Marks of a Godly Servant: Spirit-Led
Marks of a Godly Servant • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro
Intro
Part 1 - Faithfulness
We concluded that 4 attributes made up this faithful servant:
A faithful servant is a gift (I believe one of the blessings God gave Abraham in verse 1, was this faithful servant to accomplish a monumental task)
A faithful servant has a history of trustworthiness (Abraham put this man in charge of “all that he had” - Abraham took it a step further and gave specific details to what he needed done. The faithful servant can handle the details and not complain because more instruction is given.)
A faithful servant keeps his word (This servant swore to Abraham and did as he swore)
A faithful servant shares his master’s vision (He wouldn’t have been successful had he shared his master’s vision on what and how this task should be accomplished)
Part 2 - Loyalty
Last week: The Loyal Servant
The loyal servant serves with absolute allegiance
He DID talk behind his master’s back...
But he only spoke of the good of his master and not the bad like he could have…
Because he was loyal with absolute allegiance...
2. The Loyal servants prayer is selfless
3. The loyal servant put the mission before the meal
He said, “ I will not eat, until I have told mine errand.”
>> This morning we continue to dig through the text and find the next Mark of a Godly Servant...
That is the Mark of being Spirit-Led...
1. The Spirit-Led Servant Seeks God’s Help
1. The Spirit-Led Servant Seeks God’s Help
12 And he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham. 13 Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water: 14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.
Right after going as commanded, he arrives and the very first thing he does is pray...
(Not check the bars, or online dating sites, but pray...)
How much better would our decision making get if we would just stop and pray before moving forward...
The fact that he was praying is an indication that the task meant something to him...
When we stop and pray, we are also stopping belief in self and reliance on God...
This man was spirit-led because he sought God’s help...
Moses had a great task to accomplish and prayed to God saying, “…show me now thy way…”
Solomon had a great task to accomplish and prayed to God saying, “I am but a little child… Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people…”
Nehemiah had a great task to accomplish and prayed to God saying, “O Lord, I beseech thee… prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day…”
EVEN Jesus, the Bible says, “And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.”
The spirit-led servant wants to know the will of God and wants to accomplish the will of God...
He was interested in ensuring how he was completing the task was exactly how God wanted it done...
If we could just get people to not just be interested in completing a task, but be dedicated to completing it how God wants it done, everything about serving God would change...
Question: What are you concerned about in your life?
Are you concerned about your job?
Are you concerned about your 401k?
Are you concerned about your fun and your comfort?
Or are you concerned about fulfilling the Lord’s will the Lord’s way?
Think about it: he could have easily just brought anyone back to Isaac and called it good...
But he was only interested in bringing THE exact person back that needed to come back...
He could have done the “legal justification of laziness” and partially followed through...
Think: Abraham gave this servant 3 requirements for finding this wife for Isaac:
No Canaanites
Go to “his” country
Don’t take Isaac back to that land
NONE of those rules said:
She had to be pretty
Or that she needed to be a hard worker
Or that she had to be pure
Or that she had to be considerate
BUT SHE WAS ALL OF THOSE!
Why?
Because this man was a spirit-led servant...
Question: What kind of finished product are you bringing back to God?
If we’re spirit-led, we would follow the Lord’s guiding and be greatly disturbed until we found it...
There’s a big difference in the finished product of a servant who completes the task their way or God’s way...
We fight, save and steal just to get some gold in our hands...
That’s just pavement for God’s roads in Heaven...
Everything is better with God...
2. The Spirit-Led Servant Keeps the Main Thing the Main Thing
2. The Spirit-Led Servant Keeps the Main Thing the Main Thing
Back to the story:
Now here’s the big test: (15-16)
15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. 16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up. THE MOMENT OF TRUTH! 17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
I love the fact that he “ran” down to meet her...
He caught a glimpse that this may be the Lord’s will and RAN to the opportunity...
19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. 20 And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. 21 And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
The Bible says he was… “wondering at her”
He was astonished and stunned by the response of Rebekah...
YET, he still did not close the latch on this mission and call it done...
He didn’t get overexcited and skip the next several steps...
He continued discerning if this was the Lord’s will or not...
Here was Rebekah’s response:
22 And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold; 23 And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in? 24 And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor. 25 She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.
Then we see Eliezer’s response:
3. The Spirit-Led Servant Continuously Acknowledges God
3. The Spirit-Led Servant Continuously Acknowledges God
26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord.
Later when Rebekah’s father gave his blessing for Eliezer to take Rebekah back to Isaac, he does this:
52 And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth.
4. The Spirit-Led Servant Puts Themselves in the Way
4. The Spirit-Led Servant Puts Themselves in the Way
27 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.
48 And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter unto his son.
Abraham’s servant constantly reaffirms that the reason for his success was because:
He was in the way
and God led him the right way
You need to take yourself and place yourself “in the way”...
You need to put yourself into a position that God could lead and guide you...
Some wonder why God isn’t directing them when they are:
Not faithful to church
Not faithful to His Word
Not obeying God’s will they already know
If you will place yourself “in the way”, than that is someone God can direct...
Be faithful to church
Be faithful to your Bible study
Be faithful to obey His Word
5. The Spirit-Lead Servant is Visible
5. The Spirit-Lead Servant is Visible
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.
Eliezer responded in such a way that Rebekah’s brother and father noticed something in him...
Whether or not they agreed with what was happening, they couldn’t help but recognize that “...The thing proceedeth from the LORD...”
The way that we get people to follow us as we follow God is not charismatic leadership...
It’s not bright lights and fog machines...
People will visibly be able to recognize that what you have going on is something of God and not man...
Conclusion:
More than our pastors and deacons need to be concerned with being Spirit-led....
This is an all hands on deck kind of issue that should be constantly permeating the minds of every believer...
The fundamental responsibility of the church is to develop followers of Jesus Christ… (Disciples)
The Holy Spirit is leading, but are we following?
You should be praying for a Spirit-led man in:
Your preacher
Your deacons
The members of the church
your governmental leaders
Think: You are born again by the Spirit of God… you are sealed until the day of redemption by the Spirit of God… You should be led by the Spirit of God...
