Beloved, that mandate was not just given to twelve people. It is a mandate of the kingdom. It is the law of the king. that we are to imitate him. by being prepared.
to be servants. Our Savior Jesus Christ has a servant's heart. And so, in seeking Christ's likeness, we too must have that same servant heart. But how can we cultivate that character in ourselves? Hello and welcome back to Renewing Your Mind.
Thank you for being here with us. This week we're looking at Dr. R. C. Scroll's series, Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow.
And today, we'll be looking at that idea of Christ-like service. If you find today's episode to be edifying in your Christian walk, you'll be able to receive lifetime downloadable access to the complete teaching series, along with the e-book and bonus Crucial Questions booklet, if you call us with a donation at 800-435-4343. or give a gift online at renewingyourmind.org. But for now, Let's look at how to cultivate an attitude of service. Here's Dr.
Sproll. We don't always think about service. as a means of grace. But beloved, we grow. as we serve.
The more we are able to serve in the kingdom of God, the more Christ-like we become.
Now All of us are called to be servants of God. not necessarily professional servants of God. not necessarily paid servants of God. But nevertheless, each one of us is to be involved in some kind of service. for God, to God, and to his people.
In other words, one of the ways we serve God is by serving those around us. And that motif is woven through the tapestry of Scripture from beginning to end. You think for a minute of one of the primary examples of this in the Old Testament, which is found in the Exodus. Remember how the story of the Exodus begins with the people of Israel being in servitude to a foreign master. They are in bondage to the Egyptians.
and they are groaning under the oppression of Pharaoh. And We are told That when God appears to Moses, God says to Moses, I have heard the cries of my people. And I want you now to go. To Pharaoh, and you tell Pharaoh that I said to let my people go.
Now we all know that. But if we look at that narrative there in Exodus, where God says to Moses, You go to Pharaoh and say, Let my people go. What's the rest of the story? Why does he want them to let them go? We think, well, it's simply because God wants to liberate them from their oppression and deliver them from the bondage, and that's certainly a large part of it.
But the purpose that God gives is what? God says, let them go. that they may come out and serve me in this mountain. Repeatedly in the book of Exodus, God tells Pharaoh and he says to Moses, I want my people delivered. From this bondage.
from servitude to pharaoh.
so that they can serve me.
Now, in a very real sense, the Exodus in the Old Testament prepares us as an image, as a mirror. For the consummate Exodus. that is accomplished through our Deliverer, Jesus. Because in the New Testament, Christ comes not to take us out of Egypt, but to free us from bondage to Satan. And yet, when Christ delivers us out of bondage, out of servitude, what happens is an exchange of masters.
because now he calls us to be servants of him.
So, that there's a sense in which we have to be servants, and the only issue is. Who is it we will serve? And Jesus himself said, You can't serve two masters. We can serve Satan, we can serve the interests of this world, or we can serve the living God and be servants of Christ. I think it's extraordinary that Paul's favorite description of himself is as a doulas or a slave.
One who was bought? With a price. He said to us, We are not our own. But we have been bought with a price. We belong to the one who has paid for us, who has redeemed us.
And now we are called to serve. him. Service, however. is not the number one goal on the American hit parade.
Well, let's look quickly at Matthew's Gospel in the 20th chapter. at verse twenty. then the mother of Zebedees' sons. came to him with her sons, kneeling down, and asking something from him. And he said to her, What do you wish?
And she said to him, Grant that these two sons of mine may sit. one on your right hand and the other on the left. in your kingdom. And Jesus answering and said, You don't know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?
And be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with. And they said to him, Listen to this. We are able. James and John. No, give us the cup.
We can drink that cup that the fathers put before you. You think so? You think he can take that cup? I have a baptism of fire that is taking me to experience the fullness of hell. Can you handle that kind of bat?
We're able. They hadn't a clue what they were saying to Jesus.
So he said to them, Yes, you indeed drink my cup, and you'll be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. And they were. They had to participate in his death and humiliation. but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give. but it is for those for whom it is prepared by my Father.
Now when the other disciples, the other ten, heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to himself, and he said to the rest of the disciples, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them, and those who are of great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to become great among you Let him be. Your servant.
and whoever desires to be first among you Let him be your slave. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Beloved, that mandate was not just given to twelve people. It is a mandate of the kingdom. It is the law of the king.
that we are to imitate him. by being prepared. to be servants. In Luke's Gospel, in chapter 17, we have the record, beginning at verse 5, of a request that the disciples make of Jesus. And they say to him, Lord, Increase our faith.
Now let's pause here for a second. Isn't this what we're trying to be focussing our attention on in this series? How we can grow as Christians, how we can make the best use of the means of grace that God gives to us. To what end? That our faith may increase, and by the increase of our faith.
there will be a corresponding increase of obedience to God. Because obedience flows out. of our trust in him. And so now these are the disciples who had said, Lord, we believe, help thou our unbelief.
