 And a sermon title is A Servant's Heart, A Servant's Heart. And we are now discussing this paragraph in 1 Timothy 3 on the qualifications of deacons beginning in verse 8, moving through verse 13. There are two offices in the church. We began in chapter 3 by looking at the office of overseer, looking at the office of elder, those men that would lead the church. And now Paul transitions to providing qualifications for this second biblical office in the church. It's a very valuable, very essential office, also a leadership position, and that is the position of deacon. So I want to spend some time today giving you some heart background for this office of deacon. We are a church that believes in exposition, exegesis of God's Word. We preach verse by verse through Scripture, giving the sense of the Word of God, and we let the Word of God do the talking, amen. We want to know what the Word of God has to say, but today I want to give you some background with respect to this, and lay a foundation, if you will, for this office that we're going to look at of deacon, but also how that relates to the Christian. And we have the Christians here in this service that need to know what it means to serve in the church, and then particularly those men that would hold that office of deacon. There's not a lot in Scripture with respect to the office itself. We see the word deacon used specifically with respect to the office in a couple of places, but the cognate version of that word is used approximately 100 times in Scripture, and in this word specifically used 29 times in the New Testament, 21 of those times by Paul himself, and there's a lot to be learned from this word. The specific office of deacon is referenced only here, and in Philippians 1-1 where Paul says, Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all God's holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons, overseers referring to that office that we just completed looking at, and now the office that we're going to be looking at, this office of deacon. With Philippians written around 8061, and then 1 Timothy written around 8062-63, we just now begin to see this office taking distinct shape in the church. By the time that Paul writes here to Timothy, we have a clear office of deacon, and we have clear qualifications that are listed. It's interesting now that this word deacon is not a translation of the Greek word, it's actually a transliteration. The word is deaconos, and when the Bible talks about the office of deacon, it uses the transliteration form of that word deacon in the translation, or deaconos, but when it's used typically as a verb, or as an action, or something to do, it's translated in various ways depending on its context, and the transliteration isn't used, the actual translation is used. So in your Bibles, you'll see that word translated as servant, as helper, as attendant. It talks about a minister, or one in ministry, ministering to another. Now originally this word deacon, or deaconos, referred to someone who waited at a table, and that was what it literally meant, someone who waited at a table. Eventually in Scripture and in the church, it came to be more broadly known as someone who ministers to or cares for another person, specifically in the church, your brothers and sisters, but then eventually it came here to refer to the office, and that office that carries the responsibility of meeting the needs of the congregation. And many ways, and I want us to understand this, and we're going to spend some time talking about this today, and many ways the word itself defines, describes, and eventually points to the office. It defines and describes that service which is demanded of every single Christian by the Lord God, but it also describes that which the office points to as well. Refer to the way in which a president presides, or in the way that an overseer sees over, or watches over, in this sense a deacon has to know how to deek. He's got to be able to deek, okay? The deacon is the transliteration here. It's also interesting to note that this word for deacon is used a vast majority of times in Scripture, not to refer to the office, but to describe that usual, and as Scripture says, that reasonable service that is expected of a Christian. In the same way that we took pains to make sure that as we went through the paragraph with respect to elders, that we looked at each of those qualifications and how that applies in the life of a genuine Christian, every true Christian, we need to do the same thing here. This word deacon, and all that it implies, this active service, this issue of service in the Lord's church, applies to every single believer. If you're here today, and you profess to be a disciple of Christ, a disciple is a learning follower, someone who follows Christ, who serves Christ. A deacon here is a servant, and every Christian is a servant. If every Christian is a servant, then it's incumbent upon us to have a servant's heart. God isn't concerned with the ritualistic doing of stuff. God is concerned with the heart, and it's out of the heart that appropriate acts of service are done, and we've got to understand that here from 1 Timothy 3, and we'll look at other places in Scripture to support that. We would say then that every Christian, every Christian is to serve Christ, that you serve the Lord by serving his church and serving his people, and we're to be in service to one another. And furthermore, the office of deacon is a service role. These themselves, those men, are to serve the congregation. Scripture talks about service in several different ways. We have appropriate service, Christian service, and