Christian Service
Children, let us love one another,
On the e-groups forum, Don suggested what it means to be a servant.... For the discussion of servant-hood, I
have just finished my article on the Jerusalem Church and thought since
there was so much in it on being a servant that I would take this as my
contribution. Its way down at the bottom. Before you get to that, there
are what others have submitted on the idea of being a servant. Please
write to me if you want to be a part of this discussion of what it means
to be a servant of God today, this is good discussion and many of you
may be relieved that it is not so controversial as usual. What can we as
Christians do to serve?
Also we have been discussing among other things, about an issue that a
few have taken exception to as regards a prophet with the idea of
Christians soldiers as knights and prophetic discussion in a round
table. Without even mentioning what was discussed, (see e-groups for
yourself if you want), this is my take on it in that it has to do with
servant-hood. I have for some time now come against the pecking order in
the church. There should be only one leader and that is the Lord Jesus
Christ and to set up the last day army of God with captains and
sergeants and the like is doomed to fail. There is only one leader with
any authority and the true army will all be marching shoulder to
shoulder in one rank into the kingdom behind Jesus. I see the idea of a
knight as following this pattern. A knight serves the king and only the
king. He does not follow a commander except the supreme commander, his
total allegiance is in service to the King. Enough said. The round table
means that there is no head at the table for any of the ones
participating in the round table discussion and they are all equal. I
have never considered myself a knight and I have never been part of a
roundtable but if another one feels called to that, why should there be
a problem? If Jesus is among us and central as the Head in the spirit in
the round table, is that wrong? The problem I would have is only if
there is a problem, if there are those in the church that would make
things like this an issue to cause division and accuse others of being
false, that's a problem. There is no question that I would come to the
defense of those who preach love over those that make unfounded
accusations out of simple disagreements. A prophet is meant to be judged
upon by other prophets in the spirit of love, not condemned or accused
or misunderstood or maligned, or insulted or rebuked openly or ganged up
against or cursed, even if that prophet is wrong. We are to restore
these individuals in the same love and grace that we would expect the
Lord to restore us. The situation must be handled in love and good faith
and everything done in order.
Jay.
This may get things jump started on the subject of being servants of
God. The
following is an excerpt from an article I wrote.
"As a servant is to his master, so are we bound to our Lord Jesus
Christ. Our
life is not our own. If we will tend to the things of the Master first,
then He will
take care of our needs and concerns.
We will then know His great love and our service will not be
self-focused.
Note these following points on servant-hood:
1.) After a servant has fulfilled his duty to the master, then he too
can sit down
and eat.
As servants of God, we must never allow a 'God owes me one' mentality
to
form in our hearts. We are a part of His household only because of His
goodness. How often have we been more concerned about ourselves than
fulfilling our duty to the Master?"
Blessings,
Gary P.
Amen Gary, beautifully worded! I truly believe that if Christians would
get hold of this vision of being
a servant for God to others, their struggles with self, flesh, and the
devil would become minimized.
Of course, servant-hood is not one of God's options, it is a
commandment. You mentioned that a
servant is not his own, and along that line I thought I'd share
something:
Matt 20:25-28
25 But Jesus called them to Himself, and said, "You know that the rulers
of the Gentiles lord it over
them, and {their} great men exercise authority over them.
Jesus came as a servant, and we are called to follow in His footsteps.
Our only greatness is in
serving others for the Lord. I find my greatest joy is in loving
others. God even tells us that to truly
love Him, is to love those whom He created:
I Jn 4:21
I pray that we can catch hold of this idea of being servants for Jesus,
and that in so doing, he can
live His life through us.
Dear Group,
I have been blessed these past days to get some weeding done in my
yard, I actually enjoyed doing it!
As I was contemplating and praying while doing the work, I felt the
Lord speak to me some things regarding His Ways.
When the rain of revival starting falling in my town, we were all so
blessed and humbled, the word was 'surely it is Gods mercy, because we
sure didn't deserve it!'
