Serving Christ

SERVING CHRIST

COLOSSIANS 3:23-24

Introduction: Colossians tells us that as believers we serve Christ. The word for serve is douleuo which means to yield obedience and in submission do service to another. We are to be in subjection to Christ’s authority and to give Him more than lip service. Breaking the fetters of mediocrity we are to serve Christ completely, continually, and cheerfully.

I. We should serve Christ COMPLETELY

A. 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,

B. Matthew 6:24 No one 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. You cannot serve God and mammon.

C. Romans 12:1 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.

D. Many serve Christ only to the extent that it meets only to the extent that it agrees with their own desires.

E. Many like King Saul in the Old Testament do not serve false gods, yet while not serving false gods, they serve and are obedient to the Lord only when it meets their personal needs.

F. A well-known television evangelist once produced a program entitled "What Do You Want God to Do in Your Life?" That’s really the wrong question. The question should be "What does God want me to do with the life he has given me?"

G. We should serve Him completely because he owns us completely. He owns us not only because He is the Sovereign Creator of the universe but also because He has purchased us with His own precious blood.

H. 1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

I. Redeemed (lutroo) - to release on receipt of ransom, to redeem, liberate by payment of ransom.

J. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have of God? And you are not your own, for you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

II. We should serve Christ CONTINUALLY

A. Revelation 7:14-15 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who came out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes, and have whitened them in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple. And He sitting on the throne will dwell among them.”

B. The tribulation saints in heaven set the example as they serve continually or constantly. There is nothing that obstructs them or breaks them off from serving Christ.

C. 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

D. Matthew 24:42-46 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

E. Too many have an "on again, off again" Christianity. Their faith is like a water spigot that can be turned on on Sunday mornings and is shut off the rest of the week.

F. It is a religion of convenience not of commitment or conviction.

G. Revelation 3:14-16 And to the angel of the church of the Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Head of the creation of God, says these things: I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

H. God owns our time and talents, but we are responsible for using them for Him.