FIUGGI 1992. FERVENT IN SPIRIT: SERVING THE LORD !. ROMANS 12.11. OUR TEXT lies in the first part of 20 commands from the Apostle Paul to the saints at Rome, regulating Christian Relationships. OUR TOPIC is SERVING THE LORD. The verses containing our text command us:- Never be lazy, slothful or careless: Maintain your zeal to boiling point: Put your life into the service of God: THESE are practicalities of Christian Doctrine. IF every believer were serving God. IF everyone's spirit were at boiling point. IF every child of God was obedient... What a move of God there would be in the land! YOU can make the difference - to your home - to your place of work - to your town - to your generation. You can only serve your generation in the Will of God BY SERVING GOD IN HIS WILL IN YOUR GENERATION. JOHN 15.16. tells us that we have been chosen of God TO BEAR FRUIT. When the prodigal returned home, he asked to be as one of the hired servants. The Father put an end to that argument with a kiss, a robe and a ring. GOD WILL NOT ACCEPT THE SERVICE OF A HIRELING FROM A SON. "Son, go, work today in MY VINEYARD." THE REASONABLE & SPIRITUAL SERVICE. The Church of Jesus Christ is A SPIRITUAL BODY. The work of that body can only be done by spiritual people. It is possible to put unsaved people into the pulpit to preach. It is possible to put unsaved teachers to teach our children. It is possible to put unsaved singers into a choir to sing. It is possible to put unsaved men into office. BUT THEY WILL NEVER SERVE THE LORD NOR BENEFIT THE CHURCH. The Early Pentecostal Church recognised that even the work of "serving tables" could only be committed to spiritual people. Acts 6:1-6. Even for a soup kitchen they would only accept those who were of good report, FULL OF THE HOLY GHOST AND OF WISDOM. We may have MORALITY in our conduct without CONVERSION - but we will NEVER have HOLINESS. We may operate MECHANICAL work without conversion - but we will NEVER have SPIRITUAL SERVICE. WE ARE SAVED TO SERVE. RELATIONSHIP IN SERVICE. When we accept Christ as our Saviour we are accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:6. When we are accepted in the Beloved we receive the adoption of sons. Ephesians 1:5 + Galatians 4:5. We are thus accepted into the family. We are also accepted into the family business. WE ARE EXPECTED TO GO AND WORK IN THE VINEYARD. PARENTS have an obligation to the children. YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER KNOWS WHAT YOU HAVE NEED OF, AND KNOWS HOW TO GIVE GOOD GIFTS . CHILDREN have an obligation to their parents. TWO STAGES OF CHILD LIFE in relation to the Service of Parents:- EARLY LIFE - The RECEPTIVE STAGE. LATER IN LIFE (The age of Knowledge and Wisdom) - The RESPONSIVE STAGE. Instead of expecting your parents to DO EVERYTHING FOR YOU, you desire to DO SOMETHING FOR THEM. (A Sign of Growing UP.) MANY CHURCHES are spiritual nurseries, crowded with people who claim to be born of God many years ago, but have never left their spiritual childhood. THEY HAVE NEVER ASKED THE LORD THE NOBLE QUESTION PAUL ASKED - "What wilt Thou have me to do?" Acts 9:6. WHERE? and WHEN? can we serve the Lord - HERE and NOW is the answer. OLD BABIES are a trouble and a burden to Churches. Small things upset their spiritual health, they are so easily upset; they quarrel with each other over trifles, they set a poor example for young believers. They fill the hands, try the patience and waste the time of every pastor, worker, believer in the Assembly. This condition is not new; read Heb.5:12-13 and Ephesians 4:15-16. SERVICE BY PROXY. 2 Kings 4:29 contains the story of Elisha sending Gehazi to pray for the widow's son. He gave him his staff and full instructions. BUT IT DID NOT WORK. The story of Gehazi is revealing: There were SIX THINGS NECESSARY but they did not cause a MIRACLE. 1. Gird your loins. (Hurry) 2. Take MY STAFF. 3. Go your way. 4. Salute no man. 5. Don't answer anyone. 6. Lay MY STAFF on the child. GEHAZI FAILED BECAUSE IT WAS ELISHA'S JOB. ALSO his faith was without real ACTION. (See James 2:26.) So many say, "I'm trying to live the Life." - "Go and work," says the Lord. "I'm not good enough." - "Go and Work," says the Master. "Its not my line. I cant do that kind of thing." Go and Work. EVERY CHRISTIAN HAS A GIFT FOR SERVICE. Illust: Two boys mowing a lawn. To save themselves work harnessed a large dog to the mowing machine. A big Newfoundland Hound. A man passing stopped to watch. Dog barked and growled furiously. "Don't be afraid sir. He only stops to bark so that he can stop working. There are people barking and growling in Assembly life. Normally, they are the very people who do NOTHING, and bark at everything. In his Epistle to the Philippians the Apostle warns "Beware of dogs. Beware of evil doers. Beware of the concision." (Concision = heathen mutilators of the flesh.) Recognise them when they bark - without are dogs. (Words used by Jesus - now used by Paul.) THE CHALLENGE OF HARVEST. The Harvest is plenteous - The Labourers are few. Luke 2:10. The Human picture of the Nations today would seem to be horrific. Declension - Ruin - Paralysis - Drugs - Gambling - Disease - a darker scene than has ever been known. We are in the End Time foretold in the Apocalypse, days when internecine strife tears the world apart. BUT IN THE SIGHT OF GOD IT IS HARVEST TIME. THE WORLD IS WIDE OPEN TO THE GOSPEL. Only the work of God's People can meet the crying needs of human