Prepared to Serve the King
1 Chron 4:21-23
21 The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were, Er the father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea,
22 And Jokim, and the men of Chozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had the dominion in Moab, and Jashubi-lehem. And these are ancient things.
23 These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work.
KJV
There is an interesting picture here of the faithful disciple of Christ. What we have here in this section of 1 Chronicles is a genealogy of sorts mentioning people of significance and some of their noteworthy deeds and occupations. In verse 23 we find a listing of men whose occupations were that of potters and gardeners. Insignificant to most people probably. There certainly were other potters and gardeners in this day. It appears that their only claim to fame was that they dwelt among the king and toiled at his request. So tonight, let’s look at what it means to do service for the king.
Prayer
A Servant Must…
1. Serve faithfully – Matthew 6:24
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
2. Serve diligently and patiently – Matthew 24:45-51
45 "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ’My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
3. Serve lovingly and kindly – 2 Tim 2:25
And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
(John 21:15-17 – Jesus asking Peter, “Do you love me?”)
4. Serve unconditionally - Luke 6:35
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.
5. Serve humbly – Matthew 6:1-6
"Be careful not to do your ’acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
(vs 2-6 – giving with trumpets blaring, don’t let right hand know what the left hand does. Praying on the corner of the synagogue to be heard of men. Pray in the closet.)
(1 Timothy 1:12-15 Paul’s humble testimony of being a servant of Christ even though he was the worst of all sinners.)
6. Serve compassionately - Matthew 18:23-35
23 "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 "The servant fell on his knees before him. ’Be patient with me,’ he begged, ’and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
(the rest of the story – the servant beat another in order to get the money)
7. Serve indiscriminately – James 2:1-4, 8-9a
2:1 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here’s a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin
Conclusion: How wonderful just to be a potter for the King. Though we work with only clay, at the king’s instruction something beautiful can be made.
Or to be a faithful gardener - prepared to prune and dress the garden that life giving fruit would come forth.
Are you serving the King?
