October 29, 2023 - Servanthood
Notes
Transcript
if you were with us last week - we continued making our way thru this book of 1 Kings...
And we came across - the DIVINE Division of the Kingdom.
We saw how Rehoboam - Solomon’s son - AS sitting King...
Decided to set aside the counsel of the Older Men...
Who said that he should respond to the people’s cry for help...
their cry for a lighter yoke..
BY responding with love - compassion - and a gameplan to LIGHTEN their load.
If you remember the context - UNDER KING Solomon… the Northerners had been tasked with working on PROJECTS for the South.
And their BURDEN was heavy!
What does Rehoboam do?
He IGNORES the counsel of the old men...
And instead asks the younger men for counsel...
THEY tell him to UP the ANTI!
To INCREASE the burden on the people...
That the only REAL - Effective way to rule over a people was by brute force!
And so Rehoboam - DECIDED - to use the counsel of the young men!
Results?
A divided Kingdom...
But what we saw - was that God was behind this Division...
15 So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which the Lord spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
So GOD Himself - was at work here...
WHY did Rehoboam decide HIMSELF to go with the young men’s counsel?
Because God DECIDED that Rehoboam would choose the young men’s counsel!
NOW - TODAY - I want to actually go back - and focus in on 2 verses we covered last week...
And it has to do with the Old Men’s Counsel that Rehoboam received.
Let’s look at it...
6 Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, “How do you advise me to answer this people?”
7 And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.”
What I want us to see - is the ADVICE that the old men give.
They say:
“If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever”
We just read through this...
We can HEAR the call to Rehoboam...
NOW - I want to go to another place in scripture to see a connection...
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.”
So Jesus here - tells us that He came - NOT TO BE SERVED…but to - Serve!
He came to BE A SERVANT!
And so - the counsel from the Old Men was what - - Be a servant!
Rehoboam wasn’t INTERESTED…but Christ?
How did Christ SERVE us?
SLIDE:
Christ served us by coming to us
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.
He came to us - in the “form of a servant”...
SLIDE:
Christ served us by healing the wounded
13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all
28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.
Jesus served - by HEALING...
SLIDE:
Christ served by teaching
35 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.
And to round this out...
20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.
Jesus SERVED - by teaching...
SLIDE:
Christ served by living out our example
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,
4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.
5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Why did Jesus do this?
12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?
13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Jesus did this - to show us an example of how to live.
What other examples did He provide?
How about prayer?
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
And it continues..
What other examples?
How about - - how to treat people?
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst
4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.
5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”
6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.
7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
How to treat people...
Jesus was constantly - at ALL times - an EXAMPLE for us to follow!
But He also served us by....
SLIDE:
Christ served us by accomplishing the law
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Now - Jesus accomplished the LAW...
But that DOESN’T mean the law has no part in our Christian walk...
THAT’S WHY it says - FOR righteousness...
When it came to “the RIGHTEOUS requirement” of the law - Christ was the END of it.
MEANING - He EARNED that prize HIMSELF!!
He - in a sense - RAN the RACE of the LAW...
AND WON!
He WON - He won the prize of - RIGHTEOUSNESS...
Because He IS - righteous!
He’s the END of the LAW - FOR righeousness!
BUT - we - as BELIEVERS - we still are now called to WALK in righteousness...
NOT TO EARN righteousness...
But because it’s already been WON by Jesus...
And we now a PLEASED to - walk as Jesus walked!
So Jesus - SERVED US - by accomplishing the Law!
And BECAUSE He did...
SLIDE:
Christ served us by giving eternal life to those who believe
Romans 6:23 (ESV)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
In Christ - we have eternal life
And the verse that the world can repeat...
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
He serves us by giving eternal life to those who believe!
So what are some ways that Christ SERVES US?
SLIDE:
By Coming to Us
By Healing the Wounded
By Teaching Us
By Living Our Example
By Accomplishing the Law
By Giving Eternal Life to Believers
In these ways - and MANY more - Christ SERVES us!
AS a servant!
And what DID THAT - lead to - on our end?
Let’s go back to Rehoboam to see it...
Remember the counsel from the OLD MEN?
7 And they said to him, “If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.”
...”then they will be YOUR servants - forever!”
This here - REFLECTS Christianity!
Jesus came to SERVE US!
He became as a SERVANT…And the result?
it says - [THEY] - or US (we) will become HIS servants - forever!
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
That we should WALK in them - NOW - by faith - as HIS servants!
How does Paul begin many of his letters?
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,
By Christ becoming a Servant to US...
We - in turn - by faith - become SERVANTS of His - forever!!
Rehoboam wasn’t interested in becoming a SERVANT to the people - and it led to consequences!
A divided kingdom!!
How about you?
Have YOU become - LIKE a servant - after the example provided us by Christ??
