1. “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there also My servant will be” (John 12:26).
To serve the Lord, we must follow the Lord. When the Lord was on earth, He walked a path that we must follow in order to serve Him. We must take His way. We must be where He is. Just as He died to Himself and willingly chose the way of the cross in everything, we must do the same. Just as He refused His own will and lived according to God’s will, we must do the same. In order to serve Him, we must follow Him and be with Him.
2. “David...served his own generation by the counsel of God” (Acts 13:36; see also Heb. 10:7).
In serving the Lord we must serve those of our own generation. However, we must serve by the counsel of God, just as David did in his time. If we do not serve by the counsel of God, we are merely serving people, not serving God. Only what is done according to the counsel of God can be counted as service to the Lord.
3. “His master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever” (Exo. 21:6; see also Isa. 50:4).
Because our service to the Lord is the service of a slave, we should act according to the Lord’s will, not according to our own desires. Thus, in order to serve the Lord, we need to hear His word. We can know the Lord’s will only when we hear His word. Those who serve the Lord must hear the Lord so that they can know His will and serve according to His desire in order to please Him. In the Old Testament a slave who wanted to serve his master forever would have his ear bored through with an awl by his master according to God’s command. This is a type of a serving one who has ears to hear the word of the Lord in order to serve Him. Our ears must be bored through by the Lord so that we can hear His word and serve Him.
4. “They shall come near to Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me” (Ezek. 44:15).
Once we have ears to hear, we must come near to the Lord, minister to the Lord, and stand before the Lord. Then we will know what He wants us to do and how He wants us to do it. In this way we can serve Him according to His will, match His heart’s desire, and be acceptable to Him.
5. “Serving God with fastings and petitions night and day”; “They were ministering to the Lord and fasting” (Luke 2:37; Acts 13:2).
In serving the Lord we need to fast and pray to seek Him in addition to contacting Him and standing before Him. To fast means that we are willing to give up our rightful enjoyment and to suffer in order to seek the Lord’s desire and accomplish the Lord’s will. To pray means to ask the Lord to reveal His desire and to accomplish His will. We must not be lacking in prayer and fasting in our service to the Lord. Strong and proper service to the Lord includes both prayer and fasting.
6. “The faithful and prudent slave” (Matt. 24:45).
We must also be faithful and prudent in our service to the Lord. Faithfulness must be accompanied with prudence. If we are faithful without being prudent, we will make a mess of our service to the Lord, and the result of our service will be the exact opposite of our desire in serving Him. Only faithfulness with prudence can fulfill our desire in serving the Lord.
7. “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and you be like men waiting for their own master when he returns” (Luke 12:35-36).
In order to serve Him, we must gird our loins, have our lamps burning, and wait for the Lord’s return. Girding our loins means that we are not loose, having a burning lamp means that we live in the light, and waiting for the Lord means that we are watchful. Our service to the Lord must be according to these conditions.
8. “That I may finish my course and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:24).
We must be faithful to the end in our service to the Lord. We must not begin and then quit, leaving things half done. We must not be loose or light in the matter of serving the Lord. We must be clear about the ministry that the Lord has allotted to us and know the course that the Lord wants us to finish. Once we are clear about the course that the Lord has chosen, we must be faithful and endure, finishing the course and fulfilling the ministry that we have received from the Lord.
1. “There are distinctions of ministries, yet the same Lord” (1 Cor. 12:5).
Although there are distinctions of ministries in our service to the Lord, every believer serves the same Lord. We may do different things in serving the Lord, but we all serve the same Lord together. Therefore, in the matter of serving the Lord, there is a need for coordination. We cannot serve the Lord individually or in isolation. We must serve together in coordination.
2. “The body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, it is not that because of this it is not of the body. And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, it is not that because of this it is not of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were the hearing, where would the smelling be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, even as He willed. And if all were one member, where would the body be? But now the members are many, but the body one. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you; nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. But much rather the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we consider to be less honorable, these we clothe with more abundant honor; and our uncomely members come to have more abundant comeliness, but our comely members have no need. But God has blended the body together, giving more abundant honor to the member that lacked” (1 Cor. 12:14-24).
The church is the Body of Christ. Every believer has a part in the church and is a member of the Body of Christ—the church. We, the many members added together, are the Body of Christ. Each member has a function, and all these functions belong to the Body of Christ and are for the Body of Christ. Therefore, to exercise our function as a member, we must be in the Body of Christ and for the Body of Christ. Consequently, in the church we must coordinate with one another in the service with all the saints, our fellow members. This service in coordination with all the saints is the corporate service of the church, which is especially pleasing to the Lord. He particularly wants to gain this, and it is especially effective in bringing in the Lord’s blessing.
