EPHESIANS OUTLINE #35 of 35

I. Introduction

A. It has been computed that in the Roman Empire there were 60,000,000 slaves.

1. In Paul's day, a kind of terrible idleness had fallen on the citizens of Rome.

2. Rome was the master of the world, there fore it was beneath the dignity of a Roman citizen to work.

a. Practically all the work was done by slaves.

b. Even doctors and teachers and those that dealt with the letters and finance were slaves.

B. There were bonds of affection between master and slave.

1. Pliny writes to a friend that he is deeply affected because some of his well loved slaves had died.

2. But basically the life of a slave was grim and terrible.

a. In law he was not a person but a thing.

b. Aristotle writes: "a slave is a living tool just as a tool is an inanimate slave.

c. The point he was making is that a master makes no friendship with a slave.

d. In Rome a slave was no better than a beast who just happens to talk.

3. Gaius, the Roman lawyer states: "it is in the power of the master to possess life and death over his slave.

4. The terror of a slave was that he was absolutely at the caprice of his master.

5. Augustus crucified a slave because he killed a pet quail.

6. A Roman lady had her slave killed for no other reason than that she lost her temper.

7. A slave was branded with a hot iron because a couple of towels were lost in the home.

8. It is against this background that Paul's injunctions are written.

II. Servants are to be Obedient (5-8)

A. Paul does not advise them to organize and rebel against their ill treatment.

1. He tells them to be obedient and live as Christians in the situation they find themselves in.

2. If the directions are followed which are given in these verses, the problems between labor and management would be solved.

3. Relations between labor and management are often bitter and sometimes violent.

B. Slavery has been abolished in most countries since Paul's day; however we are all servants to some extent.

1. Dr. Ironside says: "The instruction which of old was given to slaves now applies to all employees.

2. Dr. A.C. Goebelein has written a controversial word about Paul's teaching in regard to slavery.

3. The slavery existing throughout the Roman Empire when this epistle was written was never attacked by Paul, not even in his beautifully written and courteous letter to Philemon, which letter was all about Onesimus, the runaway slave. Reforming the world and improving social conditions is nowhere included in the

Biblical definitions of the gospel. We are not to preach social reform to the unsaved.

C. Notice the attitude the employee is to have toward his employer.

1. Fear and trembling or more properly respect and fear.

2. The fear is that of willfully neglecting responsibility which not only robs his employer but makes him chargeable to God.

3. A person who hires out for a stipulated usage has a responsibility to his employer.

4. Finding a place to hide from work is dishonoring to God.

a. Bricklayers in St. Louis were specifically forbidden by their union from laying more than a certain number of bricks per day.

b. This type of thing teaches people to be lazy.

c. I was told that letter carriers in this area find places to hide or deliberately work more slowly because they could be assigned more work.

5. To do work with singleness of heart means to do it without duplicity or false pretense. You don't pretend to be a friend of the boss and then run him down behind his back.

D. Eye Service (6:6)

1. This is service done while the boss is looking.

2. Those who slow down their pace when the boss walks away are guilty of shirking their spiritual responsibility.

3. Paul calls them men pleasers - they are certainly not God pleasers.

4. Such standards not only rob labor of its dignity - it robs the Christian of his testimony.

5. A saved person has his employers' interest at heart, therefore he will seek to do him good.

6. Notice such action is said to be "doing the will of God."

7. In other words, it is God's will for us to be good workers.

E. Remember God keeps an accurate record of all faithful service.

III. Employers Be Kind (6:9)

A. False promises or threats of intimidation are not the means an employer uses to get the job done.

1. If loyalty and fairness are enjoined upon employees such virtues are required in even greater measure from employers since they are in a position of privilege and responsibility.

2. As the employee looks after his employer is interest, so the employer is to be responsible for the employees interest.

3. One of the reasons the Buck coaching position was sought after by other coaches was because of Culverhouse's

loyalty to John McKay even in the midst of adversity.

4. Compare that to the Colts owner Robert Irsay who fires coaches at whim and moves his franchise out of the city at night.

B. Boaz (Ruth 2:4) is a perfect example of the right kind of employer.

1. When he came to the fields to oversee the work - he greeted his men with these words; "The Lord be with you".

2. The workers response was, "The Lord bless thee."

3. When a beautiful relationship like this exists between union and management, most of our industrial problems will be resolved.

4. Remember all will stand before the Governor of the Universe to give an account to Him.