Servants Heart
Notes
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What does it mean to be a servant?
A person under tribute, a bonds person or slave, by right of purchase, pledge for indebtedness, or indenture (legal agreement, contract, or document).
As we look at the upcoming Experiencing God, one of the first things we must establish is - what is our relationship with God?
We are called, scripturally, to be servants of God.
By definition, we accept by legal agreement (salvation), to be indentured.
Furthermore, Christ paid for our salvation through His death.
What does a servant, then, do? Work.
17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
Does this mean works are a requirement for salvation? NO. But it does mean that works are considered a vital part of the Christians life as a result of salvation. We desire to work for God as a result of the free gift of salvation.
Can we ever get to the point we have done enough?
Learned enough? Been involved enough? I mean, is there any reason we should NOT be serving our church, our community, our Lord?
This truly comes as a desire from the heart of the Christian. So, what happens when we have Christians that don’t want to do the work of the Lord?
Part of it can be a result of inattentiveness. Those desires come with a warning. Christ also gives us the perfect example. But even those closest to Him needed to be cautioned.
Place our heart and mind in the right place before we enter study - Experiencing God.
Inattentive
Inattentive
24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.
25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors.
26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.
27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.
28 “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials,
29 and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom,
30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Don’t you love the Bible? It has all sorts of awesome examples of things we should do, and we shouldn’t do. It’s like road map. A recipe book. It’s a book for the relationship we have with God through our life.
The disciples…of all people…are more concerned about who the greatest is, instead of listening to Jesus tell them He would soon be leaving them.
They…Didn’t…Hear…His…Critical…Message...
Do we ever get to a place where we miss God’s critical message for us because WE AREN’T LISTENING.
Questions:
When was the last time you HEARD from God?
When was the last time you LISTENED for God?
When was the last time you were OBEDIENT to God?
Big one now - when was the last time you HUMBLED yourself before God?
Warning
Warning
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something.
21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.”
23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers.
25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,
28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
I included this passage for one simple message. There is a price for being great. As Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He had been speaking of His death and resurrection to the disciples. They knew this trip would be leading to the end events Jesus was speaking of.
Then, the mother of James and John, most likely the sister of Mary (Jesus’ aunt) asked Him to say publicly that her two sons would be seated to the left and right of Jesus. Self-proclaiming greatness, with a false understanding of the implications.
Jesus gives a stern warning against wanting to claim fame.
We have to guard our intentions of the heart & head.
There is good, healthy ambition; and there is bad, unhealthy ambition. Good ambition gives purpose, meaning, and significance to life; it builds drive, initiative, self-esteem, and much, much more. All such qualities are healthy and needed by every human being. We must all feel worthwhile, yet true inner health comes only from serving others, not from position and power. This is what James and John were missing.
Bad ambition is false ambition. It is deceptive in every conceivable way. It may lead to exaltation and power, but it corrupts and destroys. It eats away at a person’s body as well as a person’s spirit and consumes and misuses people. Sin corrupts and destroys, so false ambition is sin.
There is nothing wrong with high positions of responsibility and authority. Leadership and organization, government and law, teachers and learners, parent and child—all are essential. However, all positions should exist not to lord it over people but to serve people. We are to seek to serve people, not seek to rule people. Our ambition should not be to lead but to serve. This was James’ and John’s error. It is often ours. There is a tremendous difference between leading and serving.
There is something very commendable about James and John in this experience: their strong faith in Jesus and His kingdom. They were wrong in their ambition, but they were right about Jesus Himself. He was the true Messiah who had come to rule over the works and lives of men. They were just wrong about His method. He was going to do it spiritually not militarily.
James and John had left all for Christ (Mt. 19:27–29). They had travelled about the country and suffered with Him for three years. Now they thought their trials were about over. Christ was going to change things and raise them up above the sufferings, and He was to reward their trust. They were so wrong. Like so many of us, they misunderstood what following Christ really meant. Christ does not remove our trials; He carries us through them. He does not take suffering away; He delivers us through suffering. Our rest from labor and trials and our crown come in the next world, not this world.
ADDITIONAL WARNING
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Perfect Example
Perfect Example
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The supreme act of ambition is seen in Jesus Christ. He set His face like a flint to accomplish His purpose. This is seen in three supreme acts.
1. The supreme humiliation. This is the act of coming to earth: “The Son of Man came.” The incarnation is the Son of God becoming man. To most men, mankind is the summit of creation on this earth. But within the span and scope of the universe and before God, man is nothing—not to an honest and thinking man. He is as a microbe on a speck of sand floating through what seems to be infinite space and lasting only about seventy years if he can.
In all reality, for God to become a member of so low a race of beings is unimaginable. It is the most humiliating act possible.
2. The supreme mission. There is the act of ministering: “[He] came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” He was treated as the lowest by the men to whom He came. Impossible, yet true! They gave Him no place to lay His head (Mt. 8:20; Lu. 9:58), and only three years after publicly announcing that He had come to save them, they killed Him. Now note: Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords, yet He secured his kingdom by becoming a minister and a servant to all. He did not “lord it” over men. He ministered to and served men. Because He became the servant to all, God has now highly exalted Him (Ph. 2:8).
3. The supreme price. This is the act of giving His life “a ransom for many”
HE is our perfect example.
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Christ’s perfection came through His obedience to the Father.
Caution
Caution
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
Have we ever looked at others and thought, wow, they have an awesome experience in their relationship with God?
Experiencing God will not teach us anything we are not willing to invest into ourselves. It isn’t some course to study. It’s about building the relationship we have withe our Heavenly Father.
So, why should we have a servants heart? Because that was the heart of Christ. The desire to serve others, and as a result, growing closer to the Father by obedience.