AM I A SERVANT?

BIBLE PASSAGE: ACTS 13:22,25,29 & 36

Picture taken from Google

Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page

Lesson ideas taken from: https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons

JUNE 13, 2021

LESSON KEY VERSE

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

ACTS 13:36

 

INTRODUCTION:

What does the word “servant” mean? In New Testament, servant means a slave or servant of another, one who serves others, minister, “deacon.”

 

When we asked ourselves, “am I servant?” some of us would be easier for him/her to answer but today let’s study about being a servant. Before we go to our main points, let’s look at the three characters mentioned in this chapter. In verse 22, “And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.” There are two things we would like to give our focus on. The first one is:

-      A man after mine heart: We know what are some of the important details of David’s life and maybe we start asking ourselves, “Despite the sins he committed, why he still commended by God with these words? David was far from perfect. He failed the Lord on many occasions and sinned against God in some terrible ways - but he was quick to recognize his wrongdoings and genuinely repented of his sin. Some bible scholars and pastors believe that one of the reasons is humility- willing to be a servant. Though David was a king, he had the heart of the servant.

-      Shall fulfill all my will: These words are the last line of this verse and what can you say of the commendation of God to David? A man God can trust. What a commendation from God. David shall fulfill His will in his calling. He shall fulfill His will with his family even though there were struggles and failures. And he shall fulfill His will in his life.

In verse 25 says, “And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.” Last week we mentioned about the verse exposing John the Baptist’s attitude of humility; “He must increase; I must decrease.” John was asked by the priest and Levites, “WHO ART THOU?” (John 1:19). He didn’t give credit to himself or give himself even a little pride. He said, “I AM NOT HE.” He mentioned that even untying the shoes of the Messiah he was not worthy. John Gill exposition of the Bible, suggesting hereby, that he was unworthy to be his servant, to perform the meanest part of service for him that could be thought of; so far was he from assuming any preference to him on account of his being before him, as his forerunner; see Matthew 3:11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: What a humility! 

 

Another thing is the first line, “John fulfilled his course.”

 

LESSON OUTLINE:

1.  A SERVANT SERVES (ACTS 13:36, LUKE 22:27)

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.

 

How important is to be in the service? (ask for responses) In Luke 22:27, Jesus asked who is the greatest, the man who sits at meat or he that serves? Of course, the man who sits but take note what He said at the end… “but I am among you as he that serves.” That’s what the importance of service. If you’re serving in God’s vineyard, He’s with among us who serve. Bible says, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

Being servants, we should not expect what the church can do for you instead but what can you do for the church. Personally, I’m thankful because CBT has learned that the church is not there to be the source of materials things and everything. I remember there were situations before that the church was the place to ask for your personal payment of bills, food in the table and other things. Though the pastor had not enough salary from the church, he still the person to be asked for financial assistance. Therefore, in other hand, there’s something negative about Christians who are called “seeker churches.” They denote something that please “self.” They look for churches that would please them.

Matthew 20:25-26 say, “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;” The idea that Jesus had nowhere to lay His head comes directly from a conversation recorded in the book of Matthew and again in the book of Luke. Jesus was talking to a scribe who wished to follow Jesus and become a disciple. In fact, the scribe boasted, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:19–20; Luke 9:57–58).

These same passages mention two others who had similar discussions with Jesus. In each case, Jesus made the point that there is a cost to following Him. The scribe who said he wanted to follow Jesus wherever He went was not considering the lifestyle Jesus led. Our Lord was functionally homeless; He and His disciples stayed in the homes of those who would take them in (see Luke 10:6–8). The scribes were among the wealthier citizens. It was as if Jesus were saying, “Are you sure you want to be homeless with Me?” Even the animals have a place to stay—foxes have holes and the birds have nests—but Jesus literally had “nowhere to lay his head.” He wanted the scribe to truly count the cost of what he was proposing. It is always wise to count the cost (Luke 14:28).