the way that Christians are to serve in the body, but Scripture also says that people can serve mammon. We see that in Matthew chapter 6. We also see in Scripture people serving sin, slaves to sin. We see that in Romans chapter 6. It is said in Titus 3 that people serve diverse lusts and pleasures, and it says in 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 19, there are those that serve corruption. Who are you serving? Are you serving your flesh? Are you serving diverse lusts and pleasures? Are you serving yourself, or are you serving Christ by serving his people, by serving in the church? Who are you serving this morning? What is the basis for Christian service, and what exactly does that look like? Where do we see that in Scripture? How is it defined? One is a Christian in the role of a servant, but then two as a deacon in the office, the church office of a servant, the church office of a deacon. Many in their practice see coming to Christ today as nothing more than a claim. You've got to understand that. I'm a Christian by claim. You had some experience. You made some decision. You did some act. And so you claim Christ for yourself. That claim of Christ, if it's true, has impact in your life. That claim for Christ, if it's true, bears fruit. And one of the fruits that it bears is Christian service. Is a love for your brother, a love for your sister, a love for the Lord that compels you to his work, compels you to serve in his vineyard, in his kingdom. And many think that, well, I'll just get a higher pastor to do that. Where are the deacons around here? They need to be doing that work. I just come to listen. You show up on a Sunday morning, like dinner and a show. The Christian life is a life of service. It's not merely a claim. It is ownership of your life by Christ placing you into service. And we'll see that today. So what is this issue of a servant? A servant is someone who is not at their own disposal. We need to understand that. They are at the disposal of another. A servant is someone who is employed entirely at the bidding of another, of a master, of a Lord in the church of your brothers and sisters. You are to serve your brothers and sisters in the Lord. This servant is the word deacon us and every Christian is a servant. In that sense, in the sense of service in the church, we need to understand that their obligation is to please another rather than pleasing themselves. Repentance and faith, repentance is a turning away from living for yourself. It's a turning away from pleasing yourself, a turning away from indulging the flesh, indulging your desires, indulging your lusts. It's a turning away from that life. And it is a devotion of yourself and abandoning of yourself to Christ, placing your faith and trust in Him. It is an entering into an employment of yourself in service to the Lord. This word for servant here gives the sense of the voluntary nature of that. There's another word in Scripture, doulas, which is a word for slave. That word also is meaningful and significant to the Christian. We have that word for slave that also applies to the Christian here. In emphasizing the voluntary nature of the role, we use the word servant. Both are appropriate. But what I want you to see, that your God servant, if your God servant, your God servant by purchase, very quickly turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, your God servant by purchase. If the Lord has genuinely saved you, if you have turned from sin, not talking about saying a prayer, walking an aisle, making a profession, I'm talking about repentance and faith, turning from sin, living a holy life before God, turning by faith to Christ, trusting Him and Him alone to save you, then you are God's servant by purchase. Look what it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and look beginning at verse 19, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, beginning in verse 19. This here, or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own? Let that sink in for a second. You are not your own. By virtue of your creation, you are not your own, but you have lived as your own your whole life. You have lived as your own as a rebel to God, and so Christ, if you're saved, has redeemed you out of the slave market of your own sin, redeemed you out of that rebellion for himself. It says here, he purchased you. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price, and that is a high price. Think about all that God gave to purchase your redemption. He gave everything. He gave everything, including his own son. He gave everything to save you. Everything to save you out of your sin, not to live in it. Everything to redeem you from cold indifference toward God. Everything to redeem you to his own, a faithful and fervent servant of his. You were bought at a price, therefore, the exhortation is glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. AW Pink says this, I like this. This servant, God's servant has recognized and yielded to God's claims upon him. Previously, he was his own servant, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, gratifying himself. But upon his conversion, when he got saved, he surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, took his yoke upon him to henceforth submit to his rule over him and be subject unto his will in all things. Anything in coming to Christ that because of this claim of forgiveness, because of this presumptuous claim of salvation in Christ that I'm forgiven, I've been pardoned, and so what else is there to do? Why is it that we have to obey? They believe that obedience is optional. Obedience is an optional in the Christian life. Obedience to God is a fruit of genuine saving faith. It will inevitably come by the power of the Spirit if you're truly in Christ. It's a fruit of living for him. But you're not only God's servant by purchase, you're also God's servant by covenant. Listen to what it says in Hebrews chapter 9, verse 14. