We all know that there are four gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each of the gospel writers gives us a different picture of the work and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible reveals that the gospel writers had taken as their theme the four living creatures that we read of in the first Chapter of Ezekiel. These living creatures have been spoken of as servants of God. Each of the living creatures had four faces - the face of a man, the face of a lion, the face of an ox and the face of an eagle.
When Matthew writes concerning Jesus he takes the picture of a lion, the king of beast. Therefore Matthew presents Jesus a the King, the Messiah and the King of the Jews. When Mark writes concerning Jesus he takes the picture of an ox which is an animal that represents servant hood. Luke gives to us the picture of the face of a man; he presents Jesus to us as the Son of man. John gives to us the picture of the face of an eagle. In Scripture the eagle is the symbol of the Son of God. In the realm of plural, all believers in Christ are sons of God and God expects all sons of God be His servants.
The Power of God in His Servant
If you make a careful study of the gospel according to Mark you will realize that it records more miracles in the life and ministry of Jesus than all of the other gospels. And yet in the gospel of Mark we simply see Jesus functioning daily as a servant of God. As you follow His life through the gospel of Mark you will see the power of God being released through Jesus, the Servant of God.
A lot of Christians don't realy want to serve but to be served. The truth is that if we all become servants, if we make ourselves servants for the kingdom of God's sake we are going to see the power of God released through our lives just like it was released through the life of Jesus when He walked on this earth about 2000 years ago. In Philippians, Paul said that Jesus made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:7). Yet today we are so concerned about our reputation.
Commitment of a true servant of God
Jesus said, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62, NKJV).
A true Christian is also a true servant of God. After you have been in Church for some time serving the Lord and you have been sitting under the ministry of a matureed Christian, a Pastor or a teacher of Scripture; or you have been studying the Bible for some time, then all of a sudden something has been quickened to you in your spirit and you know that this is a vision of God for you. What would you do then?
When we commit ourselves to the vision that God has for us or for our family or for our Local Church, we are literally putting our hands upon the plow. But one of the sad things today in Church life is that many never put their hands on the plow; they never commit themselves to the vision of the Local Church. They go to Church, they sing the songs, they listen to the messages, but whenever they begin to think of the plow, they think of work. And not everybody wants to work.
God wants us to fully identify with the work of the Lord and commit ourselves to it. To put our hands on the plow means fully committed to the work of the Lord. Spiritually the plow signifies vision and the purpose of the plow is the harvest. If a farmer does not plow and does not sow seed, how is he going to get the harvest? If we are aware of this, then we will not be too concerned with the work that we might have to do because we know that if we become involed in the work of the Lord, in God's perfect timing there will be a great harvest!
The commitment of Elisha (1 Kings 19:19 - 21)
Elijah, a prophet of God found a young man Elisha plowing in a field with 12 yoke of oxen before him - which indicates that Elisha came from a wealthy family. Elijah identified himself with Elisha and threw his mantle on him. Immediately Elisha was ready to take his hands off the natural plow and put his hands on the spiritual plow, the plow of God, and followed Elijah. Notice that when he literally put his hand on the plow of God he never looked back. If you follow the story (2 Kings 2) the young Elisha followed Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel, to Jericho and went right through the Jordon River. And finally Elisha received the double portion of the Spirit upon his life.
Elijah was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Eisha was a type of your life and my life. If you take your hands off the plow and look back Jesus says you are not fit for the kingdom of God.
Joel said, "The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness" (Joel 2:3, NKJV).
So, if you and I take our hands off the plow of God and look back and go back into our old lives we are going to experience desolate wilderness. Therefore let us keep committed to the vision as servants of the most high God.
A time of waiting
God has planted a seed within us and that seed is His Son. If you take a natural seed and plant it on the ground that seed is not going to burst forth into fruit the next morning. It is going to take a period of time before that seed springs out of the earth, first the blades, then the ears and finally the full corn.
Spiritually it is the same with the things of God. When God has a Word spoken to you over your life concerning your ministry in the future that will not become a reality immediately, but there will be a time of waiting - sometimes many years. But we have to be faithful to the vision of God during that time of waiting. First the dirt of the earth will be moved before the blades come forth. This dirt speaks of the things that happen in your life that seem contrary to the purposes of God. But if you are committed to the vision and keep your hand on the plow, even though the dirt will be turned, in God's perfect timing there will be a bursting forth of that vision in you life.
Even Jesus had to wait until He was 30 years of age before He came into the fullness of His ministry. He received the Word from His Father but He had to wait.
