"God's Design for Society (Part 2)" Ephesians 6:1-9 (9/27/2026)

Today we're back in the book of Ephesians on our journey through, nearing the end.

We're in chapter 6, verses 1 to 9.

So we're going to stand, I'm going to read the word of the Lord, and we're going to stand in honor and in reverence for who our great God is.

I remind us this is God's word.

Ephesians chapter 6, starting in verse 1.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Honor your father and your mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, so that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth.

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ.

Not by way of eyes service or as man pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.

With good will render service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with him.

May God bless the reading of his word, you may be seated.

Have you ever asked yourself why it is that societies, cultures, empires seemingly fall and disappear from the earth and then are only found in our history books?

I mean, what happened all those indestructible, to our seemingly indestructible, societies from history?

Maybe you're not like me at all and you're wondering, what are you even talking about?

But the empire or civilization that we know best from history is probably the Roman Empire.

That may have come to your minds.

I mean, for hundreds of years, they ruled most of the known world, conquering, ruling, establishing Roman provinces wherever they went.

They were one of the greatest civilizations to ever rule on the earth in terms of human power.

So what happened to them?

How did they just disappear?

Where do they go?

Well, there are many explanations that historians will give to answer this question.

They range from invasion from the barbarians, over-expansion, maybe a lack of education or government, or even political corruption.

All of which I would say did seem to play a role as you read history.

But are those things what ultimately led to the demise of Rome or was it something else?

I would like to give you what I think is the most significant reason why the Roman Empire fell and fell hard.

If we look deeply into their history, what we see is a breakdown of the society and therefore a breakdown of the family structure.

In the beginning with Rome, the family unit was really the background or the backbone of Roman culture and society.

But over time this began to change.

They began to forsake the family and its importance.

They actually began to despise work and they pursued continual play instead.

You see, as the as the money flowed in from prosperity, comfort came in.

And it enticed the family to become the self-indulging seekers of pleasure.

The great growth rate began to slow down because they figured out ways to have abortions, to destroy human life.

We did not create that.

Since they were wealthy and they didn't have to work as much, along with the fact that the family structure is already waning and crumbling, marital fidelity on the rise, many of the women and men began to have adulterous relationships.

Thereby they created numerous illegitimate children with those who didn't have abortions, and these children were then products of the system.

You see the breakdown.

Even homosexuality was somewhat popular as well.

For one, this is disturbing, but because it was actually encouraged in the military to come to provide and promote complete faithfulness and duty to one another in war.

And also because they don't have children from those relationships, obviously.

There is a lot.

There is so much we could discuss in regards to the fall of Rome and the family structure in that society.

But it fell and it fell hard in large part because of the deterioration of the family and the household.

Any of that sound familiar?

If it does sound familiar, it's because it's similar to what we see going on in our society on many levels, isn't it?

And we have the same root cause, the same problem.

And that is the rejection of what God has called us to.

In our natural state and our sinfulness, we don't like the idea of being restricted in our lives, do we?

We Americans, we don't want to be told that our desires are unhealthy.

We also detest the idea of obedience or even role placement.

We do not like the thought that some we may actually be subject to somebody else.

Don't tell me that.

And if that's the case, if we have the same tendencies in our culture that Rome did, what do we do?

What on earth do we do?

Well, for one, back to Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1 that we went through a few weeks ago.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

We are to walk in a manner worthy of our calling, with all humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Verse 14 of Ephesians 4, we are to stand firm in the Word of Christ, refusing to cave to the pressures and passions of the world.

We are to speak the truth in love, growing up in him.

Verse 22, we are to lay aside the old self and be renewed by the word as we put on the grace in the life of Christ.

Chapter 5, verse 1, we are to imitate Christ as we walk in love, straining forward to the light in the who is Christ as we walk in him in a dark and dying world.

And as we studied last week, we live out biblical marriages that reflect the marriage of the eternal bridegroom Jesus Christ and his bride, the church.

