R1641 The Heart of a Servant

Today we get to the heart of the matter with Dr. Don Wilton in a special message called A Heart of a Servant, here on The Encouraging Word. We'll be opening God's Word to Mark Chapter 10 in just a moment with Dr. Don Wilton, well-known author, evangelist, and pastor, and one of the things he recently authored is the book called Saturdays with Billy. If you haven't checked it out, it's on our website right now at www.tewonline.org.

This month we are arming ourselves. Spiritual warfare is very real and the call to be prepared is imperative. If you'd like to have more information on Fortified and the Strategy of Satan, two resources that are available right now on our website, just drop by www.tewonline.org or you can call about getting your copy at 866-899-WORD, that's 866-899-9673. We'd love to hear from you right now.

And now Dr. Don Wilton. I want to read you something in Mark's Gospel, so take your Bibles, let's go to the Gospel of Mark. Mark and Chapter 10 and verse 35. I'd like to just read this. This is an amazing encounter that Jesus had with some of his disciples and Matthew's account says even with the mother of some of these disciples, this is an amazing encounter. Let me read it to you. We're going to be in Mark Chapter 10 and verse 35.

Then James and John the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus. Teacher they said, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. Everybody look at me, that's really cheeky. That is cheeky folks, that is cheeky. Jesus could have looked and said, you are so cheeky.

He probably did, it's just not in the texture, but I'll find it. You give me a Greek text, I'll find it. Let's just read that again. Can we read it?

I don't want you to miss this. Matthew says this was the son's mother. Okay, Mark does not record that, but these, this is a, these are Christian people. They come to Jesus and say, teacher they said, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.

What do you want me to do for you? Jesus asked. They replied, let one of us sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.

You don't know what you're asking Jesus said. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I'm being baptized with? We can? They answered. That's cheeky. Really?

Mm-hmm. Jesus said to them, you will drink the cup I drink and you will be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized with. Jesus knew they were going to suffer. In fact, he knew they were going to be executed. Jesus knew that.

They didn't. But to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared. When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and he said you know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority on them.

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be servant of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

May the Lord write that word on his heart. Just consider this. First of all, consider the question that they asked. This question, it speaks to two things. First of all, their effort to interpret God. Their effort to interpret God. That's very typical of all of us.

Every one of us. We want to interpret God the way we think. We want to go to the Lord Jesus and say yes Lord we love you here's what I want you to do for me.

You get this? This is the way I would like to tell you Jesus I am going to operate. We do that even without giving.

I'm challenging all of us here today folks. How many of you right now, don't raise your hands, are giving with strings attached? When last did you say I'll give as long as they understand. We give with strings attached. We say well I tell you one thing as far as I'm concerned. We cannot get ourselves to understand that God wants us to just give. This question they asked was their effort to interpret but the question they asked was I think also their desire for status. We would like to be elected the president and the vice president of the heavenly chorus.

Let's just go ahead and settle this. It's a deep question because out of this comes something so beautiful. Jesus ends up telling them how to do this and in a kind of a like upside down backward way. It's like wait a minute Jesus is God and yet he became servant of all?

Yes. The question they asked, the explanation they received in verse 38 through 40 Jesus gave them a very simple explanation and it was twofold. He said number one, you're not Jesus.

Any further questions here? And secondly you're not God. Now why did he answer by saying first of all you're not me, you're not Jesus. What he was saying to them is nobody else can ever take the place of what I have done as servant for you. That's what he was saying.

You will never be able to drink the cup that I'm drinking. See Jesus very quickly said I'll tell you whatever it is about heaven and everything to do with heaven that's up to God isn't it? That's such a powerful statement. Karen and I were talking to some people just recently finding themselves trying to figure out what to do next and where to go and how things are going to turn out and Karen turned to them and said, God knows and he's got you.

That's what Jesus said. You know that God knows he's got you. Right now you're going through something that's not very nice is it? God knows he's got you.

Maybe you got questions like we all have. God knows he's got you. You need an encouraging word. God knows he's got you. You're trying to make a decision about what to do, where to go. It's about a job, it's about a position. God knows he's got you.

He's got you. That's what Jesus was saying. That was his explanation but then he translates that into the command.

So it begins with this question they asked. Jesus gives an explanation to them and he immediately turns his exclamation into a command. When you look at this passage here folks, this is a command.

Instead you must, you must become a servant. Forgive the interruption you're listening to Dr. Don Wilton, our teacher here on The Encouraging Word. He'll be back with the rest of today's message on a heart of a servant but when God gives us that command, oh they're not suggestions. I pray that you and I would know that sometimes we find difficulty in our life to proceed even how we know God calls us to go and one of the joys is having someone praying for us to break free of some of those sometimes hurts, habits, and hang-ups that hold us back.

