Epistles of Paul 98

Well, good evening, brethren. Paul emphasizes that we ought to be at one with God, and that is a major theme of the book of Ephesians. Paul starts the first few chapters by highlighting that through Jesus Christ's blood, we can see that in Ephesians 2.13, Gentiles are also fellow citizens of the household of God. In other words, part of God's family, that he says in the same chapter, verse 19. God's family is built on the foundation, as he says in verse 20, of the apostles and prophets, and Jesus Christ being the cornerstone. We all, Jews and Gentiles, are growing into a holy temple through Christ, as he says in verse 21. This is a great mystery that was revealed to Paul and was not known beforehand. We can see that in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 3, 5 and 9. But the Gentiles will therefore have the benefit or have the capability, or the door is open to Gentiles, to inherit the same promise as the one that was given through Abraham. So through Abraham, that blessing will go to all nations, but through Jesus Christ. And from Abraham, obviously from God, but the promise was made to Abraham and to his seed, which is Christ. And that we also read that in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 6. But this is a great wisdom of God.

It's a multifaceted wisdom. You know, it's a wisdom that we can be looked at through various angles, like a jewel, like a diamond. And even angels did not fully understand it.

But now this great eternal purpose of God, which is being accomplished by Jesus Christ, is revealed to all, as we can see in Ephesians 3, verse 10 and 11. So just like Paul did, we ought to plead to God, God the Father, the Father of this family, from whom the whole family is named, as we see in verse 15 of Ephesians 3. We ought to plead, one, that he may strengthen us mightily through his Holy Spirit, two, that Christ may dwell in us through this faith that we have, three, that we may be grounded and rooted in Godly love. And it's very important for us to understand the love of Christ, and that is one of the big points that we will be covering today, understanding God's love and the love of Christ, and that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. That is basically what Paul says in Ephesians 3, all these four points that we ought to plead to God to be strengthened, that Christ may have us, that we may be rooted in God's love, and we may be filled with all the goodness of God that is highlighted in verses 16 through 19. Therefore, Paul begs us to walk worthy of this great calling with all humility and meekness. And this is a big point that Paul is emphasizing in Ephesians to walk worthy of God's calling with all humility and meekness, with patience, and bearing one another in Godly love. For what? Or so what? It's for us to achieve the very end goal of unity, of the unity of the Spirit in the words of being one in peace and in the unity of the Spirit and peace that we see in Ephesians 4 verses 1 through 3.

So for that purpose, as we see in verse 11, God's given us his ministry to prepare us the saints, the brethren, for the work of serving one another, building as we walk in the way, building in the fire, the spiritual body of Christ, which is a church, verse 12, till we all reach the full stature of Jesus Christ as we see in verse 13. And so as we walk this way, with all humility and meekness, with patience, and bearing one another in love, if we do that, we will not be divided by different kinds of teachings and doctrines that may sweep around us. And in verse 14 of Ephesians 4 it says, those winds of doctrine come to us by the trickery of men, which are plotting and scheming to divide the church. Well, that is a very powerful statement. And so this way, God's way, wherein we much walk, requires us to be truthful. That's why it says, speaking the truth, being truthful, but always, therefore, doing it in love, in loving care, so that we grow, once again, to become more like Christ, and we become closely knit one to another, verses 15 and 16. So, therefore, we're not to walk as we did before. We are to put off the old man. We are to renew our minds, big partner, with God's Holy Spirit, and put on the new man, as we see in Ephesians 4 verses 22 through 24.