 

 

The word “servant” mentioned is not the teaching servant of the house or maid who does the cleaning the kingly chambers. Paul uses the word “huperetes” which means “under-rower...literally “the slave who rows on the lowest level of a boat.” It is not the lowliest word for a servant, but not a prestigious position. Under-rowers serve “Christ the master-pilot, helping forward the ship of the Church toward the haven of heaven.” (Trapp)

The “under-rower” as “one who acts under direction, and asks no questions, one who does the thing he is appointed to do without hesitation, and one who reports only to the captain.

There’s a church who had a struggle of finding a place to worship. They prayed and then one time the church was offered a place which was not that good and needed renovation and repainting. The pastor and his family were there to clean and repaint the walls; there were also some men and preachers came over. On the midst of the cleaning, the pastor’s phone rang, and he needed to entertain an important call, and it took him an hour to talk to that person. When he came back to the auditorium, he heard a conversation between his wife and the preacher. The preacher said, “I didn’t go to Bible College for four years to paint walls.”  Then the pastor’s wife said, “You’ve got saved to do that.” Being a servant would never be convenient but it’s what we are called to do. We’re under rowers (explain a little about under rowers). Who do we think we are? A person sits at the table or are we among who serves?  We can say that if you’re not serving, you’re not a servant.

David understood that being the king brought the privilege of the office but also the responsibility of serving. He understood the need to serve those in authority as he humbled himself and serve Saul. He could bristle his pride and say, “I’m now the new king; I should defend myself by killing this loser king” but he did not do that. Instead, he said, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.” That was the heart he had. He was not to exalt himself but to be willing to serve even under Saul. 

 

There was a day David wanted to build the temple. He was the king and he thought he was deserved to do that but God told him no. Instead God told him to assemble the materials. Did He complain? Did he still give his best finding the best material? Of course not. In 1 Chronicles 28:11-19, recorded the things he prepared: the blueprints of the porch, its buildings, the inner courts and many more.

 

Walking in sandals on the filthy roads of Israel in the first century made it imperative that feet be washed before a communal meal, especially since people reclined at a low table and feet were very much in evidence. When Jesus rose from the table and began to wash the feet of the disciples (John 13:4), He was doing the work of the lowliest of servants. The disciples must have been stunned at this act of humility and condescension, that Christ, their Lord and master, should wash the feet of His disciples, when it was their proper work to have washed His. But when Jesus came to earth the first time, He came not as King and Conqueror, but as the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. As He revealed in Matthew 20:28, He came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The humility expressed by His act with towel and basin foreshadowed His ultimate act of humility and love on the cross. JESUS, a prophet, priest, and king lives his life as a servant.

 There’s a bible seminary who has a signage on the wall of the building, “ENTER TO LEARN; GO FORTH TO SERVE. A good signage but churches have become a place of: Enter to Learn, enter to be Pleased, enter to be comforted, enter to have programs but forget the “GO FORTH TO SERVE” part.

2. A SERVANT SERVES BY THE WILL OF GOD (ACTS 13:36)

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

 

The world is never impressed doing the will of God. The unbelievers wouldn’t understand us why we go to church on Sunday morning and back on the afternoon. They possible say we’re crazy if they see us again in Mid-week attending prayer meeting. They would possibly say, “That church is a cult.”

 

In John 12: 5 says, “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?” Judas thought it was silly and wasteful for that precious ointment to be pour on the feet of Jesus Christ but Christ said, “Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.”  What the woman did was the will of GOD.

Matthew 16:21-23 say, From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Peter rebuked Jesus that the cross would not happen to him, God would not allow it but Jesus told him that what he said those that be of men and not the things be of God. IT’S THE WILL OF GOD.

Christians are concerned about how we dress, where we go and our testimonies. The world may see that silly but it’s the will of God.

You ignore and avoided so many things like:  the invitations of people like bar party, the chatting that would lead you to infidelity to your spouse, watching too much TV and you forget to read your Bible and spending too much for unimportant things because you might use the supposed the money for the Lord. Even people don’t think it’s right guess what, IT’S RIGHT. it’s the WILL OF GOD.

The world would reject us but remember John 1: 11 says, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” Jesus was rejected, but He died for them anyway. Though the world mocked Him; He died for them anyway. Though there are rejection, servants serve anyway.