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works, and here's the purpose, to serve the living God. And for this reason it goes on to say, cleansing your conscience and turning you from dead works to serve the living God, he, Christ, is the mediator of the new covenant. That word covenant there, meaning promise. It's a covenant, a promise to serve the living God. It's a promise that if you'll turn by repentance in faith to Christ, that the Lord will cleanse your conscience, will forgive you of your sin, will pardon you from iniquity, and they will cause you, as it says in Ezekiel 36, to walk in His statutes. First Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 9 talks about conversion this way. How you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Those verses point to purpose. They point to purpose in your salvation. To turn you from the idol of living for yourself. To turn you from the idol of self-indulgence and turn you to serving the living God. And that's what we're to do. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 56, let's see another example of this. Isaiah chapter 56, and again, you're God's servant. If you're saved, if you profess the name of Christ, you're saying, I'm God's servant by purchase. Christ paid the ransom for me to be redeemed, and as it says in Scripture, ordained that I should walk in good works. They were created beforehand that I should walk in them. And then you're God's servant by covenant. Look at an example of this in Isaiah chapter 56, and look down beginning in verse 6. This passage, Isaiah 56, is speaking of gospel times, speaking of when Jesus Christ would go to the cross, speaking of the Messiah here, and in verse 6 it begins this way. Also the sons of the foreigner. If you're outside the Jewish, the children of Israel, you're a son of the foreigner. If you're a Gentile, you're a son of the foreigner. These sons of the foreigner now in Christ are flooding into the kingdom. Gentiles being saved. But look at what it says, who joined themselves to the Lord. That joining themselves there is repentance and faith. How do you join yourself to the Lord? You join yourself to the Lord by turning from your sin and putting your faith alone in Christ alone to save you. That joining of the Lord there, joining to the Lord is the covenant of your salvation, the covenant of your redemption. That's the Lord entering into covenant with you, that if you repent, turn from your sin, put your faith and trust in Christ alone to save you, then I will cleanse you from sin, and as the new covenant says in Ezekiel 36, cause you to walk in my statutes. Jesus is entering into covenant with God in salvation, and it gives the purpose there, the word to says in verse one, who joined themselves to the Lord to serve him. That's the purpose. Are you claiming to be joined today to the Lord through repentance and faith? If you claim to be joined to the Lord in any other way, you need to understand the Bible says that anyone who comes to him by any other way is like a thief and a robber. You're hiking over the wall thinking that you're getting to Christ. Those who join themselves to Christ, join themselves to Christ through repentance, turning from sin and faith, putting their faith and trust in Christ to save them. Are you claiming to be joined to God? The Bible says that that joining yourself to God is for the purpose of serving him. Now we'll serve him as Christians for all eternity, and we'll serve him in worship and praise of him, and isn't he worthy of our worship? Doesn't it just give you joy in your heart to think that one day, free from sin altogether, with a perfectly clean conscience, with all the saints in glory the same way, praising and worshiping the Lamb, that will be awesome. But listen, now, today, now, isn't it a joy to serve Christ? Isn't it a joy, not a burden, to obey him, to live for him? How many would you say, amen, when you gain some victory over that besetting sin? Praise God, you just want to be holy. I want to live for the Lord, I want to serve him. When you obey him in faithfulness to his word, and then in the grace and kindness and mercy of God, how he blesses you in your obedience, it's like a cherry on top, right? You just want to obey, and you want to please the Lord, but then you can't obey enough to outpace his blessing of that. It's like every act of obedience is just him sanctifying you, conforming you into the image of his son, giving you joy, and giving you blessing in your obedience. The Lord just lavishes his grace, right? Grace upon grace upon grace. But if you're claiming the name of Christ today, and you're not involved from the heart serving him with all you are, you're missing out on that. You're missing out on that. Here, they join themselves to the Lord for the purpose of serving him. But look what it says, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants. Again, purpose. It's a purpose of serving him. There's no more room here, right, for empty profession. There's no more room here for hypocrisy. I'm a Christian, but I show up on Sunday morning from 11 to 12, and that's it. There's no room for hypocrisy. There's no room to live in your sin here when you are a servant or a do-loss, a slave of Christ. And if you're a slave of Christ, you're a slave of righteousness. There's no room here for hypocrisy. And