How do we do that? By using God's Holy Spirit. We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit, but we are to use it to be kind and tender and forgiving, instead of being bitter and angry and argue, as Paul emphasizes in verses 32-32. And so we need to imitate God and walk in love, in light or in the light and wisely in this evil world, as he emphasizes in verses 1 through 16. And so if we do that, if we imitate God, instead of grieving God's Holy Spirit, we are being filled with God's Holy Spirit. And as we do that, part of this walking worthy, walking worthy of this great calling with all humility and mickness, it means that we have to submit to one another, submit to each other in godly fear, as it says in Ephesians 5 verse 21. And so this section, it basically starts this section, this whole section about walking worthy and elaborating on this subject, by saying that it's going to be done with humility and mickness, with patience, and bearing with one another. In a sense, it's forgiving one another. And now, as we come to this point, which he then summarized that on verse 21, saying by submitting to one another in the fear of God, he now moves on from verse 22 to expound us in greater detail, in other words, how to walk worthy of this calling with all humility and mickness in two main areas. One, in our family, in our family life, and two, in our work lives, our jobs. And so in our family, it talks about the marriage relationship, how we can walk worthy of this calling in a marriage relationship. Well, the marriage relationship in the end is for us to be one flesh, and therefore it's to build unity in love. And that, therefore, symbolizes a greater spiritual meaning, because the greatest spiritual meaning is that we are to walk worthy of this calling to build unity in love. And likewise, in the family, it also applies to our parent-stroke-child relationship, also to build that unity. And so that's in the family. So he discusses a little bit about the family, and he discusses very briefly about our work lives. And so that's the section of this epistle that I'm going to be going into more detail today, and particularly in this example of the marriage relationship, in a marriage relationship. And so once again, it's talking about walking worthy with humility and meekness, which implies loving submission to one another. And that's why it starts this section in verse 21 or subsection by saying we need to submit to one another in the fear of God.

And so submission, mutual submission, in the fear of God is implied to all, to all husbands, wives, children, parents, employers, and employees, because it all points to a greater spiritual principle of godly servant leadership according to God's purpose. And so let's continue now then in verse 22. And it starts by first addressing the wives, and it says, wives submit your own husband as to the Lord.

Now clearly the wife is to submit to her own husband, but it is in the context of verse 21 that we need to submit to one another in the fear of God. For instance, me being a minister, I need to submit to Asha as an example. If the Asha asks me to clear the hole at a certain time or to do certain specific things, we all have to submit to one another. And so, yeah, is the context that we need to submit to one another. Also, in verse 22 says, wives submit to your own husband. It doesn't say submit in this principle that it's teaching us of godly governance and that there is a certain chain of godly governance. It doesn't say that the wife is to submit to every man, but to your own husband, and then qualifies it as to the Lord. And so, just like we all submit to Christ, but it's also it's pointing to God's appointed government or governing structure, God's structure or leadership, the way that God wants it to be.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, just to mark it out, in verse 3, 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 3, we see, but I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. And again, it's talking about a chain of godly governments.

So there must be in this chain of godly governments, in other words, it's a godly chain. It's not a chain of ungodly authority, but it's godly. And so, back to Ephesians chapter 5, it emphasizes that that head has certain responsibilities. Let's read verse 23. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. So the head has certain responsibilities. Your head, my head, physically speaking, directs how your hands are to move, how your feet are to move, directs all your body in a direction to do something, to say something, to be careful of something. And that point about being careful with something is in a sense saying not to hurt the body. For instance, you may say, well, I've got to move my feet a little bit out of the way, because if it is, yeah, it could be squashed by maybe see if somebody opens the door, and it'll hurt my feet or something like that. So the head has responsibilities to direct the body, so it doesn't hurt the body. Likewise, the feet has the responsibility to submit to the body and say, okay, I'm going to move because the head told me to move because it's for my own good.

It's for my own good. And so that's why it says Christ is the savior of the body. So the head of our physical head, in a sense, is doing things to look for the body, not to hurt the body. In other words, and likewise, the head as the husband is also the savior of that family unity. Now, I do not mean savior in the sense of Christ is our savior, but it implies a critical role of the husband as a critical responsibility to look after for the safety and well-being, both physically, mentally, and spiritually, of his wife and those in his family.

So the husband is to help the wife by helping her in whatever her needs are, to help her to fulfill a purpose and a cause.

And therefore, the husband is not to hinder or to make worse, but it's rather to assist her as much as he can. And that's what it's meant here, just like Christ is the savior of the body, the husband is to help the wife to look out for a well-being for the safety.

Now let's read verse 24. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. So to be subject is the opposite of self-assertion, is the opposite of an independent autocratic or or a spirit. Well, I'm not going to do this. You can't tell me what to do, but be willing to comply to his best efforts to help. You know, in Colossians 3 verse 18, Colossians 3 verse 18, there's got a parallel similar scripture which reads, Wives submit to your own husbands as is fitting in the Lord. In other words, must be according to God's law. So the submission is as it's fitting in the Lord.