This was a time of soaking in Gods' presence and being built up and
just knowing He loved us, a time of renewing our first love and re
establishing our relationship based on the Work of Jesus Christ, and
not our own works...
Some did not receive this work of mercy and refreshing thinking that
it was 'too good to be true' or perhaps unfair because the 'unworthy'
were getting blessed...
Now I have more understanding of why God pours out the rain upon the
dry ground, it is to bless the ground and make it fruitful, but also to
loosen the soil so that the tap roots of deeply entrenched weeds can be
pulled up whole.
During our dry spell last year, we could not pull the weeds at all,
they just broke off at the ground level.
We can see the analogy here in the spirit, there are many ministries
that have just been able to break off 'sin' etc. at ground level and
then are surprised when they grow right back, but this is the result of
not pulling up the tap root.
As I have been pulling weeds the size of small trees, really!, I am so
blessed and appreciative of the abundant rain which we received. The
ground is so moist and soft and the roots of the weeds pull right up,
which would have been impossible even last week...
Being a 'mercy maniac' in my own flesh, sometimes it is hard for me to
be involved in spiritual weed pulling, but when God shows me His
purpose and joy in ridding the good soil of these dangerous and choking
weeds, I am at peace.
When the weeds are removed, and the ground is soft, the carpet grass in
our yard sends creepers over to fill in the bald spots, before too long
we will have a nice green lawn with no weeds, Praise the Lord!
The Lord was encouraging me that there is a time for every purpose in
His seasons, and that now is the good season for weed pulling.
With our hearts softened by the rain of His Spirit and love, resting in
the work of Jesus Christ, we are more able to bear the pulling of the
weeds in our lives.
Weeds are false beliefs and practices we allow because we are dry and
are seeking for anything 'green' to cover our bare lives, sounds like
the leaves on Adam and Eve in the garden?
Weeds are the things which crowd out the true life of Christ in
ourselves and in the Body of Christ. Weeds are esoteric teachings and
practices which we use to bring comfort to ourselves in the times when
God doesn't seem to be speaking.
The sad thing is this, weeds grow long tap roots and are not easily
uprooted once they are entrenched. Therefore God in His mercy sends the
rains of His Spirit to quench our thirst and soften our ground, so that
we can pull weeds and grow good fruit...
The Lord blessed me with this and hope it blesses you too,
Hannah
As I look around me it truly is a time of refining or weed pulling in
the
body of Christ. I know of several incidences where God is lovingly
exposing
hidden sin and cutting it off at the root. In most every case the
"rain"
came before the weeding. Thank God for the "rain" of His Spirit!
Thanks for the word,
Gary P.
A servant would not be a servant at all, if he acted independently of
his master. When thinking about the requirements of being a
servant of God, I recall the Words of Jesus in John 5:30; from the
Amplified Bible it reads like this:
"I am able to do nothing from Myself - independently, of My own accord -
but as I am taught by God and as I get His orders, I decide
as I am bidden to decide. As the voice comes to Me, so I give a
decision. Even as I hear, I judge and My judgment is right ( just,
righteous), because I do not seek or consult My own will - I have no
desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own
purpose - but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me."
Paul
Another verse that comes to mind : "But the SERVANT of the Lord must
not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach ,
patient; In meekness instructing..." 2 Tim.2:24,25 Again Paul's counsel
: "Rebuke not an elder (someone who is older) , but entreat
him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; the elder (older)
women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity." 1
Tim.5:1,2
James says, "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man,
and able to bridle the whole body...we put bits in the horses'
mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are
driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small
helm...Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great
things...the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue
among our members, it defileth the whole body...it is an unruly evil,
full of deadly poison. With the tongue we bless God the Father, and
with the tongue we curse men, which are made after the
similitude of God...who is a wise man? Let him show out of a good
conversation his works with meekness and wisdom..." James 3:
2-13
Lately, the Spirit of God has really been working with me about the
things I say and to be careful about "how" I say them. May the
Lord help each one of us to consider the things we say more carefully
,and do all things as servants that must give an account.