it says, it goes on to say, everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and holds fast my covenant. Here's the promise. Here's this covenant. God has said he'll save you. Do you believe him? Do you believe him? If you're here today, and you're not saved, why not? There are eternal blessings waiting for you, and you're going to wallow in your sin? The Lord will save you, and he'll cleanse you, and he'll wash you. He'll pardon you. He'll make you clean like Christ. He'll robe you, cleanse you, clothe you in the righteousness of Christ. He'll stand before him as perfect. Why would you continue in your sin? Why would you continue living that wicked life? Aren't you sick and tired of it? Join yourself to him as a servant of the Lord. This is his covenant. And today, you've claimed the name of Christ. You've professed to know Christ. Then hold fast that covenant. It's an exhortation from the Lord here. That means to hold fast. It means to, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, hold fast the covenant. That's a servant's heart. He says in verse 7, even them, even us, right? Us wicked Gentiles. You wicked slave of your sin. While you were yet ungodly, Christ died for you. If you'll repent and believe the gospel. He'll say, he says, even them, even these Gentiles, I'll bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. That's interesting there. He doesn't say house of preaching. There are those that can sit in the house of preaching and be hypocrites all day long. But to draw nigh unto God in prayer requires righteousness. That's not righteousness you have of your own. That's Christ's righteousness. Listen, the Bible says in John 9 that God does not hear the prayer of the wicked. God hears the prayer of the righteous. And that isn't your righteousness. That is Christ's righteousness credited to you when you turn from sin and put your faith in Him. And that's the only way that we can be joyful in prayer. Drawing nigh to the holy God of the universe is in righteousness that comes through Christ. It says their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar. You know that you can do works of service, works of sacrifice that are pleasing to God. It's amazing. You do that in Christ. Outside of Christ all your works are as a filthy rag to God. That's what the Bible says, Isaiah 64. But in Christ all of your works, your good works are pleasing to Him. Isn't that a great joy, Christian? You can serve and be pleasing in the eyes of God. For my house, he says, shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Lord God who gathers the outcasts of Israel says, yet I will gather to Him others besides those who are gathered to Him as a great blessing from God. You're God's servant by purchase. You're God's servant by covenant. The covenant mentioned here means coming to Him in repentant faith. And when you come to Him in repentant faith, you are solemnly entering into promise with God to perform the duties of a servant. It says it this way in Psalm 123, verse 2, and I like this, Psalm 123, verse 2, behold, it says, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters and as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God until he has mercy on us. It's interesting at the end there, until he has mercy on us, points to faith. Not just looking out for the intentions or the intimations of God's will or his intentions for us, but looking to him by faith until he has mercy on us. It's an act of faith. It's an act of trust, a trusting, humble, loyal servant. Let me give you another example. Turn to John chapter 12. John chapter 12. And again, what we're doing here is we're unpacking, if you will, today, the basis or the foundation for this word, diaconas in Scripture, this concept of being a servant, having a servant's heart. That's going to mark the Christian is certainly going to mark the diacon. We see another example of this in John chapter 12. And let's look beginning at verse 20. John chapter 12, verse 20. Here, the context is the triumphal entry of Christ. Christ as king is entering Jerusalem, humble and seated on a donkey. And they're worshiping him, praising him, saying, hallelujah, we know the scene. And so Christ is coming into Jerusalem, the triumphal entry. And look at what it says in verse 20. Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip who was from Bethsaida of Galilee and asked him, saying, sir, we wish to see Jesus. Verse 22, Philip came and told Andrew. And in turn, Andrew and Philip told Jesus. Now look at how Jesus responded. Verse 23, but Jesus answered them saying, the hour has come that the Son of man should be glorified. Now all along, many of these that followed Christ, if Christ were the Messiah, they believed that he would set up his earthly kingdom and destroy Rome. He would overthrow Rome, that Christ would rule and reign from Jerusalem with a rod of iron, and that his earthly kingdom would be established. Christ didn't come at that point to establish his earthly king. He came to establish himself as the suffering servant. But they would have remembered the prophecies. Many, knowing their Old Testament, would have thought of the prophecy in Daniel 7 with respect to this. Look, listen to what Daniel 7 says of this prophecy. One, like the Son of man was coming. And he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom. That's Daniel 7, verse 13. Now listen, there's a purpose that follows. He was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom. That, so that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. The purpose, Christ given glory, given dominion, given a kingdom, that men from every tribe, town, nation