Are You a Good Servant?

Here we are in the summertime. Of course, we know that. But we are a few weeks out now from the spring holy days. We're moving forward through this season to the fall holy day season. And we're to be putting on the mind of Jesus Christ. That was a major theme of what we rehearsed and were reminded of during the spring holy days. And it is a good time to consider how are we doing?

What's our progress been like? Are we working at it like we need to be? And as we work to put on the mind of Christ, we're probably coming to cross things in our hearts and minds that we realize don't belong there. They're not supposed to be there ruling over us anymore. There are ways and thoughts in our head and hearts that are unlike God's. If you turn through quickly, it's just look at Isaiah 55 verse 8 through 9. A very powerful scripture, a reminder to us that we should be struggling.

We should be resisting that natural self, that natural way of our flesh. Isaiah 55 verse 8 through 9 tells us that God's ways and thoughts are not like ours. God's ways and thoughts ultimately in the full sense are beyond our understanding, and they are opposite our natural way of thinking. And so these are the words God inspired through Isaiah. These are God's words to us. Isaiah 55 verse 8, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

And so it is on our own we human beings just cannot comprehend everything there is to know about God. We're not there yet, but we're progressing. We should be progressing. We should be moving forward and learning more about God, developing his character. And it's something we're to be keeping at always in our calling and our commitment to God. Now among the things that we are to be learning, among things and aspects of our lives that were to be, we are to be servants.

We are to be servants of God. But we need to make sure we understand what it means to be a servant. We may have our own eyes, excuse me, our own ideas of what it means to be a servant. After all, as we know, we have our own ways and thoughts, but they are not always attuned with God's ways and thoughts, just as God said through Isaiah. And so today we're going to talk about what it means to be a servant. We're going to talk about what it means to be a servant.

A question that we need to be asking ourselves as we constantly strive to put on the mind of Christ is this. Are we? You can ask yourself this. Are we, am I, serving God with the right approach and attitude? Are we serving God in the way He expects and requires, actually? And so our purpose today is to be reminded of what it means to serve God. We're going to the Bible for that answer.

When we'll be taking time to consider the right approach of being a servant, we're going to consider the attitude we're to have as a servant. We're going to be looking at several parables that Jesus Christ taught on these topics. And then toward the end of the sermon, we're also going to consider an exemplary example of a man like you and me fighting sin who did follow God's instruction and to this day for us remains a powerful example of a servant of God.

And so we'll consider just how important it is for us to be servants of God now and always. And the title of the message is this. The title of the message is, Are You a Good Servant? Are You a Good Servant? To begin, we're going to talk about God's idea of a servant. We're going to talk about the right approach that we are to have as servants of God. To do that, I'm going to I'm going to ask you to follow me through a few scriptures in the Bible to trace in the Old Testament and New Testament what it means to be a servant.

So let's turn back in the Old Testament. We're going to begin in Deuteronomy chapter 10 and verses 12 through 13. We're going to lay the foundation, you might say, for the remainder of the sermon. Deuteronomy 10 verse 12-13. God's speaking through Moses in this in the book of Deuteronomy.

He's speaking to the children of Israel specifically. But we understand that these words are for us today as well. These are for God's faithful ones, those chosen of God, those who are striving to become more like God. And so we have these instructions Deuteronomy 10 verse 12 and again, emphasis looking on what it means to be a servant. We read Deuteronomy 10-12, and now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

It means it's all our being, everything we have within us from the core outward. And verse 13, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes, which I command you today for your good. And so that's part of what God is saying. What do I command you? What are we supposed to be doing? This is part of it. And we have a more contrite instruction, contrite, more compact, more concise, I mean to say. Let's look at Deuteronomy 13 verse 4. A more concise statement of the same idea, Deuteronomy 13 verse 4, just a few pages forward in your Bible.

Deuteronomy 13-4 reads, you shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him. And I think we recall that fear does not simply mean terrified of, but fear means to revere, to respect, even to worship. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice. You shall serve him and hold fast to him. There's the idea of serving again. Let's turn next in the Old Testament to Malachi chapter 3, 16 through 18, the very end of the Old Testament.

