How we long that you may be encouraged and find out more and more how strong are the bonds of Christian love. How we long for you to grow more certain in your knowledge and more sure in your grasp of God Himself. May your spiritual experience become richer as you see more and more fully God's great secret Christ Himself. For it is in Him and in Him alone that men find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Here now is David Johnston, teaching on your selected topic to help you in your walk with Christ. How to pursue the worthwhile life. The timing of this I think is appropriate because it's near the first of the year. Because I want to kind of serve you with the kind of stuff from the Word of God that will help you with the year, as well as so much of the future. It's got to be the big question of the day. What is the worthwhile life? What is worth doing? What is worth being? When you read the book of Ecclesiastes, you become alarmed. Because that preacher said, vanity of vanities, behold all is vanity. And that verse could aptly apply to most of this generation today. For man is grabbing and clutching and grasping for position and stuff and things. And every time he gets something, it's like it slips through his finger like water and his hands are still empty. It kind of relates to one of the things you find in scripture, which is called a paradox. And the word paradox is kind of interesting because para means beyond thought. Jesus said, whoever would save his life would lose it. But whosoever will lose his life, for my sake and the gospel's, shall find it. Now, outside these walls, the pursuit in life is mainly power. position, money, and pleasure. In fact, if we were to choose of a list of philosophies, and one day we'll do that on a Tuesday night here, the philosophy of our day could best be expressed in the word hedonism. Not he then as in T.H., but he done as in H.E.D.O. and hedonism, which is the pursuit of pleasure. Never has man had so much and been so empty. So it behooves us to search the Word of God to discover what is the worthwhile life. So that after you stand at the exit sign of life, you have walked across the stage of time and are about to leave here, and you look back at your life, you don't say, vanity of vanity. But, oh, how significant were my days. If, when you exit this planet, you are going to do so with joy over what you've been, where you've gone, and what you've accomplished, then you need to be sure you're doing that kind of stuff right now. Or when you get there, your hands will be empty. or a certain. We brought nothing into this world, and we will take nothing out. So in the search for significance, in the search for meaning, in the attempt to discover what is worthwhile, we must go to someone whose viewpoint is bigger, broader, wiser than mankind's. Let me talk about how important this is first. Getting your information from God is one of the most critical, if not the most critical issue in life. Here's why. Because in our daily intercourse with others, our expression, and they talk, and we talk, and interact, and interact, and we read what somebody's written, everything you get is coming to you from somebody who doesn't know an awful lot more than you to begin with, another created, another human. That's why you want to get your information not laterally like this, but vertically. You want to be directed from someone who has not just love, but wisdom so superior to mankind that you can count on it. Why do you need to count on it? Because of the value of your life. For to have spent 70 years sojourn and to exit this planet, having lived merely by the opinions of others, is to have played the fool. So pursuing the worthwhile life, this is no casual, subject matter today, it's some of the main stuff of life. I want to tell you in one sentence what the Bible says the worthwhile life is. It's a life of serving. It's a life of service. And as you'll see in a moment, not much else counts. So let's begin, and by the way, we'll finish this next Sunday, but let's begin with Understanding that servanthood was one of the purposes of redemption Now we're talking about the real stuff the blood of Jesus here How much more shall the blood of Christ Who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God To purge your conscience from dead works watch this so that you can Serve the Living God That's why he has done it, to transform us from takers into givers, from receivers into transmitters. You will find here in a moment that serving is, you recall it from the teaching on iniquity, It is one of the steps that we take in order to eliminate iniquity. It is the opposite to iniquity. For iniquity is the attempt to get everybody to serve me, to think that my success in life depends on how far up the ladder of fame I get, how far up the ladder of success I get, how much money I have in the bank, how many people think I'm wonderful. And it's false. The servant spirit taking the role of a servant as opposed to the hotshot, the dominator eliminates iniquity. Now, I want to talk here about Some of the mistaken notions about servanthood. And these first seven points are really important, and I want you to lay hold on these. Number one, the first false notion is that servanthood is a low social position. Somehow we've got