SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/22/2019
11:05 PM
My Worship Time Focus: “The
Submission of Employers”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ephesians
6:9
Message of the verse: “9 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.”
We
have come to the last main-section that has to do with what Paul began in
Ephesians 5:18 which talks about being filled with the Holy Spirit, and so the
last situation that Paul is writing about here is that Employers should be
filled with the Holy Spirit. Now at the
time that Paul writes this he is speaking of “masters,” those who owned slaves,
but since there is no actual slavery now as seen in many countries around the
world, we look at employers now instead of slave owners.
We
see in the first part of verse nine the words “do the same thing to them.” John MacArthur writes about this in saying “The
antecedent of ‘the same things’ most likely is the command at the end of verse
6, ‘doing the will of God from the heart,’ on which verses 7-8 are a
commentary. A Christian employer’s
relationship to his employees should have the same motivation and goal as a
Christian worker’s relationship to his employer: the desire to obey and please
the Lord. An employer is to use his
authority ‘as to the Lord,’ just as workers are to submit to authority ‘as to
the Lord.’ That is and expression of
their mutual submission in being ‘subject to one another in the fear of Christ’
(5:21).”
I
have to say that the place that I worked at for 35 years, partly as an hourly
worker, and partly as a supervisor had some draw backs to what Paul is writing
here and that is because of a strong union that was there. I had believers working for me who on certain
times did not do what was right “in the Lord” because they chose to follow what
the union wanted them to do, which in my opinion was wrong. When the union began there was a great need
of it because the owners and the supervisors were taking advantage of the work
force. When I was there the pendulum had
sung the other way. Many, many
operations were shut down because of union demands and the jobs were sent
overseas. Just imagine if both the
owners and workers were all believers following what Paul writes about here and
what a difference that would have made, and could still make. We see Paul writes that the Spirit-filled
employer is careful to give up threatening, and this term is used to suggest
the idea of loosening up, or releasing.
The employer uses his authority and power as little as possible and does
not throw his weight around or does not lord it over those under him. This is the way that things should run, but
because not everyone is a believer, and even believers may not follow this then
this causes many problems. The faithful
Christian employer knows that he is a fellow servant of Jesus Christ with his
employees, and is accountable to the same “Master.” This is the way it should operate.
God
is not a God of partiality and so the employer knows before God he is no more
important or worthy in himself than the least of his employees.
Today’s quotation from “Love in Action:” “In his letter to the Romans, Paul outlined
the dynamic ministry of the church “body.”
While the body is the whole Church made up of all believers everywhere,
in everyday practical operation, the body is the local church. The local assembly of believers is the place
where the principles of body-life will be displayed and experienced. The invisible Church, as the universal body
is sometimes called, does not provide a very good venue for practicing encouragement.
We need to be connected with real people
who can understand us and love us and minister to us as we minster to them.”
9/22/2019 11:29 PM
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