David served God’s purpose according to the will of God.  That’s a powerful thought. “Does God have a will for my life?” you may be wondering.  The Bible says He does.  The writers of Scripture contend that what happens to your life is of great importance to our Heavenly Father.  Paul wrote, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17).

3.  A SERVANT SERVES OUR GENERATION

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

We live in a messed up generation. Do you believe that? Have you watched the news?

·       A man was arrested for stabbing his wife’s boyfriend to death, after police found him stuck in a neighbor’s chimney when he tried to escape (March 19, 2021).

·       A police officer in the Philippines has been arrested and charged with the double murder of a mother and her son following a dispute (December 2020).

·       THREE high school students died in an apparent suicide in Leyte towns on Sunday, March 28, 2021. The victims, aged 13, 14 and 16, were from Bato, Palo, and Baybay City, all in Leyte province. In an initial investigation, police said the victims suffered from depression resulting from family and personal problems, including poor academic achievement.

 

These are just sample of the situations happening in our society. We live in a messed up world. Another question, do we understand the unbelievers?  Of course we do, because we were once in their place right? We know that they have different views in everything. Some of them have struggles fighting their addiction. Some of them thinking that there’s no way out of their troubled relationship. Some of them have seen their situation hopeless because they’re abused by the members of the family. Do they know where to turn to? DO they know that their situations are not hopeless? DO they know that Someone loves them more than the people they expected to show them love? Do they know that they can be forgiven? In those kinds of situations, NO, they don’t know. But there are group of people do know the answers. It’s you and me. We know the answer; JESUS is the answer. Therefore, let’s ask God to lay a name in our heart and let’s serve that person in the way to meet his/her need. We can’t be a king, a great preacher, teacher and certainly can’t be a priest but…. I CAN BE A SERVANT. WE CAN BE A SERVANT.

 

David was responsible only for his own generation.  You can’t do anything about what took place a hundred years ago, or even a generation ago.  That’s history, but you can do something about your generation, today, the world in which you live.

 

CONLUSION:

For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

(Nang maisakatuparan ni David ang kalooban ng Diyos, siya’s namatay at nailibing sa piling na kanyang mga magulang at dumanas ng pagkabulok)

 

One of the greatest tragedies in life is to get very close to reaching your goal, arriving at your full potential, accomplishing what you set out to do, only to fall short of what you wanted to do.  It’s always sad to have to quit a few hundred meters short of the top, or to get so very close to winning, only to have victory snatched from your grasp.

Unrealized goals! Unfulfilled potential–what a tragedy!  With a sigh we speak of, “The man he might have been,” or “the woman she could have been!” When David had finished the goal entrusted on him here on earth, the will of God, he died. How blessing it is to finish the will of God entrusted to you. In contrary, how sad it is to meet our end with unfinished business or we are not in God’s service.

“At the end of your life, how would you like to be remembered?”

 

 

 

FOR WHOM DO YOU LABOR?

BIBLE PASSAGE: ECCLESIASTES 4:1-12

Picture taken from Google

Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page

Lesson ideas taken from: enduringword.com/bible-commentary

JANUARY 24, 2021

 

MEMORY VERSE

Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.

ECCLESIASTES 4:6

 INTRODUCTION:

When I was a child, I had so many questions in mind: why my mother always cried because of our status, why we were poor, and why we were oppressed by relatives before? There were so many “whys” but those are part of God’s plan.

 

In verses 1 – 6, the writer of Ecclesiastes speaks about the comfortless oppression of man under the sun. In the Old Testament there are mentioned different oppression:

·         Oppression of people by a king (Proverbs 28:16).

·         Oppression of a servant by his master (Deuteronomy 24:14).

·         Oppression of the poor by the affluent (Proverbs 22:16).

·         Oppression of the poor by the bureaucratic (Ecclesiastes 5:8).

·         Oppression of the poor by other poor people (Proverbs 28:3).

·         Oppression of the alien, the fatherless, and the widow (Jeremiah 7:6; Ezekiel 22:7; Zechariah 7:10).

