A Servant’s Strength

Where Does a Christian get the Power to Serve?

Philippians 4:13
Audio mp3

Pastor Craig Ledbetter                                           

Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland

15 Feb, 2009  AM

www.biblebc.com

 

I.        Introduction (Hebrews 11:32-34; Philp 4:13)

 

A.      I want you to notice the words “out of weakness were made strong”. And contrast with Philp 4:13 where Christians can do all things thru Christ’s strength

B.      This month has been set aside to get every believer in our church, busy, serving the Lord!

C.      Most of us are busy. Life has a way of keeping us occupied. You actually have to work very hard to be lazy. There’s normal job work, and house work and school work, and homework and …

D.      God says to be not weary in “good work” - well doing, in doing right, and doing good works as Christians

 

1.       These are things we do, not like benevolent kings and queens, but as servants, whose highest calling and priority is others!

2.       There are too many people who look at the Christian life and wish they could live it, but only experience failure and disappointment

3.       I believe it is because we have the “Movie Star” view of the Christian Life – we see only the glamour of the lifestyle, and not the long hours and extensive training and repetition and hard work that goes into making films (after watching a family film, we love to watch the “Making of the film” on the DVD that shows all the people, and all the goof-ups, and the work that went into putting it all together)

 

E.       A Christian’s life is the life of a servant.

 

1.       Yes, we are children of the King of kings

2.       But we are servants first!

3.       When Israel was in bondage in Egypt, God told Moses to go in to Pharaoh and tell him to “let my people go, that they may SERVE me”

4.       The greatest men and women in the Bible were SERVANTS of the most high God

5.       The highest praise any human can ever receive by Jesus Christ is “Well done, thou good and faithful SERVANT”

6.       Why is it that we HATE that title? Because we do not know the power that is only available to the SERVANT of Christ

 

a.       We know the power of our anger and wrath

b.       We know the power that money has in this world

c.        We know the power of fashion and beauty

 

7.       But, do Christians not know the power of SERVING GOD?

 

II.      Background

 

A.      The Realities of the Christian Life

 

1.       All of us are weak, weary, limited in strength, and insufficient for the life we have been called to live (2Cor 11:27-29)

 

a.       We get weary in well doing

b.       Serving the Lord is hard work

c.        Reading our Bibles every morning is hard work

d.       Praying is hard work – Jesus in Gethsemane shows us that

e.        Witnessing to a generation that is not listening is hard work

f.        Loving your enemy is hard work

g.        Holding together you marriage and family is hard work

 

2.       None of us are strong enough

3.       And it frustrates us! Because we feel like failures, and like we ought to be strong and more successful at life in general

 

B.      The Strength of the Servant Life.

 

1.       There is a supernatural strength in the life of a born again servant of God – more than of a king, or queen, or prince, or tyrant.

2.       This strength is like a wall socket in your house – fully powered and ready to supply all the necessary energy for whatever you plug into it.

3.       The same with these 7 things: each one has the necessary power behind it to enable God’s people to not dominate, not to conquer, but to SERVE!

 

III.   Message – The Strength of a Servant

 

A.      It is in SERVING  (Matthew 20:25-28; 1Cor 9:19; 2Cor 13:9)

 

1.       That’s where we all must begin

2.       Not in leading, commanding, demanding, or controlling

3.       But in ministering, giving of ourselves, letting others benefit from our efforts

4.       Not looking at the people you are serving, not doing it just for them, but looking at the Lord as the Person you serve

5.       Hey, you are not a slave to that husband, or to your parents, or to your boss – you are a SERVANT to the One who bought you, and freed you, and saved you, and loves you, and lives inside you, and empowers you AS you serve!

6.       Remember last week, I showed you that we were saved TO SERVE!

7.       Make sure that you constantly remind yourself that when you do things for anyone, no matter how small, you are doing it unto Jesus (Matthew 25:40)!

8.       Don’t miss out on this strength that is there for every Christian that comes by serving, serving, serving others, AS UNTO the Lord Jesus!

 

B.      It is found in SUBMISSION (Luke 7:2-9) – Oh, what a hard word!

 

1.       The Centurion soldier knew that Jesus had great power and abilities because Jesus was UNDER authority

2.       Here is the principle…

 

a.       When you’re under authority God gives you power and help you need

b.       When you are in rebellion, and are fighting your authority, you are left alone by God (1Pe 5:5 “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”)

 

3.       The way up for the Christian is simply by humbling yourself, yielding your rights – not a very modern way of living, but the only successful way

4.       The greatest victory of all time, was when even Jesus SUBMITTED to His Father, and gave up HIS OWN RIGHTS, and did His Father’s will! That’s how come He was able to finish on the cross, and pay off every one of your and my sin-debts before God!

