If only people knew the privilege of living in the
Master’s house. He is so good to a servant that freedom is never considered. No
one in this servant position ever wants to go outside of the luxury and peace
of this big wonderful house. The Master is so powerful that there is no person
who will not fall on their face before Him. Every living being outside of this
house wants to show honor when a servant speaks. They listen to the servant
because of his powerful Master. There is absolutely nothing that any servant
will ever need or want. This powerful Master loves each one of His servants. It
is certain that not one of His servants will ever have a worry about anything.
Every servant holds tightly to their position because they know that all the
Masters servants will someday be promoted to a family member. This is why a
servant of the Lord wonders why so many people ignore the Master and continue
to serve this dirty world and its terrible leader who is bound for Hell? It is
a shame to serve this world.
Every Christian is a servant in God’s house. The
Scriptures give us good advice on how to serve in the Masters household. Christians
are so different from this world that we should support each other. It is
helpful to try and remember how totally different we are. Jesus said: Whoever
wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must
become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but
to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matt 20:26-28 (NLT) Many of us have never actually experienced
a time when the pastors and church leaders were all servants. But in God’s
household the people must understand that a servant in our church will be a
ruler in Heaven. In the parable of the talents Jesus said: Well done, thou good
and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make
thee ruler over many things: enter thou
into the joy of thy lord. Matt 25:21 (KJV) Even if we hold a humble
position in God’s house we know that being faithful to our work will be
rewarded by the Lord. We all must learn to be a servant.
Jesus must
be considered the only authority in the Church. Then when Christians gather
together, the Lord will assemble with them. The Bible says: For
where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them. Matt 18:20 (NLT) Should a servant take
the lead over Jesus when the Lord attends our church meeting? When humble
church members get together they must all look to Jesus for his guidance. If we
have the proper attitude, as church members, the Lord will become real and
precious to us. There are times in a church service that we can feel a
wonderful lifting of our spirit. This boost in our spiritual life is caused by
a close encounter with the presence of the Savior. Any time people who are
energized by the Spirit of Jesus get together and look to Him as the authority
they will feel His presence. Here is the reason: God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him
head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his
body; it is made full and complete
by Christ, who fills all things
everywhere with himself. Eph 1:22-23 (NLT) We must return to church ways
that honor Jesus and give Him the place at the head of everything we do.
When our
church is blessed by someone who does humbly serve as a leader we should respond
in the proper way. The Bible says to show them respect: Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the
Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great respect and wholehearted
love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other. 1 Thess
5:12-13 (NLT) A church should be full of humbleness and respect as we stay
busy with the Lord’s work. Paul continues his lesson on church behavior by
saying: We urge you to warn those who are
lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be
patient with everyone. See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and
to all people. 1 Thess 5:14-15 (NLT) Doing good to each other is the
standard that a church can be judged by anywhere in the world. We have no idea
how many different ways the Lord can show us to serve. We are living in America
where people own everything they need for this world. But we still must work
extra hard to try and meet their spiritual needs, of which America has plenty.
There are Christians
who will ask; how do I meet a spiritual need? Paul gave us some simple things we
can do: Always be joyful. Never stop
praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you
who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not
scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 1 Thess
5:16-21 If we hold on to the good things of God, it can bless those around
us. Servants in the household of God will always come to agreement on spiritual
matters. We should always try to use seasoned Christians to take the lead in
the Lord’s work. Here is an example: So
we decided, having come to complete agreement, to send you official
representatives…who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
are sending Judas and Silas to confirm what we have decided concerning your
question. “For it seemed good to
the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few
requirements” Acts 15:25-28 (NLT) These people had asked the Spirit of
Jesus to guide their decisions and they gave Him the credit. This is how the church
should work: with the help of the Spirit until Jesus comes back.
When the Lord’s Church
began there were no denominations. This is because they were of one spiritual body: Some of
us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have
all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. 1 Cor 12:13 The Master has asked
us to overlook the differences and the faults of each other. Being in the same
Spirit we can begin to help each other find the things of truth. At times Paul
felt so close to other Christians that he said: For we have the same spirit and walk in each
other’s steps, doing things the same way. 2 Cor 12:18 With this attitude it is easy to love the many other
types of believers. This can only begin when we are honest with ourselves. The importance that
we have placed on our own thinking is limiting the real work God has for us. We
must: Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created
to be like God—truly righteous and holy. Eph 4:23-24 (NLT) In the Master’s house we must think of others
as more important than ourselves. Then we will fit into the Master’s household.
