Chapter four, we were
considering yesterday the fact that God has a
specific task for each of us and that
our calling in life is really just to
fulfill that specific task.
And like Jesus said in John 17.4,
I have glorified you on earth by finishing
the work that you gave me to do.
There is only one way we can glorify
God in our ministry and that is by
finishing the work that God has appointed for
each one of us.
I hope none of us have a desire
to live a long life, but rather to
live a life in doing the will of
God, whether it is short or long, is
entirely in God's hands.
The important thing is not to live a
long life, the important thing is to finish
that specific task God has given to us
in our earthly lifetime and then to move
on.
Now, I want to share something today about
the attitude of mind that we need to
have in order to be able to serve
the Lord in this way.
It is very important.
We read in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse
5, we do not preach ourselves, but Christ
Jesus as Lord.
In other words, we don't preach ourselves as
Lord, but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves
as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake.
And then in verse 7, we have this
treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing
greatness of the power may be of God
and not from ourselves.
So there are two things he speaks of
there.
One is being a servant, verse 5, and
the other is in the power of God,
verse 7.
And this is how we are to fulfill
our task, by being a servant in the
power of God.
Now, why does he say in verse 5,
we do not preach ourselves as Lords?
That means there is a tendency in those
who serve the Lord to preach themselves as
Lords, to present themselves as Lords and Masters
in some way.
Particularly, if we have some ability with the
word of God, and if we have an
anointing of the Holy Spirit, and we have
some supernatural gift, it's very, very easy to
be a Lord over other people.
And if you want to know what a
tremendous tendency towards this lies in our flesh,
let me give you my experience over 25
years.
That most, I am using my words very
carefully now, most of the so-called servants
of the Lord that I have met in
my life are Lords and not servants.
And they are a very poor example for
any true believer to follow if he wants
to serve the Lord.
I am not talking about the ordinary people,
I am talking about the big shots who
are well-known in Christian Pentecostal circles.
They are Lords.
They do not have the spirit of a
servant.
It is so widespread, this disease, of lording
it over other people.
Some people lord it along with titles, some
people can call themselves just brothers and lord
it over people.
The mere fact that we have got rid
of a title and we call ourselves brothers
does not necessarily mean that we don't lord
it over others.
It is very, very easy to proclaim ourselves
as Lords over others in so many ways.
And that's what Paul says, though he had
all these wonderful gifts and he could have
lorded it over people.
He says, we proclaim ourselves as servants for
Jesus' sake.
We can never do God's work in the
way God wants us to do it unless
we are gripped by one important truth, that
our calling throughout our entire life is to
be servants of our fellow believers.
We cannot be servants of the Lord if
we are not servants of our fellow believers.
And there is no day that comes in
our life when we become senior workers and
we have a few people to serve us,
like you have in these faith homes, senior
pastors, lot of garbage, fit to be thrown
into the dustbin.
No, Jesus was a servant on the last
day before he was crucified.
That's our goal.
We must stick to this.
And here we need to have a revelation
of Philippians chapter 2.
Philippians chapter 2 we read, in verse 5,
Have this attitude in yourselves, which was in
Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the
form of God, if there was one person
who had a right to be Lord and
to be Lord over another person, it was
Jesus, because he existed from all eternity in
the form of God.
But he did not regard equality with God
as a thing to be grasped.
He did not want to be a Lord.
It was Lucifer who wanted to grasp it.
He emptied himself of that position and the
privileges of being equal with God.
And what did he take upon himself?
The form of a born servant being made
in the likeness of men.
Now I want you to understand this verse.
Here is where I said we need revelation,
on verse 7.
That the reason why he took the form
of a born servant is, in some translations
it comes out very clearly, the reason why
he became a servant was because he became
a man.
Because he became a man, he had to
be a servant of others.
What does that teach us?
That as long as we are in this
body, we have no other calling but to
be servants.
Because in Philippians 3, verse 21, this body
is called the body of our humble state.
That's how our present body is called.
Now one day it says he will transform
us, transform it into conformity with his glorious
body.
When we get a new body in the
resurrection, then we are fit to reign on
a throne and to rule the nations with
a rod of iron, as we are told
in Revelation 2, the overcomers will do.
But until we get that body, this body
is a body of our humble lowly state.
And as long as we are in this
body, we have to be servants.
Anything else is not fitting for those who
are having this body.
It is impossible to serve God unless we
get a revelation on this, that one who
acts as a Lord is acting as though
he's already got his resurrection body, as though
he's already got a glorious body.
As long as I recognize this is the
body of my humble state, because he came
in that body, therefore he became a servant.
And that's why we read in John chapter
6, John 6 and verse 15, we
read that when Jesus saw that they were
going to make him a king, he withdrew
into the mountain, because he didn't want to
be a king.
He did not want to be a king.
It is not right for a servant of
the Lord to be a king of any
type.
Whether it's king of England or king of
an assembly, it's not right for a servant
of the Lord to be a king.
