Christian business relationships should be guided by biblical principles rather than worldly pragmatism and selfishness. The sermon contrasts the world's focus on profit, deceit, and flattery with the Christian call to honesty, obedience, and good will in employment, drawing parallels to biblical examples like the slaves Tertius and Quartus and the servant principles in Ephesians. For employers, the message emphasizes fair pay, just judgment, and gentleness, while for partnerships, it warns against unequal yokes with unbelievers and advises clear contracts and peaceful resolution of disputes. Ultimately, Christians are called to act with integrity, serve as unto the Lord, and even be willing to suffer wrong, trusting in God's ultimate justice and provision.
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Business relationships in the world. Business relationships. What's a Christian's attitude to be toward business? Section one, the world's business principles. One, the principle of profits. A, legitimate. Ecclesiastes five and nine says the prophet of the earth is for all. There is nothing wrong with the prophet system except when it's abused.
And so be limitations. First Corinthians six and verse eight says that we are not to defraud one another in a business way. And in First Corinthians ten in verse thirty-three, the Apostle Paul says, I am not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of others. So there are limitations on the profit system, the principle of profit. See, selfishness. Jeremiah forty-five and five.
This verse was given to me by the Lord when I was a young man. I can't say I've always followed it, but it has made a mark in my life. I suggest that you put it on your memory list. It says, Seekest thou great things for thyself. Seek them not. The man who lives simply for himself is on very bad ground. And much of the world's business is conducted entirely on the selfish ground. They say, well, business is dog eat dog. They say, you've got to get to the top, even if you have to step in a few faces on your way up.
This is the philosophy of business in the world. Now, D, honest trades. Titus uses a little different word in the King James Version, but the revised version is let ours learn to profess honest trades. This, of course, is not true in the world's business. Most of them are not interested in whether it's honest or not. They're interested in whether it's profitable or not. The philosophy of our day, I would say, is pragmatism, which simply means, does it work?
I'm not particularly interested in whether it's honest, whether it's right, whether it hurts anybody, or doesn't hurt them, but does it work? Now, number two, deceitfulness. The world's business principles are largely built on deceitfulness. I studied advertising, and I know that advertising is as crooked as a barrel of snakes, and they don't make any bones about it. They're not interested in it being anything else. They try to keep it legitimate, try to keep from getting arrested, but the whole thing is planned to deceive.
A, weights and measures, Leviticus God distinctly said that they were to have honest weights and measures. You know, of course, that the United States government has a department of standards and that it exists mainly to keep people from cheating each other. They have the exact measurement of one foot, one inch, one yard. They have the exact one pound, the exact one quart. And everybody who does business is expected to test them by the Bureau of Standards.
Bureau of Standards, incidentally, is located right here in Colorado, Boulder. Now, beef quality. Amos, eight and six says that some of these people could hardly wait until they got a chance to sell the refuse of the wheat. And he rebuked them for it. They professed to be the people of God. And they were selling spoiled wheat to their neighbors. If you spend any time in business, you're going to be surprised at what is meant by quality controls.
They advertise their quality controls as though it's a very wonderful thing. but quality control really means how much bad stuff can you put in the good stuff and get away with it that's the world's principle of business and see there's the matter of fraud james five and four he plainly says you have kept back the wages of your labors by fraud all kinds of crooked schemes are arranged to get a little more out of somebody else by fraud. And D. lying.
Proverbs twenty in verse fourteen is an interesting verse. It says, It is not, it is not, said the buyer. And straightway he goes his way and boasts it. What does that mean? The buyer says it's no good. It's worth nothing. But then he gets it. And then he goes away and brags about it. Look at the bargain I got. He lied to the seller, and then he brags to his friends. And this goes on all the time. We used to have a little neighbor boy. His father was in business.
He said to my brother, how much do you pay for that guitar? He told him what he paid. He says, oh, that was first price. That was first price. In other words, he should have haggled a little bit. And E, flattery. Proverbs twenty nine and five says, he that flattereth his neighbor layeth a net for his feet. This is considered quite a wonderful thing in business. Advertising. Advertising. is all planned to make the customer feel important. Really, you don't care a hoot about him.
