A TRUE SERVANT OF GOD

Rev Nguyen Gia Hien
(Pastor, Brisbane BPC and Vietnamese BPC, Brisbane, Australia)

“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 honour” (John 12:26).

Many nowadays just blindly follow their religious leaders, who claim that they are servants of God. Sadly, many do not have a sharp spiritual discernment to distinguish between false servants and true servants of God. Out of His love and care, the Lord Jesus warns His followers, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits… A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (Matt 7:15, 16, 18).

The Lord does not want His followers to be deceived, saying, “Take heed that no man deceive you… For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matt 24:4, 24). False prophets, false teachers, false pastors, or false preachers speak and preach very well, but if they cannot live up to God’s Word; they are just false servants. Then, how can you and I discern the true servants from the false ones? We have to compare them with the Lord Jesus Christ, His true servants in the Bible, and God’s Word.

Born Again with Qualities of a True Child of God

A man cannot be God’s true servant if he is not born again. A man who is not born again by the power of the Holy Spirit cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. If he cannot see and understand spiritual things, he cannot highly value spiritual things (1 Cor 2:14), then how can he lead others and help them to understand and highly value spiritual things? He will be like a blind guide that leads the blind and both shall fall into the ditch (Luke 6:39).

A man who is not born again is not a child of God, and he can never have a heart knowledge of God as his personal heavenly Father and of Jesus as his personal Lord and Saviour, then how can he truly love God, highly value God, follow God, fear God, worship God and serve God biblically, and how can he help others to know, follow and worship God and the Saviour Jesus Christ biblically?

A man who is not born again cannot understand God’s Word the Holy Bible properly, then how can he interpret the Bible, how can he know God’s will and God’s Truth, and how can he help others to know God’s will and God’s Truth correctly? That is why the Lord Jesus confirms, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).

Sadly, we see many, even pastors or Bible college professors, who may know God and the Bible with their head-knowledge but are not truly born again, and they can never be true servants of God!

Called to Serve the Lord

A man cannot be God’s true servant if he is not truly called. The Lord Jesus Christ did not come into this world by Himself, and He says, “I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not” (John 7:28), and it is the Lord, who calls and sends His servants to serve, “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21). The prophet Isaiah was called and sent to serve the Lord, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me” (Isa 6:8), and the apostle Paul was called and sent to serve the Lord, “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God” (Rom 1:1).

If a person is not truly born again and not called and sent to serve the Lord, he is not a shepherd but a thief and a robber, “He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber… The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:1, 10). Sadly, we see many evangelists, pastors, Bible college professors who are not born again and called, have stumbled and destroyed many souls through their compromise, unbiblical teachings and doctrines, heresies, and ungodly life with financial and sexual scandals. It is serious!

Submissive to the Lord and God’s Word

A man cannot be God’s true servant if he is not submissive to the Lord and God’s Word. The Lord Jesus says to His followers, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). A true servant (in Greek, doulos) is a bond slave who belongs to his Master and Lord and submits to His Master and Lord, even unto death. The Lord Jesus Christ is God’s true Servant as He submitted to His Father’s will and Word unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil 2:8). The Lord Jesus also submitted Himself to God’s Word, “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak” (John 12:49). Paul was God’s true servant because he submitted to the Lord as a bond slave, a doulos, saying, “Paul, a servant (doulos) of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God” (Rom 1:1).

Sadly, many nowadays blindly follow their religious leaders who are not truly submissive to the Lord and God’s Word. They can speak, preach, teach, and worship anyhow and use human ideas and worldly methods and means to attract more people to their church, and then they say that God has blessed them while they are not true servants of God! If they do not submit to nor care about God’s Word or about the most trustworthy Bible, then how can they help others to submit to God’s will and Word? They will be shocked when the Lord Jesus comes and says, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven…I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt 7:21, 23).