on the earth would serve him. Again, that purpose of service. But now's not the time for that earthly kingdom to be set up. In John chapter 12, look at what it says in verse 24. Christ says, most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. And we're reminded here that you can't have the kingdom without the cross. That Christ must suffer and die. And that in Christ's suffering and in his death, paying the ransom for those that would repent and believe that he will be ushering in people of every tribe, tongue, and nation into the kingdom. That grain must die. The much grain there is salvation. Floods of Gentiles coming to faith in Christ. Floods of people being saved. And when we go to Revelation chapter 4 and we see the innumerable multitude around the throne worshiping and praising Christ, these are they. This is Christ bringing an innumerable host to himself, saving them out of the world. But look at what it says now in verse 25. Are you going to be a part of that harvest? Are you going to be a part of that? When Christ brings forth from his death, from his resurrection much grain, are you a part of that? Or are you the weed that will be cast into the fire? Ask yourself that question. Examine yourself before the Lord. Where are you in this? Will you serve him? In verse 25 it says, He who loves his life will lose it. And he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. In verse 25, there is a beautiful and clear testimony of the depth, of the scope, of the width, of the necessity of our Christian service. Summarize really well here in verses 25 and 26. Verse 25, he who loves his life will lose it. He who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. What does that mean? Loving your life in this world means preferring it, prioritizing it over the interests and works of God's kingdom. You serve your life, you serve yourself first. When your feet hit the ground in the morning, the alarm goes off, you set about serving yourself, thinking of yourself, thinking of your priorities, thinking of your preferences, thinking of your day. Not subjected to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, subjected to your own desires, your own whims, your own needs. It is prioritizing your life first. If you do that, scripture says in verse 25, you will die. You'll die. And that is eternal death in hell, eternal torment. He who loves his life will lose it. Hating your life in this world, by contrast, is living for Christ. Not living for yourself, living for Christ as your first priority. It means prioritizing Christ above all. Prioritizing Christ as supreme above your family. Certainly prioritizing Christ as supreme above you. Prioritizing Christ above your goals, your plans, your desires, your hopes, your dreams. Praise God, when you come to Christ, your hopes, your dreams are his hopes and his dreams for you. Your desires are his desires for you. But outside of Christ, hating your life, hating your life in Christ is hating this world, is hating your flesh, and it is prioritizing Christ above all, even above your own life. Listen, to come to Christ this way, this is buying the pearl of great price. This is buying the field, selling everything that you have to buy the field to acquire the treasure. This is coming to Christ at all cost, not holding anything back, not prioritizing anything over coming to Christ. This is the clarion call of the gospel. This is to come to Christ and to sell all that you have, to give up everything that you have. And it's interesting to me, but in scripture, scripture describes this as your reasonable service. It's your reasonable service, it's just your duty. Matthew 10, verses 37 to 39 says this. Think about it in light of this. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Is that just a platitude? No, Christ is supreme. All of your devotion, all of your affection, all of your zeal wrapped up in Christ and who He is and what He's done, Christ is all. It goes on to say, He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Did I write that in your Bible or is it there too? Do you see it? That's biblical truth. That's biblical truth. And He who does not take His cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. That following after me there is serving Him. It's obeying Him. It's living for Him. It's a commitment of everything you are to Him. He who finds and He repeats it here. It's repeated here in Matthew 10. He who finds His life will lose it. He who loses His life for my sake will find it. This is, as Romans 12 says, a living sacrifice of yourself. You're to be a living sacrifice, poured out on the altar for Christ. And at the end of all that, at the end of that sacrifice of everything you are, it's just your reasonable service. But listen, isn't it worth it? Look at what Christ has done to redeem you. And then look at what He's redeemed you to. An inheritance in heaven with Him. Second Timothy 2 calls it eternal glory. And you can have eternal glory in Christ be redeemed to Him. That means turning from your life. It means abandoning your life, losing your life for Christ. For the excellency of knowing Him. It's the one who hates His life in this world that keeps it to eternal life. This is the determined willingness, the determined resolve to give up everything to follow Christ. And it's that willingness, it's that resolve that distinguishes every true Christian from every false, hypocritical, fake professor. This is the mark of those who are in Christ. That is the servant's heart. I'll abandon myself to Him. It's a love and devotion of Christ that is second to none. It's very interesting in verse 26 with respect to Christian