Of course, so much could be said that it's found all over the pages of God's Word.

We live according to His truth and His commands as we push back the cultural norms and we live for Christ as we show the world what biblical Christianity is and what godly homes are all about.

And as we're going to discuss, we raise up a generation of warriors for Christ.

Not successful businessmen, if that happens, great.

That's not what we're about.

We raise up warriors for Christ who push back the darkness and the very gates of hell by living for Christ and having godly homes and Lord willing another generation and another generation and another generation of godly children.

We're on offense.

Notice that there are gates to hell.

Why do they have gates?

Defensive purposes.

Because the church is coming.

If Christians from all over this country were to live this way, teaching their kids and their grandkids to follow the Lord, not just that, but dedicating themselves to the pursuit of Christ in the home, in all of life, who knows what this country would look like as we push hard for the truth against the rise and the tide of humanist secularism.

Our nation may end up truly being a Christian nation.

One day.

If we would but rely on the Lord's grace in raising our families on the rock solid foundation of Christ and his word alone, excluding all worldly forms and functions.

Again, as we studied last week with godly marriage, that carries over to our text for today as we're going to discuss in a little more detail what God's design is for the family and really society as a whole.

That's why this is part two.

So we're going to dive into that in just a minute, but right before we get to these wonderful truths of parental or societal relationships that we are to have, we have to stop first and ponder who God is.

Because I want to remind us that that is where we see the perfect relationship in Scripture.

This has to be the backdrop for any sermon or teaching on relationship.

It has to be the background of all of our relationships.

For any relationship to thrive, it has to seek to emulate the one perfect triune relationship.

We may never fully comprehend or understand the full weight of our God and his triune nature, but I think we do get a very understandable description of the relationship between the persons of the Trinity and the Bible.

We know that God is three and one.

Okay?

God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We as Christians, therefore, are, well, on one hand, we're monotheistic.

What that means is we serve one God.

We worship one God, but we understand the scriptures teach that our God is three and one.

Again, yes, our minds can understand that, fully grasp, probably not.

But it's true, it's biblical.

But within that train relationship, its perfections, we see the scripture teaches us there's perfect harmony and unity among the three persons of the Godhead.

All three are equally God in power and in essence and in nature, but they do have distinct roles and functions.

We know that the Spirit seeks to glorify the Son as the Son does the Father, and the Father does the Son, through giving him all authority in heaven and on earth.

I know it's confusing for us to try and understand our triune God in the full, but it is not confusing for us to see that in everything they do, in everything they are, they seek to glorify each other and sacrificially love one another and even submit to one another within that triune relationship.

That's our example.

That's our example in all relationships in our lives, especially within our homes, marriages, and parenting.

So if you want to know how to treat your spouse, if you want to know how to treat your children, your boss, your coworker, your neighbor, look to the Trinity.

Look to God.

Three in one, perfect harmony and unity.

Ask yourself, who is God?

And how does God teach me in the triune nature of who he is on how to respond to others?

So that's the overarching backdrop of relationship, of who God is.

He gives us the perfect example since we're created to be relational.

But with that said, look back at verse 1 of Ephesians 6.

Okay, as we look at that, I just want to say this.

Children, do as your parents say.

Parents, tell your kids what to do.

Alright?

We're done.

Let's move forward to the next part.

If only it were that easy, right?

Wouldn't that be awesome?

We gotta talk about this.

Verse 1 says, children are to obey their parents.

There's no negotiating there, is there?

Sometimes kids are really good at negotiating, aren't they?

Or at least attempting to.

I know for children in here, sometimes that can seem hard.

This is what the Lord requires of you.

That's why it says in the Lord.

Or it could say unto the Lord.

As if you were obeying Jesus, because in fact, as you do obey your parents, guess what?

You're obeying Jesus.

Guess what that means when you disobey your parents?

Yeah, you're disobeying and even disrespecting Jesus Himself.

In all ways, children are to honor, I've got to use King James for this, thy father and thy mother.

