SLAVERY

BE LIKE JESUS - A SERVANT

PHI 2:5-8, Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, 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.

MAT 10:24, "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.

JOH 15:20, "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

An admirer once asked the famous orchestra conductor Leonard Bernstein what was the most difficult instrument to play. He responded with quick wit: "Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second french horn or second flute, now that's a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony."

SOME CLAIM LOVING GOD IS IN

OPPOSITION TO LOVING MAN

1JO 4:20-21, If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

MAT 20:25-27, But Jesus called them to Himself, and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. "

THE BORROWER IS ENSLAVED TO THE LENDER :

PRO 22:7, The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender's slave.

WE OWE MAN, BECAUSE WE OWE GODPAUL MADE HIMSELF SLAVE TO MEN FOR CHRIST'S SAKE

1CO 10:32-33, Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.

1CO 11:1, Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

1CO 9:19-23, For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

PAUL TOLD WHAT ATTITUDE TO SERVE WITH

COL 3:22, Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

REQUIREMENTS OF SERVANTS

TO FOLLOW CHRIST :

JOH 12:26, "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

TO HAVE ONLY ONE MASTER :

MAT 4:10 Then Jesus *said to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'"

MAT 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

TO SERVE OTHERS :

JOH 13:14-16, "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master; neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him.

2CO 4:5, For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake.

GAL 5:13, For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

TO SERVE IN NEWNESS OF THE SPIRIT :

ROM 7:6, But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it. "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." (Margery Williams, "The Velveteen Rabbit" New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1958, pp. 16-17)

TO BE SENSITIVE TO A WEAKER BROTHER :

ROM 14:13-18, Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this-- not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way. I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

TO DIRECT SERVICE TOWARD CHRIST :

COL 3:24, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

TO BE FAITHFUL :

1CO 4:2, In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.

HEB 3:5, Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later;

Let's take a quiz from Charles Swindoll. See how well you do with the following questions:

1. Who taught Martin Luther his theology and inspired his translation of the New Testament?
2. Who visited Dwight L. Moody at a shoe store and spoke to him about Christ?
3. Who was the wife of Charles Haddon Spurgeon?
4. Who was the elderly woman who prayed faithfully for Billy Graham for over twenty years?
5. Who refreshed the Apostle Paul in that Roman dungeon as he wrote his last letter to Timothy?
6. Who were the parents of the godly and gifted prophet Daniel?

Okay, how did you do? Over fifty percent? Maybe twenty-five percent? Not quite that good? Before you excuse your inability to answer the questions by calling the quiz "trivia," better stop and think. Had it not been for those unknown people--those "nobodies"--a huge chunk of church history would be missing. And a lot of lives would have been untouched. Nobodies. What was it Jim Elliot, the martyred messenger of the gospel to the Aucas, once called missionaries? Something like a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt Somebody.

TO BE SUBMISSIVE TO MASTERS :

EPH 6:5, Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ;

1PE 2:18, Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.

TO SERVE BY GOD'S STRENGTH :

1PE 4:11, Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

GOOD SERVANTS ARE ACHIEVERS

Someone has noted the following 8 marks of achievers. They are:

1. Reliable
2. Enthusiastic
3. Initiators
4. Resourceful
5. Hard-working
6. Confident
7. Adaptable
8. Alert

MUST TREAT OTHERS WITH RESPECT

2TI 2:24-26, And the Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

USE YOUR FREEDOM TO SERVE

1PE 2:16, Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.

THE LORD'S OBEDIENT SLAVES ARE STILL UNWORTHY SLAVES :

LUK 17:10 "So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.'"

CREATION WILL BE SET FREE FROM SLAVERY TO CORRUPTION :

ROM 8:21, that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

THOSE UNDER THE LAW ARE ENSLAVED TO THE LAW :

GAL 4:24-5:1, This is allegorically speaking: for these women are two covenants, one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

UNBELIEVERS ARE IN SLAVERY THROUGH FEAR OF DEATH :

HEB 2:14-15, Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

SIN IS MASTER OF THE SINNER

JOH 8:34, Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.

CONTROL YOURSELF

1CO 9:26-27, Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.

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