your life. And that includes these

slaves. That Christ died to redeem them.

He died to change their hearts and

therefore to make them morally capable

and therefore morally responsible

to their masters.

And so on top of that, I want you to

think for a moment that if their master

was a Christian and to become a a

brother or sister in Christ, don't you

think that might lead them to let things

slide a little bit more?

Aren't we equals in Christ? That when

the master comes down on the slave, the

slave might throw that Christian card at

him and say, "Hey, you're my brother.

Don't talk to me that way. Don't treat

me that way. I don't have to do what you

want me to do. Hey, it was just a You

get what we're talking about? This could

complicate their relationships. But what

Paul is writing to them is that Jesus

Christ did not die for you so you could

continue to live like a morally

incapable slave as you always have, but

as a morally capable and responsible

slave today. He says that's how you're

supposed to live. How do you do that?

Obey in all things. Follow their

instructions in all things. Notice he

says even the little things.

But what we notice if you spent any time

working in the modern American labor

force

is that employees today often are not

much different than they were. They

steal from cash registers.

Cut corners,

change their time in attendance,

lie about why they're late for the

fourth time this week.

I I was I worked as a retail manager and

man, some of the excuses that you get,

you might think, man, these people are

just morally incapable. It is so hard to

hire anybody. They won't stop stealing.

They won't stop uh faking time. They

won't stop sitting in the bathroom for

30 minutes. They won't stop like this is

how you can begin to think as a manager.

And and and the reality is is that that

that that we can struggle with that as

employees even with the little things.

Cutting corners, fudging numbers,

ignoring policy, or taking issues with

corporate procedure or micromanagement.

Doesn't everybody love that?

We love when corporate changes the

system and yet they've never done a

single thing to actually work on the

system and a lot so a lot of times what

can happen is your boss or your CEO they

may have a particular way that they want

business done and you who are on the

front lines you're you're just thinking

these people have never worked in my

position because this is incredibly

inefficient. This is a complete waste of

time. It makes no logistical sense and

it's easy to just do things your own

way. Is it not? Sure.

But Christ redeemed you from that fallen

tendency

and to show you a better way, a way that

is compliant, a way that is kind, a way

that is gracious, a way that is

understanding, even if it makes life

harder on you at times. The call of the

Christian is to follow instructions, not

just in the big things, but even in the

little things. He says, "Obey your

masters according to the flesh in all

things."

But then we notice that Paul puts some

qualifiers on this because it's not just

what you do that's important, but the

heart with which you do it. Would you

look at verse uh 22 there? He says, "Not

with eye service as men pleasers." Not

with eye service as men pleasers. You

know what that means? Don't just obey or

follow instructions when the boss is

looking. That's what he's getting at.

Don't just do it to make impressions, to

advance yourself. Let me give you an

illustration. When I was working in that

retail world at a paint store, [snorts]

I had two different kinds of bosses. One

was a neat freak and one was a slob.

Total slob.

You can imagine how different these

stores looked.

My neat freak manager, his name was

Austin, and he had particular daily

responsibilities for every person. He

had laminated checklists of things that

needed to be done. If we weren't selling

paint or mixing paint or or or making

sales calls, then we were to work on on

these little things. Every single day at

the end of everyone's shift, they had a

specific section assigned to them where

they had to clean up, straighten up,

front face the shelves and everything.

And so mine was the the roller and and

paintbrush aisle. And so every day

before I left, I would go over to that

aisle and I would rearrange and and

shift everything around so that it looks

nice and neat day after day after day.

Felt incredibly tedious. But you know

what happens when the district manager

comes into that store?

We're not running around scrambling,

freaking out. You know, if another store

called said, "Hey, the DM's on your

way." WE WEREN'T LIKE [screaming]

GET THE PLACE CLEANED UP. WE were like,

"Okay, thanks. Good to know." And we

didn't have to do anything to clean up.