the idea that servanthood is on the bottom of the rung, the bottom rung of the ladder and not the top. So let us learn it clearly from the scripture. Don't let anybody call you a master. Because one is your master, even Christ. Now watch this. And he that is greatest among you shall be your, got it, servant. Again. The philosophies of men are generally the opposite to the philosophies of God. The ideas of men and the ideas of God clash. That's why there are exciting verses that you should know. For example, in the book of Isaiah, God says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, saith the Lord. He has different set of thoughts than we have. My ways are not what ways sayeth the Lord his ways are different than our ways and then this is what he says as high as the heavens are above the earth So are my ways and my thoughts higher than yours sayeth the Lord Now you get your choice You get your choice to follow the ways of men or the ways of God the low way or the highway Which shall we choose dear friends? I am delighted to be here today with you because I'm among people who in the main have chosen to walk the high road, to listen to the high voice, to respond to the great wisdom of the Creator and not to be stuck in the mud and mundane of the human. And watch this now, in His view, The greatest on this planet is the one who is to serve. The greatest among you shall be your servant. This is God's idea of a worthwhile life. Now watch the next verse. because it's basically saying what I said in the foregoing. Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, brought down. Well, watch this. But he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. Well, let's look at a couple more things about this. Here's another verse. Jesus called unto him, And he and he said here's what the Gentiles do watch this they exercise dominion over other people Now watch this and they that are great Exercise authority down upon those who they dominate That's the way it is in most business not all business. I'll show you that in a moment Watch now, don't miss this next phrase. This is Jesus saying, this is what the Gentiles, this is what the heathen are like. They strive to get up here to dominate over those who are down there. Now look at what he says. But it shall not be so among you. And whosoever Are you loving the Word of God here? I mean, this is I'm not this is not Johnston speaking here. This is the Holy Spirit This is his opinion. This is the Master Jesus Whoever will be great among you. Let him be your minister your server Now watch the next verse because this is stunning and it's important And whosoever will be chief among you, whoever's gonna be the chief among you, let him be your servant. Here's the stunning verse. Even as the Son of Man came, look at this, not to be ministered unto, but to minister. Even Jesus came here. Not just God come here and he didn't come here, To say, okay all you humans, I made you, now serve me. Now bow down. Now bring me some food. Build me a castle. Make me comfortable. Wash my feet. The Son of God came and said, He came not to be served. but to serve. Beloved, this is the reason so many don't want him. This is the reason so many didn't accept him. You see, people have been so wrong about God that Jesus came. to show us what he was like, what God was like. And when they found out what God was like, it didn't fit their human ideas. For centuries, they've been trying to make God like man. And God is trying to make man like himself. So Jesus came to be the example of this servant spirit, of this disposition, of this new revolutionary way of life, this way of being a servant. Some people think that a servant is a low social position. And God says, no, only the greatest serve. Some of the great men of the Bible, look at this. Abraham, big name in the Bible, was a servant. Look at this scripture. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, look at this, as a servant. It was servanthood that made Abraham great. It was servanthood that made Moses great. And he chose David his servant. Paul opens his letters like this. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. James. A servant of God and a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know who James was? Huh? A brother of Jesus. A brother of Jesus. And he opens his epistle by saying that he was a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Peter, now, isn't this amazing? Peter, the braggadocious. I mean, he was the smart aleck of the group. I mean, he was the leader of the 12. He swam the farthest. He was so impetuous. He was quick to pronounce how wonderful and how great he was. But he had an experience right after Calvary, which is when most of us have our best experiences. And somehow the entire persona of Peter gets turned around to a new discovery. And Peter becomes a servant. He became a servant even unto death. And how was he crucified? Upside down on a cross. Because he didn't feel worthy to die the same way as He's a master. Peter, a servant. In the book of Revelation, we find out that John was a servant. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto his servant, John. Watch this verse. In Revelation, we learn that all of the prophets were servants. The idea That servanthood is a low social position and not desirable is a mistaken notion. And in fact, if any man serve me, look at this, let him follow me where I am, my servant shall be there. Now watch this. If any man serve me, look at this, if any man serve me, look at this now, him will my father Honor. This is not little stuff. This is big stuff. Second mistaken notion. That servanthood equates to poverty. We have the idea that if you're a servant, you have to be poor. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Take a look at the scripture. Let them shout for joy and be glad that favor my righteous cause that's us And now let me tell you what I can hardly wait Next Sunday, I'm gonna finish this and the Sunday after I'm gonna talk about what the Bible teaches of how to respond when you're sitting in the congregation Because we haven't learned those lessons yet And here's proof shop for joy Are you capable of shouting? Well, I don't know. If I catch you Monday night looking at the football game in your house and I hear you shouting, I'll be really aggravated. You come here and we talk about the wonderful things of God, it ought to produce shouting. Joyful noises ought to ascend from this place. All right. You'll get the whole story a week from Sunday, a week from next Sunday. All right. Let them shout for joy. and be glad. That favored my righteous God. Let them say, continue, let the Lord be magnified. Let them say, together. Oh, come on, say it. Now watch this. Let the Lord be magnified. Now, this is what God is like, which has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. The notion that to be a server means poverty is simply a myth. And I know there are those who think that the Bible is full of myths. Like I heard one preacher say, if they think the Bible is full of myths, they're myth-taken, mythified, and mithrable. The truth is that God takes pleasure in your prosperity. He didn't come to put you down, put you in the dirt, trample on you, and turn you into a nothing and a nobody. He came to transform you into a servant. And in His opinion, a servant is the greatest thing you could be. It is the worthwhile life. Let me just give you a secular. Analogy. There's a lot of different motivations in the business world. But there are some who have learned. That the purpose of their business is to serve. not to make a profit. But let me tell you something, wherever you find a need and fill it, it's going to come back to you. Wherever you have a disease, find a disease and heal it, it will come back to you. Wherever you find something missing and give it, back to you. Success, godly success in business is automatic to the servant. Because the servant is there to bless the client. The servant is there to help someone else be successful. And oh, is the world willing to pay for people who are. Now it would really be nice If it was sort of a chain thing and we serve them so they can be more successful in the business so that they can better serve others, it would be nice if that kept on going. But I tell you that serving is intended by God to produce financial blessing. The more customers you can serve, the more clients you can serve, the more people you can help. I hope you don't mind, rather, a personal illustration. Doc Shirley is a good friend to me. And I have gotten out in the community. and mentioned his name probably several hundred times in the last three years. Now, obviously, there are doctors who are in business to make money only. But there are some medical people who are there to serve. And to the person that I have talked Because when they go to that office, they meet a server. He's not a doctor, he's a server. And the people that have been blessed, and the increasing brightness of his testimony. I know, we all got a past. But since Jesus, I've had people tell me that they have seen such a change in the doctor in the last few years. I tell you, but the thing that outshines it all is the servants. I hope I didn't embarrass you. Serving. Watch it now. God has pleasure. in the prosperity of servants. A myth, a mistaken notion is that servanthood equates to poverty. Look at this, Ecclesiastes confirms the same thing. Folly is set in great dignity. And after he looked things over, he said, the rich sit in the low place. I have seen servants upon horses and the princes walking as if most people think servants should be on the earth. God has a way of blessing servant. Another mistaken notion about servanthood. I will not be respected in my family if I'm a servant. I don't want anybody in this room to miss this scripture. Because God's view is that if the father has a servant spirit, he is a servant, that he will impact his children and his children's children. Now watch. The children of thy servants shall continue. Continue what? Continue serving. and their seed shall be established before thee. Let me put it as clearly as I understand. This is the scripture stating it in principle. Let me tell you what it is in practice. You show me the parents, or excuse me, if you show me the children of parents who do not have a servant spirit, I'll show you children who will turn into tragedies. You show me the children of parents whose, if the parents have a servant spirit, I'll show you children that are really normal. Not normal by the world standard, because that would be half crazy. I'm