Our sermon text is in 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2, verses 24 through 26. 2 Timothy 2. For context, we will begin our reading back in verse 19 of 2 Timothy 2. Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal. The Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. but avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient in humility, correcting those who are in opposition. If perhaps God will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. Amen. So for the reading of the word of God, you may be seated. Brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a paradox that scripture presents to us. Perhaps you can call it a paradox, where on the one hand, we have our own duties that we must attend to diligently and not grow slack on any of them. But on the other hand, there are certain things that only the Lord can do and on which we must wait for the Lord to do, hoping and trusting in him. And it is this idea that I believe we find in this text today, in our sermon that is titled, The Servant of the Lord. I believe that in these three verses, 2 Timothy 2, 24-26, the Lord is teaching us that God uses his servant to reach his opponents. God uses his servant to reach his opponents. And by the Lord's help, we're going to see two main ideas, simply the work of the servant and then the work of the Lord. First of all, we see the work of the servant at the beginning of this text in verse 24 and at the beginning of verse 25. But first, let me add the qualification. It's not simply the servant who is working, but he is working through the Lord. He is upheld and sustained by him. I'll also add that this phrase, the servant of the Lord, is found in the Old Testament. The certain Greek construction that underlies our English here in verse 24 is found a few times in the Old Testament. You have this concept of the servant of the Lord. In the New Testament, this is the only place that this phrase actually appears. And so if we're going to think about what a pastor should be like, a New Testament pastor, isn't this text a very natural and good text for us to go to to see what the Lord teaches about what his servants must be like? Certainly it is. So as we look here at the work of God's servant, we're going to see, first of all, what he must not be and then what he must be. First of all, as we look at what he must not be, verse 24 teaches us he must not be quarrelsome. He must not be belligerent, or if you prefer, the word pugnacious. He must not be characterized by this trait. As a general characteristic here, the word quarrelsome in the Greek is related to the word for to war. It is a very militaristic term that is being described here. And there are a few times in the New Testament that this word appears. James uses this word in chapter 4. He says, you fight in war, you have not because you ask not. In Acts 7, 26, when Stephen sees the, in Stephen's sermon, Moses sees the Egyptians arguing with each other, he uses that term as well. And Paul also gives this qualification in other parts of scripture and some other of the pastoral epistles. So when he's talking to Titus, Titus 1-7, he says, for an overseer must be blameless as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered. 1 Timothy 3, Paul says he must not be violent and must not be quarrelsome. So we have this general characteristic that Paul says must not characterize the pastor. So a question we can ask then is, what is wrong with being quarrelsome? A very natural question that arises. We can address it by looking at the root sin that it comes from. And we can tie quarrelsomeness, having a fighting spirit, to the sin of anger. And Jesus says, Matthew chapter 12, that out of the heart the mouth speaks. So out of the heart are going to come forth fighting words, and out of an angry heart are going to come forth actual violence, actual war. So quarrelsomeness, this attitude of contention, is connected to a root sin of anger. But we can also look at the consequence of the sin of quarrelsomeness. Titus chapter 3 starting in verse 9 comments on this. We read there, Paul writes, but avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law, Why? Why avoid these strivings? He says, for they are unprofitable and useless. But then he goes on, verse 10, reject a divisive man after the first and the second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. So what Paul does in Titus chapter 3, he apparently connects division with a concept of being quarrelsome, of having this fighting attitude to oneself. Of course, Paul says the minister should not be characterized by this. An objection I can just hear people bringing to me is, but what about Paul or what about Jesus in certain times in the New Testament when they are refuting some of their opponents? They come across pretty direct and very forward and pretty fiery at times. And certainly that's true. I think of the book of Galatians. where you see Paul having the most excoriating tone that you see in him in the New Testament. Galatians 1.8, Paul is marveling that the Galatians have been deceived by the false gospel that has been presented to them. Chapter 3, verse 1, he begins this chapter by saying, oh foolish Galatians. Certainly an insulting sounding title that Paul is giving to them. Think also of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15, when they come in contact with some of the Judaizers. And Luke writes in Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them. John the Baptist called some of his listeners a brood of vipers. Matthew chapter 3, Jesus uses the same phrase. And if you were to read Matthew 23, you would see the most fiery rebuke. that Jesus gives in that chapter, I think, in all of scripture. So, in answer to this, why does Paul give not quarrelsome? Why is that a characteristic that needs to define the pastor? Why do you have that, and along with, sometimes God's servants are gonna act in a way that is more direct and