Okay?

There's more weight, I think, behind that.

In our day and age, parents, unfortunately, have not helped their kids learn to obey.

Instead, we have resorted as a culture to negotiating with our kids, pleading with them to respond, getting on the ground with our faces near theirs, giving them whatever they want.

It's like the modern day thought of how to train our dogs.

Our culture basically encourages treat training our children.

And what's the result?

I would say the result is rampant disobedience, anti-authoritarianism all over the place, really self-centered tyrants who roam our streets and protest at the drop of the hat.

Why?

Because they didn't immediately get what they want.

What happens if you give a kid everything they want at all times?

Exactly what I just said, right?

Now, okay, I got disclaimer.

I am not trying to get political.

Please don't hear that.

I want to make a point, okay?

But this is what I want to say.

After Donald Trump was elected the first time back in 2016, some universities opened up cry rooms and safe spaces for their students to come and sit down and cry together.

These are adults.

Now, at first we laugh, but they're doing this because they didn't get their way.

That's a reflection of parenting.

It's a reflection of the home which they grew up in that was encouraged and undergirded by modern-day educators.

That is a sad indication of at least part of our culture and how far it's gone from biblical parenting or biblical living.

Again, without training your kids to obey and to be respectful, to follow your lead, to love their parents and their siblings and their church family, to be sacrificial and kind, to be loving and just, we're gonna have societies who don't know what to do when they don't get their way.

You just lose your mind.

For all of life, here's the thing, for all of life, humans have a responsibility that's not gonna cease.

And that responsibility is to obey.

Whether that's governing authorities, police who uphold the law, leaders in the church, on and on the list goes.

Of course, over all of that is a requirement to obey God Himself and His Word.

And so, children, for you right now in your stage of life, that responsibility is to your parents.

And that pleases God when you obey.

And I want to clarify something.

This might be a new thought.

What I mean by stage of life is if you're still under your parents' roof.

18 may be an important number in our society, but it is not a magic number biblically.

If you are in your parents' home, which can be a really good thing, or not, depending.

If you're in the basement and your Star Wars pajamas at 28, not a good thing.

But I'm not talking about that.

But if you're in your parents' home, even if you're 18 as you prepare further, either for marriage or for your career that you're lining out, you are subject to your parents' guidance rules and even worship, meaning the church.

And worship at home.

Talk more about that in a minute.

The Bible knows no restrictions on parenting rightly because somebody had a birthday.

It doesn't work like that.

Please honor your father and mother, no matter your age, of course, but especially while you're in the home, in that unique way.

I really appreciate the similar passage that Paul gives to us in the Colossian letter in chapter 3.

He says this.

He says, Children are to obey in all things.

This is not simply in the things that please you or you want to do, but in everything.

And he goes on to say, without grumbling or complaining.

Ooh.

Therefore, again, I think what we're finding is something that bears repeating.

Children obey God in large part by obeying the parents in the home.

Sometimes it doesn't seem fair, I know.

Sometimes it might not be according to your ideals or standards, but remember, your parents are accountable for your soul as you raise them.

And as you obey willingly, your parents will be so blessed with your obedience that they will rejoice in the Lord and will be filled with joy when they're parenting you.

And when I say your parents are accountable for your soul, what I mean by that is as they lead you in the home, they're accountable for how they lead you, whether to God or not.

Children, you have the opportunity to love and please God as you obey your parents.

There's only one reason not to obey your parents.

And that is if they are leading you to disobey the word of the Lord and therefore down a path of sin.

But if your parents are leading you and instructing you and laying down the rules and they don't conflict with thus saith the Lord, again, it's actually well pleasing to the Lord that you obey, and it is for your good.

Back to verse 21 of Ephesians 5.

Be subject to one another.

This is no more known than in the home.

Whether that's what you can eat, for maybe some of you younger ones.

How late you can stay out, or even how late you can stay up, where you can drive, who you can see or not, friendship or other relationship.

