A Servant of the Lord
Deuteronomy 10:12
“And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”
A servant is a person who is under submission to another. For Christians, this means submission to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Being in submission, a servant seeks to meet the real needs of or carry out the will of the person he is serving. In the Greek New Testament there are two words for servant, "Doulos" and "Diakonos". Diakonos is where we get the word “Deacon”. Doulos is a term that generally means a servant that is under submission but not in bondage. Doulos referred to a slave who after serving for a period of time as a slave and given the opportunity to either gain their freedom or choose to remain in service to their master. They were known as bondservants. Believers are called to be the servants (bondservants) of the Lord. Let us consider four characteristics or qualities of a servant of the Lord.
A servant is one who is
I. Loyal to the Lord
A. 1 Kings 8:61 “Let your heart therefore be loyal to the LORD our God”
B. An essential element to Christian service is loyalty to the King, the Lord Jesus Christ.
C. Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
D. Jesus demands that our love and our loyalty for Him be greater than any and all other attachment we may have, including our families. Anything that gets between our loyalty to Christ and real obedience to Him is nothing more than idolatry. Our loyalty to Christ must take precedence over anything else. Following Christ must be our highest priority.
E. Galatians 1:10 “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”
F. Numbers 14:24 “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land where into he went; and his seed shall possess it.”
G. Norman Geisler, as a child, went to a Vacation Bible School because he was invited by some neighbor children. He went back to the same church for Sunday School classes for 400 Sundays. Each week he was faithfully picked up by a bus driver. Week after week he attended church, but never made a commitment to Christ. Finally, during his senior year in High School, after being picked up for church over 400 times, he did commit his life to Christ. What if that bus driver had given up on Geisler at 395? What if the bus driver had said, "This kid is going nowhere spiritually, why waste any more time on him?" Thank God for faithful servants who are loyal to Christ and their call to service. - Max Lucado, God Came Near, Multnomah Press, 1987, p. 133.
II. Others Oriented
A. Loyal love is self-denying, self-sacrificing, and others-oriented. It is love that finds its fulfillment, joy and happiness in the service of another. - copied
B. Galatians 5:13 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”
C. Philippians 2:3-4 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
D. General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, considered the principle so important that he once sent a single-word telegram to the International Convention of the Salvation Army because he was too sick to attend. The word was "others." He knew his movement would only experience on-going success as they lived to meet needs in other people’s lives. He attempted to develop the attitude of Jesus in the lives of his followers. Matthew 5:44, 46-47 Jesus said, "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you ... For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?" – copied
E. All of the spiritual gifts are others oriented and for the blessing of the whole church and not for the individual possessor of the gift. They are from God for the common good of God’s people and the glory of God.
F. God wants us others oriented not self oriented.
III. Virtuous
A. Virtuous – living right not sinlessly perfect
B. A man wanted to see some perfect apples. He was taken for a walk through the orchard...there were a lot of little green apples on the trees. After returning he said, "You were going to show me some perfect apples?" "Oh, but I did," explained the farmer. "Those little green apples are perfect for there stage of maturity. What you wanted to see was mature apples." We must not confuse perfection and maturity. And we must realize that God wants us to continue to mature and reflect the glory of Christ more each day.
C. Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
D. To be a servant is to be Christ-like. God uses clean vessels.
E. 2 Timothy 2:19-21 “Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purges himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”
F. A correlation exists between what we believe (our creed or the content of our faith), the process by which we believe (the foundation of our faith), how we live (our actions and habits), and who we are (our character). As believers we are to develop the moral character that will attract others to Christ rather than create a barrier between them and the Gospel - copied
G. Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
H. Just as the bright petals of a flower draw a bee to the sweet nectar inside, so a consistent Christian character will draw others to the Christ who indwells us and enables us to live the Christian life. - copied
IV. Engaged in Service
A. The highest form of worship is the worship of unselfish Christian service. - Billy Graham
B. Romans 12:9-11 “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord”
C. The operative word in service is “serve”. Too many Christians have taken Christ’s words in Luke 19:1 “Occupy till I come” to mean to take up space rather than to engage in the Lord’s work until He returns.
D. Too often we see people with a spiritual welfare mentality like that of an individual who wrote the following letter to the editor of Los Angeles Times concerning work: “There has been a lot of criticism of people who do not want to work, especially when they are collecting welfare. Most people prefer to work and that’s fine, but others may prefer to sit in the park, go to the beach, or observe the wonders of nature. Now those who dislike working should not be penalized by depriving them of the benefits of our society. There is plenty for all. Everyone does not feel the same way about working. Some have built-in feelings about it that makes it very unpleasant for them to work, especially when it is required. Now this could be looked upon as a handicap. We don’t punish others with handicaps. Our society provides for them and should do the same for those with a natural dislike for work. Why can’t we live and let live with each to his own style? - copied
E. Luke 12:37, 43 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them... Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.”
F. The great violinist, Niccolo Paganini willed his marvelous violin to city of Genoa on condition that it must never be played. The wood of such an instrument, while used and handled, wears only slightly, but set aside, it begins to decay. Paganini’s lovely violin has today become worm-eaten and useless except as a relic. A Christian’s unwillingness to serve may soon destroy his capacity for usefulness. - J.K. Laney, Marching Orders, p. 34.
G. Colossians 3:22-23 “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”