Now help us to increase our faith. That's the question. How does Jesus answer that? Request to increase faith. Listen to what he says.
So the Lord said, If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, Be pulled up by the roots, and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you. And which of you having a servant ploughing, or tending sheep. will say to him when he is come in from the field, Come at once and sit down to eat. But will he not rather say to him, Prepare something for my supper, gird yourself, and serve me until I have eaten and drunk? And afterward you will eat and drink.
Does he thank that servant? because he did the things that were commanded him. This is a question Jesus places before the disciples. And he answers his own question. I think not.
So likewise, you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say. We are unprofitable servants. We have done. What was our duty? to do.
Isn't this a strange parable that Jesus uses to answer their request to increase their faith? that he tells them this story, this little parable, about the servants coming in from having completed their tasks in the field. And Jesus says, Does the master of the servants say, Oh, you've done such a great job, sit down. Eat, drink, enjoy yourselves. Or when they come in from the field, does the master say to the servants Now it's time for you to fix my meal.
You fix my dinner. You set the table. You serve me, and when all your tasks are done, then you can go eat and drink.
So, that the first thing that Jesus is teaching us here about servanthood. which may be the single most important thing we'll ever learn about servanthood. Beloved. Is that We Who are his servants? or unproductive.
profitable. Sure.
Now, does that mean when he says we are unprofitable servants? that the service that we render is useless. has no value. What we're going to see a couple of chapters later is Jesus talking about how servanthood should always be productive. And that Jesus puts a premium.
on the value of service. That's not what he's talking about here when he says we are unprofitable servants. What he is saying is simply this. There is this pernicious view that grew up in the Middle Ages, that Christians not only can gain a certain kind of merit by the works that they perform, But they can even perform works that were called works of supererogation. works that are so meritorious, so valuable, that they are above and beyond what God requires from his people, and this excess merit is then deposited in what the church calls the treasury of merit, which then can be distributed to people in purgatory who are lacking in merit.
This is what was behind the whole controversy of indulgences in the sixteenth century, and continues to be a major point of dispute between Protestants and Roman Catholics historically. And it all goes down to this concept that it is possible for believers to perform supererogatory works, works above and beyond the call of duty. But what Jesus is saying here in this text is That's not possible. what could I possibly do that was a good deed That was not simply what God commands me to do anyway. Remember, He commands me to be perfect, and you can't improve on perfection.
I can't be obedient above and beyond perfection. I can't even hope to reach perfection in my own performance.
So in terms of merit. I have none. of my own. Because I earn nothing by doing what I'm required to do in the first place. That's why our redemption is by grace and by grace alone.
the only merit that I have to place before God that is properly speaking my own. Are the demerits that I have earned? Through my sin. The only merit that can redeem me is the merit that Christ has performed. 'Cause he didn't have to come here.
He freely came. To do the Father's will. And to submit himself to the law for my sake and for your sake. He and he alone, beloved. is a profitable sermon.
So if we do our service looking to earn our way into the kingdom of God. We're deceiving ourselves. The motivation for Christian service is gratitude. not as a means of salvation. It's a means of grace.
It's a means of realizing our dependence on grace and so on. This is who we are, in and of ourselves. That's what's behind the verse in Augustus Toplady's great hymn, Rock of Ages, when he uses that verse. I love it. Nothing is.
In my hand I bring. Simply To the cross I cling. Nothing in my hand I bring. Foul I to the fountain fly, say. Cop Lady understood.
that after we have done our best deeds, We are. unprofitable servants. We have simply done. Our duty.
So we are unprofitable servants, at least in this world. In the next world, this same Christ who says all we are doing is what we're commanded to do, and even when we obey God, He doesn't owe us anything yet. There are at least 25 times in the New Testament that we are told that God will reward his people according to their works.
Now be careful with that word according to or that phrase. That does not mean because the works earn the reward. But God says, in my grace. even though you are unprofitable servants. I'm storing up in heaven.
rewards for you that I will distribute According to your service, according to your works, even though those works don't deserve it. This is a gracious distribution. of rewards. Or as Saint Augustine said, God crowning His own gifts.
So even when we receive those rewards at heaven, we receive them as people who in and of ourselves are still unprofitable certainly. And it's almost thinly veiled or hinted at in Jesus' parable here when he says, you know, after you serve me, Then you can eat and you can drink. and you will have. your reward.
Well, let's look quickly at chapter 19. and see what else Jesus says here about service. in the parable that's recorded in verse 11. Where we read this.
Now as they heard these things He spoke another parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. Therefore he said a certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. And so he called ten of his servants, Deliver to them. Ten Minus. Or, this is sometimes called talents, it's a unit of currency, and he said to them, Do business.
Until I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded those servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas. And he said to him, Well done.
Good servant. Because you were faithful in very little, have authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Master, your mina has earned five minas and likewise he said to them, You also will be over five cities. And another saying, Master, here is your mina, which I have kept, put away in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you, because you are an austere man, and you collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow. And he said to him, out of your own mouth.