talking about children with peace. I'm talking about children with confidence. I'm talking about children with integrity and honesty. I'm talking about children who will continue what who are you see they are not if if a child is raised in a family where the parents have the opposite of Servanthood which is iniquity then when they leave the family or even while they're in the family their pursuit is to be like their father and they will enter the competition and they will enter the rat race and they will be a like every other heathen. But you show me a child who's raised in a family where the father has a servant spirit, and I'll show you children who will have a servant spirit. And I'll show you children who will continue and not be shaken and shaped and conformed to the world. because they learn to follow somebody who's going the right way. Now, let me say something to parents for a moment. How do you know if you are a serving parent? And the answer would be, take a look at your children and see if they have a serving spirit. Or are they grabbing and grasping? Do they want to take all the time? Do they want to get all the time? Or are they turning into givers? Are they turning into servers? It's a mistaken notion that you'll be not respected in the family. For the children of servants. Look at this. I don't know everything that's involved in this continuing. But it seems to me to be stable, lasting, ongoing, confident. Fourth mistaken notion. Servanthood subjects a person to mistreatment. It's a mistaken notion. And I suppose if you were serving the wrong master, that could happen. But look at this. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord. The servants of God do not suffer lack. They do not suffer like the world suffers. Because God deals well with the servants. And he does it, look at the scripture, according to His Word. You know, again, someday I'm going to write down maybe the things I love about God, but here's another one of them. I have a lot of them. He keeps His Word. He keeps His Word. And if He gives His Word to a servant, the servant can count on it. And if, this is, nobody is forsaking me in this life, but he will not receive houses and riches 100 times more. He deals well with the servants. The fifth notion is that being a servant is a slavish position, is a bondage position. When in fact the opposite is true. When we get next week to the steps to how to pursue becoming a servant, the biblical steps, where I have no ideas of my own that could ever compete with scripture, We will discover that real freedom is in servanthood. Listen to this scripture. Lord, I am thy servant truly, truly. That's a great word, truly. I am the servant, the son of thine handmaiden, and thou hast loosed my bonds. I'm a servant and you took the bondage out of me. You took the bonds away from me. It is a mistaken notion that servanthood is about bondage and slavery. Then there's a mistaken notion that servants are not as intelligent as others. Now watch this. I am thy servant. Give me understanding. that I may know thy testimonies. Now, let me make a secular illustration of this. Well, let me just ask you this question. Excuse me. Reminds me of a plaque I gave to somebody here in the church, and if you're sitting in front of me, please forgive me. I gave some family this plaque. I think I gave it to you for anniversary, I'm not sure. Maybe I should give one to every family, then they might think I sent them out. It's a sign that says, do you want to talk to the boss or the woman who knows what's going on? In business, the owner May not and probably won't if he's got anything really good going on doesn't know everything that's going on But you talk to the employees and they know the details they know stuff that Florida didn't have time to learn that doesn't have reason to learn because he's got a good employee When you become the servant of God God transmits to you everything about himself so that you can serve intelligently. How could you serve God if you don't know what he wants done? You don't know where he's going. The servant has this quest for understanding. And here is the servant asking, God, I am thy servant. Give me understanding so that I can know The testimonies, the life stories that you tell me have happened. What are the dynamics of those stories, the testimony? And then there's the mistaken notion that servanthood is a limited vocation, that you can't get very far as a servant. And the truth of it is, that in the kingdom of God, servanthood leads to friendship. Look at what Jesus said. This is absolutely wonderful. Henceforth, I call you not servants. Now, you're still the servants, but I'm not going to call you that. Are you getting this? But I have called you friends. In other words, have you got this? Did you get this? You're still a servant, but he says, I'm not going to call you a servant anymore. Now, I want you to see what God does with servants. He said, henceforth, I call you not service. Now, look at the reason. Look at the reason he doesn't call you servants anymore, because the servant knows not all the details, doesn't know the whole story of what the Lord does. But I am going to, you're still my servants, but I'm gonna call you friends for everything that I have heard of my father, I'm gonna tell it to you. I