So it must be according to God's law and according to God's will. In Acts 5, 29, we see the case in which Peter was receiving instruction from the Sanhedrin, and then he told the Sanhedrin, in other words, that council, he said, we need to obey God rather than men. And so this submission as it is fitting in the Lord means that the wife is not to be beaten down by the husband, because then the husband is not acting like the Lord, which is the savior of the body. So the wife is not a slave, and so we see a balance in the relationship, in the husband-wife relationship of outgoing love and submission. So it is a very balanced approach in which there's outgoing concern and a submission, a willing submission, because the husband has an outgoing concern for the wife. So it is a lovely interaction between two. You see in verse 25, then, it says, husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. Now, yes, it's defining what this love is. Husbands are to love your wives, you know, it was your own wives, not at a woman, but just as Christ loved the church, he died for the church. He gave his life for the church. He sacrificed for the church. As we read in Philippians chapter 2, 6 through 8, Christ was willing to divest himself of the privileges he had in the form of God, and he became a human, and he died for us, which meant, in other words, he humbled himself.

That demonstrates that Christ's love, which was exemplified by his actions, was based on a very great degree of humility and submission by giving or divesting himself of the privileges that he had in being in the form of God, being equal to God, as we read in Philippians 2 verse 6, to become a human being and die for us and the cross. That shows a lot of humility and submission for the edification for the building of the church, and that's what we as husbands need to be for our wives. That puts us in the position that we are very far from that goal.

In brackets, notice that Christ, when he divested himself of the privileges he had in the form of God, he was always divine. He never stopped being divine, but he divested himself over the power, the strength, the glory he had as one of the two Elohim. He was 100% divine, inside, and 100% carnal person, but he never sinned, although he was tempted, like we all are tempted, as we read in Hebrews 4 verse 15, but he never sinned. In John 17.5, we can see Christ praying to the Father to say, glorify me with the glory I had with you. It was, give me back the glory I had with you before the world was created. This is the love of Christ for us. That's what Christ has done for us. That's the love. This is the kind of love that we men need to develop towards our own wives. And so a successful marriage is based on this mutual combination of outgoing love and submission, but this outgoing love from the man includes submission, and the submission from the woman also includes love. So it is a combination of mutual love and mutual submission, and that clearly takes a lot of work. Paul in Corinthians 13 verse 4, in 1 Corinthians 13 verse 4 says, love suffers long and is kind. Love does not eat of envy. Love does not parade itself. He is not puffed up. And so, are we kind? Do we suffer long? Are we as men soft and gentle or hard? Now, God, generally speaking, the way he made us as part of our nature, he made woman, generally speaking, very caring. And that is part of a woman's natural characteristics.

Basically, to raise up children, to care for the little babies. There's a very special womanly motherly love. There is a natural tendency or capability that God gave to the woman by nature. And that may be the possibility that there is not many places in the Bible where it mentions for the woman to love their own husbands. Although it is mentioned in Titus 2 verse 4 where it says the elder woman ought to teach the younger ones to love their own husbands and also to love their children. But that should be nature. Again, the problem is we live in a world, as we read in Romans 1 verse 26, that people are going against nature and even says even women living what is natural for what is against nature. Okay, granted in Romans 1.26 is talking about a specific context, but the principle is applicable in today's society. Mankind is selfish, men and women, and people are leaving that natural love for one another that we should have because it says, love one another as you love yourself. So that's the commandment, and Christ increased that commandment by saying, or made that commandment greater by saying, not just as you love yourself, but as I have loved you. And that's what we see here in Ephesians, that that's what he has done for us. He's loved us. He says, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church. That is a very high standard, but again this is focusing here in verse 25, husbands loving your wives. Therefore, it's within focusing a point within or a principle within the family unity, the family unit. And so there is a government, a godly government, a godly governance from the top down in which the husband as the head has servant leadership, loving care and concern for those in under his under his wings, let's call it that, and the wife submits because she wants to submit, because the husband is so loving and caring towards her. And so the husband needs to treat her as if he was the Lord, quote unquote, Christ. In other words, loving, giving himself for it. And it's not that the husband is in charge and the wife has to obey. No. In other words, she must not allow herself to be maltreated physically, emotionally or mentally, because that should not be the case when the husband loves her like Christ loves us. So the husband would not be maltreating her physically, emotionally or mentally.