What you can watch, what you can read, what your screen time looks like.

That's a new one.

What sports or recreational activities you should be involved in or can be.

And how much?

Whether or not you go to that church function.

So many other things we could list out.

If you obey joyfully, thankfully, and willingly, you will please the God of the universe by your immediate and respectful obedience to your parents.

Parents, if your children aren't obeying promptly, cheerfully, uniformly, and without reluctance, you're a terrible parent.

Okay?

And you're on your own, everybody else has it down.

That's a joke, by the way.

I'm totally kidding.

Totally joking.

We all struggle, all of us.

But I want you to remember something in terms of child obedience, and that is this is that delayed obedience is disobedience.

Now you're not a drill sergeant, okay?

You're not.

But you are accountable to God for how you lead and train them or not.

They need to be taught from a young age that obedience is required and disobedience will be met with loving discipline.

Why do I say that when speaking of obedience?

Because it is not natural to the human to obey authority.

Especially the little ones who haven't even learned how to do that yet.

They need to be taught, and that teaching is going to include discipline.

As God disciplines those whom he loves, so we too must rightly, lovingly, patiently discipline those kids we love, so that, and here's the reason, okay?

So that they can learn submission and obedience.

Why?

Because those are gospel prerequisites.

Submission and obedience are required in a response to the gospel.

They need those truths in their lives right now.

So that when the Lord opens their eyes to his glory and their need of him, they can respond by his grace the same way they were taught growing up.

Oh, yeah, that's what it looks like.

Also, parents, in an age of readily available screen time, your children need you.

I'm not talking about their screen time either.

I'm talking about yours.

Or whatever it is that pulls your attention from them.

Not that we drop everything right when they want to talk to us.

They need to lend patience and wait until you're ready to speak to them.

But if you want them to obey you, you have to be a good listener.

And we need to be patient with our children if we're going to lead them well.

I mean, think about how many times last week did your child come up to you, for those of you who have this, and they tell you something that was important, and your response to them was, okay, sounds good.

And then a few minutes later you think to yourselves, oh, what did I just tell them was okay?

As they're face first in a carton of ice cream.

What I'm saying is, is when this when this when Paul says children obey your parents, it's up to you to teach them what it looks like.

They can't just instinctively know how to obey.

They can't obey if you don't lovingly, patiently teach them and take the time required to lead them well.

Every single day, day after day.

Another thing to remember is that parenting is repetition.

Maybe you know this.

They're gonna ask the same thing over and over again, they're gonna do the same thing over and over again.

They will try your patience, just like you try the patience of those near you.

But you've got to love them with your full attention as you patiently correct and train them up in godliness.

They need to know how to obey.

They need you.

And it'll set them up for failure or success, depending on how the Lord chooses.

And there's one reason why Paul says in verse 4, fathers, do not provoke your children.

There's a reason why Paul addresses the fathers here.

For one, fathers are the head of the household, and for two, men are more prone to being provokers and getting easily agitated.

It's in our nature.

And if we are those things, if we're not patient listeners, if we aren't compassionate and attentive, if we're not loving and firm in how we lead, our kids are going to see us as disconnected and unapproachable.

And they will see as nothing more than a tyrant if we seek to lead as a mere drill instructor who calls names and degrades them whenever they're near us, whether in front of other people or in the home.

We cannot be that person.

Because what will happen if fathers especially act as hard men, as easily agitated and self-centered men who are all about our time?

What's going to happen is as your children get older, you're not going to be able to speak into their lives when it may be the most crucial.

You won't have the ability to speak to their heart when it comes to an issue in their lives if you're harsh and overbearing with them for no reason.

And here's the thing: here's the scariest thing that I can imagine about being a father is that they're going to see my life, they're going to hear how I speak, they're going to see that I didn't do what it takes to train them uprightly.

They're going to hear my regular tone of harshness with them, and they will not want the Christ that I proclaim to love.

That's a scary thought.

Because they'll see me and go, no, I don't want what he honors.