service. Listen to what verse 26 says. If anyone serves the Akane, if anyone serves me, let Him follow me. Serving Christ is following Christ. Following Christ is serving Christ. Are you serving Christ? In what way are you serving Him? How are you serving Him? What does that look like? If you're not serving Christ, you're not following Him. If you're not following Him, you're not in Christ. It goes on to say, let Him follow me. And where I am, there my servant, the Akanas, will be also. Are you a servant of His? If anyone serves the Akane again, if anyone serves me, Him my Father will honor. Christ says these words, and in less than a week, Christ will accomplish the supreme service of securing salvation for the Father in redeeming God's people. The salvation of God's people for the Father, a supreme act of service for the Father. And we're to follow in service to Him in the same way. Our example in this is Christ. That's where Luke 9 comes in. Denying yourself, taking up your cross daily and following Him. John says we also ought walk just as He walked. That's where the basis for service comes from here. Everything with respect to serving Christ comes from the example of Christ. Serving here is giving everything to Christ. To follow Him is to serve Him. And if you do that, look at the two promises in verse 26. One, where I am, there my servant will be also. He goes to prepare a place for you. That where He is, you may be also. There are mansions waiting in heaven. But also it says, if you serve Him, my Father will honor Him. And that's glory, that's sonship, that's adoption. My Father will honor Him, honor Him as a son. With this in mind, you gotta understand, a servant's heart is not just doing a bunch of stuff. You can't be a true servant just doing a bunch of, do you sometimes think about it that way? Service to Christ, service in the church as just doing a bunch of stuff? Gotta do this, gotta do that. Gotta go here, gotta go there. This is out of great affection, great devotion, great zeal, great love for Christ who gave everything for you. This is from the heart. This is not just ritualistic doing of stuff. This is love and affection for Christ. All of who you are devoted to all of who He is, prophet, priest, and king, Lord, master. As Pink says, this is to perceive His just requirements of you, to own His absolute authority and to dedicate yourself wholly unto Him. It's to be a servant, one who does what his master bids him to do, the one who seeks to please him and to promote his interests. You gotta remember, and this is replete in Scripture, that Scripture depicts a love for Christ as obedience to Him, as service to Him. John 14, 15 says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. Doesn't say if you'll obey me, you'll keep my commandments. Doesn't say if you honor me, you'll keep my commandments. Doesn't say if you fear me, keep my, it does in other places. But this obedience here is characterized as love. Do you love Him? The Bible says, if you love Him, you'll keep His commandments. Bible also says, He says, I know Him, but does not keep His commandments as a liar. Think about it this way, in light of all that Christ has done. The Bible says in Matthew chapter six, verse 24, Christ says this, that you cannot serve God and mammon. Now, mammon are riches, it's wealth, it's money, possessions, property, okay? And you and I both have known people who, with all that they are, have served money, served wealth. When they get up in the morning, that's the focus of their mind, man, getting the next dollar. Climb in the corporate ladder so I can get the next car, the bigger house, the fancier boat, right? So I can play golf all I want to, so I can do this, we can go on those vacations. It's just they serve, they're living for mammon. What does it look like when someone lives for that? When you live for money, when you live for wealth, what does it look like? Man, it looks like getting up early and staying late, doesn't it? Now, it looks like working hard. Doing everything, if you start a business, it means pouring yourself into that business. If you're working for a boss, it means doing everything you can to please that boss to get the next raise, to get the next buck. It means meditating on it, doesn't it? I gotta get more so I can get to the next level. Man, just one more raise and I can get that car. We gotta move out of this dump, I need a bigger, better house. Man, it's thinking about it, it's meditating on it. They love it, they're devoted to it. Many of you, that was you before conversion, that was me before conversion. Just interested in the world, the things of the world making money. Does your service to Christ, since you claim his name, does it look at least like that kind of devotion? The way that you might have served money or the way that you know of people who serve money, serve wealth, serve property, looking for the next thing, the next trinket, does your devotion to Christ look at least as zealous as that? Jesus said, you can't serve God and mammon. Those two things are mutually exclusive. When you stop serving money, stop serving yourself and you pour yourself into serving God, your Christian service is gonna look zealous. It's gonna be from the heart of gratefulness to God and for his glory. And in this, we have the supreme example of Christ. Christ said in Matthew chapter 20, verse 28, just as the son of man did not come to be served, he didn't come to be deaconed, but he came to serve, he came to deac and to give his life a ransom for many. Christ in Luke chapter 22, verse 27, for who is greater? He who sits at the table or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table