Malachi 3, 16 through 18. This is likely a familiar passage to us. Here is the, this is a passage where there's a reference to a book of remembrance. And let's read through here because we're gonna start seeing more specifically what it means to serve God. God defines that. Verse 16, then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord listened and heard them. And so a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on his name.

And then God's word continues and he's looking forward to this time and Israel will have that change of heart in the future and will turn to God. But the sort of heart we need to be having now is the called and chosen of God, the children of God in that spiritual sense. Verse 17, they shall be minds as the Lord of hosts on the day I make them my jewels and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.

Verse 18, and then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. So here we begin to see more clearly this concept that serving God is equated with practicing God's righteousness. Serving God is equated with practicing God's righteousness. Let's learn some more. Let's turn in the New Testament. Let's look at Matthew 4.10. Actually, just a few more pages forward in your Bibles. Matthew 4 verse 10.

This is a section where we are told about the temptation of Christ. Satan was trying to tempt Christ into sin. Of course, Satan failed miserably. And we read how Jesus rebuked Satan's temptation. In this case, he quotes scripture. Well, he always quoted scripture in the temptation scenes, but here in verse 10, let's see what he said. And then Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan. For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God.

In him only you shall serve. And here Christ was apparently quoting, referring to Deuteronomy 10 verse 20. So we learn here to worship God is to serve God. This idea of serving God is becoming more developed for us. Let's couple this verse with Matthew 6.24. Again, a few pages forward. Matthew 6.24. And this idea of worshiping and serving only God is developed a little bit more here again by Jesus Christ. Here Jesus flatly declares, Matthew 6.24, No one can serve two masters.

For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Mammon is symbolic of the riches of this world. We say it wealth, materialism. We cannot serve, we mustn't serve or worship riches. Our calling is to worship God alone. Let's also now turn to John 12. John 12, 25 through 26. Again, Jesus gives further instruction that those who serve him in this particular verse, those who serve him must hate their life, for a better word might be to love less their life in this present world, and they must follow him.

So let's look. John 12, 25. I hope I said that right the first time. John 12, 25 through 26. The words of Jesus again. He says, He who loves his life will lose it. And he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. And so if we live correctly, this life, this life we have, this essence we have, will be in eternity, part of eternity with God one day. But we cannot love this present life, our lives in this world, more than we would love God.

In verse 26, Jesus expounds that, if anyone serves me, let him follow me. This is the scripture of the day. And where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, him my father will honor. And so Jesus instructs us that if we love less our life in this world, then we will keep it for eternal life in his kingdom.

It's very encouraging. To those who follow Christ now, we are told we'll receive special honor from God, our Father. It's very important. Let's turn a page to John 1316. John 1316. We will recognize this as part of the instruction Christ gave after he had washed his disciples' feet. John 13, verse 16.

Most assuredly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, and nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. And so no servant is greater than his master. Jesus Christ was sent from the Father. Jesus Christ is not greater than God the Father.

He humbled himself and came under the instruction and by the authority of the Father who sent him. And so we learn that those who serve God are under the authority of the Father and his Son. True servants serve their masters. We are under Christ's authority. True servants serve their masters. They serve rulers. They serve their leader, however you want to phrase it. But they do not serve themselves. Servants do not serve themselves. For last scripture in our review of this topic of serving the approach, let's turn to Revelation 22, verse 3 through 5. Revelation 22, 3 through 5. The context here is that wonderful time after the thousand years of the millennium is finished and the throne of God, the city of God, is coming to this earth to become the earth will be the throne of God as it were.

Here we learn that those who choose to serve God and remain faithful will continue to serve. They will serve and reign under God's authority forever. This is part of our hope, our great hope. Revelation 22, verse 3. And there shall be no more curse, then, no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it. And his servants shall serve him.

His servants shall serve him. They shall see his face and his name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there, they need no lamp nor light of the sun. For the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. And so what a gracious honor that will be from God our Father, to be able to serve and reign forever and ever under his authority.

And so what have we learned so far about serving God? Well, we can summarize it as a number of vital choices and actions we must make. And let me share, summarize it down to three choices or actions, and I will give those to you. To serve God requires that we do these three things. Number one, to serve God requires that we revere in worship only God.