He's not honorable.

Fathers, we've got to stand firm on the truth.

We've got to lead our kids with that non-negotiable truth, but it must be done with tender-hearted compassion.

That's what Paul's getting at.

Fathers, if that's you, if you aggravate your children unnecessarily, you may still have all the authority that comes of being a parent.

But if you have not truly loved them in your parenting, if you've been exhausting to them in your anger, your frustration, or you're just over the top when it comes to laying down the rules and you've been a brute, if that's you, then you may still be leading them, but you are not leading their hearts.

Fathers, if you're thinking to yourselves in this moment that you've failed, if you're saying to yourselves, I've failed in all these areas, my kids won't listen to me, I can assure you you're right.

You've failed, so I constantly.

But I know one who has never failed to father us.

And he's a forgiving God.

And your children are remarkably resilient and forgiving.

And so lead them well with the Word of God.

It's the one way to redeem the relationship.

And just remember, it's a constant battle and struggle, like so many other things in life.

But it is one of, if not the most rewarding and joyful battles you'll ever be in.

So don't give up.

Don't let the evil one gain a foothold by saying, well, they're a teen now and you've been hard.

What can I do?

They have their own minds, they have their own wills.

I'll do my best, I guess, but I can't control them any longer.

I would say that's cowardice.

And that's giving up on your children.

And so I say, fight your own flesh hard enough to fight for your children.

Oh, they need you as they grow, probably more than they did when they were five.

Fathers, you have been given a great task in leading your kids.

Don't give up.

Be a part of your child's life in every area and in every age, even if they think when they get older that you're invading their personal space by having biblical boundaries.

With your younger ones, be intentional.

Play with them often, talk to them regularly, listen to them well.

Fathers, I can't express this enough.

Lead them.

Show them Christ.

Lead them by loving them, by encouraging them, by discipling them and by disciplining them.

And there's one primary way that I can tell you how this works out.

There is but one way to succeed at being this loving and compassionate father.

And that is by leading them to God and his word.

It's not about just being nice.

Love your kids by taking them to the word early and often.

You will fail.

You will have moments of being a brood of a father.

You're going to be selfish.

You will not show patient forbearance.

But as I said, there is forgiveness with the Lord and your children, and better yet, there's a better way.

The answer is simply to saturate your children in the word of God.

They will soak it up.

And in some ways they will love you for it.

Maybe not in that moment.

But if you want your kids to be obedient, as this passage says, if you want to follow the Bible in this and you want to lead them well as a parent, then you will lead them to God's Word.

Deuteronomy commands it of us.

Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 1 to 9.

Deuteronomy 6:1–9

It commands the parents to lead their kids to the Word every day, all day.

When you wake up, when you rise, when you lie down, when you walk by the way.

And so I'm going to make a statement that may surprise you.

I would say that family worship is the greatest gift you will ever give your children.

You want to give your kids a good Christmas this year?

Give them Christ.

Give them Bibles.

Give them hymnals.

Give them what they really want.

Give them you and the one you worship.

And therefore give them together with yourself the gift of pursuing Christ.

I mean, we all love our kids and want what's best for them, right?

Well, the best thing that we can ever offer to our kids is to teach them how to pray.

Is to teach them to study and memorize God's word, to teach them to sing God's word, to teach them their need for a savior, to teach them to rely on and rest in Christ alone.

That is how we lead our children to a complete, well-pleasing obedience to God.

Paul says here that it is actually obeying one of the Ten Commandments for kids to obey their parents.

In fact, as it says in verse 2, this is a first commandment with a promise attached to it.

For the Israelites, it's a promise to live long in the land they're inheriting.

But Paul quotes it and he applies it even to the New Testament church and says that if kids obey their parents, the general pattern will be they're going to have a good life on the earth.

No matter the amount of suffering.

It's still going to be good.

Why?

Because Christ is with them.

Again, like the Proverbs, it's not a guarantee of 111 years of life.