Why? Because it wasn't just about

appeasing the the head honchos. It was

about this is the expectation that the

stores will be clean, that they will be

organized, that they will be good to

shop at. And so we took steps to ensure

that we were doing that. [snorts] My

other boss, on the other hand, the slob,

spent no time cleaning ever. And

therefore, everyone who worked around

him spent no time cleaning ever. And I

remember when I first went, I went from

that to that.

And I remember when I first went to this

store, I was trying so hard and it was

like it all hope was lost cuz as soon as

I would clean up a section, somebody

else would come and destroy it, you

know. But you know what happened? When

we got a call, the district manager was

coming to that store. Everybody's

freaking out. The boss is yelling and

screaming and directing people. We're

running around like crazy and customers

are being neglected. Why? Because this

boss was only concerned about looking

good in front of his boss rather than he

was concerned about following

instructions and expectations.

Which one is Paul telling these servants

to be like?

Is he who's he telling you to be like as

a Christian? He's saying Christians,

don't live your life like that. When you

go to work, don't just do things when

the boss is looking and then and then

turn around and do what's wrong when

he's not looking. Don't just live for

when they're they're coming to check out

the store for you. No, he's he tells

them that you need to give your your

time and your attention to doing what's

right, whether the boss is there or the

boss is not.

In other words, Christian, don't be on

your phone all day long when the boss is

expecting you to work.

Don't don't just uh be the kind of

worker who's interested in making

impressions on people.

Don't don't uh when when your when your

boss expects you to be trimming trees or

painting walls or making calls, do what

they expect you to do whether they're

there or not.

Don't clock in when the boss is looking,

but then go change your time later to

make a few extra bucks.

It's wrong.

But that's the kind of behavior that

slaves would do and that's the kind of

behavior that some Christians do. May it

not be so with you friend. Christ died

to redeem you to bring you out of that

to transform and not just your spiritual

life and not just change your eternal

destiny but to change even how you work

on [snorts] a day-to-day basis.

Rather Paul says,

"Not with eye service as men pleasers,

but in singleness of heart fearing God."

You know what singleness means? The idea

is of of simplicity

or sincerity

without pretense.

The idea is that you are working with

integrity.

Not when the boss is looking, but but

instead of only cleaning up when

someone's coming and instead of only

trying to look good, he's calling you to

be good, to be moral, to be honest, to

be upright.

And so that's what he calls us to do.

Not to just work with eye service as men

pleasers, but in singleness of our

hearts, integrity, and honesty

within. [snorts]

And so that means don't steal from the

cash register when no one's looking. It

means don't cheat on your time and

attendance. It means don't lie about

where you about why you were late to

work just to save face.

Can I just tell you, you can only hit

the same train so many times before it

becomes a pattern. That train is

probably there every single day at that

exact time and you're just getting late.

So, you need to rearrange your schedule.

You need to rearrange your routine to

leave earlier knowing you're going to

hit that train uh and so you can get

there before the train gets there. See,

your boss sees straight through those

things. That's what's so funny to me.

Every time somebody would call me when I

was managing that store and I'm going to

be late cuz this happened and my car

broke down, you know, for the 10th time

this month and it's like, you need to

get a new car. You're making enough

money here to trade that thing in and

get a, you know, and so that but that

that's the thing that a lot of people do

is just make excuses. But what it is is

lying. I want you to think about for a

minute.

How does your boss think of Christ when

he knows you're a Christian and that's

how you work? Does it make his name

greater?

Does it magnify his glory?

Or does it make his name smaller to

them?

See, this is much bigger than just work.

This is eternity.

Your work ethic could have a significant

impact on whether someone turns to

Christ or away from Christ. Can I just

ask you, what kind of work ethic do you

model for your boss and your co-workers

around you?

Paul is calling them

to be honest, to have integrity, to do

what's right even when no one's looking.