Jesus knew that.
Now when Jesus was resurrected and ascended up
into heaven, then he was made a king,
king of kings.
He did not run away then.
He did not withdraw himself when the Father
gave him a greater throne than these human
beings could ever give him.
Why?
Why didn't he withdraw in a sort of
a false humility?
Because then it was right for him to
take it, because he had a glorious body.
It's very important to see this, that as
long as I have this body, I have
no right to sit on a throne and
lord it over anybody.
Not my wife, not any brother in the
church, no one.
I cannot treat one brother as though he
is my servant.
I've seen Christian workers do that.
Ah, go and get some coffee from there.
Who is this fellow sitting on the throne,
ordering that other brother to go and get
a cup of coffee from the coffee shop?
Have you heard it?
I've heard it.
Christian workers, who think they are sitting on
the throne of glory already.
They haven't understood?
They do not have the mind of a
servant.
And you cannot build the body of Christ
with such leaders.
They may have fantastic gifts, but you see
their work, they'll never be the body of
Christ in their work.
Impossible.
Whatever they build will be full of strife
and quarreling and tension.
And they seem to be blind to the
fact that that is not the body of
Christ.
Now brothers, we are to steer clear of
that like we steer clear of hellfire, and
like we steer clear of the plague.
Don't be deceived by all these so-called
great, so-called men of God.
I don't respect most of them as men
of God at all.
They have just got spectacular gifts, and carnal,
undiscerning believers swallow all that and are deceived
by them.
But we are not to be deceived by
all these powerful gifts, by people who do
not know what it is to be servants.
Jesus was a servant.
Jesus would never turn around to any of
his disciples and say, Hey there, go and
get a cup of coffee for me.
Impossible.
I cannot imagine Jesus ever talking like that.
And yet I have seen so-called Christian
workers.
You know, some small boy who has come
to serve the Lord, they say.
They haven't understood.
I don't blame them.
They have got no revelation.
They have got no revelation because they don't
fear God.
But this is the situation we find in
our country.
And now we preach a new and living
way.
Brothers, we are to manifest a completely different
spirit.
The spirit of Christ which is the spirit
of a servant.
He was always a servant.
Always.
He was ready to wash the feet on
the last day, and he was always, the
meaning of that is, he was always ready
to do dirty jobs for those whom he
was called to serve.
We read in Matthew chapter 23, Matthew 23,
where Jesus spoke about the Pharisees.
There were a number of things he said
that we are not to be called.
And then he told us what we can
be called.
He said, for example, verse 8, Don't be
called Rabbi.
Or, the equivalent today is Reverend, or Most
Reverend, or Reverend Doctor.
There are many variations of this garbage.
Do not be called by such titles.
Well, the very thing which God says don't
do is the very thing that many people
do.
One is your teacher, and you are all
brothers.
That's clear.
It's not just that we call ourselves brothers,
we behave like brothers towards one another.
That's very important.
It's not just saying, Alright, I don't want
you to call me Reverend, call me brother,
but I behave like a lord towards you.
The question is, am I behaving like a
brother or like a lord?
And then, Do not call anyone on earth
your father.
That is very common in the Roman Catholic
Church.
Father so-and-so, and the Jacobite Church,
Father so-and-so, and Father so-and
-so.
One is your father, he is in heaven.
And do not be called leaders, verse 10.
This is common in Protestant churches.
House group leader, team leader, this leader, that
leader.
The very thing which Jesus says, Don't call
yourself, is exactly, whether Protestant or Catholic, it
makes no difference.
They call themselves leaders.
Isn't it written in the Bible that we
are not to call ourselves leaders?
Is it only written that we are not
to call ourselves fathers?
What is the difference between a man who
calls himself a father and a man who
calls himself a leader?
Absolutely no difference.
Both are disobeying the word of God.
But, it's written there, but people are blind.
Blind, or they don't care for the word.
That's all.
Jesus said, Don't be called father, don't be
called a leader.
One is your leader, that is Christ.
Because when I call myself a leader, I
am something.
It's not the throne of a king, but
it is a sort of a small throne.
I am a leader.
But Jesus said, No, the greatest shall be
your servant.
If you want a title, call yourself servant.
How is it that you don't find people
calling themselves house group servant, or team servant?
Why is it they don't follow the scriptures?
No.
Church leader.
Why don't they call themselves church servant?
It is absolute disobedience, because they have no
fear of God.
Brothers, we must steer clear of this.
We must steer clear of these plain disobedience
to the direct commands of Jesus.
Now, people say, Ah, it's a small thing
in a title.
As if Jesus did not know it is
a small thing.
Why did he talk about it then?
It is so important that we don't call
ourselves fathers.
We don't call ourselves leaders.
We don't call ourselves rabbis or teachers or
anything.
He said, One is your teacher.
That's all.
Don't call yourself teacher and father and leader.
No.
Brother, I am a servant.