When you engage ministry… do you approach it with a Servant’s heart...
OR - the opposite…which would be - a ME-FIRST heart?
I know that we can easily FORGET the point of ALL that we do...
I know we can easily forget the PURPOSE for ministry… (the lost, the hurting)
I know we can easily forget OUR PURPOSE in ministry...
And I know because I know that - in the blink of an eye...
That outreach event - can go from...
… me helping others SEE JESUS...
…to me helping others SEE ME - and my bad attitude...
SEE ME - and my frustrated self...
SEE ME - and my self-absorbed fits of rage...
SLIDE:
Oh how easy it is for us to hijack our day (ministry event, witness opportunity) for our own selfish purposes and completely lose sight of our true calling for that day or moment.
And so - SINCE WE KNOW - that this is true...
Let’s close today by looking at how we can become and work on becoming… -
Servant Leaders...
Paul’s gonna help us with this...
6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.
10 For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
NOW - I’ve lived a life of SPORTS -
We hear stories of all the effort that goes into preparing yourself to compete against the best of the best...
We see videos of a young Simone Biles at age 7 or 8 doing the floor exercise in a kids tournament...
We see videos of a young Michael Phelps swimming competitively...
The ENDLESS number of hours Steph Curry spends shooting a basketball.
And while it may SEEM like we can't relate...i think we can.
I'm sure at some point in your life, you put yourself through some sort of training...
We train to play sports
We train to lose weight
We train to learn a skill
We train to run a marathon...a 10K....a 5K....a 1K....to the mailbox
We know or HAVE KNOWN what it's like to train ourselves...
And what Paul does here today - is call us to ...TRAIN
Not to run a marathon
Not to play a sport
But to Train Ourselves for godliness - specifically - he calls Timothy (HERE) to do so.
See Timothy had been dealing with FALSE TEACHERS in the church...
...and so Paul says - the way you deal with UNGODLY false teachers is to - - Develop Godliness in yourself
In v7 he said...
7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths...
Several years ago, a couple of us from church here went down to a Pastor's conference in Louisville, KY.
The conference was put on by T4G...
Together for the gospel
Now, every other year they had these conferences, and at every conference, they would switch up the THEME of the conference.
1st one we went to - Together For The Unadjusted Gospel
2nd one - Together for the Underestimated Gospel
And so as you can see - the point that was made was that WE like to CHANGE the Gospel...
We want people to believe it...so we change it.
we don't really believe that THEY'LL choose to believe, so we change it...
And in doing so - we ADJUST it
And in doing THAT - we UNDERESTIMATE it...
And there are millions of churches that do this very thing...every week.
And it’s no coincidence that seemingly every week = I’m REMINDED that we are BENT to underestimate the gospel!
I can’t tell you how many emails I’ve gotten over the years with this type of SUBJECT for the email...
SLIDE:
86% of 'Rapidly-Growing-Church' Pastors Do This...
What’s the point of those emails?
HOW TO GET MORE PEOPLE COMING TO YOUR CHURCH
And so basically, if you did SOMETHING, and now you have MORE people coming to your church...
This company would be - satisfied with that.
That's the goal...
Now, it SEEMS that this is the main goal....SHOULD it be the main goal?
One particular company was focused on helping churches get more butts in the seats...
What were their strategies??
Focus Young:
in leadership - if you want to reach young folks, then you need young folks in leadership
on the stage - If you have a 50 year old singing a song, and you have a 20 year old singing the same song...
the 50 yr old is going to connect with the 50 yr olds in the congregation...
...but the 20 yr old will connect with the 20, 30, 40, and 50 yr olds...
Media should reflect younger generation (photographs, videos, etc.)
You know what all of this is? Paul would call it...
Irreverent, Silly Myths!
As another pastor would say - - It's Christless, expounding on nothing!
Churches that try to cater to people's preferences, will inevitably offer people something less than the gospel.
What is the Gospel?
The gospel is this - Jesus Christ LAYING down his life for the sake of others.
But what do we see when we look around?
We see an underestimating of the power of the Gospel...and when we DO THAT...
We feel the need to use OTHER MEANS to draw people to Jesus...
To keep people engaged!
It's all silliness!
When the goals in our churches ONLY REQUIRE human effort to be achieved...(more people in the church)
...then we ONLY NEED to rely on our own efforts to accomplish those goals!
But if our goal is that people's hearts would go from - DEAD to ALIVE
If our goal is that HEARTS WOULD BE CHANGED...
Then we can ONLY rely on God and His power to make that happen.
Then we can ONLY rely on HIS word to make that happen!
PAUL SAYS - Have Nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths...
INSTEAD - train yourself for Godliness!
Let's look at some characteristics of "Good Servant Leaders" as Paul says here in verse 6.