am, you see, servants of God get dealt with well. Servants of God transition into a friendship relationship. I think that's glorious. Now, it's a friendship that you don't want to be presumptuous about and get too, that's why I'm somewhat grieved when I hear people talk about God in terms that are, you know, like Big Daddy in the sky too familiar. Don't ever forget there's a big gap between what he is and what we are. But in spite of that gap, he takes his servants and he says, I'm gonna make you my friends. It is servants that become friends of God. You see it? Do you see it? You can see it. Now, watch this. The mistaken notion is that it has limitations. The fact is that servitude not only leads to friendship, but leads to sonship. Look at this. You are no more a servant, but a son. Now watch this. God intends with those who serve Him to bring them into friendship, bring them into sonship, and in this sonship position, now this is absolutely, I don't know how I could tell you a truth more staggering to the human mind than this. And it's before you in the scripture. So that you Become an heir of God through Christ. Oh, come with me quickly to the book of Romans. And join me. Celebratingly in this wonderful phrase that he says about us that we are going to become heirs and what's the next one? Join heirs with Jesus Christ. Oh, my goodness. Everything he has, he's going to share with me. Whatever he has, I have. Whatever he's got, I get. Wherever he's going, I'm going. Joint air an equal air Imagine and met dear friends. I understand that this is high and lofty But it is true and mighty You see It's what he does with servants There is no limit all right What I mean to do now is to spend a few moments on some of the principles of servanthood and get us ready for next Sunday morning when we'll teach on how to live, how to walk after, how to be a servant, how to pursue the worthwhile life. The how of it will come next week. So let's learn a couple things. Serving is to be done with joy. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. It's to be done with joy. If a person does what he's told to do but doesn't do it joyfully, he's not serving. Let me make this even stronger. If somebody obeys what he's told to do, but does not do it joyfully, he does not have an obedient spirit. Okay, can I talk to you for a second? Let me give you a reminder this week to reprint the 10 tests of obedience, and we'll give them out next Sunday morning. Okay, 10 tests of obedience. Okay, don't enjoy. Then God gives servants special protection and reward. Now, let me see. Don't look at the screen for a moment. I gotta do something I should have in the mix up here. Okay. All right. Now watch this. When we looked at the screen, I told you not to. That's like telling somebody, you know, don't think of an elephant with pink toenail All right God gives servants special protection and reward Look at this more over by them as I servant warn servants get special warning Which are protection which keeps them from failing altering Now, this, I haven't put it here, by them as I servant ward, what is these, what are the things that God gives special to servants? So let's go here to the scripture. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, right? Testimonial is sure making wise the simple Statues of the Lord are right rejoice in the heart the commandment Lord is pure enlighten the eyes the fear of Lord is clean enduring forever the judgment The Lords are true and righteous all together More to be desired are they then gold jade and much fine gold sweeter also than the honeycomb And more over by them as I servant warn Now watch this, because there's two things in here. By these things, the servant is warned, and in keeping of them, the servant gets great reward. Now, what are these things that are specifically provided to servants? First one is the law of the Lord, and it will convert the soul of the servant. And the testimony of the Lord is sure, it will make the servant wise. And the statutes of the Lord are right, and they will rejoice the servant's heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, and it will lighten the servant's eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, so it will be the same forever. And the judgments of the Lord are right, and they will help the servant remain true and righteous altogether. or over by these things right here, is thy servant warned. And in keeping of, watch this now, in keeping of these, there's great reward. So the special provision for servants is, and protection, is laws, statutes, commandments, fear, et cetera. Thirdly, Servants particularly need help with presumption. Presumption is something servants are prone to. And it's in the same passage. Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins. Let not presumptuous sins have dominion over me, Because if I can avoid being presumptuous, I shall be upright. Understand it? If I can avoid presumptuous sins, I will be upright. If I can avoid presumption, I will be innocent from the great transgression. Now, here's the word presume. It means to take upon oneself without permission or authority. It means to take an unwarranted liberty. It means to be too bold or forward. It means to be taking too much for granted or showing overconfidence. What I want you to get is this first one. Take upon oneself without permission or authority. Now, let me see if I can connect you with what God's saying here. The mission of the servant is to do the bidding of the Lord, right? The biggest sin a servant can do is overstep his authority, overstep his authorization, overstep his direction, and presume that he has the liberty to do something that he hasn't been approved to do. Because when you have a servant spirit, you want to meet people's needs. But you can become, I have a term called overreaching. And it's like the servant who goes to pick up your pencil before you've even dropped it. They can get too invasive. They get too in your face. Danger of servants is they would start to meet someone's need before that person even knows they have a need. or before they give permission to meet the need. It's presumptions. So servants need help with presumption. Now, the soul of the servants are particularly cared for by God. He watches out for your emotions and your intelligence. your well-being. Because the Lord redeems the soul, redeems the soul of his servants. Now this is not necessarily redemption in the sense that we refer to Calvary, the redemption that Jesus wrought on Calvary. It's that if the servant's soul gets upset, God will bring it back to stability. If the soul of the servant becomes disturbed or overwrought or he can't handle what's going on, God will redeem his soul. God will bring his soul back on track again. You follow what I'm saying? You get it? Because if you get it, I can move on, but if you don't get it. And none of the servants that trust in him shall be avoided by God. shall be desolate, shall be without God. Number five, God's servants must have high standards. Why? Because they're serving God. The greatest, the most damaging effect on the secular world today is people who purport to be the servants of God They don't have high standards. Because their standards are less than God's standards. If I am a servant of God, that whatever the master's standards are must become my standards. Do you follow that? And I'm free to have less standards than he has. And if I do, I will bring reproach to his name. And that's exactly what's happening in America. Here's what God says, here's who shall serve me, okay? God says his eyes will be upon the faithful of the land. That's the first thing he's looking for, faithful. And the reason he wants faithful people is because they will dwell with him. They will stay in relationship with him, dwell as an enduring time. And thirdly, he that walks in a perfect way, who doesn't take servanthood in a sloppy, slothful manner, but is particular, fussy, specific, watchful about his serving, that's who God says shall serve me. Servants graduate to greater levels of service. You know the scripture, he that is faithful in little thing will be faithful in much. That's why we get a lot of extra work at the office this time of year. And we don't really like it because we have a wonderful person who helps us with it. When all the giving has to go into the computer or the year, every week we get envelopes from children. And it could range from nothing in it, which doesn't get entered in the computer, to $0.01 to $0.11. Sometimes little children give $5. And I know churches, well, here's what the law, the law says that anything under $10 you don't have to even give a receipt for, you don't have to acknowledge. But you know what? I think we would be in this because here are our children learning to be faithful, and that was as little. And if they're faithful little, God's gonna graduate them, they're gonna be faithful in much. He can trust them. I mean, it's really neat to just take a look at an envelope that's written. You really have to have the spirit of interpretation to see who it came from. But look at this. God chose David, servant. Look what he did with him. Because this boy learned to serve in the sheepfold. And he took him from the sheepfold. He took him from following the ewes who were, that's the female sheep who were pregnant with young because David looked after them. He gave special cares to the pregnant sheep. And I took him and I brought him to feed Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance. And if you know anything about the kingship of David, you probably only see the flaws and the failures. But he was not merely a king. He was a pastor. And he gave himself for the people of Israel. Psalms are just some of the evidence we have of his ministry of servants. So, graduate. Servants also defer praise to their master. They don't take the credit for what they did, they refer it to their master. Oh, you don't need to thank me for doing this, my master did me to it. Can't remember who it was lately. But this has happened this has happened a hundred thousand times in America I don't know who told me lately but on Christmas Day I don't know who it was They drove downtown where all the homeless people were and they had bags of food And wherever they were standing on the corner, they would stop the car open the window and without spending a lot of time and say, hey, this is from Jesus, and drive on to the next block and hand another bag of fruit out. I think that's really cool. When a servant does something to bless people, he doesn't heap Doesn't even care