forthright? I'm going to say that there are times for those things. There are times for the servant of the Lord to behave in such a way in which he needs to give a very firm rebuke, like we saw with Jesus and Paul, for example. However, these should be exceptional. They should be exceptions and not the norm. They should not be the default. Ecclesiastes teaches that there is a place for everything. Ecclesiastes 3.1, to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose, to every purpose under heaven. He goes on, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up. And then says, a time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace. Usually, of course, being argumentative is connected to the sin of anger, and so is being violent. But we also have to say that there are times in which there is righteous anger, righteous expressions of violence in just war, and also a righteous contention for truth against error. Let me also say as well for Galatians, that's just one snapshot in the life and ministry of Paul. We can't say that it characterized everything that the man did and taught. And even in Galatians 4.20, it looks like Paul recognizes he's changing his tone towards them. And we can say about Jesus as well. How is his ministry characterized? It was marked by one of not quarreling, we're explicitly told. Matthew chapter 12, quoting Isaiah 42, it says, he will not quarrel, nor cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. So then we can say for some of God's servants, of course you have the Lord Jesus Christ, the great servant of servants, and also Paul, an argumentative mode is not normal for them. It is judiciously used. Let me also say here that the minister of the Lord, God's servant, is going to need to have both of these traits. He has to be characterized by not being argumentative on the one hand, but at times, to exercise contention if there is a righteous cause. And actually, that's a bad thing if one of these is missing. The minister needs to have both of these traits in his pocket, if you will. So we can say it is a dangerous thing to have a good teacher, a man who knows his Bible very well, who is very sound in his doctrine, but who has bad character traits, a man who is characterized by contention and division and being argumentative. This man is a bad pastor. You do not want this man as your pastor. But you can also think on the other hand, you can think of a man who is a bad teacher. He might not know his Bible well. He might give very bad theology. But you can think of someone that has very great personal traits. Someone who has the winsomeness of a Joel Osteen or some Mormon friends, perhaps, that you might have, but who come with very bad teaching. And in my opinion, that's an even worse combination. So a minister should have both of these traits. But of course, the default here should be that he is not marked by argumentation. He should not be contentious. So we have seen what the minister, what the servant of God must not be, and then we're presented with what he must be. And this is in the rest of verse 24. He must be gentle to all, able to teach, and patient. So we have three qualities that are mentioned here. The first of these being gentleness, which forms an obvious replacement for not being quarrelsome. And this is a characteristic that's, of course, going to be true for the minister. This is what Paul is teaching here. And it helps, actually, to make him more effective. So think of Titus 3.9, again, which says, but avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law. Why? For they are unprofitable and useless. So a man who is engaged in those things is going to be counterproductive if you go in with a contentious attitude. You'll be more persuasive if you behave gently. Well, we can say the same thing about men in general, not just about pastors. And I'll give you a few proverbs that teach this. Proverbs 16, 21. teaches sweetness of the lips, increases learning, or you can translate that persuasiveness. So the very fact that you are gentle in the way that you approach someone, in the way that you talk to them about something, is itself persuasive factor. It carries some of that persuasive value with it. Proverbs 26, 21 gives you the opposite side of that. It says this negatively, as coals are to burning coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. So it's like if you go into a contentious situation, and you're contentious yourself, and you bring that, it's like you are just adding to the flame. It's like you're fanning the flame all the more. And that's the general picture here that scripture is teaching with this proverb. And a proverb that we have in our own day, not a scriptural one, but I think one that supports the scriptural idea, is that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I accidentally skipped over a verse in 1 Timothy 6 that supports how this is true for the minister. So humor me for a second. 1 Timothy 6, Paul writes, if anyone teaches otherwise, does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, Then Paul goes on, he says, he is proud knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words. Then Paul says this, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth. And so Paul there is teaching that this contentious attitude of a minister is going to produce things like envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions. It's going to be harmful to your ministry. So we see that this quality of gentleness is persuasive for ministers, is persuasive for men in general. But let me also add in an application for wise. And this is because in 1 Peter 3 verses 1 and 2, Paul writes, wives likewise be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. Think for a second about the wisdom of God in giving a prescription like this for wives who have husbands who, for some reason or another, are not obedient to the word. These perhaps could be believers who are sunk into disobedience, but perhaps