If you'd like to have someone pray with you and for you right now our number is 866-899-WORD and not just right now but any time day or night 866-899-9673. We'll connect with one of us happy to talk or listen or pray or connect with resources, resources like this. The month of July reminds us to be thankful for the freedoms that we enjoy as citizens of this great country. Romans 6 18 reminds us that the death of Jesus on the cross has set us free from sin. It reads, you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. We want everyone to be set free from the bondage of sin. We want to proclaim the good news of Christ to all who will listen.

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Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. When you when you look at this passage here folks, this is a command. Instead you must, you must become a servant.

What was he saying? Well in verse 42 he was saying in order to carry out or to pay heed or to be obedient to this command, number one you've got to have the right heart. Look at verse 42 there. Just, I don't want you to let this, verse 43, verse 43.

This is what he says. He says, let's, excuse me, let's go back to verse 42. He says you've got to have the right heart and he uses this illustration. He says you know those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. What is he saying? Lord with a capital, with a small letter. He's saying to these Christian people be very careful in your haughtiness, your elevated status as a child of the king, in your commission that I've given to you, in your call from God.

It's not a license to lord that over the pagans. It doesn't work. Let me tell you something doesn't work. Servanthood does. Let me serve you like Jesus. Let me love you like Jesus. That's what works. What was he telling them? What was this command? Have the right heart.

Number two, have the right motive. I love, I love in verse 43. Look at verse 43. You've got to see this. He says here, not so with you, instead whoever wants to become great among you. Get this.

Jesus, I mean he just does something jolly awful here. He says well you want that? You want to be great? You, what's your motive? So you wanting to be great?

Let me tell you how to do it. He goes right to the motive and we live in a world of ulterior motive. It's just like everybody who says anything, especially on the media. They've got an ulterior motive.

There's something else there. Jesus puts it right on the pulse of our relationship with him and he asks that question. He says, he says I want you to have the right motive. I want you to have the right heart.

I want you to have the right motive and I want you to have the right position, the right position. He says right there in, in verse 43, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be servant of all. Whoever wants to be first must be servant of all. Is that a challenge? Would you all identify with that? Like the first must be last, is that what Jesus is saying? The highest must be the lowest. You want the front door?

You better look like a back door. So what was the example they witnessed? In verse 45, what a powerful verse. You know all of this is to come to verse 45. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

That's a powerful verse. Jesus pointed to himself two things he was trying to tell us here in the example these disciples of his witnessed. First of all, he relinquished his position. Servanthood involves relinquishing your position. Jesus gave up his seat. Jesus is God and he was seated at the right hand of the Father which is where he is now having been raised from the dead after having become servant of all. He gave up his right to the throne, the right hand of God, the authority of God as God and allowed himself to come down and to be born in Bethlehem's manger and to suffer and to be tempted in all points just as we are yet without sin.

He gave up his seat and his kingly throne. That's servanthood. You know one of the most beautiful words you will hear from young people, older people, needy people and you hear this is, thank you for doing that for me. Here's another one people will say to you when you serve them. They'll look at you and say, you don't need to do that.

You ever had someone say that to you? No, you don't need to do that. I can get my own chair. Can you hear the heavenly hosts looking into the face of Jesus and saying, Jesus you're God, you don't need to do that. You don't need to give up your seat. You don't need to relinquish your throne and come down into a dirty little place in Bethlehem. And live on this earth and then suffer such abuse and torture at the hands of sinful people.

You don't need to do that. Father would you remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but mine be done. He relinquished his position. He didn't only relinquish his position but he ransomed his life. It's a very interesting word, as a ransom for.

The word for there, the prep for, means literally in place of. That little word for, he ransomed his life for many. This ultimate servanthood means that he took our place. He said, I'll do it.

Let me get it. Let me pay the price. You see Jesus substitutionary death is the most glorious, blessed fact of our salvation friends. Jesus through his life he's serving, paid ransom in place of all those who would believe in his name. He took my place. He didn't pay with his life to Satan, to placate Satan.

Like you and I don't serve others for any other reason or to impress or to placate. He didn't placate Satan. He ransomed his life to pay God in order to satisfy his justice and his holy wrath against all sin. And I stepped up and said, you know, I want God. I want God to come into my life.

I need him. And Jesus said, hold on, let me take your place. I'll do it for you so that through me you can have access to the Father. You can once again be reconciled to God. That's what servanthood does.