And so let's look at it in a slightly different way. Does the Lord ever tell us to do things that are wrong? No. Does he ever tell us to do what is evil for us? No. So likewise, men should not be demanding from women to disobey God. I've seen this happen. I mean, I've seen situations when men does something wrong and demands from the woman to lie about this or that.

When it says submit, it says submit in the Lord, not to disobey God. It's been situations where some men kind of put pressure on a woman for reasons not to keep the Sabbath or not to go to church. You know, that's not, you know, being loving as Christ is loving to us in the Lord. We've got to obey God rather than man. Acts 5.29. So the woman is not the husband's slave. That is not what God intended in any marriage. Marriage is a loving relationship. Man wants to love her and man, in fact, is learning to love her through our lives. We're all learning, you know, when we first got married, love is more of a passion and emotion, but as we are married for longer and longer, the love moves more to a caring attitude. And so the husband then willingly wants to submit to that man because she's responding to his loving care. And the woman is typically, let's call it a responder. If he cares for her, if he loves her, her, if he appreciates her, if he cherishes her, then she'll want to return that by godly submission.

So the point is, maybe I'm overemphasizing it, and I know that maybe that is the case, but regrettably, in this world, there are many men that must apply the scripture and use it for their own selfish reasons, their own vanity, and that is not what the scripture says. In fact, there are times that a man has to submit to the wife. Maybe he has to submit to her ideas or suggestions or likes and dislikes. A man may say, well, let's do this, or let's do that. And she may say, I would prefer not to. And she may have good reasons, and she may explain, look, because of my health situations, maybe I don't want to do that. It would not be wise.

Maybe the situation for the family, maybe she sees a different angle, which has great wisdom. And she says, no, don't do that. And I don't agree with that in a respectful way. And then he, being a loving husband, he says, hey, you've got a good point. And I'm going to listen to your wisdom, because it's a good point. Now, the final decision is, he is, but she provided wise input. And so we see a mutual respect and a mutual submission, a mutual care and admiration in this relationship.

I mean, we see it even in God, and we see many prophets. And you see the case, for instance, of Moses, where God said, I'm going to wipe out everybody, and I'm going to make out of you Moses a nation. And Moses says, no, no, wait, wait, God. What about this, this, this? And I said, okay, fine, then God listened to Moses. And so we see a mutual respect. So, so that's not a case of rejecting authority from the wife, if she has some ideas or suggestions, or even likes, you know, maybe she likes to decorate the house in a certain way.

And, and he may say, well, yeah, good, you're like that, I'll do that. And so we are talking about servant leadership and discipleship, in other words, a mutual relationship, which is godly, just like the one God wants from all of us. All right, let's move on to verse 26. And so it says, husband love your wives, verse 25, as Christ loved the church, verse 26, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.

And so, Yah is a dual meaning, physical, teen husband and wife, but also spiritual between the Christ and the church. So, as he says, you know, that as Christ loved the church, so that he, Christ, would sanctify and cleanse the church with the washing of water by the word of the preaching the gospel and teaching God's commandments and God's principles. Like, for instance, we read the epistles and we learn many godly principles, and that, in a sense, is the washing of the word that is helping us and teaching our conscience through God's Holy Spirit for us to change from the old man to the new man.

And so, that is part of us learning to be cleansed, to change our thoughts and our ways of being. Verse 27, that he, Christ, might present her, the church, to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she, the church, should be holy and without blemish. So, yeah, it's a great spiritual principle, but physically speaking, a man being a godly leader, loving the wife, it also helps the wife to grow spiritually. So, yeah, we can see this, again, this relationship of love and submitting that build on one another, and there's mutual love and there's mutual submission, but one has the final authority.

And therefore, God wants man and woman, wants us in the church, ultimately, to be without blemish. Why? Because he's looking for a bride at his second coming, and so he's teaching us spiritual lessons, and it's so important that these lessons are learned in the very family relationship. And that's part of walking worthy of this calling with all humility and meekness to build unity in love, which starts at home in the very, in the very basic or most basic and core relationships of them all, the husband-wife relationship, and it teaches us to be one flesh.