It's amazing how people are not interested in
that title of servant.
Because there is something undignified about it.
Have you ever heard of such a title?
I have never heard of it in any
group.
I have heard all the other fantastic titles.
Why is it people will not take this
thing which is undignified?
Because it makes them lower and actually they
want to be higher.
We are called to be servants and we
do not desire a position which puts us
above other people.
We don't want to be called directors or
superintendents or any such thing.
Just plain servants of others.
And that means that when I think about
my brothers and myself in my thoughts, I
think of how I can serve them, not
how they can serve me.
Matthew 20, verse 28, Jesus said, The Son
of Man, He said it so many times,
verse 26, He says in verse 25, Among
the Gentiles, the rulers lord it over them
and the great men exercise authority, but among
you it must not be like that.
Whoever wishes to be great must be a
servant.
Whoever wishes to be first must be a
slave.
Just as the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve and
to give His life a ransom for many.
Now, let's just look at this phrase.
Not to be served, but to serve.
And we have to ask ourselves this question.
Now, when you are just a young brother
in an assembly, it is very easy to
serve.
That does not prove that you have been
gripped by this verse.
It only means that you have not yet
been tested in this area.
You are a young brother and therefore the
other brothers around you are older brothers.
You serve joyfully and it's very good.
But wait till you go to some other
place where the other brothers are younger than
you in age, in experience, spiritually, and then
you will be tested in this area.
Whether you expect them to serve you in
any way.
Most Christian workers expect other people to serve
them in some way, either with gifts or
with money or with some type of service,
bring them a meal now and then or
do something for them.
Something, some service.
They expect it.
And that proves that they are Lords.
And if I expect even one brother anywhere
in the world to serve me in some
way, I am a bit of a Lord.
I am a sort of a mini Lord
because I expect at least so and so
brother to do something for me.
I expect it.
And there dear brothers I want to say
God tests us in our attitude towards our
younger brothers.
We have heard much about our attitude towards
the older brothers.
Submit.
We can think we are highly spiritual because
we have learned to submit to the authority
of older brothers.
But that's just one side of the pancake
that's fried.
We got to turn the pancake over and
see if it's fried on the other side
as well.
What about your attitude towards your younger brothers?
Do you treat them like servants?
There are many people who submit joyfully, humbly
to older brothers.
That side of the pancake is fried all
right.
But when it comes to the other side,
Oh, this brother is ten years younger to
me.
I can tell him to do this and
that and the other thing for me.
Do odd jobs for me because he's an
errand boy, you see.
And there you see the spirit of Lucifer
wanting to lord it over at least this
person.
That's a very, very dangerous sign.
It shows we have not understood that in
this body of our humiliation, we are to
be servants.
Nobody is called to be our servant.
No one.
I'm not to expect anything.
If somebody serves me, that's another thing.
I'm not to expect it.
And one mark of my not expecting it
is this.
This is the way I can test whether
I expect a brother to serve me or
not.
Two things.
One, when he does not serve me the
way I thought he might, am I a
bit disappointed?
I won't show it outwardly.
Outwardly, I'm smiling, praise the Lord.
I'm the new and living way brother.
But inside, I'm a bit hurt that he
did not respect me as a elder brother
or as a senior brother or he didn't
think of doing this for me as an
older brother.
Then it shows that despite all this pious
appearance of being a servant outside, inwardly, I
want to be a Lord.
And the other test is when somebody does
do a service for me, what is my
attitude towards that brother?
Is it one of deep thankfulness or is
it a casual attitude where I feel, oh
well, that's part of his job, you know.
He just served me.
After all, I'm an older brother.
He's got to serve me.
Woe unto us if we fail in these
two tests.
If somebody has served you, brother, some younger
brother has done something for you, I hope
never a day will come in our life
when we are not deeply thankful that that
brother thought of doing such a service for
me.
Who am I that he should do that?
But think that such a thought came into
his mind to do such a service for
me that I must be deeply, deeply, deeply,
deeply thankful to that brother for having thought
of doing such a thing.
Is it like that?
So many husbands are lords over their wives.
And one mark of it is they are
not thankful for the service their wives do
in the home.
Yeah, that's her job, they say.
They don't say it with their mouth.
They'd be unspiritual if they said it.
But that's what they think.
That's her job.
She has to cook.
She has to wash.
What do I get married for?
That's her job, to do all those things.
The spirit of lording.
I'm not talking about the CSI people.
I'm talking about the New and Living Way
people.
We have the same flesh.
Dear brothers, beware of it.
Beware of it.
We are called to be servants.
Not to expect anything.
And to be deeply thankful when a wife
or a brother does some small service for
us.
It's not just a question of acting thankful
and say, oh, thank you very much, brother,
because I heard in the meeting that I
must be very thankful.
I can be a Pharisee there.
But it's a question of attitude.
Do I really consider myself as not worthy
of this service?
That he served me like that?
I do not consider myself worthy that he
should serve me like that.