Revere in worship only God. Number two, to serve God requires that we submit ourselves in total obedience to God. That we submit ourselves in total obedience to God. And number three, to serve God requires that we follow Jesus Christ. That we follow Jesus Christ by practicing living faith to believe and to obey him. We practice living faith to believe and to obey him. Now something we must not forget about doing these three things, fulfilling these choices, these actions, the servants of God, we must also know that we can fulfill these actions only with the guidance of God's Holy Scripture and only with the help of his Holy Spirit.

If we try to do it alone, if our own ways and thoughts, we'll never get it. We'll never quite do it. Because God's ways and his thoughts are as far away from us as our dirty feet on this earth to his heavenly throne, the highest of heaven. We have to have God's help of instruction. And so these choices and actions broadly define what serving God means for those whom God calls to salvation. They define the approach we should have in serving God. It broadly defines the approach we should have in serving God.

Now let's turn to another aspect of what it means to serve God. What should be our attitude as we worship and serve God? What should be our attitude as we worship and serve God? For instance, when we serve God, should we expect God to thank us for submitting to him? Should we expect God to be grateful for our obedience?

These are questions that we can begin to address if we turn to one of the parables. Let's turn to Luke 17, 7 through 10. Let's turn to Luke 17, 7 through 10. In this parable, Jesus Christ focuses on the servant-master relationship. He focuses on the servant-master relationship. Again, we need to pay attention to what he says here because our ideas of servant-master relationship might be quite different. In fact, they really are.

We're here in the 21st century, part of this American westernized culture, and our ideas about servants and masters may be quite different than what Jesus is going to explain here to us from his time in the first century AD. In this parable, he does focus on the servant-master relationship, and he illustrates three things. Let me get those three things to you. That's part of what he's going to show us here. He's going to illustrate for us the usual expectations of the master. We're going to learn the usual normal expectations of the master. He's also going to illustrate the proper servant attitude.

Now that we need to know. That we certainly need to understand, the proper servant attitude. And third, Jesus especially focuses on the servant's duty. We have a duty as servants, servants of God. We have a duty, and that's part of Christ's instruction here.

And if you want to boil it down to what this parable is about, this parable is Christ's teaching about living a life of faith. This parable is Christ's teaching about living a life of faith.

And of course, all those parables really come down to that. But this one is focused more about that servant-master relationship and the proper servant attitude. So now let's just read the parable together. Luke 17 verse 7. He begins by asking a question to his audience of the day, to his disciples of that day and age. And I'm going to warn you that we may find ourselves not so comfortable with the approach of that first century period. We don't live then. We live 2,000 years later, roughly speaking. And which of you having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, come at once and sit down to eat.

But will he not rather say to him, prepare something for my supper, encourage yourself, and serve me till I have eaten and drunk. And afterward, you will eat and drink.

Now again, I'm warning you, that may not seem right to us. We may find that something wrong with that, from our point of view. Remember, our feet are on the earth.

Let's continue. He adds, does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things, just speaking to disciples, so likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, you should say we are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.

We have only done what we're supposed to do.

Now again, I say we may find that master's treatment of his servants.

Some of us may think it's rather cruel. It's not fair. But it was perfectly normal in that day.

It was perfectly normal to expect your hard-working servants to come in and feed you before they fed themselves. That's just the way it was. The servants worked hard all day and yet had to serve at their master's table before they could eat and rest. And the master had no need to thank them.

They were merely fulfilling their duty. And the master, his responsibility, was to make sure that his servants were fed, that they had a place to live, that they had clothes. So they each had their responsibility. They each had the responsibility.

And so the master is not wrong to servants in any way here. And his servants recognize that.

And so this aspect of Christ's parable may disturb us. We might expect the master to—I'm speaking as an American in 2021—not 2024, not 2021, 2024—we might expect the —I can't see. We may expect the master to pity his hardworking servants, right?

We might expect him to give them a break. Don't show me your hands. How many of us feel like the master should just go and fix his own supper? Don't show me your hands. But from an American point of view, this time and place, we may see that our idea of serving in a master's responsibility is a little bit different than what Christ is conveying here. But again, Jesus is using this typical relationship to illustrate living a life of faithfulness to God, which is the duty of those who follow and serve God. And so if this aspect of Christ's parable bothers us, then we need to meditate on his lesson here. We really need to think about it and pray about it and evaluate our own expectations, our own way of thinking, so that we will be more aligned with God's ways and thoughts. And so now let's try to better understand the parable. Let's go a little deeper.