It's a general principle of a good life in His grace that includes joy and peace because obedience is the fruit of a faithful life.

So open your Bibles with them.

Have them open theirs.

Read it together.

Study it together.

Pray over it together.

Sing it together.

Have regular times of family worship.

Even if you buy them a new car or a new bike this Christmas, you're only giving them something that's going to burn up one day.

If you want to give them those things, fine.

If you're giving out cars, let me know.

But never, ever neglect to give them Christ.

He is the eternal gift that they all need so badly.

And as we say, he is really the gift that keeps giving.

So much more could be said regarding parenting that we just don't have time for this morning.

But I just want to say this if you need help in your parenting, we are here for you.

If you need help, please let us know.

But the last thing I want to say about the child-parent relationship here is to the kids.

Children, if you're in the home, if you want to know exactly what it looks like to rightly obey your parents, all you need to do is look to the perfect Son.

You look to Jesus in his life.

Jesus always willingly did the will of the Father.

He came to the earth, did exactly what would please his heavenly father.

He obeyed perfectly the word.

He did what would always honor his father in heaven.

He was a son who never disobeyed, even when it's really hard.

Why?

Because he loved his father and he wanted nothing more than to do his will, since it would bring him honor and glory and pleasure.

I ask you to take that as a challenge, kids.

Look to the life of Christ and seek to live like him as you honor and obey your parents.

Actually, I will say to both parents and children here, let's together push back the cultural norms.

Let's be done with that, worldly stuff.

Let's be done with the cultural norm that says that having a child is a burden.

Or that you can you just can't wait until they get out of the house, oh man, that'll be the day.

No.

Instead, let's do what it takes.

Let's do the hard things to ensure that our children are following Christ in our homes and hope that by his grace, one day, they will follow him on their own in all of life, and they will raise their own kids to do the same.

Okay, let's go to the next section.

This will be a little shorter, verse 5.

Paul speaks of societal relationships between masters and slaves.

I won't say a lot, but in the culture of our day, of that day, slaves were kind of a normal part of society.

In Rome, at least, there was 50% plus people in slavery.

Paul called them either way, serve the Lord by serving your master.

Now we're not going to get into a full treatise of or a historical tour of slavery or that society, but I want to say this.

I know that when our culture hears the word slavery, and since Paul doesn't outright condemn it, they seem to discard what the Bible teaches in passages like this.

So we need to understand something.

This, what Paul is talking about, is not 17th century America.

Try to remove that image from your minds.

Because man stealing is heartily condemned in the Bible.

As we see with the American slavery.

We used to steal, kidnap people from Africa.

That's not what it is.

Along with mistreatment, heartily condemned in the Bible.

And so that's not the historical scene in which we find ourselves in Paul's biblical imperative to live faithfully either way.

In fact, many households of Paul's day had slaves that were actually seen as a part of the family.

And they've even willingly given themselves to that.

That's a lot of the backdrop of what we see here.

Of course, yes, there was mistreatment of slaves all over the place, but that's not really the cultural norm as we think about America a few hundred years back.

One such slave that Paul probably had in mind was Onisimus.

This man was mentioned in Colossians 4 as a faithful brethren.

He's a big part of the main theme of the book of Philemon.

Paul's charge to him and all others who are slaves in this moment is to serve well.

That's the important theme because here's the thing: obedience to God is more important than all the earthly freedom in the world.

Now, we love liberty here in America, right?

Rightly so.

I think it's, my opinion, is a far, is by far the greatest system of government that man has figured out so far.

We're freedom-loving patriots who are thankful to live in this land of freedom and liberty, but that is not essential to living for God.

You understand that?

We don't have to be free to live for God, or else this passage doesn't make sense.

Our heart posture is the thing.

Paul's charge to slave here is to work as though they're working for the Lord.

See that all over the Bible.

Paul's even adamant in verses 5 to 8 that those who are slaves don't just serve their masters with obedience to their faces and then in spitefulness as they turn their backs.