6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
SLIDE: Servant Leaders: Warn the People of God of the Ways of Satan
Servant Leaders
Servant Leaders
What does verse 6 say?
6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
If you [put THESE things before the brothers], you will be a good servant...
What things?
He's referring to what he had been talking about...
- He had been talking about how some will depart from the faith...
That some will devote themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons...
If you put these things before the people, you will be a good servant leader...
if you warn the people of ERROR, you will be a good servant leader...
Well - what does this take?
It takes knowing TRUTH from ERROR - and then speaking up in LOVING ways to help people...
What else?
SLIDE: Servant Leaders: Pursue the Truth of Jesus Christ
Servant Leaders
Servant Leaders
This may seem obvious but i don't think it is...
6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
being trained in the Words of the faith
This isn't speaking about the literal words on the pages...but the TRUTH of the message
And so in order to do this the Servant must PURSUE THAT truth...
Think of how many different religions there are...AND think of how many of those use the Bible...
The Bible can be twisted to fit into ANY box...
And YET - there is Absolute truth inside of it.
*FACEBOOK - Mary conversation
A Good Servant Leader DIGS for absolute truth!...
Fights for it
Embraces it
Proclaims it...
Defends it
A Good Servant Leader TRAINS himself, through the power of the Holy Spirit, in the Words of the Faith...
What else?
SLIDE: Servant Leaders: Live Out the Truth of Jesus
Servant Leaders
Servant Leaders
6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
being trained in the words of the faith (truth)...
...and of the good doctrine that you....
HAVE FOLLOWED!
It makes sense that a person who SAYS one thing, but does another thing - is a...hypocrite...
Paul knew the importance of living out what you preach!
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Paul is saying - I don't want to be a hypocrite...
I want to live out what I preach...otherwise who would listen to my testimony?
And so a good Servant of Jesus lives out the truth of Jesus...
What else?
SLIDE: Servant Leaders: Don’t Play With Fire
Servant Leaders
Servant Leaders
1 Timothy 4:7 (ESV)
7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
Paul doesn't leave the door open AT ALL here...
HAVE NOTHING to do with these things...
Why?
Because as we've seen, these silly myths are the teachings of demons...TRYING to get you to turn from the truth!
Why do you think Paul was so stern with sin in the church at Corinth?
3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing.
4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Paul says that a little sin...left unchecked...will turn into MORE sin...and MORE sin...
And so when it comes to the teaching of the church...
The Servant Leader is to completely AVOID silly myths...
Basically saying - don't even entertain them!
You don't want to play with fire...you WILL get burned.
What else?
SLIDE: Servant Leaders: Are Eternally Minded
Servant Leaders
Servant Leaders
7 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
What a cool verse!
a HOPEFUL verse!
A Good Servant Leader is someone who CONTEMPLATES eternity...
He considers - the Day after he'll take his last breath on this earth!...
He considers the millions of years of existence in the after-life
The world THINKS about this second...RIGHT NOW...
What can i get RIGHT NOW...?
I want that RIGHT NOW!
A Good Servant Leader of Jesus sees the BIGGER picture...
Has a holy perspective!
Not gonna spend his days storing up for himself treasures on earth...
Has an ETERNAL perspective!
A Good Servant Leader is Eternally-Minded
What else?
SLIDE: Servant Leaders: Have Hope Rooted in the Living God
Servant Leaders
Servant Leaders
9 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.
10 For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
You know, we hear the word GOD so much, that i wonder if we just take it for granted...
Do we truly consider...THAT...
God is ALIVE?
Do we truly consider that...
God truly WANTS what's best for us...as painful as it may be?
God cares about our obedience?
God wants us to GET OFF the milk of his Word and start eating the MEAT?
God is REAL??
We can look out here...and EASILY find people who DO NOT believe that God is real!
You want to know something that points to that reality for them?
They don't toil and strive...
A Good Servant Leader of Jesus Has His hope rooted in the Living God!
He knows that God is alive...and working!
SOOO…what have we seen?
A Good Servant Leader of Jesus...
Warns the People of God of the Ways of Satan
Pursues the Truth of Jesus
Lives Out the Truth of Jesus
Doesn't Play With Fire
Is Eternally-Minded
Has His Hope Rooted in the Living God
And when these things are prevalent in our lives...We will SERVE OTHERS!
Summary
Jesus Served Us...
By Coming to Us
By Healing the Wounded
By Teaching Us
By Living Our Example
By Accomplishing the Law
By Giving Eternal Life to Believers
We then, by faith, have become His servants - forever..
Warns the People of God of the Ways of Satan
Pursues the Truth of Jesus
Lives Out the Truth of Jesus
Doesn't Play With Fire
Is Eternally-Minded
Has His Hope Rooted in the Living God
Let's pray