We as faithful followers and servants of God in Christ will have a duty to submit humbly to God ourselves to submit to his authority instruction, don't we? Though our days may be filled with tough times and troubles, we may not be herding sheep or planting, but we have our own hard work and effort we have to do and work our way through each day. We may be beset with trials that seem too much to bear. And yes, there are days when our bodies feel especially worn down by age. But we still have a duty to fulfill. We still have the duty to serve God diligently and faithfully, no matter our situation. That's part of our duty as servants of God.

And yes, the old man in us still wants to rebel and wants to have its own way, and we have to keep tackling it with God's help and keeping it down. But we must hold fast her commitment and duty to obey and serve God. And should we or do we expect God to tell us thank you? Is there a part of us? Maybe subconsciously we're looking for some kind of sign. We're looking for a gold star somewhere to put on our lapel or put on a refrigerator or bulletin board. There's something like that going on in our lives. Do we expect God to tell us thank you for doing our duty?

And our duty is living the life of faith in Jesus Christ and submitting ourselves to God. Our duty is to put on the mind of Christ. Our duty is to do good and godly works. So do we need a thank you from God? We shouldn't. We don't. Because again, we're merely doing our duty. That's what we're supposed to do, brethren. We're supposed to submit and obey God. And as Christ directs us to understand and know, we should begin to understand that we are unprofitable servants. There's nothing good in us alone. Everything we have, any good thing we might do, is because of God. Even our breath, our existence, is a gift from God. And the knowledge and understanding we have of God and and how to live his life, that's because of his word. That's because God called his first, opened our minds to understand it. The things we accomplish spiritually is because of God's gift of his Holy Spirit in us. Of our own, we are worthless. That's what unprofitable can also be translated as. There's Greek lexicon states that the servant calls himself unprofitable because although he has done all, yet he has done nothing except what he ought to have done. And accordingly, he possesses no merit. There's nothing good of himself of himself. And so, in other words, when we are faithful to God, we are merely doing our duty. We're doing what God expects us to do.

And this should inform the attitude we should have in serving God. God owes us nothing.

And we have nothing over God. All we have is a work to do.

Faithfulness to God, through good works, is our duty. That's what we do, those good works when we obey God and submit to him. We cannot make God pay us anything.

We might do that with an employer. I worked extra hard this week. I did overtime, so we get paid a little bit more. It's not the way it works with God. We are servants.

We cannot demand anything of God. We ask and pray for his mercy and grace.

And God is most gracious, isn't he? You see, salvation is God's gracious gift to us.

It's a gift. And we must not confuse somehow that doing good things means that we get salvation. That is not how it works at all. And I'm sure we know that. We can never earn salvation.

But by living life through faithful obedience to God and Christ as his servants, that will lead us to produce good works. And those good works are not to glorify us.

Those good works are to glorify who? God the Father, through whom every good thing comes.

Now, there are other parables that address God's view of this master-servant relationship.

And I'm just going to look at one other parable on that topic. Let's turn to Luke 12. Let's turn back to Luke 12, verses 35 through 48. Now, Luke 12, verses 35 through 48 may seem to be a little bit contradictory in one aspect.

Whereas a parable in Luke 17 instructs us about the proper attitude of God's servants in their duty to God, in this parable, Jesus teaches us about God's grace towards his servants.

God's grace to his servants who are faithful, diligent, and steadfast in serving him.

It's actually a very, very encouraging parable, though we're going to see here in a little bit. It also contains a very stern warning for any servant who is unfaithful, and that is something we need to be aware of as well. So, Luke 12, 35, 36, the parable begins. Here it begins with Christ's exhortation to his followers, to his servants, to be ready and prepared for their master's return. And for this reason, most scholars, and they seem accurate, it seems to be tied into this idea that relates to the second coming of Christ for rather obvious reasons here. Let's read Luke 12, 35. Jesus' parable begins, he says, let your waist be girded and your lamps burning, and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, knocks on the door, that they may open to him immediately.

