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Now, here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Hi, this is Robert Jeffers, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program on today's edition of Pathway to Victory. Becoming a servant is a prerequisite for being a disciple of Christ, but it doesn't come naturally or easily to any of us. What does it take to be a servant? It takes humility, honestly realizing what belongs to you and who you are in Christ.
Secondly, to be willing to give up those rights that belong to you. And thirdly, there has to be the component of faith. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffers. Putting someone else's needs before our own doesn't really come naturally, does it?
But sometimes God does call us to sacrifice our own comfort or convenience for the sake of others. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress walks through the biblical steps of how to develop a servant's heart. But first, let's take a minute to hear some important ministry updates. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory.
It's one thing to be known as a Christian, and it's quite another to be known as a disciple of Jesus. In other words, simply identifying as a believer in Jesus is far different than following Him with all your heart. And for the entire month of July, we've been talking about what it means to be a devoted follower of Jesus. To complement this study, Pathway to Victory has published an inspirational book for you. It's called Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple.
This is a padded hardcover book that you'll proudly display on your coffee table or nightstand. It contains quick doses of biblical inspiration to help you cultivate your walk with God. By applying the biblical principles, you'll become better equipped to deal with worry. You'll discover contentment with your finances. And you'll gain inward peace in spite of your outward circumstances.
To say thank you for your much-needed gift, to support Pathway to Victory, we're going to send you the book that coincides with our current study. Again, it's called Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple. This is our special July offer, and time is running out to take advantage of receiving one.
So make sure to reach out today.
Okay, it's time to begin our study in God's Word together. Let's open our Bibles to continue a message we started on Friday's program. We're talking about the seven marks of a disciple, and today's message is titled, Developing a Servant's Heart. In Mark 10:45, he said, 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. Jesus puts a priority on servanthood. But what does it mean to be a servant of other people? Simply put, servanthood means putting the needs of other people above your own needs.
I mean, we all face that choice, don't we? Are we going to put other people's needs above our own? And by the way, this idea of servanthood, it doesn't come naturally. From the moment we draw our first breath. We are thinking me.
My and mine. And we don't get better the older we get. No, we have to develop this idea of servanthood. We have to develop a heart that says, I came not to be served, but to serve. How do we do that?
Look at Philippians 2, verses 3 and 4. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let each one of you regard one another as more important than himself. Do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also. for the interest of others. Or gee, Paul, that sounds great, but exactly how do I do that?
Well, Paul gives us that illustration, that example that if we will look at carefully and emulate in our own life, we can be a servant. And that illustration is Jesus himself. Look at verse 5: Have this attitude in yourselves. Which was also in Christ Jesus. What attitude?
The attitude of putting the needs of others above your own. And what follows, beginning in verse 6, all the way to the end of the chapter. Are three essential ingredients for developing a servant's heart. Remember, Paul is saying, I want you to do what Jesus did if you want to be a servant. What did Jesus do?
What were the qualities that allowed him to become that servant? First of all, Paul mentions humility. You'll never be a servant. You'll never put other people's needs above your own without humility. And that's what he says in verses 5 and 6 of Philippians 2.
Paul said, Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be clung to, grasped, held on to. And that leads to the second component. of servanthood. Humility, secondly, sacrifice. Sacrifice.
Jesus had everything. He was equal with God, but he was willing to let go of those things in order to meet the greatest need you and I have. Look at verses 6 to 8 again of Philippians 2, who although he existed in the form of God, didn't regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. But he emptied himself. Taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient.
to the point of death. even death on a cross. That's important to understand. What is it that Jesus emptied himself of? He didn't empty himself of his godliness.
His godlike qualities. I can't give up being five foot eight inches tall or having brown eyes. That's who I am. I can't give those things up. In the same way, Jesus could not give up being the Son of God, His omniscience, His omnipotence.