God promised to give Abraham a son (Gen. 15:4) and so Abraham waited. In fact he waited 12 years and that promise had not burst forth into reality. But Abraham moved in the flesh to try to "help" God and Ishmael was born. This is a lesson to us - whenever you move in the flesh the product is Ishmael. God knows how many Ishmaels the Church brought forth!
Benefits of the servants of God
1. God will not forget the servant of the Lord
"Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me" (Isaiah 44:21)!
Jacob was chosen and loved by God. But Jacob was a trickster. Later on he was transformed by God and was given a new name Israel, which means "a prince of God". Jacob speaks of our old nature (the old man). God wants to change us from a Jacob into an Israel. A servant of God is chosen by the Lord.
The servant of God like Israel will never be forgotten by God. A lot of Christians in our Churches feel that God has forgotten all about them and many of them are becoming discouraged and unsatisfied because their dreams and visions are unfulfilled. The way to become satisfied and fulfilled and to be free from any discouragement is to have the inner knowledge that you will never be forgotten by God because you are His servant.
2. God confirms the word of His servant
"Who confirms the word of His servant, and performs the counsel of His messengers; who says to Jerusalem 'You shall be inhabitted,' to the cities of Judah, 'you shall be built.' And I will raise up her waste places" (Isaiah 44:26).
God will not confirm the words spoken by everyone but He will confirm the words of His servants. In Old Testament time God said Jerusalem would be inhabited. Now, He is saying that He will build His Church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18).
God is going to have a company of servants who will deal with the wasted lives of the people who will be set free by the power of God in His servants.
3. God enables His servant to walk in darkness
"Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God" (Isaiah 50:1).
A Christian may find himself at a stage of his life in a situation of darkness and he does not know what to do. But a true servant of God will be able to walk in the darkness without any light simply because he trusts in the Lord and leans upon his God. There are treasures in darkness and the deep things of God are always found in darkness.
"I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, ..."(Isaiah 45:3).
The economies of the world are being shaken right now. We are encountering world shortage of certain food items like rice, flour and dairy products and the like. In the years ahead we might be going through some dark and difficult times. But the servants of God will be able to walk on in the darkness if they trust in the Lord and lean on Him!
4. God protects His servants
"No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me" (Isaiah 54:17).
The above promise of God is not given to any believer in Christ. Only true servants of the Lord can claim it.
Amazing revelation the the life of Jesus Christ
From the writers of the four gospels we are told how Jesus was born; how He was circumscised and presented in the temple on the 8th day (Luke 2:21, 22); how He could speak the Word of God very powerfully and confounded the religious leaders of His days at the age of 12 (Luke 2:46, 47). But you will not read about the life of Jesus between the age of 12 and the age of 30. The New Testament tells us absolutely nothing concerning His life. Theologians call it the 18 silent year in the life of Jesus.
Amazingly, the Old Testament gives us a picture prophetically what was happening. Isaih 49 depicts Jesus as the Servant of God and reveals the stages of development that He went through during His natural life when He was here on earth.
Jesus went through two stages of development
1. Jesus was hidden by God the Father during the polishing process
"And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me. And He said to me, 'You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified'" (Isaiah 49:2, 3, NKJV).
Here are some statements of truth
1. God made Jesus' mouth like a sharp sword. Sword speaks of the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit.
2. For the next 18 years He was hidden in the shadow of God's Hand. That is the reason why the New Testament writers heard nothing about Jesus until He was 30 years of age.
3. The Father made Jesus a polished shaft which is an arrow. Jesus went through the polishing process and the Father kept Him in the quiver until He was at the age of 30.
4. At the age of 30 the Father picked up the arrow, put Him in His bow and shot Him into flight. Jesus was in flight for 3 and half years and hit the bull's eyes every time.
5. You and I have to go through the same sort of polishing process as God prepares us for our future ministries.
2. Jesus committed His work and ministry to God
"Then I said, 'I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, and my work with my God'" (Isaiah 49:4).
Before Jesus went the way to Calvary He spent 3 and a half years pouring His life out toward His disciples. But at the end they were all fighting among themselves as who was to be the greatest! Not one of them had learned to serve. They all left Him and turned away from Him before His crucifixion. Can you imagine how Jesus must have felt as He said, "I have labored in vain?" Yet He trusted the Father and committed His work and ministry to Him as He said something like this - "I am going to leave my work with my God".
This situation is vey real in the Local Church. Some of you might have been in the leadership of your Church for some time. And you have poured out your life as a faithful servant as you ministered to the people you loved. Several of them might not have appreciated your work and even turned their backs on you. It is possible that you have the same thought of Jesus and said, "I have labored in vain". Shouldn't we continue to serve and leave our work with our God as Jesus did? I believe one day you will hear these words from the Lord:
"Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things. Enter into the joy of your Lord" (Matt. 25:23).
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