That's not the life of the Christian.

The Christian who's in that position is far more concerned with pleasing God than man.

This is really important to remember both for slaves in that day, and I would say we could apply some of this principally to employees of our day.

Seeking to please men is only going to go so far, isn't it?

Your desire is to please men, or man has a short expiration date on it.

Usually it stops when the person you're trying to please fails you.

Maybe they're abusive in their leadership or hypocritical in their nature.

But there is one who is worthy to please.

God is the one whom we should see that we ultimately work for no matter our occupation.

He is the one who is worthy of our hard work and sincerity of heart in that work.

In our society, we don't have slaves.

Praise God.

But these principles can imply to your employment.

See, as Christians, we should be known as the very best employees on the staff.

And we should do our work diligently without grumbling or complaining.

The Christian employee needs to see their service as service to Christ and not just to some boss, and not just in the public eye, but even when nobody's watching.

Paul also here in verse 9 instructs masters.

Again, I think we could apply this to those who are in a position of authority over another, bosses maybe.

He instructs them, live the same toward slaves as your slaves are to live toward you.

He wants these bosses to be fair, these masters to be fair and not threaten.

Because the heavenly father is just and fair and shows no partiality.

Those who are in a position of authority have a great responsibility to deal righteously with those under their authority.

Most importantly, because he also has a master, a heavenly master in authority over him in every respect.

Both master and slave, boss and employee who are in Christ are servants of the great Lord and master of all.

That's what it's about.

And so, Christian, when that boss tells you something that you think you shouldn't have to do, when he treats you unfairly and you want to lash out and fight back, remember that there is one who is treated unfairly on your behalf.

Someone who went through something that he did not deserve.

What I'm saying is allow the cross to inform your work ethic.

Bosses, when that employee is working hard for you, giving it his all, treat him with fairness and fair-mindedness.

Show him Christ through your sacrificial leadership in his life.

Because you have a very kind and gracious Heavenly Father who is your master and king, and he treats you far better than you deserve.

This passage is teaching us how to live.

At the beginning of the message, I asked a question.

What happened to all those seemingly indestructible societies?

What happened to Rome?

Again, I would say in large part it's a breakdown of what we've seen here today in Ephesians 6 and even from Ephesians 5, 22 to 33 from last week that speaks of marriage.

It is a breakdown of the family and the societal structure.

You see, Rome did not start upon a founding of godly principles, like a lot of America did.

But both had the commonality of being founded with the historic family structure as the backbone.

And that's because God created humankind to be married, to be fruitful and multiplied, to raise children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, to work hard and treat each other with respect, basic things.

So, what happened to the Roman Empire?

They left the backbone of civilization, the family, and instead pursued self-indulging passions and pleasures.

They forsook the bonds of marriage.

They saw children as a hindrance to their own goals and pleasures and selfishness.

They entertained themselves with evil all the time.

They changed their governmental and societal structure to where the workers just didn't want to work anymore, and the leaders did everything they could to appease their immoral and sinful practices, even at the expense of those under their care.

Again, any similarities to today?

Yeah, we could end up being a pretty quick carbon copy of the Romans, couldn't we?

If we continue a path that we're on as a society in our current culture.

I mean, for one, we've gone away from the God-ordained institution of marriage and family in the government, haven't we?

Marriage is seen as either unnecessary, or that we can dissolve it whenever we want, or distort it into what we desire.

Family is seen as a burden to the pursuit of self-pleasure.

Christian?

Please understand marriage is created by God for one man and one woman.

And it is a covenant before a holy God.

He sees it as a covenant, and so should we.

And the fruit of that marriage, if the Lord so graces you with children in the same way to lead them to the same position.

Another thing is with the Romans, we've gone away from seeing life as precious.

Speaking of that.

That each human life from conception is precious and worth as much in God's eyes as any other human.

We as a culture don't think of ways to lovingly raise our children in the fear of the Lord.

Instead, we either toss them aside like garbage and abortion or we let the culture or electronics raise them.