What He gave up was His rights. He gave up his divine rights and privileges as the Son of God. Dorothy Sayre, the very gifted writer, describes what that meant for Jesus to willingly give up the comfort, the privileges, the rights of heaven. Listen to this. For whatever reason, God chose to make man as he is, limited.
and suffering and subject to sorrows and death. And yet, he had the honesty and courage to take his own medicine. Whatever game God is playing with his creation, He has kept his own rules and played fair. God can exact nothing from man that he has not exacted from himself. He has himself gone through the whole of human experiences.
from the trivial irritations of family life. and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money. To the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat. despair, and even death. When God was a man, He played the man.
He was born in poverty and died in disgrace. and thought it well worthwhile. Why did he do all that? Why did he voluntarily limit himself to experience what you and I experience every day? Not just so that he could identify with us, but so that he could meet the greatest need we had.
which was the forgiveness of our sins. No, none of us will ever be asked to make that kind of sacrifice. The same kind of not just physical, but spiritual sacrifice that Christ made. But every day, you and I are facing decisions about whether we are willing to give up what belongs to us, to let go of it, to meet the legitimate needs of others. Parents, are we willing to sacrifice a bigger home or a newer car in order to meet the real needs of our?
Children. Many of you right now are having to give up perhaps dreams of an early retirement or comfort and relaxation in order to take care of aging parents. There are thousands of members of our First Baptist Church in Dallas, as well as churches all around the world. Who give up the very real right they have to have their weekends for themselves, to travel as they want to, to have a lake house. In order to be in church on Sunday mornings, not just to sit and to soak, but to be in a place of responsibility.
in the church in order to meet the needs, the spiritual needs of others. That's what it means to sacrifice, to let go of what you have a right to in order to serve a greater purpose. What does it take to be a servant? It takes humility. Honestly, realizing what belongs to you and who you are in Christ.
Secondly, to be willing to give up those rights that belong to you. And thirdly, there has to be the component of faith. Now listen to me. We will never consistently put the needs of other people above our own until we're convinced. There's a payoff somewhere down the line for doing that.
Now I know. I heard it the last time I said that when we talk about having an obedient heart.
Some of you wince at that thought that. We have to be rewarded in order to do the right thing.
Well, Pastor, shouldn't we just obey God because we're supposed to and we want to? People who say that are more spiritual than God is. Because the fact is, God created us, He knows we need an incentive. To continually and consistently obey him. That was true, by the way, for Jesus Himself.
Remember the passage we looked at a couple of weeks ago, Hebrews 12 verse 2? describing Jesus who for the joy set before him endured the cross. Despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Why did Jesus go to the cross? You know, 2,000 years later, we get these crazy ideas about the cross.
We kind of romanticize the cross. We sing about it sometimes in these syrupy songs, not in our church, but in other churches. Or we wear the little cross jewelry. We romanticize the cross. There was nothing romantic about the cross.
It was the most cruel tool of execution mankind ever created. It was horrible. Jesus didn't go to the cross because he wanted to. He was not some spiritual sadomasochist who enjoyed the pain. on behalf of other people.
It was sheer agony on that cross. And why did he endure it? Look at verse 2 of Hebrews 12, because of the joy. That was set before him. The belief that one day God was going to reward him in heaven for his experience here on earth.
And God says the same about us. God never asked us to separate the concept of service from reward. He says ultimately there is a payoff for following God. Hebrews 11:6, without faith, it is impossible to please God. For the person who comes to God, wants to have a relationship with God, must believe two things.
First of all, that God is, that is, He exists, and. that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him. That's what Happened to Jesus. God eventually rewarded him for his service. Look again at Philippians 2:8 through 11.
And being found in the appearances of man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, also God has highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Now serving God may cause us to temporarily have to set aside our need for recognition and reward. Temporarily, we have to set that aside, but not eternally. Go back to Jesus' words for just a moment. Jesus never asked us to give up our desire to be recognized and rewarded. Did Jesus say to his disciples, Whoever desires to be greatest among you, Is a self-serving jerk and doesn't have a clue about Christianity.