·         Oppression by charging high interest (Ezekiel 22:12, 29).

·         Oppression by using false weights and measures (Hosea 12:7).

 

https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/ecclesiastes-4

With these oppression, he said it’s better off dead (v.2). Solomon could only praise the dead this way because at his time he had no certain knowledge of the world to come, and he wrote most of Ecclesiastes with an under the sun premise. If he knew and accepted what happened to the unrighteous dead, he would never say such a thing. (Trapp)

Far better than that, he praised he who has never existed (not born).  Jesus Himself said there was one man for whom it would have been better if he had never been born: Judas (Matthew 26:24). The Preacher’s great despair over the injustice of oppression in an under the sun premise shows the moral necessity of an afterlife and a coming judgment. Jesus told us that it is those who oppress and misuse their power who will ultimately endure punishment, not their victims (Matthew 18:6-7).

 

In verses 4-5, the Preacher thought of those who gain success through toil and skillful work – and how it simply brought envy and sometimes hatred from others. This common jealousy of success made life seem like vanity and grasping for the wind.

Solomon here answered the tendency for those jealous of the success of others to be lazy. Like fools, they fold their hands and do nothing – and so waste away. Yet it wasn’t the success of their neighbor that made them waste away; the foolish, lazy man consumes his own flesh.

 

Without reading these verses, we can see with our own two eyes how the system of this world rotates but upon reading these, we can say “that is true”. Whatever labor you have at the present in the church or outside the church, the question is (taken from verse 8), “FOR WHOM DO YOU LABOUR”? Some would answer for the family but search our hearts because in reality there are only two answers from this question: Do your labor for the world or do you labor for GOD? Before we answer this question in our mind, there are some points we need to think about.

 

LESSON OUTLINE:

1.  IN THIS WORLD, THERE ARE NO ETERNAL ACCOMPLISHMENT AND SATISFACTION (ECC.4:6)

Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.

 

Like Solomon, Ernest Hemingway said something about life. “I live in a vacuum that is as lonely as a radio tube when the batteries are dead, and there is no current to plug into.” Hemingway lived his life in a way that would be the envy of any person who has bought in to the values of this world. Who is Ernest Hemingway?

 

Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, journalist, and sportsman. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his adventurous lifestyle and his public image brought him admiration from later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short-story collections, and two nonfiction works. Three of his novels, four short-story collections, and three nonfiction works were published posthumously. Many of his works are considered classics of American literature.

He got four wives but ended up all separated.

Hemingway maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida (in the 1930s) and in Cuba (in the 1940s and 1950s). He almost died in 1954 after plane crashes on successive days, with injuries leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959 he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho where, in mid-1961, he died by suicide with a shotgun (he shot himself in the head). 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway

That was Sunday morning in Idaho. “Vanity of Vanities all is vanity.” Life under the sun never satisfies the desires of our heart.

Now we see how life under the sun is vanity.

 

That is the life in this world without Christ in our hearts. So to all who are not really sure about your salvation, read John 14:6, John 3:16, John 1:12. There are many devices people think in their way to heaven but there is only one way – JESUS CHRIST.

 

To all Christians, we already knew what life in this world, don’t go back serving the world. It’s lonely out there and though you have money, still you feel empty. Why I said this? There are Christians who still don’t prioritize spiritual things. We are envied with hard work and success by people around us and we want to be satisfied. Ecclesiastes 4:6 says, “Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.”

 

2.  YOU CAN’T DO IT BY YOURSELF (ECC. 4:9,12)

You cannot separate serving from commitment because if you truly serving the Lord, you will commit. I remember some members before who had been battling about commitment because some believe that it didn’t need any more because they go to church and already serving. What’s the need? They focused on the “commitment program” not on committing their hearts to the Lord  or renewal of commitment.  I remember one time there was an evangelism activity in the church and it was planned by the leaders, the BODY (people who committed- congregation) and of course the pastor that time and these members I was referring to, had their own style of evangelism. They didn’t join the church activity instead they made their own way. You can’t serve the Lord by yourself and in your own way, you need to submit to the church or in the authority.