And so as he begins this parable, Jesus draws attention to the need for those who follow him to have their waist girded. Now, again, I'll explain because some of us may not know what that means. Back in the day when you wore a long robe down around your ankles, it was hard to run real fast. It was hard to do a lot of strenuous work. And rather than rocking around and running around with your hem pulled up in your hands, okay, you pull up the robe from the back to front and tuck it in a belt. You're girding yourself. Now your legs had free movement. You could be busy. You can get busy and be prepared for some heavy lifting, for work, whatever was necessary.

So Christ tells us to have their waist girded and their lamps lit and burning, a reference to that preparation of the heart and mind, the help of his Holy Spirit, we would understand. In other words, we are to be ready for his return, though we don't know when that time will be. This fits with other parables we know about Christ's return. And so we need to be ready spiritually. We need to be practicing repentance from sin. That's part of our preparation. We need to be forgiving others. We need to be seeking God's forgiveness. We need to be faithful to live God's way every day. Why is it important to be practicing God's way every day? To somehow don't kind of clock out and take a vacation for God's way of life and say, well, I'll pick it up in a few days.

Well, we know. We know why we can't do that. We don't have tomorrow. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. We're not even guaranteed tonight. We don't know at what day an hour is our last.

And so we need to be prepared as servants of God now, girded now, our lamps lit now, and always. We have to be prepared for His return. Let's continue, verse 37-38. Here, Jesus describes a really wonderful scene. It's a wonderful scene, but it seems to contradict on its surface. It may seem to us to contradict that servant-master relationship described we just read about in the parable in Luke 17. Here it reads, verse 37. Jesus says, Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching, meaning they're ready.

Assuredly I say to you that he the master will gird himself, and have them have his servant sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. Wait a minute. That's a reversal of role that we just read in the previous parable. Continue, verse 38. And if he should come in the second watch, that'd be like nine to twelve at night, or come in the third watch, that'd be like twelve to three in the morning, and find them so. Blessed are those servants. It doesn't matter. If they're ready, when the master comes, they will be blessed. And so, yeah, we do see this reversal of the master's role. The master is glad for his faithful servant's diligence in watching for his return, and the master will himself wait upon and serve his servants. Not because he has to, but because he wants to. He's pleased with their response. He's pleased, and out of grace, his grace, and generosity of heart and mind and mercy, he waits upon them.

Unlike Luke 17, where the focus is on the servant's proper attitude and duty, here, in Luke 12, the focus is on the master's, or God's, grace towards his faithful servants.

It's focused on God's grace toward his faithful servants. It's very encouraging. That Christ's return, all good and faithful servants, those saints, the firstfruits, will be recipients of God's grace. They'll be resurrected to immortal life. God will joyfully receive them. But again, we must be faithful servants. We must be prepared. We've got to be girded with lights, lamps lit and burning. Now, more about the master's grace and rewarding his faithful servants. He's found continuing on verse 42. Let's go down a bit. Verse 42.

And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. And so again, we begin to see this picture that the diligent and faithful servants are those who remain submissive to the master and are still serving, even though the master is not physically with them and he's absent in that case. And even until the moment of his return, they don't stop serving their master. And those faithful servants will receive their reward from the master and be made rulers over all he has. And so, these verses really anticipate the saint's rulership roles in God's kingdom. But there's a little bit of sadness here in this parable.

Not all servants will remain faithful. And we don't want to be among those servants.

Verses 45-48. But if that servant says in his heart, my master's delaying is coming, and then he begins to beat the male and female servants. He begins to eat and drink and be drunk totally without regard for his master.

And the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware and will cut him into and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master's will and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, well, he'll be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know and yet committed the things deserving of stripes, he shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required, and to whom much has been committed of him they will ask the more.

And so there's some important information here, important instruction. This parable seems to be distinguishing different types of punishment, different types of punishments for what seems to be different levels of transgressions. The willingly disobedient and unfaithful servant, as we see in verse 46, will be destroyed with the unbelievers. It may well be pointing to being destroyed in the lake of fire. These will be those that were incorrigibly wicked, who refused to repent. The servant who knew his master's will but did not prepare or obey him will receive a severe beating. He will be punished. And then verse 48, he who did not know the master's will but did terrible things, he will receive a lighter beating.

