[0:00] It's a biblical ideal. Now we're all acquainted with David. David who was a man after God's own heart.
[0:11] David who was a man of war. Who was a great soldier. It was David who killed the giant Goliath. It was David who slew his ten thousands and saw his thousands.
[0:24] It was David who never lost a battle. David was also a great sovereign. He was Israel's greatest king. The one who all other kings were compared to afterward.
[0:36] The one who was to be Israel's prince during the coming millennial reign of Jesus Christ. It was David who was Israel's sweet psalmist who wrote the magnificent songbook, which is the book of Psalms.
[0:52] It was David who was a great seer who wrote some of the most stirring passages on the future sufferings of our savior and wrote still further into the future writing many a psalm on the tribulation, on the second advent, and on the millennial reign.
[1:11] And yet if we look at Acts chapter 13, verse 36 says, this is something of an epitaph of David.
[1:30] It says, Of all things that could have been said about David, God's great commendation of him was that he was a servant.
[1:57] David served his own generation by the will of God and then fell on sleep and was laid unto his fathers. David was many things. He was a sovereign.
[2:09] He was a soldier, a seer, a psalmist, but he was remembered by God as a servant. Joshua 1.1 says, Now after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead.
[2:35] Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I did give to them, even to the children of Israel. Romans 1.1 says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.
[2:55] Philippians 2.5-8, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
[3:24] And again, speaking of Jesus Christ, Isaiah 42.1 says, Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth.
[3:34] So then, the greatest thing that God could say about David, was that he was a servant. And the greatest thing that God could say about Moses, was that he was a servant.
[3:49] And the greatest thing that Paul could say about himself, was, I am a servant. And the greatest thing about Jesus Christ, when he came into this world, was, that he was God's servant.
[4:04] Certainly, we can all use a little more servanthood in our lives. We will never be a sovereign. We will never be soldiers. We will never be a seer.
[4:16] But if there's one thing that we can all be, we can all be a servant. Amen. You know, Luke, chapter 19, Luke, chapter 19, started, verse 13.
[4:44] Now, again, you guys are probably familiar with this. This is, of course, a kingdom of God parable. It's applicable to the Christian in the age of grace.
[4:55] It tells us something about the return of Jesus Christ. It tells us something about the judgment seat of Christ and the rewarding of the saints. verse 13 says, and he called his 10 servants and delivered them 10 pounds and said unto them, occupy till I come.
[5:18] Occupy, do God's business. But his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying, we will not have this man to reign over us.
[5:29] And it came to pass that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
[5:44] Then came the first saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained 10 pounds. And he said unto him, well, thou good servant, because thou has been faithful in every little, have thou authority over 10 cities.
[6:05] And the second came saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said, likewise to him, be thou also over five cities. Now the application, again, has to do with the rewarding of the saints in regards to the millennial inheritance.
[6:26] And thank goodness that we as Bible believers understand the doctrical application. But if we aren't living the practical application, what good is it?
[6:42] If we aren't being obedient, if we aren't being faithful, if we aren't serving the interests of God, rather, our own interests, then we aren't going to be the rewarded servant.
[6:59] But rather, we'll be the servant in verse 19. And he said, likewise to him. Well, it's not verse 19. I apologize. Verse 22 says, and he saith unto him, out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant.
[7:20] Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow. Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury.
[7:41] Woe unto us, if we know the doctrinal application, but have not been applying it practically in our lives. Because we will be at that judgment seat, that servant who is rebuked, who knew the will of the father, but did otherwise.
[8:05] So again, if we would reign with Christ one day, and if we would be rewarded, we must know what is pleasing unto him.
[8:15] And it's quite evident that God is looking for and delighteth in a servant. God's looking for a man who's separate, a man who's holy.
[8:30] God's looking for the servant. And lastly, we need to suffer a little more. No one wants to suffer.
[8:41] We would all much prefer a peaceful, comfortable, painless life. But the reality is, if we were to reap at the judgment seat of Christ, if we were to reign with Christ in the millennial kingdom, if we were to be conformed to the image of our Savior, we are going to have to patiently endure a little suffering.
[9:02] Really, we're going to have to learn to embrace suffering and not run away from it and avoid it when we see it in our lives.
[9:15] We're going to have to, as James says in James 1, 2 through 4, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, into diverse trials, into diverse sufferings, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
[9:33] But let patience have her perfect work. She may be perfect entire, wanting nothing. And again, he says in verse 12, Blessed is that man that endureth temptation, that endureth trial, that endureth suffering.
[9:51] For when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let me just give you a few verses now to consider and then we'll wrap things up and close.
[10:09] Psalm 34, 19 says, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.
[10:21] 2 Corinthians 4, 17 says, For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us to far more exceeding an eternal weight of glory.
[10:33] Philippians 1, 29 says, For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.
[10:47] And 2 Timothy 2, 12 says, If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. And Hebrews 10, or Hebrews 2, 10 through 12 says, For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
[11:17] For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church while I sing praise unto thee.
[11:35] Now if the captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering, we also ought to give place to a little suffering in our own lives.
[11:53] A couple years ago, I listened to a message by Dr. James Lentz, who is, at least in my opinion, one of the greatest preachers I've ever listened to.
[12:06] And this particular message that he preached on was one of the greatest and one of the most difficult messages that I've ever listened to.
[12:19] It burdened me for days. I actually wished that I'd never heard it in the first place. It was one of those messages that you have no choice but to respond to it.
[12:34] And even the simple act of not responding to it is in fact a response because it's a rejection. And you would forever know that you did just that, that you rejected that message.
[12:53] You know, there's many messages that we can listen to and walk away from with no sense of conviction whatsoever. But not so with this particular one.
[13:05] This one dogged me. It unsettled me. Wouldn't leave me alone. And I knew I couldn't reject it.
[13:18] But on the other hand, it wasn't a case of simply submitting to the message because within the message there was degrees of submission. each one requiring a greater cost.
[13:31] You could believe or you could submit at a low level, at a level that was a little bit higher and you could submit at a much higher level which required great suffering.
[13:47] Basically, it was a complete yieldedness to the Lord to do with you as he pleased. And in our own lives, we're also going to have to come to that similar decision day by day.
[14:09] To what degree are we willing to submit to those things that we know are pleasing to him? To what degree are we willing to yield to him?
[14:24] You know, it's one thing to read through the Bible every day and to agree with the things that we read. It's an entirely different thing to submit to them, to act upon them, to believe them.
[14:45] You know, faith is believing. it's applying them to our lives. So the question is, will we submit ourselves to a little more separation, a little more holiness?
[15:03] Will we submit ourselves to a little more service, to a little more servanthood in our own lives? Will we submit to a little more suffering in our own lives?
[15:17] Because each of these things is pleasing to him. And God created us for his pleasure. So our greatest aim should be to be pleasing to him, that we might stand before him without shame one day.
[15:40] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.