Then I'm deeply thankful to him for what
he has done.
My dear brothers, wherever we go, if we
do not have the spirit, the body of
Christ will never be built wherever we try
to build it.
Can be sure of that.
Body of Christ can only be built by
those who have the spirit of a servant.
And that's the exact opposite of what you
see in the vast majority of Christendom today.
It says here about Jesus, he did not
come to be served, but to serve and
to give his life.
Not to make other people give their life
for him.
See, to make other people spend their money
for me, that is to make them my
servants.
We have to be very careful in this
area that if I am a servant, I
never live at the expense of other people.
Paul was so careful, we read in 2nd
Thessalonians 3, not even to eat food when
he went to Thessalonica, which he didn't pay
for.
I must not expect other people to spend
money for me.
Yes, they may do it sometimes and I
must be deeply thankful for it, but I
must never expect it.
And I must try as far as possible
to avoid it.
And yet this is exactly the opposite of
what I have seen with so many so
-called full-time workers in India.
They expect other people spend some money for
them, taxi fare or some other fare or
some other expense.
And yes, the full-time workers know the
tricks of humility.
They act as though they want to pay
for it, but when the other brother says
no, no, no, it's all right, they are
quite happy.
In fact, they expected it that way.
They expected it that way.
Because after all, I am a full-time
worker, you see.
You must serve me in this way.
There is so much of this, expecting other
people to serve me in some way and
taking advantage of others financially.
We have to be clear in this area
that we don't expect it.
I am not saying we should not let
anyone serve us.
I don't mean that.
Because people will serve us and we serve
one another.
We have to...
I trust you understand what I am saying.
That is going over the cliff, the other
extreme, where you say I will not let
anyone serve me.
That's like Peter.
Oh Lord, you'll never wash my feet.
That is the other extreme.
When people serve us, even if it is
Jesus himself, let him do it.
But the question is, do I expect it?
That's the question which determines whether I am
a Lord or not.
It's not a question of whether other people
serve me or not.
It's a question of do I expect it?
That other people should serve me.
And am I reluctant to serve that brother
when the time comes?
Or is it always one way, one way
traffic?
Then there is something wrong.
If it is both ways, then it is
alright.
In other words, when his turn comes, it
is my duty to serve him too in
the way he needs my help.
So, this is very important.
Not to get benefit from others for ourselves,
but to give our life.
As it says in Matthew 20, 28.
To give our life for others in the
spirit of Christ.
We cannot give our life for their sins
like Jesus gave, but we can give our
life to serve others.
Like this beautiful verse in Isaiah 58.
Isaiah 58, it says about the true fast
of the Lord.
If you fast like this, it says, verse
7, dividing your bread with the hungry.
Now, that's the first step.
That's very easy.
To give material things to the brothers who
are in need.
When I have an abundance of food.
What we read in verse 7 is easy.
To give material things to the hungry, to
those who are in need.
But when it comes to verse 10, Isaiah
58, where I have to give myself to
the hungry.
That's a little more difficult.
To give myself means to lay down my
life for them.
That means they have fed on my bread.
Now they can feed on me and take
advantage of me.
They can inconvenience me.
And I'm glad to serve them when they
inconvenience me.
That is the spirit of a servant.
They are masters.
I am a servant.
This must be our spirit whenever we serve
others in the church.
The servant does not expect anything from the
master.
The master can expect much.
Paul says to the Corinthians, we are your
servants.
Who is the spiritual man?
Paul.
Who is the carnal ones?
The Corinthians.
The spiritual man is the servant of the
carnal ones.
To serve them, because they are immature.
The more mature we become, the more we
become servants.
That's why I say the vast majority of
so-called Christian leaders are immature because they
haven't understood what it means to be a
servant of others.
Not only they love titles, the spirit is
one of a lord.
To give ourselves for other people to feed
on us, to eat us, to take advantage
of our time, our conveniences, that's my calling
to serve them.
If a man is not willing to pay
this price, he might as well tell the
Lord, Lord, this is too much for me.
I don't want to build the body of
Christ.
Just let me be an ordinary brother sitting
in a church doing nothing else.
Many people want to build the body of
Christ, but they are not willing to pay
the price.
Here is the price.
Other people will feed on you, take advantage
of you, take advantage of your things, take
advantage of your time.
You are not your own anymore.
You have to deny yourself many things because
you have given yourself to the Lord for
the building of the body of Christ.
That's how it was with Jesus.
People fed on him, they took advantage of
him and he never complained.
He never had a complaint.
Look at these fellows, they don't show any
consideration for me.
A servant never says that.
A servant cannot go on strike.
Because the master…
I never had such things in those days.
No.
There is no question of thinking, see how
inconsiderate these people are towards me.
When such a thought comes up into your
mind, when a brother has done something and
you say, see how inconsiderate he has been
towards me.
Doesn't he know that I also have my
needs and my family and this, that and
the other and he acts so inconsiderately.