Is that what Jesus said? Yeah. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be great. He said, but whoever wishes to be great among you, Here's the way to do it. Let him become a servant.
There is a reward coming for those who follow Christ. You know, eventually we have things happen in this life that are kind of a preview of coming attractions, of the rewards that await us in heaven one day. The weekend following September the 11th, 2001. Syndicated columnist Peggy Noonan. Went down to Lower Manhattan to witness the relief work that was taking place at Ground Zero.
She watched the endless procession of trucks leaving the site filled with teams of construction workers, police, firemen, and medical technicians. Noonan described it as a procession of the not-so-rich and famous. But as these caravans rolled past the assembled group of onlookers, These ordinary workers. were treated like celebrities. Noonan says she joined the crowd as they shouted out, thank you.
God bless you. Thank you for helping us. Noonan writes, I looked around me at all of us who were cheering. And saw people who were investment bankers, orthodontists, magazine editors. We had been the kings and queens of the city.
respected professionals in a city that respects its professional class. But this night We were no bodies. We were so useless, all we could do was applaud the somebodies, the workers who, unlike us, had not been applauded much in their lives. What Peggy Noonan saw that night was a preview of what heaven. Is going to be.
I remember hearing Billy Graham interviewed one time by Diane Sawyer on ABC and She said, Dr. Graham, I'm sure you're looking forward to heaven because of all of the rewards you're going to receive for your service to Christ. He said, I'm looking forward to heaven, but not for that reason, because I don't think I'm going to have that many rewards in heaven. I've received my recognition and rewards here on earth. I think the people who receive rewards in heaven are going to be those believers we've never heard about in this life.
Believers who have quietly served God without recognition or reward. That's what the Word of God is saying. Those who sacrifice, those who give up. What belongs to them? In order to serve a greater purpose.
are going to enjoy the unending applause of heaven. and the eternal approval. of their God. I said at the outset of this message. Becoming a servant, putting the needs of other people among yourselves is a prerequisite for being a disciple of Christ.
But it doesn't come naturally or easily to any of us.
So, as we close today, I'd like to close in these final few minutes with just three practical suggestions to help you, as Chuck Swindahl once said, improve your serve. How to become a better servant of God. How do you do that? Those of you who used to be here when Dr. Criswell was the pastor.
If you ever had the experience of going up to his office. You might remember that on his coffee table there is a beautifully bound leather book. And on the cover of the book, was uh embossed in gold letters the title of the book. Remember the title? My humility and how I achieved it.
And you'd open up the book, and it was all blank pages of white paper. I mean, the joke was obvious. Whoever thinks they've achieved humility is not truly humble. The same thing is true about servanthood. We never arrive.
We never get to the place we can say, now I'm a servant. But there are some things we can do to improve our serve. Let's go back to those three components just a moment. First of all, about humility. About humility, how can you become humble?
Recognizing what God has given you, but giving him credit for it. Let me encourage you sometime this afternoon, sometime this week, take a moment and write a paragraph. that describes your epitaph. What you'd like people to remember about you, what you'd like your family to know about you. It might include some accomplishments about which you're particularly proud.
It might be some qualities that people have told you they've appreciated in you. It might be some experiences you've had. There's nothing wrong with identifying those things. Write down a paragraph that describes you at your best. And then read the words of 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7.
And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? You know my definition of humility. It's recognizing that any good thing in my life is the result of what either God or others have done for me. When you write down those things you're proud about in your life, take a moment to thank God for those things.
If needed, Thank those people in your life God has used to bring those positive things into your life. Secondly, about sacrifice. Giving up something that belongs to you in order to meet the needs of other people. I'd like to encourage you to make a challenge to yourself of once a day letting go of something that is a right of yours in order to meet the need of somebody else. For example, perhaps time is your most valuable commodity every day.