also just unbelievers. And what does God say to wives is an effective way of reaching his heart? Does he say it's by your words, by an argumentative attitude, No, Peter here is saying it's by your conduct, the way that you treat him. And God knows, and God is the one that designed man and woman. A wife who is sweet, submissive, loving, kind, and tender is a powerful, profound testimony and a great way to reach her husband's heart. So we see this characteristic of gentleness finding a persuasive factor, not only to ministers, to men in general, also to some extent here for wives. Our second quality is being able to teach, also here in verse 24. And this helps the servant of the Lord, the pastor, to be well-rounded. Because on the other side of grace, which he needs, is also truth. He needs to be sound in his heart, but also in his mind. I think of John 1, 17, where it says that the law came through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And the servants of the Lord, imitating the Lord Jesus Christ, should have grace. They should also have truth. And their own lives and ministry should be characterized by both. The third quality that we have here is forbearance. It is patience. And some of your translations here may have something that reflects the idea that this is a patience against evil, or like a patient enduring of evil. I think that idea is there in the text. And of course, this is a quality that is closely tied with gentleness. It's hard to have one without having the other. Of course, Paul teaches this elsewhere in his qualifications for ministers. 1st Timothy 3 not only says to be gentle and not quarrelsome, Titus 3.7 he says that these men are not to be quick-tempered, which I take as part of them being patient. Then we go on to the beginning of verse 25, where it looks to me like you have certain of these qualities that Paul has just laid out, and then that they should be practiced together in concert with each other. So not just that you have each one of these individually, but it's a more difficult thing if you can now integrate them into a cohesive whole, if you will. The beginning of verse 25 saying, in humility correcting those who are in opposition. Of course, humility wasn't actually mentioned before. It's closely tied with gentleness and with patience, but there you see all of these things really coming together. So we have seen what the servant of the Lord must not be, what the servant of the Lord must be. But before we move on to the rest of the text, let's look at the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the great servant of the Lord. As I mentioned earlier, in the Old Testament, the phrase servant of the Lord is a title that's used. It's a high title that is used as some of God's great servants. You can think of Moses and how this term is applied to him in certain key areas of his life. The chapter where he died, shortly before or maybe at his death, Deuteronomy 34, 5, Moses is called the servant of the Lord. He's called this in Exodus 14, the great chapter where they take the exodus through the Red Sea, the servant of the Lord. Numbers 12, 7, when Moses' authority is challenged by his very own siblings, his brother and his sister, God affirms that Moses is his servant. We see it with David as well. I'll give you one text, the Davidic Covenant chapter, 2 Samuel 7. David is called the servant of the Lord. This title is used of others as well, but I'll give you those here as examples. But why are they called the servant of the Lord if they are not imitating or in some way modeling the great servant of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ? I mentioned Matthew 12 a few moments ago, which is quoting Isaiah 42. Now, as some of you know, towards the end of Isaiah, in kind of the last part, last half of that book, there are these chapters, these sections that are called the Servant Songs, in which God, through Isaiah, is speaking about God's servant, about the Lord Jesus Christ who is going to come. Matthew 12, of course, obviously applies the first of these, Isaiah 42, to the Lord Jesus, and I'll just read four verses of that because it so well describes the character of our Lord Jesus. Here at the beginning of Isaiah 42, Whom I uphold, mine elect, and whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed he shall not break, and the smoking flax he shall not quench. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he has set judgment in the earth. And the islands shall wait for his law. Now what's interesting here, at least one thing, is the similarities between 2 Timothy 2 and then this servant song, the first of these servant songs in Isaiah. Of course, 2 Timothy 2 uses this phrase, the servant of the Lord, in talking about God's servant, and that's how Isaiah 42 begins, speaking of God's servant. Paul writes here that he should not be quarrelsome, but be gentle. which you also see in the character of Jesus. In this text, in Isaiah 42, he's not quarrelsome. It says, he shall not cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street, and describes his gentleness with these tender terms, a bruised reed he shall not break, the smoking flax he shall not quench. And so could it be that when Paul is penning these words, he expects Timothy to be reminded of the first servant song in Isaiah 42, which talks about the character of Jesus Christ. And that Paul is, when Paul is writing these words, Timothy is thinking, ah yes, this is Jesus. He's referring to Jesus. And the way that Jesus was, the things that characterize his ministry should characterize my ministry as well. I think that's very plausible. And if you look at the Lord Jesus, does anyone else display these qualities better than he does? Of course not. Was Jesus gentle? Jesus was the most gentle, he was the most gracious, more so than any of us can ever attain to. In Luke 4.22, it says, they marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. Don't forget, this is the man