It's a beautiful thing that takes place here. Why do you suppose Jesus told us to serve? I came up with three or four or five reasons. Number one, I think he told us to be servant of all, to experience peace and joy. Just do it. Serve. You'll experience peace and joy. Number two, to discover and develop your gifts.

Every believer is gifted. You know that when you serve you discover what your gifts are. You might look at me today and say, pastor, how do I know where to serve? I'm going to tell you in a minute. You can ask this question, what do you love doing?

God's gifted you. Number three, to feel the warmth of other believers. You know when you serve you will always find others there with you.

You go to the bridge and you serve and you hammer in nails or you serve food or you provide clothes or you open your home as a host for backyard Bible clubs during the week in the month of June. You know aren't you going to find? The warmth of others. I'm sorry but I used to love that series Downton Abbey. I don't know if any of you ever watched that jolly good old English show and you know what I loved about it most of all was not the uppers, they were a interesting bunch but when all the servants would get together downstairs and they would ring the bell and they'd all sit there with Carson the butler and there was like this all of them they were all on the same page down there all serving. Oh was there a little jostling going on?

You bet. You know when we serve as believers God puts us around a table together. Perhaps number four, the reason Jesus told us to serve was to see how God works. Just see how God, when you serve you see God working in in some of the most simplistic ways. He's just, I can't explain it to you, just you go and serve and you just watch God work and you say well all I'm doing is just helping and then you watch what God does. And number five, I think he told us to be servants and he was teaching the disciples because he wanted us to be blessed by being a blessing.

Isn't that great? All right so what can you do? Quickly, take this with you. This is what I want to leave with you today. All of that to say here's four things you must do because God's speaking to you. Number one, determined to be obedient. Remember if you want to just determined to be obedient. Just say to the Lord right now, Lord I'm just going to obey you.

I'm gonna do it. Number two, pray and be engaged. Pray to be engaged.

Pray, say Lord I want to be engaged. Look for it. Look for it. A hundred places in the church, there's screens, there's a weekly bulletin that goes out to some 18,000 people. Opportunities, there's telephone lines, there are people you can talk to.

Just look at the faces of people. You know another good one, you want to pray to be engaged. When you leave today, say to the Lord, Lord just put someone in my heart.

Just simple. Walk out here and instead of just make a beeline for your motorcar or for your life group, just ask God, you saying to me now pastor you being over simplistic here. Here's what happens so many times.

You just be walking there, minding your own business, eating a peanut butter sandwich and boom all of a sudden there's this person. Number three, identify to be a part of the body. We'll help you to identify your gifts.

We'll do that with you, get alongside you. Identify. Identify your gifts and you know good starting point, what do you love to do?

Do you love to sing? I can show you where to serve. Play an instrument, I can show you where to serve. Now those are obvious ones. Let me tell you there are a hundred thousand things and every one is relevant because you're the one. There are things you can do.

Do you know how many things there are? I just can't do them. I can't do, I try every time I do it.

It just doesn't quite work out the same but man am I surrounded by people who can. That's the body coming together. One more thought, serve to be a servant. When you serve the Lord, be a servant.

Can you bow your heads with me just for a minute? See God is speaking to us today, the heart of a servant. Jesus was very clear.

All of us are there, all our moms and dads are there. They're individually going up to Jesus. Jesus made it clear but he made it clear most of all, exclusively through his own life, said I love you. Do you know Jesus? Have you responded to him? Have you trusted him as Savior and Lord? Why don't you give your life to Christ? I invite you to give your heart to Jesus today. Oh how we'd love to talk with you and pray with you about your response. All of us are responding to the Word of God as he speaks to us.

Some today are responding for the first time and if you'd like to give your life to Jesus Christ it's as simple as saying yes. I'd love to lead you in a prayer where you go, okay God I realize my sin has separated me from you. Lord I ask you to come into my life.

I believe you are the Son of God and died for my sins. As best I know how, save me. In Jesus name I pray, amen.

If that's your prayer, perhaps for the very first time or rededicating your life, coming back to Jesus, we have wonderful free resources we would love to put in your hands. All you need to do is call us. Our phone number is 866-899-WORD. Take a minute, jot it down, store us in your cell as a contact. 866-899-9673 will always connect with one of us. Happy to talk or listen or pray or connect with resources that'll help you grow in your faith. You can also find those resources like the new book from Dr. Wilton called Saturdays with Billy.

So many folks are asking about it. It's on our website at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. Thank you so much for your prayerful and financial support of this ministry. Every single day people's lives are being changed by God's encouraging Word and your partnership, and so we're grateful.