Why not take 30 minutes that you might spend doing something for yourself, something you enjoy? and use that time to help somebody else. Maybe somebody needs an encouraging phone call from you. or a text or an email. Maybe there's somebody you can drop by and see at the hospital or someplace else.
But 30 minutes meeting the needs of other people other than your own. Maybe you're one of those people who has some discretionary income. Maybe using some of that discretionary income. Every week, instead of spending it on yourself, to spend it on somebody who has a legitimate need that you can meet. And then thirdly, about faith.
We said without faith You can't please God. Without the assurance that God is going to reward you one day for your sacrifices, you'll never do that continually. I told you, I keep a prayer journal, a list of. Things that I'm asking God for and record the answers. If you keep a prayer journal, Here's a separate list you might want to keep.
Now, I know this is going to sound weird to you, but stick with me. Why not keep a running list of things you're expecting God to reward you for one day? Things you believe God is going to reward you for. Maybe not in this life, but in the next life, but sacrifices you are making. to meet the needs of other people.
to be a true disciple of God. You say that sounds kind of weird, doesn't it? No, not if you believe. God says He's a rewarder of those who diligently serve Him. What sacrifices are you making that are worthy of God rewarding?
Now, I'm not talking about your responsibilities. Loving your mate doesn't count, okay? That's a normal responsibility. That's not an above and beyond duty. Caring for your children, obeying God's commands, those are all part of what we're responsible to.
But I'm talking about those things that are above and beyond your call, real rights that you have that you are voluntarily giving up. for somebody else. You know, just as there is no reward without sacrifice. There will be no continual sacrifice without the assurance of reward. Jesus Christ was willing to give up his rights as God to meet our needs.
Not because he was obligated to do so. But because He was a servant. at heart. Are you? Perhaps God's Spirit is stirring in the heart of someone right now who's ready to make sacrificial changes.
Please follow his leading. You will never regret giving up your personal rights in order to serve others. Not long ago, we heard from someone in our listening family who told his personal story. This gentleman from Florida is 91 years young, having served the Lord as a pastor for more than 50 years. He said, for many years, Pastor Jeffress, I've relied on your books as pastoral tools to reach and disciple young men in the church I serve.
I'm hungry to get young men to understand the Word of God and Pathway to Victory books. And messages are the best tools I have outside the Bible. to do just that. That's quite an endorsement, and it's encouraging to see that servanthood has no age limit. This dear retired pastor continues to mentor and influence others as a true light in the darkness.
And when you give generously to Pathway to Victory, your gift is leveraged many times over due to the multiplying impact of listeners like this man. And when you give a contribution today, we're going to say thanks by providing a full-color devotional book published by Pathway to Victory. It's called Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple. This book is printed in a large format, and each chapter can be read in just under two minutes. Plus, the reflections in each chapter are complemented by a Bible verse and a brief prayer to guide you.
Here's David to explain how to get in touch. You're invited to request a copy of Encouragement for the Heart of a Disciple by Dr. Robert Jeffers when you support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory with a generous gift. Simply call 866-999-2965 or visit online at ptv.org. And for your ministry gift of $100 or more, we'll be pleased to send you the Encouragement Resource Set, which includes the new devotional six clutter-free prayer cards, the Clutter-Free Christianity Book and Life Application Guide, plus the Seven Marks of a Disciple message series on both DVD video and MP3 format audio disc set.
But this special offer does end this week, so get in touch right away. Again, call 866-999-2965 or visit online at ptv.org. If you'd like to write to us, here's that mailing address: PO Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. One more time, that's P.O. Box 223-609-Dallas, Texas, 75-222.
I'm David J. Mullins. You know, at some point, all of us are bound to get hurt.
So in those moments, how do we find the power to forgive? Join us again next time for a powerful message on developing a forgiving heart right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Experience the breathtaking majesty of America's last frontier on the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska.
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