that people brought their little children to, to hold them in his arms so he could bless them. Think of how gentle and how gracious of a man he came across as. Was Jesus a great teacher? What a silly question in one sense. He was the greatest teacher. He is the one that is so often called rabbi. Imagine you're part of that great Bible study, one of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Luke writes, in beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Jesus is the great, infallible teacher, the one who showed graciousness and gentleness perfectly without ever sinning, without ever losing his patience sinfully. He is the most gentle, the most lowly, the most able to teach, the most patient, and he practiced all of these together in this ministry. perfectly. So we, as his servants, or I should say those who are his servants, and God has ordained and called to his service, are to imitate the Lord Jesus. And to an extent, all of God's people are to imitate Jesus in being gracious, gentle, lowly. We can also say, how else is Jesus a servant? Isaiah 42 is not the only servant song is it? We also progress to Isaiah 53 that talks about the work of the servant and how is his work described there. The work of the servant, the servant of the Lord, is one in which he is bearing away the sins of his people. He himself bore in his body our sins on that tree. By his wounds we are healed. God's righteous servant shall justify many And so there is salvation through this one. There is salvation through this great servant of God, the one who took to himself a very lowly title, the title of a servant, who took upon himself, as Philippians 2 says, the form of a servant. It was born in the likeness of men. So the greatest took on the title of the lowest. But even in this title, the title of the servant of the Lord applied to the Lord Jesus. Is there not great glory? Is there not marvelous glory? To think of the one, the eternal Son of God, who served his Father, who fulfilled this commission that was given to him, who took away the sins of his people, who has accomplished a great redemption for all of his elect. Indeed, there is great glory in the fact that Jesus has served the Father in this way. And for that, brothers and sisters, we must worship Him. So we have seen here the work of God's servant, the work of God's servant through the Lord. And now we move on to the work of the Lord. This is at the end of the text. And as I mentioned at the beginning of the sermon, you have this paradox of both having to do the work that God has called you to do, in this case, the work of the ministry to those he has called to ministry, but also the factor that you have at some point to sit back and to hope in God. It is not enough simply to say, or I should say, you can fall into two errors. On one hand, you could try to do everything within your own power, not look to the Lord, not be dependent upon him. And if you do that, how can you expect God's blessing on what you do? On the other hand, it's an error to sit back to do nothing and expect the Lord to do all of the work and to be negligent in the work that he has given you to do. So it's a good balance that all of us need to find in our lives, wherever we are in our lives, to do what God has told us to do, but then also expect to do the things that only the Lord can do. So we must obey the Lord. We must also trust the Lord. Obey and trust. So we see the work of the Lord here at the end of the text, the end of verse 25 through 26, and I will add that this is the work of the Lord through the servant. So just as we saw at the beginning that we have the work of the servant that is through the Lord, I'm going to say here we have the work of the Lord, which is conversion that happens through his servant. And you just read from the Second Helvetic Confession about how God works sovereignly His work of salvation through means that He has appointed, through the means of His Word and the ministry of the Word. And that's what God is talking about here. Through the work of His servants, men are going to come to faith. So we read at the end of verse 25, if perhaps God will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth. Brothers and sisters, let us not miss here that repentance is a gift from God. It is certainly a very prevalent error in the Christian church to think that repentance is not something that God sovereignly gives to whom he will. With every man, woman, and child, whenever he or she desires, may simply reach up to God with repentance. They may be the ones that have those initial motions in their heart to God, rather than God being the first to work in their hearts. But does that view honor the Lord the way he should be honored? Does that give him his full glory in the arena of salvation? And we would say, no. We would say God grants repentance. Scripture teaches this, Acts 5.31, him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Acts 11, 18, then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. And of course, in this text, you see that through the work of God's servant, God may grant repentance unto the opposition of God's servant. And under this doctrine, I should say connected to this doctrine, is that of total depravity. The fact that human beings who are fallen are unable of themselves to repent and believe. And scripture teaches this with utmost clarity. Ephesians 2 talks about humans being dead in their trespasses and sins. Ezekiel 37 describes unbelievers as a valley of dry bones who are unable to live in themselves, who are dependent upon the Spirit of God to breathe life in them so that they may be resurrected. Paul teaches in Romans that unbelievers are unable to do what is right or to please God. Romans 8, 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they are in the flesh, cannot please God. Does repentance please God? Yes. Therefore, those who are in the flesh, unbelievers, in themselves, without God working, cannot exercise