The idea is to get him to buy. This is the thing that I dislike so heartily about the very popular book of Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. What's he really trying to do? What's the book about? What's the whole training course about? Why does so many business people and salesmen take the course? Why does he say, always brag on your customer? You can't possibly brag on every customer, unless you're lying, unless you're flattering. But the whole thing is to lay a net's receipt.
And F. Brabbery. Deuteronomy, sixteen and nineteen. Incidentally, the word gift in the Old Testament. where he says that a gift will blind a person. It's the word bribe in the revised version. The Central American, South American, Latin countries are much more open with their bribery than we are in this country, but they don't do any more of it. They just justify. Bribery is a way of life in the business world today and in the political world. Now you live in that kind of a world.
Now what are you going to do as Christians? All right, section two, Christian employers, employees. We'll begin with the employees because there are lots more of them. One, the first century versus the twentieth century customs. I'm bringing this up so that you can get it settled in your own mind. that although there were differences, there are differences, between the first century and the twentieth century, still the principles of Scripture apply just as much now as they ever did.
A, the prevalence of slavery in Roman empires. And in the sixteenth chapter of Romans, Verses twenty-two and twenty-three, there are two slaves mentioned, and their names are Tertius and Quartus. And in another passage, there's one named Secundus. Now, these are Latin numbers. Secundus, Tertius, and Quartus were undoubtedly three galley slaves, and they were just numbered down the line. They didn't have any names. They were chained to the galley, to the seat, And they pulled the oars, and nobody cared anything about their names.
They just called them numbers. They bought twenty or forty good strong men, put them in a galley, and then numbered them off. And these men were Christians. And the early Christians consisted largely of slaves, because it said that in Rome, four out of five of the people were slaves. Twenty percent of the people owned the other eighty percent in the first century. And then B, hired servants were not organized nor protected. This is why in the book of Leviticus, God gave a special law that you should not defraud your neighbor and that the wages of a hired man should not abide with the all night in my house.
This was protection which God gave in a culture where there was no protection at all for laborers. Now, even though this is true, God gave these very plain principles of behavior. Now, you can see how much more they ought to apply now. Then they did them. Let's look at these principles. Number two, principles of Scripture. A, honesty. Titus two and verse ten says that believers were not to be guilty of purloining.
That means stealing from your employer. And let me say this to you. It is just as sinful to steal from a big corporation as it is from an individual. I was in the home where the man took out of his pocket a handful of pencils and handed them to his children. And he said, I always bring home pencils and work. He said, they've got lots of them. And he's teaching his kids to be a bunch of little thieves. He doesn't realize it. And I spoke to him when the children got out of the room. And he just wouldn't have it at all. He didn't see any reason at all why he shouldn't take all the pencils that he wanted from the company.
They had lots of them. Of course, they had to buy them, and it was stealing. When I was a boy, my father told me about a man that he knew that went to the penitentiary for stealing from the bank where he worked. And at his trial, he said, the first theft that he ever was guilty of was a one-thin stand. just working in the bank. There were stamps there, and so he took a stamp out and put it on a postcard. That's all it took to send the card at those days. His first theft was a one-cent stamp. He ended up in the penitentiaries.
Honesty must be meticulously observed by Christians employed and be obedience. Ephesians six and five says that Servants are to be in obedience to their masters. Let me tell you something. When you hire out to a man, you have sold your time to him. And you sold him eight hours, if that's what you work in an eight-hour day, and you have no right to steal even five minutes of it. And if he tells you to do something, and you can't do it with a clear conscience, you ought to quit.
But if he tells you to do it, then there's no reason why you shouldn't do it. You should do it because you're hired to do it. That's what the Bible teaches. And see where to do it with a good will. Ephesians six and seven says, with good will doing service as to the Lord and not unto me. Don't do it complainingly and grudgingly and but do it with good will. And be We are to keep our agreements. He tells us in Matthew twenty about some people who agreed to work for a penny a day. A penny is not our penny, but a denarius, which was about fifteen cents.