hearts in our day. WE MUST BEWARE lest all our effort is bent on Social Reform, feeding, clothing, social activities. OUR PRIMARY BUSINESS IS TO SAVE SOULS. WE MUST NOT SERVE GOD IN THE EFFORT OF THE FLESH. We are born again. Members of the Divine Family. GOD can only be served in the MANNER in which HE HAS DIRECTED. There are certain prohibitions. Note the Scriptures, written for our ensample:- 1/ Ezekiel 44:17-18. These were certain instructions given to the sons of Zadok as to how they served the Lord when they entered the sanctuary, WHERE PRIESTS AND LEVITES MINISTERED TO THE PEOPLE:- "And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with LINEN GARMENTS, and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court and within. THEY SHALL HAVE linen bonnets on their heads, and shall have linen breeches on their loins; THEY SHALL NOT GIRD THEMSELVES WITH ANYTHING THAT CAUSETH SWEAT." (These garments were to be kept in the holy rooms and they put other garments on so as not to sanctify the people with their garments.) THE REASON FOR THE REGULATION: - NO SWEAT WHEN SERVING GOD. We are all kings and priests unto our God...I believe in the general priesthood of all believers. But SWEAT is the result of HUMAN EFFORT...EFFORT OF THE FLESH. WE DO NOT SERVE GOD BY CARNAL EFFORT. 2/ EXODUS 20:25. THE LAW OF ALTARS. "If thou shalt make an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of HEWN STONE, for is thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." There was not to be a chisel mark on any stone in the altar - THE MARK OF THE TOOL SIGNIFIED HUMAN EFFORT. We no longer build altars - but we do often make the mistake of thinking that the more EFFORT we expend, then the greater our service to God is. SWEAT AND HUMAN ENERGY are expressions of the CARNAL which God cannot accept in His Service. IN HIS SERVICE GOD WANTS TO DO FOR YOU. True service is allowing God to speak, and allowing Him to operate in and through your life. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground." MAN'S CURSE. The hard labour that man was to endure making a living under the conditions of the curse. HARD LABOUR was to break him down till he died. Deserts. barrenness, weeds, poisons, germs, viruses, add to his punishment. In the Millennium the curse is lifted. There will be no curse in the New Earth. BUT WE CANNOT OFFER ELEMENTS OF THE CURSE IN OUR SERVICE TO GOD. This mean that we MUST OFFER SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES, SPIRITUAL SERVICE. As New Testament Believers WE ARE SET FREE - we walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. We must not work after the flesh but after the Spirit. DO NOT CALL HUMAN INGENUITY GOD'S LEADING. DO NOT call human organisation GOD'S UNDERTAKING. We MUST utilise what gifts we have; BUT we must be completely changed in the way we THINK, and SAY, and DO. WHERE DO WE COMMENCE? Spurgeon interviewed a mother who wanted her son to go into the ministry. After a long talk she asked, "But Mr. Spurgeon, where does my boy start?" The stern reply was, "He must start here and now, where he is." MY SON, GO, WORK." Work is not a pleasant subject. But whoever quarrels with the precept of work, quarrels with God. If we do not like the practical part of Christianity, the doctrinal part is of little use to us. "I delight myself in Thy Precepts," sang the Psalmist. GOD'S COMMAND IS TO WORK. God does not call you just to:- Go and THINK.....Go and SPECULATE....Go and EXPERIMENT ...Go and SEEK OUT NEW DOCTRINES .... Go and SEARCH FOR NEW REVELATIONS .....God and GET WHIMS AND ODDITIES. GOD SAYS - GO AND WORK. The Almighty does not instruct you to:- Go from Convention to convention - from Meeting to Meeting -from College to College - HE SAYS GO AND WORK. ILLUST: I.B.A.Station Manager- An idea is only GOOD - IF IT WORKS. The command is not to GO AND CRITICISE. Most of our experts are critics, BUT THEY CANNOT CRITICISE GOD'S WORK. We serve God only when we have been washed - sanctified - justified. In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. After giving a list of the works of death of the Unrighteous,the Apostle says:- "And such were some of you, BUT YE ARE WASHED, BUT YE ARE SANCTIFIED, BUT YE ARE JUSTIFIED in the Name of the Lord Jesus BY the Spirit of our God. 1/WASHED: Cleansed completely from our sins. 2/SANCTIFIED: Our Lord's prayer in John 17:17. "Sanctify them through Thy Truth: Thy Word is Truth." Sanctify = Hagiazo = to separate from a profane to a sacred use. To consecrate ones self wholly to God and His Service. THE PRIMARY MEANING IS SEPARATION not MAKING HOLY. It develops to mean "make Holy" when the person, thing, or occasion needs to be cleansed from sin or defilement, IN ORDER TO BE FIT TO BE SEPARATED TO GOD AND HIS SERVICE. 3/JUSTIFIED: To declare RIGHTEOUS or NOT GUILTY. You are justified the moment you repent and God forgives you. Our SERVICE commences as we begin to Follow the Lord Jesus Christ. NOTE John 12:26. "If any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there also shall my servant be." Following Christ is not only an act at the commencement of your Christian Experience, BUT a DAILY ACT and ALL YOUR LIFETIME. THIS IS WHERE YOU START SERVING GOD. NOW IS THE TIME TO BEGIN. PROVE FROM THIS MOMENT WHAT GOD CAN DO FOR YOU AND THROUGH YOU. Copyright (c) 1996, Hedley Palmer. All rights reserved. ----------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/hpalmer/snotes: serve-1.txt .