IN Christ's Love, Ginny
Some Thoughts Regarding Servants:
Consider Acts 6. In the New Living Translation 6:1 reads "As the
number of
believers rapidly multiplied there were rumblings of discontent."
Unfortunately it seems every revival is accompanied by "rumblings of
discontent." Here discontent was real and legitimate. Perhaps all
complaining begins with a seed of real concern which Satan uses to
destroy
faith and the move of God (think of taking the Promised Land).
Revivals need not die. This move in Acts 6 could have been killed, but
by
meeting the need and appointing godly men to investigate and meet the
need
it was taken care of.
Every Revival has leaders. They must be able to delegate and relinquish
control. They must do the thing God would have them to do. Satan could
have
said to the apostles, "Jesus taught you to serve, you should go serve
those
table." But that wasn't God's plan... perhaps it was Satan's guilt
trip.
By delegating authority, and working in behalf of our leaders, we work
with
the same spiritual authority as if it was them doing the work.
Larry Vredenburgh
Servants of God
God commands Christians to be faithful and obedient servants.
Deut. 10:12 "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of
thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his
ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord with all thy heart and with
all thy soul."
Micah 6:8 "He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the
Lord required of thee, but to do justly and to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
Psalm 100:2 "Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with
singing."
Josh. 24:14,15
Service is to be rendered as unto the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 12:23-26
Col. 3:24 "Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the
inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ."
The believer's service is to be rendered to people.
Christian service makes life noble.
Mark 10:43,44 "But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be
great among you, shall be your minister: and
whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even
the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister."
Christian service exemplifies neighborliness.
The place of worship and the place of service. We also "assemble" for
service. The Body functions as a congregation.
As God's servants, believers have specific responsibilities.
Christians are to leave all to follow Christ.
Phil. 3:7,8 "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for
Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord; for whom I
have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but
refuse, that I may win Christ."
Believers are to render undivided service.
1 Chron. 15:10-15
1 Sam. 7:3 "And Samuel spoke unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye
do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put
away the foreign gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your
hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only; and he will
deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. Then the children of
Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only."
Believers are to serve with humility.
Acts 20:18,19
Believers are to serve with courage.
Deut. 1:17 "Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear
the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the
face of man, for the judgment is God's; and the cause that is too hard
for you, bring it unto me [Moses], and I will hear it."
Prov. 29:25 "The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his
trust in the Lord shall be safe."
Examples of faithful service
The Lord Jesus Christ served men.
Phil. 2:7 "But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men."
Godly men served the Lord by serving other men.
The faithful servant gains divine viewpoint.
John 8:12 "Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of
the world; he that followeth me shall not walk darkness,
but shall have the light of life."
The faithful servant has spiritual guidance.
Psalm 40:8 "I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within
my heart."
The restoration is made up of the church of Jesus Christ that has
regained its purity of the original ideal. We are the children of this
last generation and those of the early church are the Fathers that we
are to be reconciled to. The Jerusalem Church is the Mother Church of
the first Christian fathers.
The idea of Jerusalem as the Headquarters of the Holy Ghost may have
already developed in the early stages of the church but with similar
phenomenon occurring in Samaria, that notion was put aside. Up to this
point the Church had made no effort to carry the gospel outside
Jerusalem. Many people from surrounding communities in Palestine had
come into the city, had heard the message and had been saved and healed
and filled with the Holy Ghost. The Word, however, cannot be contained:
"But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Jesus
did not just leave changed individuals, he left a community, the Church,
and still does. To think of Jesus is necessarily to think of the Church;
He is our one foundation that the church is built upon.
The apostle Peter was the acknowledged spokesman in the Jerusalem
Church, but before many years, presumably as the missionary travels of
Peter carried him ever more frequently away from Jerusalem, James, the
brother of Jesus became what was later to be regarded as the first
bishop. There were many congregations in Jerusalem, most of them small
and would meet together for special meals and services in various homes,
private rooms or small chapels, and organized themselves on the model of
the synagogue. Each congregation was called an "ekklesia" - the Greek
term for the popular assembly in municipal governments. Slaves were
always welcomed and no attempts were made to free them, but they were
comforted by the promise of a future Kingdom in which all could be free.