Not a Hireling but Ready to Spend and Be Spent

A man cannot be God’s true servant if he serves just for money. The Lord Jesus is not a hireling but the Good Shepherd, who “giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). The Lord Jesus trusts in His Father’s care and He serves His Father faithfully and unconditionally. The apostle Paul also served God faithfully and unconditionally, saying, “for I seek not yours, but you…And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved” (2 Cor 12:14-15). Paul did not demand how much the church should pay for his preaching and teaching. Paul did not accept the support from the churches that suspected his calling and apostleship like the church in Corinth, but he received the support from the churches and believers who regarded him as a servant of God and acknowledged their duty to take care of God’s servants willingly, not as a payment but as “an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God” (Phil 4:18).

Sadly, nowadays we see so many hirelings or hired preachers and speakers. They do not truly understand the noble and high calling of God, but they regard it as a profession or a job. They demand how much the church has to pay them; otherwise, they would not want to be a pastor of that church! The Lord Jesus calls them hirelings: “But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep” (John 10:12).

A Christ-Centred Servant to Please the Lord Alone and Not Man

The Lord Jesus served His Father with a clear purpose and motive, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do… For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me” (John 17:4, 8), and He says, “He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him” (John 7:18). The Lord Jesus is a God-centred and Word-centred Servant. The apostle Paul followed his Lord, saying, “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Cor 4:5), and “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Gal 1:10), and he exhorted Timothy to do the same, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim 4:2).

Sadly, nowadays we see so many man-centred preachers, speakers and pastors. They do not mind compromising to please men. They may say that their ministry is to glorify God, but they also secretly and subtly promote themselves, their names, their ministry, their church and their denomination at the same time! They are not true servants of God.

Be a Good Example without Compromise

The Lord Jesus Christ lives up to what He teaches and preaches and says, “For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). Paul did the same and exhorted Timothy to do the same, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim 4:12). Peter did the same and exhorted all under-shepherds, “Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock” (1 Pet 5:3).

Sadly, many preachers, speakers and pastors nowadays compromise and slowly turn worldly and ungodly unawares. They have failed to follow the perfect example of the Lord Jesus Christ, nor set a good example for others. They are not true servants of God!

Following Christ and God’s Word Alone without Lowering God’s Standard

The Lord Jesus Christ serves His Father seriously and faithfully without compromise or lowering God’s holy standard to attract people. The Lord never forces any to follow Him nor lowers God’s standard to keep His followers, saying, “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 honour” (John 12:26). The Lord did not focus on the number but on the quality. When many of His followers left Him because they could not accept His Word, the Lord did not run after them nor lower God’s standard to bring them back, but said to His twelve apostles, “Will ye also go away?” (John 6:67). Peter answered well when he said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68).

Any man who wants to serve the Lord must follow the Lord and must be where the Lord is without lowering God’s moral and spiritual standard. John confirms this truth, “He that saith he abideth in him (Christ) ought himself also so to walk, even as he (Christ) walked” (1 John 2:6). In other words, true servants of the Lord must live and do as the Lord did, must behave, say, preach and teach as the Lord did! It is a real challenge! But the Lord does not lower His standard! That is why true servants of the Lord always humbly trust in, depend on and submit to the Lord so that they may be able to follow Him, to do God’s Word and then help others to follow the Lord and God’s Word alone, and not themselves.

Sadly, many nowadays claim that they are God’s servants and are very proud of their megachurch. They focus on number and size and value their ministry by number and size, but they do not focus on the spiritual qualities in true holiness and godliness. They are willing to please men, to compromise, to lower God’s standard to attract more people to themselves, to their church, to their denomination, and they turn into a cult when they claim that only those who are in their church are saved like the Roman Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and others. They are not true servants of God at all!

Conclusion

Many nowadays cannot discern true servants of God from false ones and hirelings. They just support and invite the hirelings or false servants unawares! They cannot discern the Good Shepherd’s voice from the strangers’ voice! It is so dangerous! The Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd, says, “And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of  strangers” (John 10:4-5).

May God help you and me to have a sharp spiritual discernment so that we shall not be deceived by false servants nor follow them and their strange voice (unbiblical teaching and preaching), nor support them and their ministry, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt 7:20). Amen.