Title: "Slavery, Anyone?"
Introduction:
Does the Bible have anything to say about slavery?
The other evening, my wife and I went to see the excellent film, "The Great Debaters." It is an based on a true story of a black college in Texas in 1935 that went up for the National Champions of the while college of Harvard University. The film brings up the subject of slavery and social injustice.
I have also been reading my Bible through again this year. We have been traveling through the pages of the Exodus. God gives to the nation of Israel special instructions regarding slavery.
With these thoughts in mind, God laid upon my heart this message. I trust that it will challenge your heart as it did mine.
Thought number one:
A man is enslaved because of sin.
(Rom 6:16 KJV) Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
I do not believe that God every intended that slavery be a part of his perfect creation. But, because sin entered into the world, provisions had to be made within a society that dealt with sin and those who had fallen into bondage as a result of sin. When the children of Israel were to come into the Promised Land, they were to utterly destroy most of the inhabitance of the land. The Canaanites had become so wicked in their sins against God, that God gave orders to have them destroyed or enslaved.
Every one is a slave to something. Our text in Romans 6 indicates that you are either a servant to sin, or you are a servant to righteousness. The challenge of this message is that you choose to become a servant of righteousness!
Thought number two:
Can a man own another man?
(Exo 21:20 KJV) And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.
(Exo 21:21 KJV) Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
According to our text, a person can hold a legal document that says that his slaves are his "money." That means, that on paper, it is possible for one man to own another person.
However, let me share with you this powerful thought, "You cannot completely own someone unless you own their heart!"
Thought number three:
God hears the cries of the oppressed.
(Exo 3:9 KJV) Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
If a master becomes abusive in their treatment of their slaves, God will deal harshly against them. Study the history of the Jews. Note how God dealt with Pharaoh and the Egyptians because of their mistreatment of his chosen nation, the Jews.
Thought number four:
In Heaven there will be no more slavery.
(Mat 17:25 KJV) He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
(Mat 17:26 KJV) Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.
Also note,
(John 8:32 KJV) And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
In Heaven, we will all be children of the king. One glorious day, we will be all belong to a nation of only "kings and priests." Slavery will be a historical bygone era!
Thought number five:
Does God own you?
(1 Cor 6:19 KJV) What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
(1 Cor 6:20 KJV) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
The apostle Paul was a slave by choice? He called himself a "doulos" slave in Romans chapter one. That is, Paul said that he was a slave by choice.
(Rom 1:1 KJV) Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
It is probably incorrect to say on the day that you got saved, you "gave your heart to the Lord." The truth is, that on the day that you got saved, God gave you his heart. You literally became a recipient of the blood of Christ!
It is possible to be "saved," and serve Christ out of duty and obligation. But the question that I have for you is this, "Have you given God your heart?"
How do you know if you have given to God your heart? Jesus said, (Mat 6:21 KJV) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
If a person has given to God his heart, then every decision that they will make, it is made with this determining factor, "How will what I am doing be done for the honor and glory of God? Is what I am doing of any eternal significance?"
An Old Testament picture of this truth:
(Exo 21:5 KJV) And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
(Exo 21:6 KJV) Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.
Does God own your heart?
Read again, (Exo 21:5 KJV) And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
Note that a servant mentioned in Exodus Chapter 21, would voluntarily serve his master only if he could say, "I love my master. I will not go our free." My question for you is, "Do you love your Master?"
Story of Philemon, the runaway slave:
(Phile 1:15 KJV) For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever;
(Phile 1:16 KJV) Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord?
When Onesmus, the runaway slave became imprisoned with the apostle Paul, Paul not only told Onesmus of the story of Christ, but also took the time to listen to the story of Onesmus. When Onesmus mentioned that he had run away from his Master, Philemon, then Paul realized that providentially, it was God who had arranged for this encounter. Not only did Paul lead Onesemus to Christ, but he had also been the one that God had used to lead Philemon to Christ on an earlier missionary trip.
When Paul instructed Onesemus that he was to return to his Master, Onesemus must have been afraid of the consequences of doing so. Therefore, Paul determined to write the epistle of Philemon as we before us have today.
Carefully note how Paul instructs Philemon. He was not to treat Onesemus as a runaway slave, but as a newly adopted brother in Christ!
That should put an end to the argument about the slavery question. In Christ, we are brothers and sisters all living within the same family!
I did not say that we are not to be servants. The truth is that, in Christ, we are all servants! But we are not servants of sin. Rather, by choice we are to become servants of righteousness!
Are you a runaway slave? Do you need to return to your master?
Have you given to God your heart?