But of course fifteen cents then was a good day's wages, because food and everything else was correspondingly cheaper. And these people agreed to work for a penny a day. And then at the close of the day they weren't satisfied. Because the master had given somebody else a little more, they were dissatisfied. And he said, friend, I didn't get no wrong. Didn't you agree with me for a denarius a day? So stick to your agreements. And then E, do it as under the Lord. Colossians three, twenty-three and twenty-four. Do it as under the Lord. Maybe you've got the kind of a boss that you can't feel very happy about pleasing him.
But if you see beyond him to the Lord, that you're there as the Lord's servant, you can do it heartily as unto the Lord, not unto man. And finally, if no back talk, Titus two and nine, he plainly says, not answering again. It's called gainsaying in some other places. If you put the letter A on the front of it, you'll have the modern speech meaning, again saying. Gainsaying is talking back. And God says that you should not do it. I know this won't be very popular with a good many people who are leaders in labor movements and so on.
But this is what the Bible teaches anyway. And number three, the example of Christ, the perfect servant. Study this. The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. And four, the example of Boaz and his reapers in Ruth two and four. Read about it. It's a very wonderful story. When Boaz came to his fields, he said, the Lord be with you. And they said to him, the Lord bless thee. So there wasn't any labor trouble there. They both loved the Lord.
They were both concerned about the other's welfare. and they've got along very well. Once in a while you see a Christian employee-employee relationship like that, and it's very lovely. And five, the parable of responsibility of servants in Mark chapter thirteen. I won't comment on that now, but give it some study. The responsibility of servants is set forth very plainly in this parable. Now section three, Christian employers, One, the difficulties of being an employer. A, keeping both employees and customers happy.
I've been in this position. I've been in both of these positions. I've been an employee and I've been an employer. And I'll tell you, it's very difficult to be an employer. You're trying to keep both the employees and the customers happy. And B, they are suspected because of the dishonesty of many. In James five, one to six, you have things like this. Go to you rich men, weep and howl for the miseries that are come upon you. And then he tells all of the crooked things that they had done. Well, many people seem to feel that anyone who is in business that any employer is crooked.
I preached one time about this at a conference and after a Christian businessman came to me and he said, you hurt me this afternoon. I said, well, why? I wasn't talking about you at all. He said, I know you weren't. You were talking about rich men that are the wrong kind. But he said, that's going to react against me because most Christians believe that all rich men are like that. that all employers are like that. Well, of course it isn't true. And God doesn't have anything to say against a godly wealthy man or employer. So that he does have problems.
Now, number two, the principles of Scripture for employers. A, right pay. Colossians four one, give unto your servants that which is just and equal. just and equal. Write pay. B, just judgment. Proverbs thirty and twenty. Don't accuse a servant to his master. He said, let you be found guilty. Masters have to be very careful. Employers have to be very careful to have just judgment. And C, they are to be good and gentle. I can imagine how some are going to object to that and say, you'd never get anything done if you're good and gentle.
Well, that's what the Bible says. I didn't write the Bible and I make no apologies for it. And D, they should not threaten. Forbearing threatening, Ephesians six and nine says. Some employers keep their employees in line by threatening them all the time. All fire is, will you do that again? And E, They are to act as believing employers, faithful and beloved. That's the way they're described in First Timothy six. He says, don't take advantage. Don't despise your brethren, but rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved.
That's the way employers ought to be. And if they should remember that their employees depend on them. Psalm. One twenty-three, as the eyes of servants look under the hand of masters. And finally, G, remember that you have your master in heaven. Colossians four what? Now you can see that if Christian employees did what we have in section two, and Christian employers did what we have in section three, they'd get along very well in business relationships. Well, there's one more thing to consider.
