THE HONOUR OF TRUE SERVICE
THE HONOUR OF TRUE SERVICE
“He that waiteth on his master shall be honoured”. — Proverbs 27: 18 “If any man serve me, him will my Father honour”. — John 12: 26 It is important for us to recognize that there may be much work without any true service. A servant is one who carries out the will and pleasure of his master. One might work hard from morning to night, but if he were not doing his master’s pleasure he would be a very imperfect servant.
The first requisite in a servant is subjection; the second intelligence; the third capability. Then for all Christian service LOVE is essential as the spring and motive.
We cannot be acceptable servants unless we know our master’s pleasure, and for this we must wait on Him. “He that waiteth on his master shall be honoured”. For an illustration of this read 2 Samuel 23: 14 - 17.
While the royal city was possessed by the Philistines, and God’s anointed was in “the hold”, these three men were with him. This is the first thing. The Lord says, “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be” (John 12: 26). Are we prepared to follow Him in that pathway which has taken Him outside everything here as the rejected One, and placed death between Him and “life in this world”? How can we be qualified to serve Him unless we are near enough to Him to know His pleasure? “He ordained twelve, that they should [p. 147] be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach” (Mark 3: 14). It is sweeter to His heart, and infinitely more blessed to us, that we should be “with him”, than any service that we could possibly render. To be “with him” our hearts must follow Him outside the scene of His rejection — outside the sphere of man’s influence and activity. We often speak of the rejection of Christ, but are we prepared to follow Him! We read of some, that “they forsook all, and followed him”. This is the spirit of the true servant. It is a blessed thing when the Spirit of God so attracts and absorbs the heart by presenting the beauty and blessedness of Christ to it, that every other object is put into the shade and loses its power. This is altogether different from the way in which monks and nuns give up the world. They think that they can shut out the world by walls and doors, but nothing excludes the world from our hearts but CHRIST. True sanctification is when God gives us such a knowledge of the preciousness of Christ that He becomes “the Object bright and fair, to fill and satisfy the heart”. Then we are drawn to Him, to wait on His pleasure, and to learn His mind. “He that waiteth on his master shall be honoured”.
It was as the prophets and teachers at Antioch “ministered to the Lord, and fasted” that they were divinely instructed as to service (Acts 13: 1, 2). They waited on their Master, and were honoured. One could not truly minister to the Lord except as being in separation from that which is displeasing to Him. Hence it is written, “If a man therefore purge himself from these [vessels to dishonour], he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (2 Timothy 2: 21).
[p. 148] When we are clean, and meet for the Master’s use, we can be content to wait His pleasure. He may not use us exactly as we expect, or in the particular service that we should choose, but “he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured”. If we wait upon Him, He will give us distinction in the truest sense. He will make us pleasurable to Himself, and this is the highest honour.
David’s mighty men were near enough to him to know what he longed for, and devoted enough to go in jeopardy of their lives to yield him pleasure. Their service was undertaken purely for David’s pleasure. In itself the service was insignificant. No one was likely to appreciate it, or to see any value in it, but David. They went from him, and braved every difficulty and danger, and death itself, that they might give him pleasure, and having accomplished their service of devoted love they came back to him with the fruit of their service.
The joy of the servant is not found in publishing abroad to men what has been done, but in the consciousness that the fruit of his service is well-pleasing to the Lord. “As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him; for he refresheth the soul of his masters” (Proverbs 25: 13). I am sure I can appeal to every heart that has tasted the love of Christ. Is it not your chief joy to refresh the soul of your Master? You love to minister according to your ability to thirsty saints and sinners. It is a joy to you to be the bearer in this dark world of “good news from a far country”, which are “as cold waters” to thirsty souls (Proverbs 25: 25). And in watering others you find that you get watered yourself (Proverbs 11: 25).
[p. 149] But your chief joy is to be acceptable to the Lord Jesus — to minister to His pleasure.
Mark 14: 3 - 9 gives us an example of this in the New Testament that corresponds in many ways with the service of David’s mighty men. In each case devotedness of heart prompted the service, in each case it was the outcome of nearness to the one served, and in each case it was such as to possess no value in the estimation of any save the one served. No practical end, as men would judge, was achieved in either case. God thus teaches us that a supreme act of devoted service which affords the deepest gratification to the Lord Jesus, might appear absolutely worthless if judged by a human standard. The water brought by David’s mighty men was poured out “unto the Lord”. No doubt many thought it wasted. But it spoke to Jehovah of devotedness to His anointed, and it secured for the three mighty men a place and a name in David’s kingdom. They waited on their master and were honoured.
Mary’s service was the outcome of her nearness to the Lord. She had “sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word” (Luke 10). She had waited on her Master! Her service did not spring from a groundless impulse. It was what she instinctively felt was suited to the moment. The effect of His communications was that she became conscious that He was going out of this world, and her heart followed Him in devotedness and adoration. She would lavish her all upon Him, though none but He would understand or appreciate the service. He would understand — He would be gratified — and that was everything.
What honour was put upon her! “Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout [p. 150] the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her” (Mark 14: 9). Be assured of this, that if we wait on His pleasure we shall not lose anything. On the contrary, we shall be greatly honoured. The greatest service is not that which makes the greatest show in results here, but that which is most entirely pleasing to the Lord. We are often tested as to whether we are content to be insignificant here. Do we find our joy in being exclusively for the pleasure of Christ? That is the greatest service, and the privilege of rendering it lies open for every one of us — the youngest and feeblest as well as the mature and the gifted.
In saying these few words my desire is to encourage every young believer here — and I thank God there are so many — to seek the honour that comes from God. May each one of us wait more upon the Lord, that we may learn how to become the servants of His pleasure! Remember that word, “If any man serve me, him will my Father honour”.