In verse 9 and 10 say, “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”

1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

God uses members of Christ's body to compliment the gifts and graces of other brothers and sisters and to offer encouragement and support. When Christ sent his disciples out to minister to the lost sheep of the house of Israel they were sent two by two - "for two are better than one because they have a good return for their labour...

As Christians we are all individuals, with our own God-given tasks and responsibilities, but we are one body that is called to live and work in partnership with one another, which is much more productive and profitable than toiling alone.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/ecclesiastes-4-9

 

 

3.  ALWAYS PUT IN MIND THAT LIFE IS SHORT (ECC. 4:15-16)

I considered all the living which walk under the sun, with the second child that shall stand up in his stead. There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

 

Let’s paraphrase this verse, if a king finished his reign and another generation arose or a second child stood up in his stead, the past has been forgotten or could not rejoice with him (past king) because his time is done. Therefore, like the writer said, “Vanity of Vanities”. Everything is vanity.

 

James 4:14 says, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

 

 Sorry if I’ll say this again because FB reminded me of this person (picture memories). It’s been a year when one of our brothers died and every time I remember him, I can’t help and think that life is really too short. Sometimes we think we still have more time serving the Lord. It’s normal to say, “I’ll do it tomorrow” or “Bukas na lang” in tagalog. Remember he was still young when he died. Sad thing that when your time was over, God would find you not in God’s service. It could be that your life ended because your life is not usable anymore or your purpose ends.  

 

I remember one thing that hurt the professionals when pastor mentioned that, “You think you are serving the Lord because you are busy in your work outside the church, actually NO” because most Christians quote Colossians 3:23. In other hand that is correct but we need to search our hearts. Is that work really doing work for God? IF so, why sometimes, it’s okay not to be in prayer meeting or in the church on time because you say you do something for God. If the work is for God, it doesn’t contrast to God’s word. I do it for God but you forget to attend services of the church; you just go if the time is okay (no commitment). Another thing, you say “This work is for God but you don’t give your tithes”. Don’t get mad but sometimes we need to really search our hearts.  Life is too short to be idle in this life. The world offers so many things in order your time to be filled up with so many things and it would be hard for you to insert time for spiritual things. That’s one of the reasons you need to commit because Christians are stubborn. Unless they are forced, they wouldn’t do anything outside their comfort zones.

4.  YOU HAVE A REWARD FOR YOUR LABOR (ECC. 4:9, HEB.10:12)

“… because they have a good reward for their labour.”

“For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”

 

It is only through God that our toil, our work, our enjoyment of life can have meaning and purpose. It is in that relationship with God then, that we can be free to work, free to use the fruits of my labor to serve God and the people around us. It is in that relationship with God that we can be free to love, free to care, free from the bonds of greed to enjoy life, to discover the beauty of relationships, the joy of a person who truly cares for us as we are, and the thrill of knowing that when this life is ended, we will be given a mansion for eternity (John 14:1-2) and Hebrews 4:12 says, “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”

 

CONLUSION:

"A pastor in a very large congregation gave a rousing sermon on how we view our possessions one Sunday.

"Nothing we have is ours," he told the relatively wealthy members of the congregation, "all belongs to God."

One wealthy member of the congregation, a surgeon, took offense at what the pastor had to say. He invited the pastor to his lovely suburban home and it’s beautifully landscaped yard and pool area.

As the doctor took the minister on a tour of the estate, he asked pointedly, "Did you mean what you said in your sermon Sunday? Do you mean, the doctor said, with a wave of his hand, "that all these are not mine?"

The pastor simply smiled and replied, "Why don’t you ask me that question fifty years from now?"

Isn’t that the point? It really doesn’t matter what we have now, because in the end, what really matters is our relationship to God.

Deuteronomy 8:18 -  But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

 

Colossians 3:23 - And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

 

We really can determine if we work for God. Check your priorities, check your walking, check your time, check your budget and check your heart.

 

For those who give their commitment in God’s service, I hope this verse would remind us, Ephesians 6:7 - With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.