Well, that proves one thing.
It proves that you are not fit to
build the body of Christ.
You can be a brother in the church,
you are God's building, but you cannot be
God's fellow worker.
Because God's fellow workers cannot make such complaints.
Very simple.
They are to allow other people to feed
on them.
And people will be inconsiderate towards us, but
that is our calling.
To serve people who are inconsiderate towards us.
No.
I am not saying that we have a
problem.
We are not tested much like that in
the church here because most people are trying
to deny themselves.
We have a glorious time.
We are not tested much in this area.
But you try to move into some new
sphere to try and build the body of
Christ.
I am not talking about the situation here
where people have, most people anyway have got
gripped with the message so much.
But you are trying to move into a
new situation where people haven't understood the truth
of the message of the cross.
Now I tell you, it's not so easy.
People will take advantage and not show consideration
and then we shall discover areas in our
flesh which we never discovered sitting in CFC
Bangalore for so many years.
Sure.
It's true.
So to be a servant is to give
oneself.
I want to turn to another verse in
1 Corinthians chapter 9.
1 Corinthians 9.
This is an amazing verse.
Verse 19.
He is speaking first of all about why
he is financially free.
He doesn't want to take any offerings from
the Corinthians or any gifts from the Corinthians
for himself.
He says, because I want to preach verse
18, I want to preach the gospel without
charge.
I have got certain rights in the gospel
but I don't make full use of them.
And then he says, because I do not
take any money from you, I am free
from all of you.
Verse 19.
I am free from all you Corinthians.
Therefore, I can make myself servant to all
of you.
I cannot be a servant to a person
unless I am first free of that person.
This is an amazing mystery.
First I have to become free from a
brother, then I can serve that brother.
First I have to become free from people,
then I can serve those people.
If I am not free of those people,
I cannot be servants of those people.
If I am under obligation to that person,
because he has done so many things for
me, I can't be a servant to him.
I am under debt to him.
I have to be free.
That is why those who are called to
the ministry of the word must seek to
be as free as possible from people.
And as much as possible not to be
under obligation to any human being.
That's why we must not be in debt
to anyone.
A servant of God should not have to
put himself in a situation where he is
obliged to someone for financially or for a
favor or anything because then he has become
a slave to that person.
He cannot speak the truth to that person
anymore.
Paul was so careful here.
He says I want to be free from
all people, then I can serve all people
freely.
Then I can tell them the truth.
And the reason why we don't have more
prophetic ministry in our land is because most
people are under obligation to someone else who
gives them gifts or helps them or does
something for them and they are obliged.
And then of course you are not free.
You are a slave.
And you cannot have a prophetic ministry to
such people.
Dear brothers, it is so important to be
free so that we can serve with a
prophetic ministry we are under obligation to nobody.
We don't want anybody's gifts.
We don't want anybody's money.
We don't want anybody's anything.
We are going to speak the truth whether
people get offended or don't get offended.
We refuse to be under obligation to anyone.
Think of this.
Any of us who have received something from
someone service or money or help or influence
or anything in some situation.
Can you go to that brother and speak
a word of exhortation to him which you
know that he needs?
It's very difficult.
And if you examine your life you will
probably find that you have not done it.
Because in some way you have placed yourself
under obligation to him.
And now you cannot speak the truth to
any man anymore.
Therefore you cannot serve him as a servant
of God.
You are a slave of man.
Suppose that I am free from all men
then I can offer myself as a servant
to them not because they help me or
I am obliged to them but voluntarily I
serve them as a servant of Christ.
I proclaim myself as a servant.
And so it's very important that we never
get under obligation to anyone.
Even to relatives.
Never be under obligation to our relatives.
Always be free.
Don't get an obligation to relatives who seek
to help us financially or anything like that.
Steer clear as a servant of God.
Always ask yourself.
I am not saying it's wrong to receive
gifts.
I am saying ask yourself this question.
Can I give that brother a rebuke who
has sent me this large amount as a
gift?
Or has given me some other material gift?
Can I give a word of rebuke to
him?
Or because of this have I now become
a slave that I cannot open my mouth
to him and tell him the truth which
he needs to hear?
Then do something about it.
So that you don't become a slave because
of something that somebody did for you which
has put you under obligation to him.
Then we cannot be servants.
I have made myself free so that I
can be servants of all people.
And I want to say one more thing
from 1 Corinthians chapter 4.
The way Paul was a servant of others
is described here by another word in 1
Corinthians 4.15. He says even if you
were to have countless tutors to teach you
so many things from the word of God
yet you would not have many fathers and
you know that a father is a servant.
All of us may not be fathers but
we have all had fathers and mothers.
What is a mother to her children?
Almost all her life what is she doing?
Serving.
She is a servant.
She is more of a servant to her
children than that paid servant in the house.
And a true father is also like that.
Why does he go out there and sweat
and earns struggling in life to earn some
money?
For whom is it?