And it was the unity, building the unity in love to be one. Let's go on now verse 28. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies, and he loves his wife, loves his own body. And so that is fairly self-explanatory. Verse 29, For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. And he has two important words. Nourishes it and cherishes it. Nourish meaning feed and provide for, to bring up, to feed and provide. But then there's cherish, which is basically to keep warm and comfort, to foster with tender care.

The tendency of man is quite often to just look at the first to nourish, and in a sense neglect the second, cherish. And then a man may say, well, what does my wife want? I mean, I bring the food, I provide for the food, and all this, I buy all these things. Well, that's nourishing. Good. But a man must also cherish his wife. And that is an emotional and psychological fulfillment, a certain tenderness to cherish her. And that is to to heat, to heat, and to keep warm, to keep it in a lovely, caring environment. I mean, you can think of a bird, which opens its wings to protect a young with a fetus, or like a mother hen, keeps the eggs warm and protects the cheeks. That's how a man, in that sort of analogy, needs to cherish her, tenderly care for her. And this is where we as men need to learn, because normally, I speak for myself, I need to grow more and more on this.

And that, that cherishing, that loving, is the very opposite of what men typically are, indifferent and selfish. And, you know, mankind tends to be that. So we need to learn this mutual love towards one another. That's why it says, but we need to nourish and cherish our own flesh, and therefore our own wives, because they are our flesh. In other words, we're all part of one body. In 1 Corinthians 12, from verse 21 through verse 25, talks about there are different members in the body. You've got a leg, you've got an arm, you've got a toe, etc. And if you stop, for instance, your toe, your whole body will protect the toe, you know. So we all have the same care for one another in the body, and that's what we have to have in a family relationship. We need to have the same care for one another. We need to grow in love towards each other. We need to be kindly affectionate. We need to be humble, like we read in Romans 12, verses 9 through verses 16. We have to have a humility and a kind affection to one another. We need to have a personal relationship with each other.

That's what we got to be. We got to have that personal relationship with one another. So now we continue in Ephesians 5 verse 30, and in verse 30 says, For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. So we are to become one flesh in a marriage, and that is a type of Christ in the Church. We are to become one spirit with Christ. We are to become one body. It's very interesting that if you think about the case of Adam and Eve, God took Adam and put him to sleep, and he took them from Adam, from Adam's bone and flesh, and then he made a woman. And so it was the woman was made from Adam's own flesh and bones. And yeah, we see in a similar analogy in verse 20. We are members of his body. That's Christ, the man, spiritual man. And we, as the bride, as the woman, spiritually speaking, we are of his flesh and of his bones. So we are, spiritually speaking, we are members of his body, like the woman is a member of the man's body because she came out of the man.

And then he says, verse 31, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh, because they came from the same inner was flesh and bones, and they get back to the same flesh and bones and become one flesh. What's that? Unity, unity. In the church, we become one spirit. We receive the spirit of God, places us in the church, and we are to become one spiritual body, the church. Verse 32, This is a great mystery. Oh yeah, this is a great mystery. But I speak concerning Christ and the church.