Early converts were primarily working class with some middle-class, and
a few among the rich. The house of Mary, the mother of Mark would serve
as the headquarters of the Jerusalem congregation. This was the same
place that Jesus conducted the last supper in its upper room. It must
have been quite large and probably held at least 500.
The most important event of the Lord's Day in the early church was the
celebration of the Lord's Supper. The Eucharist lay at the very heart of
its life. These early worshipers of Jeshua continued steadfastly in the
apostle's doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and of
prayers. They had no church buildings yet, church would be held in
private houses, probably in well-to-do member's homes, since they were
large enough; a place for prayers, for the reading of scripture and for
the singing of hymns. Psalms would be used as well as the new Christian
hymns that were beginning to appear. "Let the word of Christ dwell in
you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord." They also went to the temple for prayers on the Sabbath but from
the beginning, the Lord's Day was established.
The Jerusalem Church was a worshiping church, they never forgot to visit
God's house. Great things will happen when we come together in spirit
and in truth. The spirit of God moves mightily upon God's worshiping
people when we come together in brotherhood and unity. The Jerusalem
church was a happy and joyful church, gladness was there, when they
raised up holy hands, the spirit of the Lord filled them, it was the joy
of their salvation. Others could not help but be attracted to a church
like this. These things will happen for us and I for one cannot wait, I
am impatient, I am anxious, I am confident that it will come but believe
that it will happen only as we do it together, then Jesus will come for
us. Maranatha Jesus. It will happen, please make it happen for everyone
that reads these words.
Early services would consist of a formal address or sermon by the bishop
or elder in charge of the church, or by some visiting apostle who
happened to be passing through. The apostles proclaimed the Gospel to
those who would listen, in the name of the Eternal, and they must
believe, because we are endowed with miraculous power and restore health
to the sick. The Epistle of James is a good example of this type of
preaching. It was informal, members would partake of the service, there
were brief sermons or expositions and spontaneous, even highly emotional
utterances. A visitor to one of these services would have been struck by
a feeling of contagious enthusiasm and exuberant vitality. The early
church was confident that Jesus was coming quickly. The first Christians
saw little need to write down Church history and doctrine, verbal
transmission would suffice for their short time on earth.
The Jerusalem Church was a united church. From the very first, the
Jerusalem Church considered themselves a brotherhood in unity, not in
word only but in deed - a living realization of what was given to us as
an example through the life of Jesus. In calling themselves brothers
they felt obligated to live up to that ideal, not out of a sense of
legalism but of their own accord and servitude of Jesus and the
brethren, each according to their need and according to the gifts that
the Lord had given to them. The common comment among the pagans watching
them from the outside in bewilderment and hostility at the new religion,
was "see how these Christians love each other." It was the duty of each
and every disciple of "the Way" to be united, sympathetic, fraternal,
compassionate, humble, giving good for evil and blessing for abuse and
as being heirs of the kingdom.
The Jerusalem Church was a loving church, a giving and sharing church.
There were no beggars among the believers, although the Jews as a whole
had many. The goal of the community was that there be no poor among
them. The members were especially united in the apostle's instruction
and the communal life. "And the multitude of them that believed were of
one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the
things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any
among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or
houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto
every man according as he had need."
As we see, the members of the Jerusalem community voluntarily shared
their possessions with one another, even selling their property from
time to time as funds were needed to help the poor. What it practiced
was the struggle against mammon, against the cares of this world,
against selfishness; it demanded of themselves the type of
self-sacrificing love that serves others. Because they believed in the
quick return of the Lord Jesus and the end of the age, they were
indifferent to earthly possessions. The relief of the poor was an
identifying characteristic from the beginning. They had a common fund
and the proceeds were then given to the apostles for distribution. What
was practiced was a voluntary community of goods out of this love for
each other but it bears no relation to the totalitarian practices of
communism today. The principal of stewardship was made clear to them
early. What they had was not their own, but they themselves belonged to
God and all they possessed were His. The more fervent converts pooled
their money and labor for the general welfare. No hypocritical family
values here, the welfare of others were more important than their own.
