Sermon Tone Analysis

1 Chronicles 27:25–34 (ESV)

25 Over the king’s treasuries was Azmaveth the son of Adiel; and over the treasuries in the country, in the cities, in the villages, and in the towers, was Jonathan the son of Uzziah; 26 and over those who did the work of the field for tilling the soil was Ezri the son of Chelub; 27 and over the vineyards was Shimei the Ramathite; and over the produce of the vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the Shiphmite.

28 Over the olive and sycamore trees in the Shephelah was Baal-hanan the Gederite; and over the stores of oil was Joash.

29 Over the herds that pastured in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite; over the herds in the valleys was Shaphat the son of Adlai.

30 Over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite; and over the donkeys was Jehdeiah the Meronothite.

Over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagrite.

31 All these were stewards of King David’s property.

32 Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a counselor, being a man of understanding and a scribe.

He and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni attended the king’s sons.

33 Ahithophel was the king’s counselor, and Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend.

34 Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar.

Joab was commander of the king’s army.

Introduction

These verses detail a list of officers who served in David's court.

It is a list of the duties each one carried out.

I would image it was a great honor to be chosen by the king for a place of service.

When I was in the sixth grade at Irving Elementary School, I was chosen to be a part of the Junior Police.

We were responsible for acting as crossing guards at the intersections before and after school, we raised the flag each morning and brought it down each evening.

We patrolled the playground during recess to be sure everyone was getting along.

It was my first job in law enforcement.

I couldn’t have been more honored if the president himself had made that appointment.

Imagine how it must have felt to have the king appoint you to some special task in his administration.

Have you ever considered that the Lord Himself appoints men and women to serve Him?

As a matter of fact He does.

God given every believer a place of service in the body of Christ.

Eph.

2:10

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

The verse says we are created to do good works, we have been prepared, custom built, to attend to what the Lord has for us.

1 Corinthians 12:4–7

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

What a blessing it is to be used of the Lord!

It is a blessing beyond compare to be chosen, gifted and used by the Lord.

This list of officials from David’s kingdom can teach us some lessons about serving the Lord.

First off:

1.

Each Person Had a Place of Special Service

In this list in 1st Chronicles we see a sizable number of jobs the king had appointed his chosen to do.

In the same regard, if you are in the Lord’s will, The Lord chooses what we do, where we do it, and to what extent it is done.

No one else can do the job you have been specially designed to do.

Secondly:

2.Each Person was Called by Name

God knows each of you by name, He cares for, and keeps up with, His Own.

Isaiah 43:1

1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.

The list shows us that:

3.

Each Person Served in Different Capacities

God puts us where we are.

God knows there are many roles to fill, and each of us have different abilities.

Let me use the example of a bicycle race team.

Now, if you are not familiar with bike racing, you would think that each person’s job would be to go as fast as you kind and will the race.

That’s not how it works at all.

Some cyclists excel at going fast up the steep mountains, yet another rider excels at descending down the other side of the mountain.

Some riders specialize in being able to win a sprint against a large number of riders at the very end of the race.

The specialty of some riders is to be a team helper.

They lag behind the rest of the racers to meet the team car to pick up water bottles and then quickly catch the main body of riders so they can distribute the water bottles to their teammates.

Each has a very specialized job to do, and each of us has a very specialized job to do as well.

You may be saying “well God has not put me in a position where I can do a whole lot for Him.”

Let me tell you, like a flower in a field, God expects you to grow wherever you are planted.

Which brings us to our next point:

4. Each Person was Placed Where They were by the King

Anywhere the Lord places you is a special place of service.

He knows where He can best us your gifts for His glory and for the edification of the whole church.

1 Corinthians 12:7 (ESV)

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Ephesians 4:15–16 (ESV)

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, (16) from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

We could spend time talking about each of these duties assigned in these verses, but I want to concentrate on verse 28.

I want to look at the man named Joash, who was the keeper of the cellars of oil.

Here is a man who was in a place of special service to the king.

There are eight men named Joash in the Old Testament.

He was not Joash, 8th Kind of Judah, he was not Joash 13th king of Israel, he was just a man with a job that he did to serve his king.

Now, his job was not flashy.

It was not a job that would attract a lot of attention or be admired by a great number of people.

But he served his king.

He performed his job in a dark, damp, and deserted cellar.

Let's look in on Joash and the job he was called upon to fulfill.

I want to consider this man and I want to look at the cellar as a place of service.

You might wonder what you and I can learn from a passage such as this.

Well, we can learn a lot about faithfulness to the Lord in our service.

You see, Joash represents much of the church this morning.

Like Joash, many Christians serve the Lord in obscurity.

Yet, the service they provide is absolutely essential in the life of the church.

This morning, let’s look in on the life of this man named Joash who was The Keeper of the Oil.

Oil was very important in Biblical times.

It was used in a religious context:

It was used as lamp fuel:

It was used as an item of commerce:

It was used as medicine:

Oil was used in cooking and cosmetics and the list goes on and on.

Oil is also a symbol.

It represents the Holy Spirit.

We need saints of God who will be keepers of the oil in our day.

We need saints who will keep old-fashioned preaching, praying, praising the Lord and personal holiness alive in our day.

In that day, the keeper of the oil literally kept the lights on in Israel.

The keepers of the oil in the church today literally keep the lights on at the house of God.

Ephesians 5:18 (ESV)

18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Galatians 5:22–25 (ESV)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.