repentance. So the unbelieving heart cannot turn itself around. And you children can think if you're playing with a toy train, you have the track and the train is heading one way. The train's on the track, it can't turn itself around, it's not possible. What you can do is you can pick it up, turn it around, then it starts going the other way. The unbeliever can't turn his heart around. It's impossible to do that. The Lord must come down and turn that heart towards him. God must be the one that does this work. What is repentance? Thankfully, our Westminster larger catechism answers this question a little bit fully. Question 76, what is repentance unto life? Repentance unto life is a saving grace wrought in the heart of a sinner by the spirit and word of God, whereby out of the sight and sense, not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, and upon the apprehension of God's mercy in Christ as such as our penitent, he so grieves for and hates his sins. as that he turns from them all to God, purposing and endeavoring constantly to walk with him in all the ways of new obedience. We can also say here, as we're talking about repentance, here's just one final note here. Repentance is to be continual. Of course, in this text, God is bringing men to repentance. Paul says this is what happens, or this is something that we should perhaps expect to happen as the ministers are faithfully giving God's word. But it's not something that only happens at one point in time and then you stop repenting. Repentance should be continual. Repentance should be made for specific sins. And as believers, our lives should be characterized by repentance. Regardless of our station in life, regardless if we are a child, regardless if we are growing up as a young adult, regardless if we are a parent, in our middle age, in our old age, all of us sin, all of us still fall short of the glory of God, and all of us still need to repent daily of our sins that we commit in thought, in word, and in deed. And so we see this work of repentance that the Lord does, and as I should have noted, this is a work that God does in the heart of the unbeliever, in the heart of the one that is opposing the gospel, truth. But when God saves a sinner, does he only work in his heart and in no other part of the person? No, he also works in the mind. The whole person is transformed. We see this at the end of verse 25, where it says, so that they may know the truth. Or perhaps you have a translation that says they may come to a knowledge of the truth. Isn't it impossible to have a sinner who is opposing the message of God, who doesn't believe the message of God, for God to change his heart, but not change his thinking? His mindset, the way he thinks about Christ has to be changed as well. Think about Paul on the road to Damascus going to persecute Christians. He had a heart that was set against the Lord Jesus, who hated him, who believed he was an evil man. But Paul was wrong. And when God comes and saves him sovereignly, he not only changes his heart, he changes his mind. So he goes from thinking that Jesus Christ is a terrible person to now seeing he is alive. He is the Messiah. He is the son of God. Changes his heart along with. his mind. You can't have a change of heart and repentance without that person also having true pure doctrine, a saving understanding of Christianity in his mind as well. So God works in the heart, God works in the mind, and then Paul goes and he expands on that in verse 26. He expands on God's work in the mind where he says this, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. So I believe here that Paul is giving a further expression of what it means for these unbelievers to come to a knowledge of the truth. And that is expressed how? By them escaping the snare of death. devil. Some of you might have translations that, in verse 26, that present these as two different things. As those who, one, come to their senses, they regain sobriety, or however your translation puts it, and secondly, they escape the snare of the devil. But I don't think Paul is presenting those as two different things. I think if you were to look at the word order of the text, you would see that they are really one and the same. And I will say, I think that the King James does a very good job as presenting this coming to a saving understanding, this regaining their senses as the thing which is an escape out of the snare of the devil's snare, that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil. that translation says. That's very similar to what we saw in this morning's message, is it not? That we are sanctified, we are protected from the devil by the word of God, by God's truth. It is that thing which keeps us from the heresies, from the falsehood that the devil wants to give to us. So here now, it seems like on the other end, when God saves a person, that person comes to their senses. They regain sobriety, so to speak. They have now a saving understanding of things, which is their escape from the snare of the devil. We can say here as well that unbelievers are servants of the devil. Matthew 12, 26 presents Satan as having a kingdom. There's a kingdom, there's a king, and if there's a king, he has subject servants who serve him. So I think that this text presents to us actually those who are the servants of the Lord, then also those who are the servants of the devil. So that's a good dichotomy, a set of two things and only two options for us to have in mind, that we can only serve God or serve the devil. We can have no one else who is our ultimate master. So that presents a very natural question for us today, and that is, whom do you serve? Are you servants of the Lord? Are you those who, when you hear the Word of God, when you read the Word of God, do you love it? Do you hear the voice of your Master? Do you hear the voice of your Good Shepherd? And do you long to follow Him wherever He may lead you? Does that characterize your life? Are