If we want to serve in coordination with all the saints in the church, we must deal with our individualism in spiritual matters. We must deal with our independence in matters of service. We must also deal with our flesh, temper, disposition, self, and natural man. If these are not dealt with and broken by the cross, it will be impossible for us to serve in the church in coordination with all the saints, and it will be impossible for the Lord to gain the corporate service of His Body in the church. We must go through the dealing of the Holy Spirit and the breaking of the cross in order to have the coordinated service of the church. We must allow the Holy Spirit to use the cross to crucify our flesh, disposition, self, individualism, and independence so that we can coordinate with all the saints in the church to manifest the service of the Body of Christ.
Because we are members of the Body of Christ, our function is both of the Body of Christ and for the Body of Christ. According to the rule and principle, we must live in the Body of Christ, the church, in order to manifest our function as members. If we are not in the church, there will be a problem with our function. Our physical body is living, and every member that is attached to it can exercise according to its function. However, once a member becomes detached, it dies and loses its function. There is also a beautiful and lovable aspect to the living and functioning of any member that is attached to a living body, but as soon as a member is separated from the body, it becomes not only dead and functionless but also ugly and frightening. A living and functioning hand that is attached to our body is beautiful and lovable. When people see us, they even want to shake our hand. But if our hand is separated from our body, it will not only lose its function; it will also become something quite frightening to others. This is the condition of some believers before the Lord. They are separated from the church, they have lost their function as members, and they have become quite frightening to others. May the Lord have mercy on such brothers and sisters, and may He have mercy on us!
In the coordinated service of the church every brother and sister, every member, is necessary. Even the smallest member is necessary. In our body no member is so small that he does not have any function. Every member, no matter how small, has a function; therefore, every member is necessary. If we truly see the service of the Body of Christ and truly know the coordinated service of the church, we will realize that every brother and sister is necessary. The brothers and sisters need us, and we need every brother and sister. Everyone must exercise his function so that we can have coordination in the service of the church.
3. “God has placed some in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then works of power, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues” (1 Cor. 12:28).
In the church God has placed all kinds of people with different functions for our coordinated service. Whether apostles, prophets, teachers, workers of power, those with gifts of healing, helps, administrations, or speakers of tongues; everyone is a part of the coordinated service of the church, and everyone is necessary. No one can replace the service of another, and no one person can fulfill all the service of the church. The service of the church is a coordinated service of the Body of Christ, and every member needs to participate according to his function.
4. “Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love” (Eph. 4:16).
The church is the Body of Christ, and Christ is the Head of the church. The life that we receive from Him makes us His Body. Therefore, the life within us is the life of the Body, and we all have this life. If we live in this life, we will not only abide in Him, being joined to and fellowshipping with Him, but we will also be joined and knit together with all the saints. Then the Body, through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, will supply itself and grow unto the building up of itself in love. The Body grows and is built up through the function and the coordinated service of all the members.
A person who truly lives in the life of Christ is in the Body of Christ, the church. He is joined and knit together with all the members in a coordinated service. The life of Christ within us is the life of His Body, and it causes us to grow into His Body. If we act independently according to our own opinion in our service, our living will be in ourselves. However, if we live in the life of Christ, we will not act independently in our service to the Lord. The life of Christ requires us to coordinate with all the saints in the service in His Body—the church.
5. “Each one, as he has received a gift, ministering it among yourselves as good stewards of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, as speaking oracles of God; if anyone ministers, as ministering out of the strength which God supplies; that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 4:10-11).
We must serve one another according to the gifts that we have received. We must use our gift as good stewards of the varied grace of God. We should not feel that our gift is too small and not participate in the service of the church. Even the smallest gift can be useful in the coordinated service of the church. In the service of the church many matters and many things are needed. Some require large gifts, and some require only small gifts. May we faithfully use our gifts, no matter how large or small, so that God can be glorified.
1. “If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him” (John 12:26).
The first reward for serving the Lord is to be honored by the Father. This is a great matter. It should cause us to pursue serving the Lord.
2. “Blessed are those slaves whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Truly I tell you that he will gird himself and will have them recline at table, and he will come to them and serve them” (Luke 12:37).
Today we are slaves serving the Lord. When the Lord returns, we will receive the blessing of reclining at table and being served by Him. This blessing is a reward for our service to the Lord.
3. “Well done, good and faithful slave...I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21; see also 24:47; Luke 19:17).
If we are good and faithful slaves of the Lord today, we will receive the reward of being set over many things in the future, and we will enter into His joy.
1. “That slave who knew his master’s will and did not prepare or do according to his will, will receive many lashes” (Luke 12:47).
All believers should serve the Lord. If we serve the Lord, we will receive a reward. If we do not serve the Lord, we will be punished. Since we know that it is the Lord’s will for us to serve Him, we will not escape His punishment if we do not serve according to His will. This is a warning to us.