THE SERVANT AND THE SERVICE

^[p. 179] THE SERVANT AND THE SERVICE

The apostle had a strong sense of the greatness of the Lord, of His authority and power, and of how the Lord would stand by him. It is a wonderful thing to know the Lord at the right hand of God, and that all power is given to Him; for the servant can then be content, to take a low place, as the apostle says, “Your servants for Jesus’ sake”. It was a suited place for a man who had once wanted to be conspicuous among men.

It is a great thing when we are content just to serve the saints, and it is a great thing also when the saints in the meeting are conscious that you are their servant. If I have any feeble sense of the glory of Christ I shall not want to be anything down here but the servant of the saints.

The source of transparency in the apostle was that God had shone into his heart, and that which God had made known of the glory of Christ had taken possession of his heart; and the result for him was a life of effective service. His heart had been touched with a sense of all that God had made known, the light of the knowledge of God had entered there. The Son of God had been revealed in him, and therefore he was content to be the servant of the saints for Jesus’ sake; and all true service is of this character. It is blessed to know that there is a full setting forth of all that God is in the face of Jesus Christ.

There were two things in this world that compromised the character of God — sin and death. Sin called in question the righteousness of God and death the power of God. But in the death and resurrection of His Son, God’s righteousness and power have been set forth. Who can say that God is unrighteous or weak? The death of Christ is the witness of the ^[p. 180] righteousness of God. He has given proof in it that sin is intolerable to Him. The resurrection is the proof of His power. Death is weakness, but the exceeding greatness of God’s power has been set forth, and both righteousness and power are now testified of in Christ at God’s right hand, and no one can say a word against God. There are, of course, other things that find their expression in Him at God’s right hand. The love of God, and the grace of God which brings salvation, and the glory of God, these all shine out now in Him. God’s love which was the spring of all that was in His purpose for man has come out (John 3: 16), and so the apostle could say, “After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared”. The time had come when God could make known His love and kindness to man, it shines out now in the face of Jesus Christ, and when I look there I see all God’s attributes made good, and Himself fully made known in grace and love. And the more we apprehend the glory of the Lord the greater apprehension we shall have of the grace of God, and the more we shall learn His love. His love has now come out, it is without measure or end, and love will have its own satisfaction in its objects, and the reason that you and I are going to be in everlasting glory is to satisfy the love of God; and all stands on the immutable basis of righteousness. God is not unrighteous for Christ has died, and He is not weak for Christ has risen; and all this had taken possession of the heart of the apostle. He had apprehended that which the light had revealed, and it was the delight of his heart to make it known. God has made Himself known in the face of Jesus Christ, that He might be known and trusted by man, and that men might find a resting-place for their poor aching hearts in the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ. The apostle had apprehended the greatness of the light of which he was the bearer, and his care and desire was that there ^[p. 181] should be nothing about him that was unworthy of the position in which God had placed him, that there should be no provision for the flesh, nothing that would tend to obscure his testimony. And the Lord Himself in His goodness to His servant had given him a thorn in the flesh, so that the flesh might not come into prominence. I do not think a man makes an effectual minister until the truth has taken possession of his soul, and has become the pleasure and delight of his heart. It is a great pleasure to speak of that same light in which God has shone into one’s own heart.