These differences would suggest that God will judge everyone according to what they know and what they do. God will judge with true and righteous judgment. Each one will be accountable for what they know and what they do with what they know. In the final sentence there in verse 48, gives us all fair warning, brethren, to be diligent, to apply and share the knowledge God has given us, to be doing those good works, to be those examples and lights. Again, for everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required, and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. We need to think about that sentence. We need to think about that principle and evaluate ourselves with God's help. Are we doing all we should be doing and can be doing with what God has given us? Now, Jesus' parable in Luke 12 instructs us that God is our master and God is most gracious. He is faithful to treat us with his love and justice, and when we are faithful to follow and serve him, to repent and practice faith and Christ's sacrifice, well, God blesses us now, and he will reward us even more in the future with eternal life, that eternal life, rulership in eternal life. I should say it's the rulership ruling over cities. That will be the reward as kings and priests in the kingdom of God. We see more about that in several parables, Matthew 24 and parables of the Talents, and also Luke 19, parables of the minus.

If you haven't read those recently, you might want to read those, Matthew 24 and Luke 19.

And so now that we've reviewed some of God's instruction about serving, and we've read two of Christ's parables about the attitude and duty of God's servants and about God's gracious rewards to come. Does Scripture provide us an example of just such an individual like you and me who was a good and faithful servant? Is there an example for us? God is a wonderful teacher. He gives us the instruction. He tells us what to do, but then he gives us an example that we can relate to. And indeed, we need to look no further than to the example of the Apostle Paul, the example of the Apostle Paul. Paul understood that he deserved no special thanks from God for his efforts in serving God in the church. Now, Scripture reveals Paul exemplified the servant's attitude as Jesus illustrates in the parable that we read earlier in Luke 17.

Like the servants described there, Paul confessed that he was merely fulfilling his duty as a servant of God. Let's turn to Romans 1-1. Let's turn to Romans 1-1 and read how Paul begins his epistle to the Romans. In Romans 1-1, Paul, the English translation is Paul calls himself a bond servant.

It's from the Greek word doulos, D-O-U-L-O-S, D-O-U-L-O-S, a doulos. It can be translated bond servant or servant. Many times it's maybe more properly translated as slave. He considered himself a slave of Christ. Look what he says. He says, beginning Paul, a bond servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God. He's explaining what God has done with him, the position and authority and responsibility God had given him. Now we understand that Paul was a Roman citizen. He was a free man. He was a slave to no human being. But he willingly became a slave to Jesus Christ. He willingly became a slave, a servant in service to God in order to help spread that gospel of Christ and establish the church of God. Let's also turn to 2 Corinthians 11, part of his duty. Paul suffered greatly in serving his master. 2 Corinthians 11, verse 24 through 28.

2 Corinthians 11, 24, 28.

Here we find just some Paul wrote down some of his sufferings. It's a list of sufferings he underwent in furtherance of Christ's gospel. I read this and it really astounds the imagination.

It really astounds the imagination. I look what Paul went through and I don't know how he did it. Well, I do. God did it. I don't know. Let me say, I don't know how I could do it. Let me put it that way.

I'm not there yet. 2 Corinthians 11, 24. Look what he suffered in service and fulfilling his duty.

From the Jews five times I received 40 stripes minus one. And three times I was beaten with rods once I was stoned. I really tried to be put to death by rocks pelting him. Three times I shipwrecked a night and a day. I've been in the deep, the ocean. It journeys off in imperils of water, imperils of robbers, endangers of my own countrymen, endangers of the Gentiles.

It's translated either way in some verse translations. In perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, everywhere he went, his life was in danger. In weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold nakedness. And beside the other things what comes upon me daily, Paul writes, my deep concern for all the churches. He's deeply concerned about his brethren, the men and women, their families he had come to know. He prayed about them. He was concerned for them.

All these he took upon himself. Despite all he suffered, though, we do not see that Paul ever complained. He never whined, nor do we see that he expects special thanks or commendation for his service to God. Let's look at, we see that, let's look at 1 Corinthians 9, 16. 1 Corinthians 9, 16. Again, we're looking at Paul as an exemplary servant, an example for us of the sort of mind and heart and duty of the servant of God. 1 Corinthians 9, 16. Paul writes, for if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of. Now, the King James version actually says, for though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of. He's got nothing to brag about.