This is the social gospel that was instituted from the beginning and
what makes the apostate church of today so obviously recognizable in
that this type of worship is considered demonic. There was an intense
feeling of responsibility for each other. A true Christian in these days
could not bear to have too much when others had so little. Some made
heroic sacrifices in order to share fully in the life of the commune,
some had to leave families who would disown them and jobs that would no
longer be available. Baptism meant initiation into a community that
shared this distinctive lifestyle.
The Jerusalem Church was a preaching church. In the early church there
were four types of preaching which fit perfectly together with the
five-fold ministry today:
Kerugma: A herald's announcement, a plain statement of the factual
fundamentals of a Christian message, about which, as the early preachers
saw it, there can be no argument and there can be no denial. This is the
evangelistic gift.
Didache: Literally means "teaching" and the teacher would clarify and
work out the meanings, significance and the implications of the facts
which have been proclaimed.
Paraklesis: Exhortation - which is the prophetic office and spiritually
urged upon men the duty and the obligation of fitting their lives to
match the kerugma and the Didache which had just been given.
Homilia: which means the treatment of any subject or department in life
in light of the Christian message.
Fully rounded preaching should have something of all these four
elements.
The Jerusalem Church was a teaching church. There was an urgent need to
tell of the resurrection and the teachers among them were outstanding
men who could initiate new members. To be an inheritor of eternal life,
a soul must repent and believe in the Gospel, must do the will of the
Father, believe in the heavenly Jesus, and confess Him openly here on
earth. We as Christians were taught in those days to have the grace of
humility, if covetous, we must renounce earthly possessions and even
family, must do works of mercy in the name of Jesus, and for the
Gospel's sake, must bring joy into the lives of the oppressed, must be
baptized and be a communicant, must have the wedding garment, must make
use of the means of grace and must not sin against the Holy Ghost. These
are the ones that have the right to partake of the Tree of Life.
The Jerusalem Church was a praying church. These early Christians knew
that they could not live under their own power and they didn't have to
either. They always spoke with God before they spoke to men. It was a
church with a reverence, fear of God and awe that each revival of
history must compare itself to. It was a church where things happened
just by them being there with Jesus among them. Signs and wonders were
evident everywhere they met. When this type of faith died, we lost our
first love for Jesus. Do we want it back? Those in the true restoration
do but there will always be those in the church that think they have it
already and will oppose us, every time. This is why the children cannot
be reconciled with the fathers, pride and self-righteousness is in
control of the church. When this faith died, the church became the giver
of salvation, instead of Jesus. If we can only believe that Jesus can
make these things happen again, we can be revived, we can be restored
and we can be reconciled unto these early Fathers. But it takes action,
not just faith, it take being doers of the word, not just hearers, it
takes living for Jesus enough to carry His cross, put away our pride,
crucify the flesh and let Jesus live through us like never before. Then
we will we be as these early saints who lived as the whole world was the
temple of God, we will fill the stadiums, the Jews will be jealous for
us and we will have the power to really love each other as Jesus loves
us, proving to the world that Jesus Christ is Lord.
The Jerusalem Church was an evangelistic church. Evangelistic
supervision was never questioned in the Jerusalem Church but it was done
in the power of the Holy Ghost and not as a class of people. The
evangelistic work was begun from the first - first in Jerusalem, then in
Samaria, and then in Antioch. Noone made the decision to be called of
God, they were called by God. It is not enough to want to serve the
Lord, we must be called to it as a response to our initial faith. You
cannot seek to be an apostle, God will seek them out and call them.
Apostles and missionaries are sent, many are not sent but go anyway. And
each one of us should have the deference to the Lord in all things in
that "many are called but few are chosen."
For several years after the death of Jesus, the "good tidings" were
spread exclusively by word of mouth. this method was used by Jesus
Himself who preached only. The Christians called this method
"catechesis", that is, "re-echoing" because the teacher made his words
re-echo in the presence of His disciples. Thereafter, the disciple who
had completed his course of instruction was the "catechized", that is
one to whom the good tidings had been re-echoed.