I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit, and reaping what I did not sow. Why, then, did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest? And he said to those who stood by, Take the mina from him and give it to him who has ten minas. But they said to him, Master, he already has ten minas.
For I say to you that to every one who has will be given, and from him who does not have even what he has will be taken away from him. Bring here those enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them and slay them before me. This is a parable of capitalism. A parable of productivity What Jesus is saying with respect to stewardship as well as with respect to service. that his people are called to delayed gratification.
Their call to invest in the future. But again, that the investments may grow. And he tells this story of this rich master who has to go away, just like Christ has ascended into heaven and left us as his servants behind with the treasures that we have during his absence. And what is he saying? When I come back, I expect to find that that which I have given you.
has gained in value. that progress has made. Because I want my people, my servants, to be productive servants. Again, we're unprofitable, but that doesn't mean we're supposed to be unproductive, where we say, oh, well, you know, nothing that I do on behalf of the Savior is going to add to my value. It's all his.
So I'm going to sleep in tomorrow morning. And so I'm not going to take the gift that he gave to me and multiply it. and make it produce more. I'll hide it. Under a bush.
Put it in a napkin so that nothing happens to it.
So that when he comes back, I can say, here's the gift you gave me, nothing happened to it. It's just as good as it was when you left. And Jesus said, I'll take that right away from you. and give it to the man who multiplied the gift ten times. Who used the gifts that I gave him.
to be productive for the kingdom's sake.
Now that is a heavy parable of service. That one of the worst things we can ever do is to waste the gifts that God has given to us. Because those gifts are given to us for Christ's sake. For his glory, for his honour. He's the one Before whom the cherubim and the seraphim and all of the angels of heaven cast down their golden crowns beside the glassy sea.
They take their great gifts and present them to Christ. Because there is in the first place. And that's what we are to do with our service. We are to be. Productive servants.
Now what does the apostle tell us about this? Let's look quickly at 1 Corinthians chapter 4. where Paul is giving an admonition to the Corinthian Christians. First Corinthians four, beginning at verse one. Listen to what he says.
Let a man so consider us as servants of Christ. and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
Now ladies and gentlemen. a stored in the ancient work. was some one who was given the responsibility to manage the household. And so he was entrusted with the possessions. of the owner.
And so the chief requirement of the steward was fidelity. an unfaithful steward was a crook.
Somebody who would steal. from the owner. And Paul says, do you realize that we are servants and stewards of the mysteries of God? God has entrusted these things. To us.
And so he says. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you. or by a human court. In fact, I don't even judge myself, for I know nothing against myself, yet I'm not justified by this. He who judges me is the Lord.
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. then each one's praise will come from God. My stewardship, my service, Paul says. is not to be judged by men. The value of my stewardship is under the scrutiny of God.
My service will be judged. By Christ. Not by men. Not by you. Not even by myself.
Because I can't give an accurate assessment of my own service and of my own obedience. I'm biased. And you can't read my heart, and you can't give an accurate assessment of my service. Only the searcher of human hearts can do that. That's why, again, the service that we are to give.
is to be unto the Lord. and before his scrutiny. Let me conclude our brief glimpse of the importance of service by turning your attention to what Paul writes to the Ephesians in the sixth chapter beginning at verse five. Here he's giving instructions to people in antiquity who were, in fact, bondservants. But the message that he gives to the bondservants applies to every servant of Christ.
Listen to what he says.
Finally, bondservants, Be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh With fear and trembling, In sincerity of heart as to Christ, he's telling people who are slaves to do their service before their owners as if they were serving Christ.
Now listen to this. Please listen to this. Not with eye service. As men pleasers. But as bondservants of Christ.
Doing the will of God from the heart. I would say the greatest weakness in the Church to day is that the servants of God keep looking over their shoulder for the approval of men. As soon as we are slaves too, Human opinion, public opinion. Trying to please human beings instead of God.
Soon as that happens... The message of Christ. will be compromised. No one preaches the whole counsel of God. who is a man-pleaser.
And so I charge you before God. to keep your eyes on Christ. and not on the judges. of this world. That is indeed a great charge, and indeed a great reminder, isn't it?
living for the approval of men rather than God is the gateway to compromise. Instead, we must do all things for the glory of God. We have barely scratched the surface of this series.
So if you found it helpful, remember that you can get lifetime downloadable access to the entire ten part series if you call us at eight hundred four three five forty three forty three. or give a gift online at renewingyourmind.org. If you call or give this week, you'll also get the e-book edition of Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow, as well as one of our crucial questions booklets, How Should I Live in This World? This teaching series is perfect for home study or small groups, and our Crucial Questions booklets are perfect for giving to friends who might be struggling with that very topic. If you've stuck with us this whole week, you'll know that this was the fourth of our five things.
So I hope you'll return again tomorrow for the fifth and final episode of our study together, How to Be a Good Steward. That'll be Friday here. on Renewing Your Mind.