It's nothing to self-glory in. For necessity is laid upon me. Yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. He knows his responsibility from his master. He knows what God expects. He's got to preach the gospel. Now, for if I do this willingly, I have a reward. But if against my will, I have been entrusted with the stewardship. So again, he feels responsibility. He feels that compulsion. He's accountable for this. And what is my reward then, verse 18? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, and then I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.

Yes, God gave him authority to preach and teach, but he doesn't abuse it because he is a good and faithful servant of God. He understood his duty to God in preaching the gospel, and as we can read, he certainly did it with his all. Now, let's turn to Romans 1 again in verse 16 through 17. Romans 1, 16 through 17. Paul understood that he is earning nothing. Paul understood that justification is by faith in Christ's death and our place for sin. It's not by works. But our good works reveal our faith.

Our good works reveal our faith and our obedience in serving God. Romans 1, 16. Paul wrote, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, and as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Of course, we live by faith, meaning obedience and submission to God, we are going to be accomplishing those good works that glorify our Father. That's part of our duty. Paul understood that salvation is a gift from God which cannot be earned. Again, well, not again. Let's turn to Ephesians 2, 8 through 10. Ephesians 2, 8 through 10. We're rehearsing these things partly to remind us that in our submission to God and following God as trying to be good servants, we must be sure we never confuse ourselves or begin to think that somehow we're earning salvation. We're earning justification. That's not the case at all. Ephesians 2, verse 8 through 10. Paul writes, For by grace, that unmerited pardon, an unmerited gift from God. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Anyone say, well, I did this, not God.

That's a frightening thing to think of. That's a wrong thing to think and say. Verse 10. For we are His workmanship. We are created in Christ Jesus for good works. There's our duty, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And so through faith in Jesus Christ, God's servants will follow their master's instruction. They will follow His example to walk as He walked and to do good works of righteousness. Now, one final scripture, Colossians 3.22. Colossians 3.22.

Paul understood and taught that God's servants are indeed held accountable. Again, he's this exemplary servant. He knew and understood His Father's will. He understood.

He understood and taught that God's servants are indeed held accountable for what they do with what they know, just as Jesus taught. And we read in Luke 12.48. And while addressing brethren who were themselves literal servants and slaves, as we see here in Colossians 3.22, Paul reminds us that we are all servants and slaves of God, of Christ. Verse 22, Bond servants, he's speaking to actual literal slaves at that in this moment, bond servants, they are also Christ's followers, bond servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with thy service as man-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. So yes, we understand that means we need to obey our bosses or managers, and we need to respect them, just as we would respect God's authority over us. In whatever you do, verse 23, whatever you do, do it heartily, your very core and being, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.

For you serve the Lord Christ, but he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. So no matter who we are or who we think we are, whether we think we're something and whether we're nothing, there's no partiality. God holds each one of us accountable for what we know and what we do with what we know. We have to fulfill our duty as servants, and we've been rehearsing what that means today. And so Paul's instruction and his example exemplified the kind of faithful and duty-bound servants, excuse me, kind of faithful and duty that servants of Christ, followers of Christ, are to be. No one, not even Paul, deserves God's special thanks for merely doing what they are supposed to do as faithful servants.

And Paul understood and taught, however, that God will reward because God is merciful, God is gracious, he will reward his good and faithful servants who are and remain diligent and steadfast in service to him. In keeping that up, we must do until the time of Christ's return. Our death takes us whichever comes first. And so our loving God and Master is most gracious in blessing his people. Today, we've been reminded of what it takes to be good servants of our Heavenly Lord and Master. Through his love and grace and with the help of his inspired word and his Holy Spirit, God is helping us to become the very servants and followers of Jesus Christ that he wants you and me to become. We cannot do it on our own. We're too weak. We're too ignorant. God's way is too far beyond our ways and thoughts. And that's why we have to stay closely attuned with God's word, his scripture. And we have to allow God to nudge us and poke us and prod us in the right direction to do what he would have us do. We need to be evaluating in ourselves, therefore, brethren, we need to be asking ourselves, am I a good servant? Am I a good servant to God?

God is faithful, again, I say, to help us. Just as he is with Paul, so is God with each one of us, to help us to put on the mindset of Christ, to put off our old way of thinking, to be good and faithful servants. And so, brethren, I encourage us all today, and always, let's be girded with lamps burning.