The Privilege of Serving the Lord

K. T. C. Morris, Southampton, .preciousseed.org

What a privilege it is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ! He Himself assures us, “if any man serve me, him will my Father honour”. The apostle John similarly says that in the coming day, “his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face”. John is speaking of slaves bought with a price and who have served their Lord out of love responsive to His. They will have two privileges. They will continue to render Him priestly service, and will also have the high honour of unrestricted access to the holy presence of the King; cf. Esther 1.14.

The word “servant” is first used in the Scriptures in connection with the curse upon Canaan: “a servant of servants shall he be”. What is implied is a place of inferiority to his brethren, and a lack of liberty as a result of sin. To the Creator every creature must necessarily be inferior, and the liberty which God gives must necessarily be limited to the doing of His holy will. The Lord Jesus says, “If the Son there­fore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed”; that is, free to follow Him, free to serve Him. To serve the living and true God is not slavery, but true liberty; it is not a thing of shame, but an outstanding honour. Consider how God appreciates His servants. When appearing to Israel He promises him blessing “for my servant Abra­ham’s sake”. Reproving Aaron and Miriam He says, “wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”. He promises pro­tection to Jerusalem “for my servant David’s sake”, and exclaims, “Thou art my servant, 0 Israel, in whom I will be glorified”, Isa. 49. 3.

“Behold My Servant”. To enable us to serve God acceptably, the Scriptures give us not only explicit instructions but picture after picture of the perfect Servant, our Lord Jesus Christ. “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth”, Isa. 42. 1-4. As our attention is directed to the perfections of God’s Servant, we find in the four­fold description that is given us an example for all who would be ack­nowledged by God as His servants. First we read, “I have put my spirit upon him”. Christ did not embark upon His public ministry until He had been anointed by the Holy Spirit at His baptism. So our service, like our Lord’s, must be directed by, and empowered by, the Holy Spirit of God. The Lord Jesus promised that after His glorifica­tion everyone who believes in Him would be given the Holy Spirit within him to flow out like a stream to others. This is enlarged upon in later scrip­tures, John 7. 38-39; Acts 1. 8; 2 Cor. 1. 21 -22; Eph. 1.13. But the fact that we have been anointed with the Spirit is not sufficient. We must be careful that there is nothing to grieve him in our private life or in our business life, particularly in our feelings towards our fellow-men, Eph. 4. 30. Then, having “no confidence in the flesh”, we can count on the power of the Holy Spirit of God.