5.       To get to this place, you have to allow yourself to be brought low, abased, humbled, and even humiliated Like Christ was (Philp 2:7)

6.       When you demand your rights, and force your way, and fight for the lead, you will do it to your own hurt

7.       So, Bite your tongue, grip your heart, and take your place as a servant in your home, on your job, in your class room, in this church

8.       And discover a power that wells up inside of you simply because you serve others as Christ told us to

 

C.      It is found in CONFIDENCE and ASSURANCE.

 

1.       Not in ourselves (Philp 3:3)

2.       Assurance of our Forgiveness by God (Col 2:13)

3.       Assurance of our Purpose (1Peter 4:2)

4.       Assurance of our Future (2Cor 5:6,8)

 

D.      It is found in PREPARATION (1Tim 2:15-21)

 

1.       We call it training. But not necessarily by formal education

2.       Training by learning this Bible

3.       Training by the fiery trials

4.       Training by watching and observing God’s hand in your life

5.       God is constantly at work, trying, like a Potter to mould and shape our lives to be a vessel of honour for Him

6.       We usually resist His work on us

7.       But it is in those times of humbling, patient, stressful preparation that we find His POWER to serve Him as a vessel of honour - a vase, a jar, a bowl, a cup – all are created for a special, honourable purpose to serve the Master!

 

E.       It is found in God’s ANOINTINGHis Power IN You (2Cor 12:7-10)

 

1.       Paul had preached, and worked miracles, and started churches, and won souls, and even wrote Scripture by the power of the Holy Ghost

2.       But he was not “perfect” until he was totally dependant upon God’s power in his life for absolutely everything

3.       The Bible also calls it an “anointing” (Acts 10:38; 1John 2:27). Strength and ability from God

 

a.       Jesus had it (Acts 2:18)

b.       David absolutely depended upon it (Psalm 18:1; 86:16; 138:3)

 

4.       It is given only upon request – not automatically in us

5.       Every believer has the Holy Spirit of God in them from the moment they received Christ as their Saviour, but they are not empowered by the Holy Spirit unless desperate for Him!!!

6.       This is the secret of the Christian life…

 

a.       Fully aware that we are totally unable to please and serve God as we are – no matter how able, and how talented we may be. We will always wear out, fall out, and fail

b.       Fully aware of the task at hand – all things we do are hard folks

c.        Totally rejecting our abilities AND our inabilities – a clear decision to reject our talents and money, and normal abilities (1Cor 2:3-5)

d.       Totally and absolutely desperate for God to enable us to the task at hand (EX: Jacob in Gen 32:24-26)

e.        This is where prayer becomes a place of power (Acts 4:29)

 

F.       It is found in FAITHFULNESS – staying the course (2Cor 4:7-18)

 

1.       Every time a Christian quits, or gives up, they start over

2.       Every step you take, and keep taking, even baby steps, you go from strength to strength

3.       That is how you build up your physical strength – by working out, not by quitting

4.       So also it is with living as a servant – the more you serve, the better you get at it!

5.       Not in ability, but in just staying at whatever God has called you to do

 

a.       Like the widow woman, and her persistence – she had no lawyer, no money, no eloquence, but she got her help that she needed!

b.       Like Moses – no longer able to speak, or command, or lead like he had back in Egypt, but when he just set out to faithfully do whatever God told him to do, that faithfulness paid off!

 

G.      It is found in PRAISE (Matthew 25:21; Neh 8:10)

 

1.       Just knowing the God almighty is pleased

2.       Knowing that you have blessed your heavenly Father

3.       Not seeking the praise of men anymore, but simply the praise of God (John 12:42,43)

 

IV.    Conclusion

 

A.      The Realities of the Christian Life

 

1.       All of us are weak, weary, limited in strength, and insufficient for the life we have been called to live (2Cor 11:27-29)

 

a.       We get weary in well doing

b.       Serving the Lord is hard work

c.        Reading our Bibles every morning is hard work

d.       Praying is hard work – Jesus in Gethsemane shows us that

e.        Witnessing to a generation that is not listening is hard work

f.        Loving your enemy is hard work

g.        Holding together you marriage and family is hard work

 

2.       None of us are strong enough

3.       And it frustrates us! Because we feel like failures, and like we ought to be strong and more successful at life in general

 

B.      The Strength of the Servant Life.

 

1.       There is a supernatural strength in the life of a born again servant of God – more than of a king, or queen, or prince, or tyrant.

2.       This strength is like a wall socket in your house – fully powered and ready to supply all the necessary energy for whatever you plug into it.

3.       The same with these 7 things: each one has the necessary power behind it to enable God’s people to not dominate, or to conquer, but to serve!

 

C.      The Places to “Plug-Into” for Strength

 

1.       It is in SERVING 

2.       It is in SUBMISSION – Oh, what a hard word!

3.       It is in CONFIDENCE and ASSURANCE.

4.       It is in PREPARATION

5.       It is in God’s ANOINTINGHis Power IN You

6.       It is in FAITHFULNESS – staying the course

7.       It is in PRAISE

 

D.      The Living of the Servant Life

 

1.       Begins at the Cross – totally empty, and in need of Jesus to save your life

2.       Is tapped into by simple, obedient faith in Jesus Christ – how profound!

3.       Is lived one day at a time – not yesterday, or tomorrow, but today

4.       Next week, we plug ourselves into some ministry, and start discovering the power that is available only to SERVANTS