Is he spending it on himself?
No.
He may have 4-5 children.
It is for his children.
And after he has slogged away there the
whole day struggling in the struggle of life
to earn his bread and butter and he
comes back with the money he has earned
and it is not enough to buy food
for everyone in the family so he buys
a little bit and does he sit there
and say listen I earned this so I
am going to fill my stomach first?
Does he say that?
He is willing after having earned everything to
go hungry at the end if the children
can be fed.
Isn't that a true father?
Any father, evil fathers will do that.
And Paul said you can have 10,000
people who can come and preach wonderful messages
to you.
If he were living today he would have
said from America and preach wonderful clever things
and say so many things but how many
of them are fathers?
How many of them will deny themselves in
order that you might have something?
They all come and stay in their five
star hotels come and present their message on
the platform and take the next plane and
go back.
There are 10,000 like that.
And the sad thing is there are thousands
of stupid Indian Christians who go and sit
like dumb sheep before all these people thinking
these are the great men of God of
this century.
Now we are not to be in that
number.
We are not to be such dumb idiots
just before all these five star American preachers
with all their millions of dollars.
We are not impressed by that.
We are looking for fathers those who deny
themselves and say let me go hungry and
let my children have something.
That is a servant.
And I tell you the sad thing is
the growing generation in India is copying these
five star American preachers rather than Paul.
That's the sad thing.
That's the sad thing and we are standing
against all that.
And that's why so many people hate us
and fight against us because we are exposing
their humbug and their hypocrisy and all that.
We must stand for what we see in
the word of God.
We are to be fathers wherever God takes
us.
To be fathers if there is not enough
let your children have it first and you
deny yourself.
That's a servant.
A father is a servant.
We read in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 2nd
Corinthians 12 See there are many people who
are taken up with verse 12 who call
themselves apostles and they say the signs of
a true apostle were performed among you with
all perseverance by signs and wonders and miracles.
It's amazing how they become completely blind to
another sign of an apostle mentioned in verse
14.
Here for the third time I am ready
to come to you and I will not
be a burden to you.
It's amazing how people are blind to that
verse.
Whose eyes are open to verse 12.
And he says because I do not seek
what is yours but I seek you.
For children are not responsible to save up
for their parents but parents are responsible to
save up for their children.
And Paul says because I am a father
the chances are that I will give you
a gift rather than expecting a gift from
you.
What a wonderful thing that is.
Think to be a father like that towards
others.
That we do not expect anything from them.
Most of us are in secular jobs we
are not expecting financial gifts.
It's not that.
But that we don't expect any other form
of service or some respect or anything.
No, we are here to serve.
Serve.
Think of a mother with small children.
Oh, what a life she has in the
home.
Changing the pants and then the child has
gone and dirtied the floor she's got to
do that in the middle of all that
she's got to do her cooking and then
the clothes have to be washed.
What a job it is of serving and
serving and serving and serving and the father
slogging away and everything for the children.
My brothers think if we could be servants
of the Lord like that towards those whom
we are called to minister to and to
lead.
Think of the example of a father and
mother.
If any of us are ever, ever, ever
in our life given responsibility for a few
other brothers picture before our minds let us
picture before our minds not this 5 star
hotel American preacher far million miles away from
that let's picture a father and a mother
in a home serving, serving denying themselves slogging
away slogging away for their children.
That is the picture we must follow.
Not this false picture of this Christian worker
who cannot serve God unless his room is
air conditioned.
No that is not the type of servant
of God we are to keep before our
mind.
That's a counterfeit.
We are to keep before our minds the
picture of a father and a mother who
slogs and slogs and say Lord make me
like that towards these dear brothers whom you
have given to me to help and to
lead that I can slog and slog and
slog and get no benefit at the end
but that I will find my joy in
the fact that they have got some benefit.
That is a father.
That they are progressing in their education even
though I only studied up to matriculation I
am so happy to see that my children
are going to college and going to do
B.Sc. now the joy that comes in
a father's heart when he sees that that
is a true servant.
There is no jealousy there.
A father, a matriculation father is never jealous
of his B.Sc. son.
Have you ever heard of one like that?
Except in so called Christian churches where people
claim to be fathers and they are jealous
if somebody else is going ahead of them
spiritually.
That proves they are not fathers.
That proves they are hirelings.
They are teachers.
That happens in a school sometimes.
The teacher makes a mistake in the sum
on the blackboard and if a student says
No sir, that's wrong.
Oh, wait for the day the teacher is
going to get his own back on that
student who pointed out in the class that
the teacher was wrong.
Oh, he will never spare him.
The next exam he will probably fail or
something like that.
But he will get his own back on
that student.
But not a father.
And thereby you find that the vast majority
of preachers are teachers.
They are not fathers.
They do not want the people they minister
to to go ahead of them spiritually.
They are all first-rate hirelings for pay,
teachers, tutors, but not fathers.
We are not to have anything to do
with them.