who is greater? And Christ says, yet I am among you as the one who serves. Christ is our example in this. Christ said he came not to do his own will, but the will of him who sent him. It is Christ of whom the Father says in Isaiah 42, verse one, behold my servant whom I uphold my elect one in whom my soul delights. Man, an awesome thought. In your service to Christ, God can delight, God's soul delights in you. I think God delights in servants to begin with. He's always calling them servants in scripture. David my servant, Samuel my servant, this one my servant, this one my servant, Paul my servant, here Jesus Christ my servant. Just delights in that Christian service. His soul delights in that. Take joy in that Christian. You should be encouraged in that sacrificial service that God takes delight in that. Listen to this hymn. This is from Horatius Bonar in 1843. He wrote this, go labor on, he says, spend and be spent by joy to do the Father's will. It is the way the master went should not the servant tread it still. Amen. It's the way the master went. Should not the servant tread it still. We ought to walk just as he walked. Go labor on, it goes on to say, tis not for naught, thine earthly loss is heavenly gain. Men heed thee, love thee, praise thee not. The master praises, what are men? Go labor on, enough while here if he shall praise thee if he deign, thy willing heart to mark and cheer. It's interesting to know that your willing serving heart God marks and causes cheer. It causes delight in him. Let's see you serve at willing heart. The Lord delights in that. It says no toil for him shall be in vain. Go labor on while it is day. The world's dark night is hastening on. Speed, speed thy work cast sloth away. It is not thus that souls are one. We have work to do and it doesn't get done in sloth. There are souls that must come to Christ that he will have his full reward and those souls will come at the work of God's people in his vineyard, not through sloth. Speed, speed thy work cast sloth away. It is not thus that souls are one. Toil on, faint not, keep watch and pray. Be wise the airing soul to win. Go forth into the world's highway. Compel the wanderer to come in. Toil on and in thy toil rejoice. For toil comes rest for exile home. Now is the time to work. Now is the time to plow. Now is the time to put your hand to the plow and see souls come to Christ. And at the end of that work comes rest. Our rest isn't yet. It's not here yet, but it's coming. Now we are exiled. We are strangers and pilgrims here in Christ. But at the end of that exile, there's home. Don't you long for home. Toil on and in thy toil rejoice. For toil comes rest for exile home. Soon shall thou hear the bridegroom's voice. The midnight peel, behold, I come. That's an awesome thought. Pray the Lord would come quickly. But if the Lord tarries and while he tarries, we got a job to do, folks. There's service to be done. That's in service of the king. This is not the time for rest. This is the time for his work. It's the time for people to come to Christ. And then when you've done everything, when you have burnt your life out on his altar, and you've spent all that you can spend, you've done all that you can do, and you're laying there. Christ says in Luke 17, 10, so likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, you have to say, we are unprofitable servants. We've done what was our duty to do. Scripture calls it our reasonable service. Do you draw back or withhold that service that is doing? In what way do you draw back? In what way do you withhold? In this day and age, the day and age that we're in, this is a question that has to be asked. We don't have a problem today of people serving too much, right? It's the opposite problem. Waking, stirring ourselves up out of apathy and indifference, stirring ourselves up in our flesh and serving Christ. With a rich young ruler, there was one act of service that he withdrew from. It's one act of service. Are you withdrawing from far less? A rich young ruler was commanded to give all, sell it to the poor and follow Christ, to give everything he had. And he withdrew that, he wouldn't do it. God said to Abraham, Abraham, take your only son, Isaac. Put yourself into the shoes of Abraham for a moment. Take your only son, Isaac, whom you love and offer him up, God's command. We've simply asked you to take someone out witnessing. Abraham had no ground for deliberation. There's no ground for answering back. No foundation for rebellion here. What is your ground? On what shifting sand do you stand and refuse and reject service to the Lord? What's your ground? You have none. On what basis do you refuse these basic Christian services, these basic duties? Our service to him, on the authority of Scripture, should be seen as an opportunity to display our love and our zeal for Christ, our affection for him. In the Old Testament, had master-slave relationships. And often, a slave would be in the position when his duty was done and that slave would be free to go. But oftentimes, when a slave loved his master, when a slave took joy in that work and wanted to remain in his master's care, he would lean over, place his ear against the doorpost of the house and in a testimony, in a commitment to his master to stay with him forever, they would drive an all through his ear. And that out of love and affection for the master. If you had the opportunity to be free from God's yoke, would you take it? Would you think that to be real freedom and go and live for yourself? Many of you are already there. Or out of love for Christ, affection for Christ, would you decline