Singleness of heart. Notice he says

fearing God. Let me just clear up a spot

and say this. When your boss doesn't

know, there's a God in heaven who knows

and who sees. And out of reverential

respect and fear of God, you ought to do

what's right when no one's looking. And

that's not just true at work, by the

way. That's true in your life

personally, in your personal

relationships, in what you do with your

free time. We are called to be people of

honesty and integrity. Nobody loves

hypocrites, right? We want to be sure

that we're not that way either.

And so Paul says then in verse 23, "And

whatsoever ye do, do it heartily."

Do it heartily. The word translated

heartily is the word psyche. It's the

idea of your entire mind, your soul, and

your heart that you're supposed to put

your heart into your work. Don't give a

a half-hearted effort when you're

designing software or writing code or

doing projects. Don't just give the bare

minimum. Put some heart into it. When

you're delivering uh products, [snorts]

don't just aim to hit your number and

don't dillydally around the store or sit

in the truck scrolling on Instagram.

Be efficient. Be a hard worker. Do your

best. Do it heartily.

Whether you're mowing yards or running

drill or trimming trees, whatever work

God has placed in your hand, do it with

your heart day in and day out.

Ecclesiastes chapter 9:10 says,

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do

it with thy might.

Give it everything you've got.

To hear well done, you must work the

right way with the right heart." What

does that look like? Full compliance.

Not just when the boss is looking,

but out of a sincere desire to do what's

right in your heart and put your effort

into it. Now, let's be honest for a

minute.

It can be very challenging to work that

way every single day of your life, can

it not?

Work becomes so mundane. It becomes so

routine. It becomes just something that

you do, you know, make your paycheck, go

home, go to sleep, go back to work, make

your paycheck, go home, go to sleep. And

and it's like we're on repeat. And so we

just do that every single day. And it

can be so hard. And then we end up

falling into bad habits that reflect

poorly upon our savior.

What can help you believer

not to perfectly

live this way? for none of us will. None

of us are perfect.

But what will help you consistently

work the way Paul calls us to here?

Paul's answer there in verse 23. And

whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to

the Lord and not unto men. As to the

Lord and not unto men. You know what

he's saying here? perform every task in

service to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Every task.

Paul reminds them that while they serve

an earthly Lord, they also serve a

heavenly Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And therefore, they should treat even

the most menial tasks that their earthly

master requires as if they are doing it

in service to Christ. Can I ask you

today, how might it change your work if

Jesus was your boss?

How might that change if Jesus was

reviewing your time in attendance?

How would it change it if Jesus was

giving your annual performance review?

If Jesus was measuring the time of your

deliveries or the notes that you're

required to keep or the effort with

which you stock shelves,

Paul is calling Christian laborers to

labor not as though they are serving

their earthly Lord but their heavenly

Lord.

Why? He gives two reasons.

Number one, reward awaits the Lord's

faithful servants.

Reward awaits the Lord's faithful

servants. Look at verse 24.

Knowing that of the Lord ye shall

receive the reward of the inheritance,

for ye serve the Lord Christ. Do you see

what he's doing here? He's dangling out

in front of them the day when they come

before Christ.

The day when they are about to enter

heaven's gates. the day when they are

about to receive the reward of the

inheritance given to us through Jesus

Christ. He says, "Reward awaits you from

the Lord Jesus Christ." But then notice

he also says that recompense

awaits the unfaithful servants. Verse

25, but he that doeth wrong shall

receive for the wrong which he hath

done, and there is no respect of

persons.

See what Paul is saying is this.

A performance review is coming to every

Christian.

We will all stand before the judgment

seat of Christ. Let me be clear that if

you are saved, if you have placed your

faith in Jesus, you will not stand

before Christ to answer for your sin

because Jesus took all of your sin in

his body on the cross. Your sin is

considered judged and done with in

Jesus. your your excuse me, your work

ethic

makes no difference on your eternal

standing with God. But it does make a

difference on what Christ says to you in

that moment.

He will either say, "Well done," or he

will say, "Wicked and slothful."

