Text: “If I (Christ Jesus)
then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one
another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye
should do as I have done to you.”
John 13:14-15.
Good morning, serving
Christian! It is not enough for you, nor
for me, to have been graciously saved by our wonderful Lord God - if we are to
find true soul-contentment, we must also serve the risen Christ Who has saved
us. Is this your heart’s desire today, dear friend? It is, most certainly, mine.
“Now therefore fear
the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which
your father’s served on the other side of
the flood, and in Egypt (the world); and serve
ye the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14)
Dictionary Definition: Serve: (verb) to be a servant to;
to be in the service of; to worship; to work for; to render service to; to
perform service for or under; to perform the duties or do the work connected
with;…to attend as assistant; to be
of use to or for; to avail;…to satisfy; to
further; to minister to; to attend to the requirements of; to supply; to
provide with materials;…to help to food,
etc; to present food in a specified manner…to behave towards;…to conform one’s conduct to…etc. (Chambers
Dictionary p.1511)
Wow! The power of a humble
English Dictionary! So much more
meaning! A wealth of sermon material
here for the preacher/teacher!
In our text today, we find the
Lord Jesus stating the obvious fact that He has, by His action in washing His
disciples feet, left us a clear example to follow in our Christian lives of
service to Him. We are called to serve
others in Christian love.
Christ’s Servants: The first vital step in being a servant of
Christ is to make sure that we are, in fact, His servants, and not merely some ‘religious do-gooders’. Therefore, as the Scriptures
clearly teach: “…Ye MUST be born again.” (John
3:3-8) (Titus 3:5-6)
Christian Servants: There can be no service to Christ without first
becoming a Spiritually regenerated Christian.
We must repent from sin, before we can seek to “…follow peace with all men, and Holiness, without which
no man shall see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)
Personal sin separates us from service to our Holy Lord God. We must be sanctified for service daily.
Christ Worshippers: If we are not spending time in prayerful
fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, worshipping Him in spirit and in truth
constantly - we can never be in a right spirit of service to our fellow
Christian believers and to others yet outside Christ’s Kingdom.
Christians should be in some manner ‘Christ like’. We learn how
to be like Jesus through being in close fellowship with Him. We study His Word and speak with Him in
prayer.
(2 Timothy 2:15)
(2 Timothy 2:15)
“As for me, I will
call upon God; and the Lord shall save me.
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud; and He
shall hear my voice.” (Psalm 55:16-17)
Christian Waiters: Serving, as our dictionary definition reveals,
entails a constant supplying of food; provision of materials;…helping to food, etc; presenting (Spiritual) food in a
specified manner.
The ‘food’ we seek to supply
as Christian waiters (I.e. waiting upon the Lord in service) is primarily
Spiritual food from God’s great Word. In this manner we provide ‘…the bread of life…’ to needy souls -
saved and yet unsaved - all around us, and in every place to which we can reach
out. In this manner we ‘…cast our bread upon the waters…’ (Ecclesiastes
11:1) The ‘Bread‘, is the Word of God. The ‘waters’ are the nations of the world.
Christ’s Ministers: Christ’s most faithful ministers, minister Christ to all who
will receive Him as both Saviour, and as Lord.
In this manner we are often called to ‘minister’ to each other as God’s Word teaches us so to do.
“Confess your faults
one to another (another believer), and pray one for another, that ye may be
healed. The effectual fervent prayer of
a righteous man/woman (made righteous in Christ Jesus by faith) availeth much.” (James 5:16)
Christ’s Serving Spirit:
While in Dallas , Texas
Christ’s Spirit was a serving Spirit, the Master was always
seeking to serve people in a myriad of manners - all unselfish. We too must therefore seek to be always
available to serve the needs of others and to influence others with the Spirit
of Christ Jesus. His loving, living
Spirit constantly inspires us to serve.
Thought: “If ye know these
things, happy are ye if ye do them.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
I invite comments that are Christian in nature. All comments are moderated, and any negative submissions are deleted and never published.