Section four, business partnerships. Now, this is more and more a problem. Number one, no unequal yokes. A foreshadowed in Deuteronomy twenty-two ten. where he says, Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. Now, what difference does it make to God if you hitched up an ox and an ass together? Well, God was trying to teach his children in the Old Testament times, separation. So there should not be a Christian and a non-Christian in partnership together.
Be, this is commanded in Second Corinthians, six, fourteen. specifically commanded in Second Corinthians six, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And see, they serve two different masters. In Luke sixteen he says, you can't serve God and Mammon. The Christian wants to serve God. The non-Christian wants to serve Mammon, which was the God of money. Now number two, problems of Christian partnership. And there is a problem because Romans twelve, verse eighteen says, if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
You may find yourself in business with another Christian and you can't get along with each other. A personality clashes. You just will all be looking for this because it'll come. There are some people who cannot work together, even though they're both Christians. And B, misunderstandings. Let me suggest a little something that may save you a lot of trouble. When you go into business with another Christian, draw out a business-like contract. Don't trust it to chance. Don't say, well, we're both Christians, so we don't need a contract.
Because people don't quite understand what the other fellow expected. Misunderstandance. And then see degrees of spirituality. You may find yourself in business with one who has a much more tender conscience than you have. because he's a better Christian. Or maybe you've got the more tender conscience. This makes problems. And then D, there is the influence of wives. This is a very real problem in business. Two men may get along fine together, but their wives keep hacking at them.
You're not getting your share of the profits. Your partner's not doing his share of the work. So it would be a good idea to talk it over with the wives as well as the husbands when they go in business. And then E, the motivations. One man's in business to make money. The other man is in business simply to make a living. You can see how these different motivations are going to cause problems. And then there is F, the problem of buying out partners. I know a man who had an awful time because after he went in business with a Christian, the other fellow wanted out and he had to go to the bank and borrow a lot of money to keep the thing afloat.
So you'll want to look into this before you get too far along. How three lawsuits are forbidden. First Corinthians six. A before the unjust. And that's the word that's used. They're not to go to law before a non-Christian judge or jury. B, let brethren adjudicate. Let the brethren decide between the problem. C, attempt to defraud. And he accused those Corinthians of not only...
not being fair, not only complaining about it, but you were actually trying to beat your partner, beat your friend, your brother. D, he says it's better to take wrong. Now, anybody with a good business head is going to say, ah, that won't do. You can't do that. If it's an agreement, it's agreement. Well, this is what the Lord says. Sometimes it's better to take wrong. And E, we must remember our heavenly calling and future. In this same passage, he says, you're going to judge the world one of these days. Remember that. You're going to judge the world one of these days in conjunction with the Lord Jesus.
Now the last, number four, faith allows a brother the advantage. And I've given you some examples. A, Abraham gave in to Lot. Now Lot was wrong. Abraham was right. But Abraham gave in to Lot. He said, you take whatever you want. I'll take what's left. Wasn't he taking a terrible chance? No. He wasn't. Because God had promised to see to it. And B, Isaac gave in to the men of Gerar. That's spelled G-E-R-A-R. Look it up in it, Genesis twenty-six. They took the well away from his men.
So he just moved over and dug another well. They came and took that away from him. So he moved on a little farther and dug another one. What's the matter with him? What's the matter with him? He was honoring God. The men of Gerar were heathen. And see, as the Hebrews gave into the Greeks in Acts six, the Greek-speaking Jews complained that the Hebrew-speaking Jews had all the money. and their widows were neglected. So the Hebrew-speaking Jews said, well, we'll just pick up seven men, and all of them Greek-speaking. Was that a sensible thing to do?
Well, maybe it wasn't sensible, but it was Christian, and it worked. And D, as the Lord Jesus taught in Matthew five, turn the other cheek. If he takes your coat away, give him your cloak. If he compels you to go a mile, go two miles. So say it won't work until you've tried it. And I've added, E, this will not appeal to unspiritual men. In Luke sixteen, the Pharisees who were covetous derided the Lord Jesus for teaching this. And the Lord Jesus said, that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to God.