that false freedom, stick your ear to the post and drive it through? Exchanging that fake idea of freedom for what is true liberty in Christ, serving and pleasing him. These things aren't burdensome, right? These things are joys in work, in evangelism, in school, in your family, with your finances, sacrificing yourself for Christ. That is true freedom, true liberty in one day and that freedom in heaven for all eternity. Many say that they would, many say that they would and yet they refuse the smallest of Christian duties, the simplest of Christian duties. And many think that obedience in one area atones for disobedience in another. I can serve him over here. I'm just not gonna commit over here, but I'm still right because of my service over here. No. Look at one more example, Malachi chapter one, end of your Old Testament, Malachi chapter one, always short on time. Malachi chapter one and look at verse six. Look at verse six. Here it says, Malachi chapter one, verse six, the son honors his father and a servant, his master. If then God says, I am the father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my reverence? Says the Lord of hosts, to you priests who despise my name. Now think about it, dads. Your son, you go home and your son is completely devoted to, completely attached to, completely obeying, completely honoring and reverencing some other guy. And he has disrespect for you. Not a good position to be in, right? Here the Lord is saying, where's my honor? If I am a father, if I'm a master, where's my reverence? Treating him like that, serving others, serving themselves and not serving the Lord. They say, yet in what way have we despised your name? Verse seven, you offer defiled food to my altar, but say in what way have we defiled you? By saying the table of the Lord is contemptible. And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor. Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably? Says the Lord of hosts. What this lame is, what this blind, what this sick is, is your second best. It's the leftovers, it's the scraps. At the end of the day, in your service to the Lord, you're just giving him whatever leftover time you have. Whatever leftover resources you have. And he's not supreme in your life, then you're offering to him the lame. You're offering to him your sick. You're offering to him your blind. Were to be holy devoted to the Lord first, supremely above anything else. Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these other things will be added unto you. One thing is certain from this, is that if you're here today and you're conscious of having neglected service to God, the disobedient servant isn't cast off forever. If you continue, one day you will be cast off. But there's hope. Confess that wickedness and turn to Christ. And he will abundantly pardon. He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger. He is kind. Come to your senses. Leave the far country behind. Come back to the Father. And he won't merely hire you as one of his servants. He'll take you back as a son. This is a servant's heart for Christ. A servant's heart for his church, for his people, his work, his kingdom. And in this sense, all Christians are a diaconos. All Christians are a servant. And certainly the deacon. That's our introduction. Let's dig into the text. This role of a servant in the Lord's church is no light matter. It's no light matter. We'll look at getting into the church age in this office beginning next week, but where are you with respect to this service? The Lord saved you and employed you in his service. And the church is based on serving the Lord, serving his body, serving the needs of his people, serving his work, being a Christian. This Christian life is about serving the Lord. We're all deacons. We need constant reminders of that, don't we? If you struggle like I do, any Christian does with bouts of indifference or apathy or sometimes a dull heart. We are in our flesh. We're gonna have dull hearts, dull ears, dull minds. You have to constantly stir yourself up to this service to him. Do you have a servant's heart? If you, as an act of your will, not an act of your emotions, not an act of feelings, as an act of your will, as an act of your resolve, if you give yourself entirely to him, you will, you'll have, the Lord will in you, cultivate a servant's heart. Turn from sin, turn to faith in Christ. And for the basis of that, look at Christ's servant heart toward you and all that he did for you. We have that as our great example. Let's pray together. My Father in heaven, Lord, we worship you, God. We praise you and I know that it's the heart's desire of every genuine Christian here to serve you, God, with all that we are, to live for you, Lord, to walk just as you walked, to tread that path still as a faithful servant of our Lord. And we long, Lord, to hear one day, well done, good and faithful slave. I thank you, Lord, for this truth from Scripture. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity in the first place to be called your servant. And what a joy that is. God, by your spirit, empower us and enable us to live this way for you. God, may we do this from a center in our heart of affection, zeal, love for Christ, and of gratefulness, and of thankfulness for all that he's done for us. Lord, may we employ ourselves entirely in it for your glory, that souls would be saved, that your name, Lord, would be made famous, that you would be exalted and magnified, worshiped and praised, because you are worthy. Thank you for this time of digging into your word together, Lord, we cherish this time together and thank you for it in Jesus' name, amen.