You see, so this all example and this all amazing analogy of husband and wife, of loving care and and submission and mutual loving care and mutual submission. It is a wonderful example, as he says, yeah, of a greater spiritual mystery, which is Christ and the church. And God has given us marriage to teach us about how He wants us to be faithful and loyal to Christ. And now Christ is always looking after us as His children in the church. And so, then he continues in verse 33, Nevertheless, let each one of you, in particularly, to love his own wife as himself. So, nevertheless, even though this is a big spiritual principle, a great mystery, and I've used it, and he says, I'm using this as an analogy of how we need to love and care for one another. He says, let each one of you, in particularly, so love his own wife as himself, and let wife see that she respects her husband. In other words, the word respect is a good translation. In the old King James Version, it had the word reverence. For Bayo is the Greek, but respect is probably a more accurate translation of that word. And so, he used this example of husband-and-wife relationship, and then he moves on to children, and in other words, parent-child relationship. He says, Children obey your parents again in the Lord. So, he's saying, well, have the same principle. The parents love the children, and the children are to obey. To obey is basically analogous to submit, because if you obey, you're submitting. You're doing what they're telling you to do, and it's very prominent today. In today's age, they say, oh, well, they don't have to listen to you because they're 18 years old, so they'll do what they want, and that is wrong. That's not what's saying here. Again, submit is in a similar concept as the wives to husbands. There is a godly submission, a godly obedience, and a godly governance. And parents, just as described above, for husbands are also to walk worthy of the calling, and so they should love their children with meekness and humility, and children should then strive to be obedient. Here it was to submit, not being rebellious. Now, of course, parents are not to control, and God never controls us. God, through His Spirit, guides us. It says, He is a Christian, He is a godly person, that God's Holy Spirit guides him as we read in Romans. It says God's Holy Spirit guides us. God's Holy Spirit doesn't control us, doesn't dominate us, because God has given us and He always gives us free moral agency, but He expects in return obedience, in our submission from us. And so it's talking about an esteem, respect, and an appreciation. That's why it says, verse 2, honor your father and mother. In other words, have a deep esteem, respect, and appreciation for your parents, which is the first commandment of a promise. In other words, honor the office, or honor the position, and there's a promise with it, a very encouraging promise that you may live long. I don't just think of it physically. I think of it eternally, spiritually, if we are following these principles, and particularly honoring our Father, which is God and Christ, and being respectful within the bride, let's call it, we will have a long life, eternal life, because that's what God wants. And so, in verse 3, that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. That's the promise. And you fathers do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Do not provoke your children to wrath. Colossians 3, 21, as a similar scripture that says, do not provoke your children unless they become discouraged.

In other words, don't come too hard on them. Don't come too hard on them.

I have learned a lesson that when I first came into the church, we had a child reading booklet that taught us to be rather hard. And as I didn't have that at the training, I was really green. I took the instructions from the booklet a little bit too strictly.

And thanks to my wife, she always said, no, don't do that. Don't do the other.

And it gave me the right balance. And so, I always think about parents do not provoke your children. In other words, don't come too hard on them unless they become discouraged.

And I see that principle applied to the church as well. Sometimes, some older people or brethren may come a little bit too hard on some of the young people in church. And then, we've seen some young people when they get to a certain age, they say, hey, this is not my church. Goodbye. So, we've got to be careful with that. Fathers, as the heads, the responsible ones, the head of the family, of the home, we are held accountable by God to do what? To train our children in a proper understanding of God. That's what it says here. Don't be too hard to your children, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. We've got to show them the way. We've got to teach them God's way as we walk, as it says in Deuteronomy, as you walk, you go yah and go there. Show them and teach them. It is an important responsibility of the parents, but the main accountability is upon the man, which is the head of the home. But obviously, both the husband and wife as parents have that responsibility.

And then from verse five, it shifts to employer-employee, and it says, verse five, bond servants, that is employees in today's terminology, would be, be obedient to those who are your masters. In other words, your boss or your employer, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling and sincerity of heart as to Christ. So you're not just doing things in front of your boss, and when the boss turns his back, you do something else. Now you're doing it to please God, whether he's looking or not. But it also says, with fear and trembling, so you're not going to be disobeying God. You're not going to do something that displeases God. It says, continuing yah, therefore, in verse six through eight, not of high service as men pleases, but as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. You're doing what's pleasing to God, not disobeying God. If the employer tells you to do something directly against God's law, you should not do in a respectful way, but you should say now that that is incorrect. It says, but with good will, doing service as to the Lord and not to man. So you work for your manager, and you're not doing it because he's looking, but you're doing it because you know God is looking, and you're doing it as if you're doing it to God, because that's what God expects of us. Knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the sign from the Lord, whether he's a slave or free. And your masters, you know, as you were an employer, or you're the boss of some people, do the same things to them. Giving up threatenings, you know, there was, don't threaten them. Don't treat employees in a wrong way. Giving up threatening, knowing that your own master also is in heaven. And so, you know, that's not how God treats you. So you're going to treat others as God treats us. And so, and there is no partiality within. So we're going to treat all employees in the same way, in the same standard, the same manner, the same fairness. And so then now Paul completes this section about walking worthy of our calling by reminding us that we are in a spiritual battle against Satan. And that we'll cover in the next study.