The Jerusalem Church was a democratic church. The rule of the churches
was democratic from the beginning, to be a republican as the Romans were
would never have entered their mind. Decisions were made from the will
of the majority, the sense of assembly, prophets bearing witness, no
clergy, no laity and the members spoke as the spirit led them to speak.
All the churches, the different congregations, were at first autonomous,
the only bond linking them to others was fellowship. This ideal
condition did not long endure. For the better administration of these
early churches that were growing so fast, the early Christians chose
among them at first deacons and then bishops to feed the church. This
started out not as first among equals but servants among the flock. It
was not until later that the church became republican and introduced the
idea of clergy and laity, diluting the authority of Christ among them by
destroying the unity of the five-fold ministry with Jesus as the Head.
The Jerusalem Church was a serving church. Christianity needs no
governing system outside of the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. A
general working system was established for mutual care, evangelism,
catechetical instruction, protection and unity. Those from the Jerusalem
congregation ordained elders in every church, knowing that one of them
would some day "exalt himself above all that is called God." They did
not regard this supply of needed help as lording it over God's heritage
but as servants and ministers of the Gospel.
During the first few decades of the early church, Christianity appeared
as another sect of Judaism by Roman
officials, who failed to distinguish the church from the synagogue. They
continued to use the Temple as a place of worship and observed the
Jewish law, including its ceremonies, circumcision, and the dietary
regulations. Even some Pharisees joined them. The Christians were
predominately Galilean in membership and only distinguished from other
Jews by their belief as Jesus as their Messiah and by their expectation
of an early return. Christians were able to use this to their advantage
and enjoyed a freedom from interference from the Romans that greatly
facilitated the spread of the gospel. Early on, there were those who
believed that
Jesus would render the temple obsolete and do away with the
distinctively Jewish customs. If it were to
be true to its founder, a religion quite distinct from Judaism must
emerge. With the rapid growth of the Christians, new converts were
gradually deprived of their original immunity from state interference.
Romans gradually made the distinction between the Christians and the Jew
out of Jewish interference in publically disavowing any connection to
the Christians whatsoever and repudiating them. As the antagonism grew,
so did the controversy surrounding the differences. Persecutions came
later, such as Nero.
March 18, 2000
2.) A servant is not pre-occupied with his own life and all it consists
of. He
would not be a good servant if he were.
3.) A servant must be given fully to his duties because his master needs
him.
4.) It is enough that the servant is a part of the master's household.
For that
reason, he cannot develop an attitude that his master owes him anything
–
including a simple "thank you" for doing his duty as a servant.
26 "It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you
shall be your servant,
27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and
to give His life a ransom for
many."
(NAS)
21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God
should love his brother
also.
(NAS)
Luke 10:36,37
Christian service is Christ-like.
John 13:1-17
Christian service demonstrates love.
John 21:15-17
Christian service lightens life's burdens.
Gal. 5:13-15
Gal. 6:1-10
Acts 20:17-20
Heb. 10:23-25
* Peter and Andrew, Mark 1:17,18
* Zaccheus, Luke 19:6 ff
* Paul, Acts 9:20
The rewards of faithful service
The faithful servant gains spiritual knowledge.
Hos. 6:3 "Then shall we know, Lord; his gome unto us as the rain, as the
latter and former rain unto the earth."
John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me."
The faithful servant receives honor from God.
John 12:26 "If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am,
there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him
will my Father honor."
The faithful servant has a life of joy.
John 4:36 "And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto
life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that
reapeth may rejoice together."Latter Rain Discussion Archives
The Lord has given us the grace to reconcile the children to their Fathers
As One Body
Issue Oriented Discussion Newsletter
Index | Search This Site | Aristide.Org | The Latter Rain | Babylon the Great | The Kingdom | The Nicolaitans | Jezebel
The Baptism With the Holy Ghost | The Grand Delusion | World Trade Org | Liberation Theology | Jay Atkinson | Alphabetical Index