We are to be fathers.
And of course a father disciplines his children
too.
Doesn't he?
Because he loves them.
And so there is responsibility in spiritual leadership
as a servant, as a father, even to
rebuke and to discipline.
But it is not the rebuke of the
teacher.
It is the rebuke of the father who
has denied himself, who has slogged.
And when we correct others and exhort others,
we need to ask ourselves, am I doing
this as a teacher or am I doing
this as a father?
There is a world of difference between the
two.
We are to give our life to others.
And when we minister the word of God
in any assembly where God gives us responsibility,
if you preach a sermon to people, do
fathers preach sermons to their children?
Teachers preach sermons.
A father shares his heart, his life.
And there is a lot of difference.
And when you listen to a man speaking,
it is very easy to find out whether
he is sharing his heart and his life
or whether he is just presenting a beautifully
arranged sermon.
That is a tutor.
And the vast majority of preachers are tutors.
They preach their beautifully arranged sermons.
But they are not sharing their heart.
They are not sharing their life.
They read books in order to prepare sermons.
They are not fathers.
My brothers, don't ever be like that.
If God ever gives any of us responsibility
anywhere, share your life.
Share your heart.
Never mind if it is not very impressive.
Share your life.
Share your heart.
Be a father.
That is to be a servant.
Paul says, the verse we started with, we
do not proclaim ourselves as lords.
We proclaim ourselves as servants.
Let's come back to 2 Corinthians 4.
We proclaim ourselves as servants.
Then it says in verse 7, we have
this treasure, this wonderful treasure of the glory
of God.
Speaking of the knowledge of the glory of
God in verse 6, this treasure of the
knowledge of the glory of God is in
an earthen vessel.
And to be a servant is, I must
not be ashamed to let other people know
that I am an earthen vessel.
I must not give other people the impression
that I am a stainless steel vessel or
a golden vessel or something like that.
I am an earthen vessel.
That means, I have a flesh just like
theirs.
I am tempted just like them.
I have my struggles with temptation just like
they have.
If Jesus himself manifested himself like that, why
not we?
And, that we are perplexed, Paul says, some
of the things that happen to this earthen
vessel, verse 8, we are afflicted but not
crushed.
We are perplexed.
You know what perplexity means?
Perplexity means I am confused.
I don't know what the will of God
is in this situation.
Have you ever heard a Christian leader say
that?
You know, brother, I am pretty confused myself
about what the will of God for my
life is in this situation.
Paul says he was perplexed.
Paul was not ashamed to admit that he
was an earthen vessel because perplexity is not
sin.
But, we have these so-called men of
God who want to, even when they are
perplexed, they don't want other people to know
about it because they say, oh, other people
will have a lesser impression about me.
So they give the impression, oh, yeah, I
always understand God's will.
I never have a problem.
I always know God speaks to me so
clearly and I can do this and I
do that and God tells me to do
that and the other.
The thing is, even Jesus himself was confused
about the Father's will in the garden of
Gethsemane.
He prayed for one hour three times, Father,
what is it?
Should I, can you remove this cup?
Is there some way to remove this cup?
But these so-called people are more spiritual
than even Jesus was at 33.
They are never confused.
No, it's all, it's all garbage.
Don't be fooled by all these people.
Earthen vessels, my brothers, and don't be ashamed
to let other people know that you are
perplexed sometimes, probably many times.
I'll tell you quite honestly, I am.
I am tempted by the devil coming to
me and saying, you're just wasting your time.
What are you doing?
You're just wasting your time.
Well, he'll probably come and tell you that
too.
We are earthen vessels.
We are perplexed.
We are persecuted, struck down, but not destroyed.
But in all these situations, we allow the
earthen vessel to be broken by the dying
of Jesus being born in our body, verse
10.
So he says, we are earthen vessels and
there's a reason why God has kept it
like that so that people can see, for
example, if God has given us great boldness
in some particular situation, it's very easy to
give other people the impression that I am
a bold type of person.
But actually, in some other situation, I may
be an absolute coward.
And yet I don't want other people to
think that I am basically a coward, but
in that particular situation, somehow God gave me
grace and I stood there.
I want to give other people the impression,
you read some of these western charismatic books
of these days and you don't get the
impression of an earthen vessel at all.
You get the impression of some stainless steel
or golden vessel, expensive stuff.
And it's all a lie.
I read those books and I know it's
a lie.
It doesn't fit in with scripture.
They are hiding the truth.
And many young Christians read all these books
and think that they are discouraged because they
are not like that.
They are trying to be like that and
waiting for the day when they will become
like that.
No, we are perplexed.
I am not talking about sin.
We need not be defeated by sin.
But there are other pressures.
We may be sick.
The fact that you got a headache doesn't
mean you don't have victory over sin.
You can get headaches because you got a
body of humiliation.
You can have some sickness perhaps sometimes.
The flu can hit spiritual believers just as
much as it can hit atheists.
