SERVING THE LORD
Serving the Lord and preaching the gospel are related. After a person is saved, he must preach the gospel and he must serve the Lord. The more a Christian receives grace and is led by the Lord, the more he is delighted to serve the Lord.
I. THE MOTIVE OF SERVING THE LORD
“I love my master…I will not go out free” (Exo. 21:5).A saved person wishes to serve the Lord, not out of others’ encouragement or compelling, but out of an inward motive. This motive is his love for the Lord. His love for the Lord constrains him and impels him to serve the Lord. The verse here describes a slave in the Old Testament who, due to his love for his master, would not go out free at the end of his days of slavery; he would rather be a slave to serve his beloved master. This typifies the New Testament believer who should love the Lord and serve Him in the same manner.
“I beg you therefore…through the compassions of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice…which is your most reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1).Here the Apostle Paul begs us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to serve God. His begging us is through the compassions of God, proving that God’s compassions, which are out of God’s love, should be our motive in serving God, stirring us up to love God and to serve Him.
II. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SERVING THE LORD
Being a slave of the Lord—“He who was called when free is Christ’s slave” (1 Cor. 7:22). To serve the Lord is to be a slave of the Lord Christ. In this verse, a slave refers to one who is sold and who has lost his freedom. Such a status reveals the significance of serving the Lord. Our serving the Lord is not to do any great work, but to be a slave of Christ to serve the Lord. Thus, in Romans 12:11, the verb used to describe one who serves the Lord is simply the verb form of the word slave and should be translated “serving as a slave.”
Being priests of God—“And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting…” (Acts 13:2). In the original language, ministering here refers to service as a priest; it is the same word as in Hebrews 10:11 for the “ministering” (serving) of a priest. To serve God as a priest is to handle before God all things related to the worship of God. This requires us to constantly draw near to God and stand before Him.
Being the members of Christ’s Body—“But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body [of Christ], even as He willed” (1 Cor. 12:18). We believers are all members placed by God in the Body of Christ, and each member has its function. When we fulfill our office to minister in the Body of Christ according to our function, we are also serving the Lord.
Preaching the gospel—“God…whom I serve…in the gospel of His Son” (Rom. 1:9). To preach the gospel is also to serve God. This means that we bring sinners to God just as the priests brought sacrifices to offer to God. Thus, Romans 15:16 says that to preach the gospel in this way is to minister “as a priest the gospel of God.” This kind of service is valuable, and it fulfills God’s eternal economy.
Caring for the saints—“Console the fainthearted, uphold the weak” (1 Thes. 5:14); “Communicating to the needs of the saints, pursuing hospitality” (Rom. 12:13). These words show us that we ought to care for those saints who are immature, weak, sick, needy, or in hardship. This is also a service to the Lord.
III. HOW TO SERVE THE LORD
Serving with our whole being—“Present your bodies”; “be transformed by the renewing of the mind”; “burning in spirit, serving the Lord as a slave” (Rom. 12:1, 2, 11). Our entire being is of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. To serve the Lord with our whole being means that the spirit, soul, and body all participate in the service to the Lord. First, we must present our bodies to the Lord; second, the mind, the main part of our soul, must be renewed and transformed; third, our spirit must be burning. Thus, all three parts of our being participate in serving the Lord.
Following the Lord—“If anyone serves Me [the Lord Jesus], let him follow Me; and where I am, there also shall My servant be” (John 12:26). In order to serve the Lord, we must follow the Lord. Those who serve the Lord must take the way which He took. We need to follow the Lord wherever He moves. Where He is, there we also must be. He chose the cross and was willing to take the way of the cross, dying to Himself and to everything. We who follow the Lord must do the same. Thus we will be able to serve Him.
According to the counsel of God—“For David indeed, when he had served his own generation by the counsel of God…” (Acts 13:36). Our service to the Lord, like David’s, must be according to the counsel of God and in God’s counsel.
Needing to havE an ear to hear—“And his master shall bore his ear through…and he shall serve him forever” (Exo. 21:6). This says that, in the Old Testament, a master would bore the ear of one who desired to serve, signifying a dealing with his ears that he might be obedient and submissive. To serve the Lord today, we also need the Lord’s dealing that we may have the ears to hear and be persons who are obedient and submissive to the Lord.
Coming near to and standing before the Lord— “They [the priests] shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me…” (Ezek. 44:15). This verse says that the priests of the Old Testament served God by coming near to God and standing before Him. In order to serve the Lord today, we should do the same. With an ear that can hear the Lord’s word, we still must draw near to Him and stand before Him that we may know what the Lord wants us to do so that we can serve Him according to His desire.
Being faithful and prudent—“Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom the master has set over his household” (Matt. 24:45). As the Lord’s slaves who serve Him, we also need to be faithful and prudent. To be faithful is to not be slothful or loose, while to be prudent is to seize the opportunity to accurately complete all the things with which the Lord has commissioned us according to His will. This is a prerequisite for us who desire to serve the Lord, to be well-pleasing to Him, and to be rewarded at His coming back.
Having the loins girded, and the lamps burning, and waiting for the Lord’s coming—“Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning…looking for their own lord…when he comes…” (Luke 12:35-36). Here the Lord tells us that to serve Him as His slaves, we need to have our loins girded and our lamps burning, and we need to wait for His return. To have our loins girded means to not be loose, to have the lamps burning is to live in the light, and to wait for the Lord’s return is to be watchful. All these are essential qualifications for us who serve the Lord.
Coordinating in the Body—“For also the body [of Christ] is not one member but many…If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, even as He willed…But now the members are many, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you; or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you” (1 Cor. 12:14-21). Here we are shown that to serve the Lord as members of the Body of Christ, we must coordinate with the saints and not act independently in the Body of Christ, which is the church. This is also a qualification regarding how we should serve the Lord.
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