you those of whom we can truly say that you are followers of the Lamb? Are you servants of God? And if so, and I trust many of you are, then we must rejoice in that fact. But scripture also teaches that there are servants of the devil if you are not servants of God. And that is a very grievous thing. That is a terrible place for one to find himself. Why would anyone, if you think about it, serve the devil? Think of the foolishness in a concept like this. Is the devil a king who is benevolent to his subjects? Does he want the best for you? He may offer you sin that appears to have pleasure in it for a season, but think of what he desires for your soul. Think of what that sin will do to you. The devil comes to do what? To steal, to kill, and to destroy. He will come for your soul. Do not follow him. Do not pursue the temptations of sin that are offered to you wherever you see them in the world. If you see them in your house, if you see them out in the workplace, if they come across your phone or your laptop screen, those temptations will come to you. Do not pursue them. Do not serve the devil. Do not serve those things which have no eternal value but will Only seek to damn your soul, but serve the Lord. And another great paradox, another great truth is that there is freedom in serving the Lord. The unbeliever might look at what Christianity presents, might look at its constraints, at its war against sin, and see that as bondage, and see themselves who are serving Satan, who are slaves of Satan, as those who are free, who can do whatever they want. But scripture teaches there is freedom in following the law of God. There is great freedom in that. To use the illustration of a train and a tracks again, you can say that the train is freest when it's on the tracks. It can go the furthest. It can traverse the most terrain when it's on the path that has been set for it. It's accomplishing its purpose. It's doing what no other train can do. And for us who are people, those who are made in the image of God, God has something for us to do. He has given us his word, his moral law, and we as his creatures must submit to it. We must obey what God has told us to do. So we must be servants of God, and therein is freedom. First Peter 2 puts these ideas together, the fact that we are servants of God, and as servants of God we are free. Second Peter 2, 15 to 16, for so is the will of God that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. as free, not using your liberty as a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. The first Peter 2 there presents that we as God's servants are indeed free and as servants of the Lord Jesus. Yes, we have our limitations that are rightly put on us. We have guardrails that will keep us from sin that will seek to destroy our souls. And we are given the pathway to eternal life, the road to heaven that is lined with good works. God has ordained good works for us to do, and he is pleased to give joy to all of his children who walk in love and who obey his commands. So we have seen in this text that there is a work of God's servant. There's a work of the servant and also the work of the Lord. And these things, the text presents to us, happen together in the conversion of those who are opponents of the gospel. So we should seek humility. We should be like the Lord Jesus, who is the great servant of the Lord. And if he was, he who was the highest, who is the eternal son of God, took to himself the form of a servant. How much more should we be willing to do the same and to be servants of others? Not that we can ever become perfectly humble, as humble as the Lord Jesus has made himself. But we are presented, Christ, as the model that we should try to conform ourselves to through his grace. Seek scripture. Know what scripture says. Know the doctrine of the Bible so that when you do have heresies, falses that are presented to you, these things that the devil will present to your mind, you will know that they are wrong. So this is an extension of how the Lord's servant must be apt to teach ability. He needs to have that ability. To some extent, all of God's people need to have a true understanding of doctrine. but also depend upon the Lord to do the rest. In your station, wherever your calling is in life, you have your own duties, and you must do them to their full extent. You shouldn't be so self-confident that that's all that needs to happen in order for the conversion of your children, perhaps, the conversion of those whom you are talking to in the workplace, and perhaps for those who are pursuing ministry, those who you are preaching to. We need to look to the Lord to do spiritual work. We have our duties on earth that God has called us to do. There are certain things that we must rest in Him to do. And so we are left with this healthy balance of having our own responsibility, our own calling, but also trusting the Lord that he will do what only he can do. May the Lord add his blessing to the preaching of his word. Amen. Dear Lord, your word is good. We thank you for it. And we thank you that you have provided your church with ministers, with your servants, who are called to be faithful in the things that they teach, to correct their opponents with gentleness. Lord, we pray that they would do this with a spirit of patience and of humility, looking for you to work and to do a work of conversion, a supernatural work that only you can do. So dear Lord, we pray that you would bless this preaching of your word to our hearts and souls. We pray that your church would be edified and built up through it, and that through all that we think, say, and do, the Lord Jesus, who is the great servant of the Lord, who has humbled himself and who is exalted far above all, that he would be glorified. In whose name we pray, amen. Brothers and sisters, let's respond to the Word of God, please, and turn in your hymnals to 64, God the Lord, a King, remaineth. Let's stand together as we sing. Number 64.