Because we are earthen vessels.
We are not ashamed to admit it.
And we are perplexed at times.
We don't sin.
We don't complain.
We don't criticize.
We don't sin.
But we are earthen vessels.
We have weaknesses in our body.
And we are not ashamed to let other
people see us as weak earthen vessels.
So that, and there is a reason for
it.
Here is the reason.
So that, verse 7, the greatness of the
power may be of God and not from
ourselves.
That people see that God gave this man
grace.
Because he is naturally not that type of
fellow.
And that gives hope to the people.
Oh, then there is hope for me too.
So dear brothers, when we give ourselves to
others as servants, we must let them see
that we are earthen vessels.
We must be honest.
We should not seek to hide the fact
that we are earthen vessels.
Again let me emphasize, I am not talking
about falling into sin.
God does not want us to fall into
sin.
But we are to manifest that we are
not great, wonderful personalities.
Therefore God used us.
No.
We are weak human beings, but God's power
can be manifested through anyone.
And this is where we come into this
matter of soul power.
So many preachers, when they present, it is
with the power of their personality that they
impress people.
Particularly Americans.
I am not against Americans.
There are some very God-fearing Americans whom
I love.
But I say, generally speaking, as a race,
the American people have been fed from childhood
on the fact that we are the greatest
nation on the face of the earth.
And I have seen little children, Indian children,
who have grown up in America, the way
they speak.
There is really something about it.
If that same child had grown up in
India, it would have behaved in quite a
different way.
But he is a citizen of the world's
most powerful nation.
And you can see that in the way
he speaks when he is five years old.
That he is a citizen of the world's
most powerful nation.
And by the time he is 25, this
soul power has been built up to such
a tremendous extent.
And then he gets converted.
And now he projects this soul power in
the proclamation of the gospel.
Particularly in the underdeveloped countries like India, where
there are a lot of weak people who
can be pushed around quite easily.
Particularly if somebody comes with a lot of
personality and money on top of that.
And that is why you find all these
fellows landing up here.
And we must not be deceived by that
soul power and that personality and that drive
and that push.
Which is American and not Christian.
That is not an earthen vessel.
The fellow is an earthen vessel but he
is trying to project himself as something else.
It is not the power of God.
It is the power of the human soul.
And we cannot become servants.
It is difficult for everyone to be servants.
But it is more difficult for those who
have more soul power.
That is why you find it is true,
it is more difficult for an American to
be a servant.
Because he has got more soul power.
He can be if he is willing to
put it all into the dying of Jesus.
But it is not easy.
It is not easy.
And that is why you find most of
the Christian organizations in India at the top
you will find an American as the director.
The international director would be an American usually.
Because he is the fellow who has got
the soul power to drive and push and
organize and administrate.
You can't get anybody else up there.
It has to be one of these people
who have got drive and push or somebody
who has been trained by the same soul
power to have the same soul power to
drive and push and lord it over and
control things.
I just want to say brothers, you wouldn't
get Paul or Peter or Jesus to do
things like that.
But you say it produces results.
Well, Colgate Toothpaste also produces results by their
drives and their sales agencies and all that.
If you are only looking for results, well,
there are so many companies which get excellent
results.
The question is, is the means the power
of God or is it the power of
human personality?
We are to be servants manifesting the power
of God in our life.
Human weakness.
We are earthen vessels.
We don't have any soul power to project
on others.
We don't want to impress people with our
personality.
That's why I say, if you have any
particular qualifications or medals or anything like that,
try as far as possible that other people
don't know about it.
Because they'll be impressed by that.
You know?
You go to some people's homes and there
in the sitting room itself you see a
picture of their shaking hands with some minister
or receiving some prize or something like that.
You see, that's the impression they want you
to get as soon as you get in
there.
Listen, I'm not an ordinary fellow.
Did you see that picture?
Now, why in the world sometimes it's fathers
who do that for their children, children receiving
something.
It's in the sitting room.
You see, my child is not an ordinary
child.
It's a super child.
See that picture.
Now I say, this is not Christianity.
We are earthen vessels.
We are servants.
Never should we give others the impression that
we are someone greater.
Then we can serve them as true servants,
as fathers, as shepherds who lay down their
lives on our life so that they are
encouraged.
Because our aim in life is not to
impress people, but to help them.
Let me conclude on that note.
What is your aim in life?
Is it to impress or to help?
I remember years ago the Lord asked me
a question.
He said, you cannot impress and help.
You have to make a choice in your
life.
Which do you want?
And if you say, Lord, I want to
help, then you have to stop impressing.
Be honest, be a servant and seek God
for His power and that you pour out
all your soul power to depth and that
people will think less of you rather than
more.
Be scared when people think more of you.
Rejoice when in some situation people have thought
less of you.
Then we are going in the right direction.
We can ask ourselves, when people think less
of us, do we really rejoice?
Then we know we have been gripped by
this message of being a servant in the
power of God.