And so we're all going to stand before

him and everything done in service to

Christ will be rewarded, but everything

done wrongfully will be burnt up as

rewards are lost. That's what the Bible

teaches. Paul says in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:10

5:10, "For for we must all appear before

the judgment seat of Christ, for every

that everyone may receive the things

done in his body according to that he

hath done, whether it be good or bad."

He says, "We're going to stand before

the judgment seat of Christ."

Jesus said this in Matthew 16:27, "For

Matthew 16:27

the Son of man shall come in the glory

of his father with his angels, and then

he shall reward every man according to

his work."

And isn't this what Jesus said in the

parable from which our theme comes that

after a long time, the Lord will return

and reckon with his servants. You know

what that is? Performance review.

And to the faithful he will say, "Well

done, thou good and faithful servant.

Thou has been faithful over a few

things. I will make thee ruler over many

things." What does that sound like?

Reward.

That God's going to give you greater

responsibility in his kingdom when you

steward your responsibilities on earth

for his glory. But what does he say to

the unfaithful,

thou wicked and slothful servant? He

tells them, "Take the talent from him

and give it to him which hath the 10

talents." And then he says this was his

governing statement of the par parable.

For unto everyone that hath shall be

given, and he shall have abundance,

reward, but from him that hath not shall

be taken away, even that which he hath

loss.

And so Paul is drawing from the teaching

of Jesus to tell believers that a

performance review is coming. And one of

the things that Christ will review is

the stewardship of your work. And he

says there is no respector of persons.

There's no partiality.

God does not play favorites with his

children.

What that means is whether you are the

CEO or the manager or if you are the day

laborer or the cashier or the one

stalking freight. It doesn't matter who

you are, a performance review is coming

from Christ. And based on how you manage

what he placed in your hands, you will

either hear well done or thou wicked and

slothful servant. Now you tell me based

on your work ethic this last week

which would you hear?

We all have bad days

sometimes. We all have bad weeks.

I'm talking about the consistency

with which you work.

Do you obey in all things?

Is it only eye service,

people pleasing,

or is it from singleness of heart,

fearing God? Is it heartily as to the

Lord and not unto men? I'm not accusing

anybody. I'm asking us for some

self-reflection here. How do I work on a

consistent basis? because Jesus Christ

is going to to come and he's going to

catch us away and to glory. But I am

going to stand before him and he's going

to review my my performance and how I

managed what he's put in my hands. How

will he respond to me when it comes to

my work?

Listen, we're not going to be perfect,

but because of Jesus Christ and because

we have his spirit, we cannot allow our

fallen condition to become an excuse for

consistent patterns of rebellion,

laziness, or eye service. Believer,

don't let it become an excuse.

Christ died to redeem you, to change

you, to make you morally capable and

morally responsible.

Paul's whole point in chapter 3 is to

show these servants that they have been

risen with Christ and therefore their

risen condition should reshape how they

work. And so in light of your redeemed

and risen condition in Christ, what can

help you work every single day in a way

that would allow you to hear well done?

Paul's answer is rather simple.

Perform every task in service to Jesus

Christ.

everything you do

every single day as if it's done to the

Lord.

What that means

is that you ought to do every task with

the performance review in mind.

That yes, Christ is going to welcome me

into his inheritance, but first there's

going to be a day of reckoning in my

life.

How did I steward my work?

When you're on the computer designing

that structure, work on it as if you

were designing a temple for Jesus

Christ.

Give it that kind of effort.

When you're stalking, fronting, and

facing shelves, do it as if you were

preparing not for the arrival of a

corporate head, but for the arrival of

the coming king.

When you're trimming trees, do it as if

you're caring for the Lord's garden.

when you're mowing lawns, whacking

weeds, is the Lord's garden. How might

that change the way you work? As you're

as you're nursing, as you're at a

hospital and you're caring for patients

that are weak and broken in that moment

and they're they're struggling and

sometimes they're very impatient. If you

work in an Alzheimer's unit, that can be

very very difficult.

You need to remember that's somebody

that Jesus died for and they need to see

in your life the glory of Jesus.