actually if he gets thanked he only care There's that the master First This is just Praise the Lord all ye servants of the Lord Give praise the name of the Lord Servants stick to their directions when the going gets tough This is a this is a this is an important one to get So here's a servant, and executives, leaders, judges were speaking against me. What do you do as a servant when people start speaking against you? You stick to directions. But even though they were speaking against me, look at this, thy servant did meditate in your directions, in your statutes. Because a servant of God, as you're gonna see next week, so I mean, the stuff coming for next week out of the scriptures. I mean, if you think today's helping you, next week is gonna pull this whole thing together for you. And you're going to see some of the most amazing things about servanthood when we follow the biblical instructions on how to pursue a worthwhile life. Servants are devoted to reverencing their master. Establish thy word. Make sure I got your word straight before I go out and serve you. Because I am thy servant who is devoted to thy reverence. I'm not going to go out and misrepresent you in any way, so I need to have your word straight. Establish your word to me, because I'm devoted to your fear. The word fear is actually reverence there. Servants revere the directions of the master. They don't go off flying off on their own. They are particular that they are doing precisely the will of the master. So the servant says, thy word is very pure. So God, look at this. Therefore, thy servant loves it. I love it. I love your word, oh God, because it's where I get my direction. Whatever you tell me to do, I'm going to do. However you tell me to behave, I'm going to behave. However you tell me to think, I'm going to think. Thy servant and I love pureness of your word." Now, servants intimately share in the joys and the sorrows of their master. Look at the testimony of David. He says, God, make your face to shine upon thy servant and teach me thy statutes in this predicament that I'm in. Now look at the predicament he's in. Look at this. Watch the scripture with me. Watch now. Rivers of water run down mine eyes because they keep not thy love. The true servant of God hurts when he hears somebody hurt. When we hear the name of Jesus Christ taken in vain, I don't know about you, but it's like a dagger to your soul. Because you see, we are servants of the most high God and to speak against him, to hurt him in any way, to blaspheme him. Had a couple minutes, what number am I on? I love it. We're going to make it easily. This reminds me, some time ago I talked to you about the subject of bearing the hurt of God. Anybody remember? Here's how the apostle voiced it. that I might know thee in the power of your resurrection and in the fellowship of your suffering. The fellowship of your suffering. Whatever God suffers over, servants suffer over. Even gospel preaching today has got to the place where we are, hey, hey, how would you like love, joy, and peace? Come to Jesus and this is what you get, all these wonderful. I have to tell you that the great moral force that keeps a true believer pure and the reason why he does not willfully sin because he knows that his sin will hurt the heart of them. I don't want to disappoint the master. I want him one day to be able to say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord. I don't want to grieve his heart. Now I know this flies against philosophies. I call them philosophies because in my view, they're not biblical concepts about God. Some people have painted a picture of God who's this far off austere being that cannot be hurt, damaged, or discombobulated in any way. But if you go to Ezekiel chapter nine, a stunning verse, stunning verse, stunning. God says, are you ready? Listen to him. I am broken, for their hearts have gone a-whoring after other gods. Think adultery is damaging? It really is, when one party is unfaithful to a spouse. How do you think God deals with the millions who pronounces faith or faith and confidence and trust in one day, and the rest of the weeks and months they go whoring after other? Oh, the hurt. So David, because the people wouldn't keep the laws of God. Look at this. tears. He wept over it because a servant is so bent on the well-being and the reputation of his master. Now, Catch it here by Jesus himself. Remember the word I said to you, the servant is not greater than the Lord. If they persecute me, they will persecute you. Servant is intimately connected. Whatever he is, we get peace. Number 12, servants require wisdom. Servanthood requires wisdom. The king's favor is toward a wise servant, but wrath is against him that causes shame. You don't want to be servants that cause shame. The only way to overcome shame is to have wisdom, and wisdom is seeing from God's point of view. And then lastly, servants become family. A wise servant will have rule over a son that causes shame. And look at this, this wise servant shall have part of the inheritance equal to the brothers. Amazing. We trust this teaching has been a blessing to you. For further information on other teaching and series topics, please visit our website at nothingbutthetruth.us. Or call us toll-free at 1-88-THE-TRUTH. That's 1-888-438-7884. you