We let others do the work.

Why could our society end up just like the Romans?

Because we don't follow the biblical mandate to work and to work for Christ.

Instead, we complain and grumble at having to support our families.

We treat those under our care as numbers.

The reason I bring this up is because, brothers and sisters, we have such an opportunity to lead the world.

To lead the world in what real families are to look like.

And how we're to sacrificially love our spouses, and how we devote ourselves to leading our children to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and how we work for Christ by our example, providing opportunities to share the gospel through our obedience and proclamation.

I mean, family is a common grace given to all of humanity.

How are we leading in this?

Are we showing this, our nation, the love of Christ?

Or are we adding to the detriment of our nation by living as the world does in our homes and places of employment?

I pray that our country would turn to Jesus and that we would see a revival in our day, that our families would end up being the driving force of that in our neighborhoods, in our cities, and in our nation.

Again, I want you to imagine what would happen if godly couples had multiple children in the Lord's grace, if He blesses them with that.

And those children were raised in the fear and admonition of the Lord, forsaking all worldly pursuits and pleasures, and those children had children who had children who had children who did the same.

All while the world is killing their children and refusing to have them due to the pursuit of self-love.

How long would it be before we had a nation of Christians who are leading the way to Christ?

Please hear this.

This is vital for today.

My hope in this message is not, I repeat, not, that we would have a renewed resolve for patriotism, okay?

But that we would have a renewed resolve today in our obedience to Christ and His Word as we live out our God-given roles and responsibilities.

And it has both personal and communal or national implications.

Bible says to live is Christ.

So let's do that with our spouses, our children, our co-workers.

Let's live for a master who is in heaven.

And let that be our rallying cry as we love well.

I mean, Christ is the perfect husband, isn't he?

Christ is the perfect son.

He is the perfect servant.

He always did the will of the Father.

He served us by taking the cross in our place.

He's the perfect master, leader, king, shepherd.

Let's be Christ-like.

If we are seeking Christ and the things that He has called us to in His Word, then we will be wonderful spouses.

We will have obedient children.

We will be loving parents.

We will be excellent workers.

We will be kind-hearted bosses with issues, yeah, with sin, of course.

But we will grow in these things.

And God will be glorified in us.

I pray that our godly marriages, our godly parenting, our godly homes, and our godly work ethic would cause the world to take notice.

Not so that we can boast, by no means, but so that our society would begin to proclaim Christ and his gospel for his glory.

What would it be like?

What would it be like if we changed the world in a generation or two and we turned on the news and we hear Christ is king in the hearts of our nation?

He is king, whether people accept it or not.

But to turn on the news and we don't see gunfire and we don't see all these things, and I'm not trying to be, you know, overly optimistic.

What I'm saying is if we as a nation turned our lives over to Christ, we showed our kids day by day, sacrificing everything for them, sacrificing for our bosses, for our employees, whatever it is, so that Christ would be king in their hearts, sacrificing my own pursuit of self-love, my own desires, my own comforts, so that Christ would be king.

I'd watch the news again.

It'd be worth it.

It'd be awesome.

So let's let's seek to live this way together.

Children, honor your parents by obeying them.

Parents, love your children enough to teach them these things.

Fathers, do it in love and compassion.

And all of us who work, all of us who are in charge, let us do this unto Christ in every way.

And let's turn this nation upside down and let's be those people whom the nation is not worthy of, as Hebrews says, because we follow Christ.

Let's pray.

Father, we do ask you that we would be counter-cultural in everything that we are.

That we would love Jesus over and above everything this world has to offer.

And the world would have to take notice.

And some will hate us because of Christ, the name of Christ, and some will turn based on your mercy, your grace, your decision.

We pray this starts in the home, that we would pour out our lives for those young ones who are our disciples who need Christ.

We pray, Father, for an awakening that begins in the homes of this church and it spreads to other churches and spreads to our country in this way.

We pray this all in Christ's name.

Amen.