This isn't my patient. This is God's

patient.

You see what we're talking about here?

We if we're going to live for the glory

of Christ, we must be intentional,

folks.

We can't just go through our mundane

routine of work and expect to live the

way that Christ calls us to live in this

text.

Need to wake up every single morning.

Understand your time with God, reading

the word and praying. That's not just a

religious duty that you just do because

it's what Christians do.

It's a it's an intentional grace that

God has given to you to help you start

each and every day with well done in

mind.

That before you go to work, you get up

and you read something in God's word and

it helps remind you, I'm a Christian. I

belong to God. And you spend time in

prayer and you say, God, I'm going into

the Alzheimer's unit again. Some of them

are vicious. Some of them are very hard

to work with. Help me to be Jesus to

them. Help me to care for them as if I

was caring for Jesus. Think about that

for a moment.

How might that change? Yeah.

Perform every task

in service to Christ.

But let's remember this.

The only reason any of us have a chance

to hear well done

is not because of what we've done, but

because of what Christ has done.

He came to earth with a work to do. A

work his father placed in his hands to

accomplish redemption for all mankind

in the hardest way imaginable,

death on a cross.

And Jesus fulfilled his father's work.

He even said this, "I have come to do

his work." And thank God he did because

it's only through his grace and his

death and resurrection that we can be

saved and have the opportunity to stand

before him. Not at the great white

throne judgment where sinners are judged

for their sins and cast into hell, but

at the judgment seat of Christ where we

are rewarded for everything that we did

for his glory. But we will suffer a loss

of reward for everything we did for

ourselves.

But the fact we will get to stand there

and enter I just I'm looking back at the

screen there. You're looking at it up

here.

The fact we get to enter

that heavenly kingdom

and receive crowns.

That's not because of us.

And that's why the book of Revelation

says that we're going to take those

crowns that are given to us.

[snorts] Cast him at Christ's feet. Why?

Because it's not about what we did. It's

about what he did. That day is coming.

Believers,

live with it in mind. As you go to work

tomorrow morning,

start your day. Oh, not tomorrow

morning. It's Labor Day. Praise God.

Some of you might be going tomorrow. I

don't know. I feel bad for you if you

are. You got a day to meditate on this.

Tomorrow,

tomorrow is a Sabbath. My labor is done

in Christ. Amen.

When you get up Tuesday morning, spend

time in the word of God. Spend time in

prayer and ask God, help me by your

grace through the help of your spirit to

work today as unto the Lord and not unto

men.

If you're not a believer here this

morning, I just want to say to you that

the only hope that you have to enter

those gates is Jesus Christ.

He died for your sin. He bore it all on

his cross and God accepted it as proved

by the resurrection.

All you must do is believe in your heart

that Jesus died for your sin and rose

again. And the Bible is very clear and

very simple. It says, "Believe on the

Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be

saved." You can be saved today if you'll

trust in Christ. And when you do, he's

going to change your heart. And he's

going to give you the Holy Spirit who's

going to awaken you from the deadness of

sin to a morally capable and responsible

person. And he wants to change every

part of your life.

And that includes your work.

do it unto Christ that you might hear

well done. Father, we come to you today

and are grateful for the practical help

from your word this morning as I could

see that that the vast majority of us

perhaps every one of us even are

believers here this morning.

And I pray that we would receive the

help from your word because

how we work is bigger than just us.

[music] It's about Christ.

And so I pray that you would help every

believer here by your grace

to go to work this [music] week

seeing it as [singing] way more

important than they ever have

and [music] that they would fulfill

every task

as unto Christ.

I pray if there are any in here this

morning that have not received Christ as

their savior or perhaps [music] are

tuning in online, I pray that this very

morning they would receive Christ as

Lord and Savior. [music] Would you

please convince them of the gospel by

the power of your spirit and I ask you

to enable us [music] to do all things

for the glory of Christ. It's in Jesus

name I pray. Amen.