The Marks of a True Servant

Good morning. Good morning. What a beautiful morning it is for July, and we're going to have such wonderful weather, let's praise the Lord. Well, uh, thanks for your prayers. I can identify with Brother Brent and feeling like a 6-year-old. But, you know, I— I thank— I'm thankful for those in the Hebrews 11. It says, "Out of weakness they were made strong." And so that's what, uh, my hope is, that today, out of weakness, something could come that would be worthwhile.

Uh, I have a title here: "The Marks of a True Servant." A servant is one who serves. The children can understand this. When they go to a restaurant, a server comes out and finds us a table and says, "What can I get you to drink?" And, uh, then, "I'll be back in a little bit, and I'll take your order." And then she comes and says, "Okay," and she gets your order and fills it and brings your pl— brings your plate.

And, uh, just, "What can I do for you?" And then after a while, you're eating, and she comes by, "Is there anything else you need? Can I— what can I help you with?" A servant.

And that's what— that's what God wants us to be. "What can I do for you?" It's very simple.

You know, when we wash each other's feet at communion, like we did yesterday, that— that's a picture of a servant.

Uh, what we're saying is that there's no task too lowly for me to do.

Servants are not always appreciated. Peter tells us, "For what glory is it if, when you be buffeted for your faults, you should take it patiently?" But if, when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

And I thought of that portion there in Luke 17, uh, sitting here. Uh, "Which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him, 'Bye, and bye,' when he comes from the field, 'Go and sit down to meat'? Which of you would say that?

Will you not rather say unto him, 'Make ready,' where 'Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink'?" The servant's place is secondary.

Do you think that— do you thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trout not. In other words, it's just your duty. It's not— it's not that you did something when you serve others, like, "Why, I owe a thank you." You know, "I— I, uh, I deserve a thank you."

We know the history of slaves, servants. Uh, it's a very sad story about slavery, how many of them were treated, and so on. But, you know, uh, as Christians, that's kind of the mindset that we might— must have. Paul called himself a servant of Jesus Christ. And, uh, Isaiah— in Isaiah, God speaks of Jesus as His servant. "Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." Jesus certainly is our model servant.

Let's turn to Philippians 2 for a couple of thoughts here.

The apostle Paul calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ to all the saints which are in Philippi. And then in chapter 2, "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same love and being of one accord and of one mind.

Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." You know, this is the key: lowliness of mind, how we think about ourselves. It's the key to being a servant. "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."

Yeah, it's not about me and my and mine, and it's our tendency. You know, we're— we deal with ourselves every day, all the time, and so we— we're looking on our things. But he's saying, "Turn your eyes outward and look on things of others. Notice what they've done, but complement then what they have done."

Verse 5, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men."

Reputation.

He made himself of no reputation.

You know, when somebody makes a comment that sort of degrades your reputation, that's a hard one. Our reputation. But Jesus made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made like a man. He created men, and then he came down and took upon him the form of a servant.

And being found in fashion as a man— oh, now look at this— he humbled himself. You're talking about service, servant, humility. There it is again. "And became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

You know, humility is not just something in your mind. It's something that shows up in actions. Jesus' humility took him to a cross. He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Well, verse 9, "Wherefore God hath also highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things of earth and things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

God is watching. God is watching. He sees what we're doing, how we're serving. And he saw what Jesus did, and he glor— he exalted him. And so, uh, there's a reward for being a servant, a faithful servant.

Verse 14 then, "Do all things without murmurings and disputings."

Yeah. We serve, but then if we're not careful, we might complain.

We had a former employee at the store— uh, at the— yeah, at the business— that squeezed a bicyclette really hard, and something popped in his arm, and he was off for a couple of months.

And, uh, we actually replaced him then. And so then he had workmen's comp to pay for his doctor's tour. And then, uh, in a couple of months, uh, the doctors cleared him. He's ready to work again, no problem.

And then he's drawing unemployment. And since we laid him off, he's— he— he can get unemployment now. So for 12 months, unemployment is paying him the same wage we were paying him, weekly, for a whole year. And to me, that just seemed like, wow. You know, it— they recap their expenses through raising our— our, uh, unemployment rate.

So, you know, it sort of worked on me a little bit. And every month they send me a statement, and it shows his wages this week, this week, this week, this week. And we file them in the drawer. And I— just the other day, I told Dale, I said, "Shouldn't we call him up and just ask him, what's— what's the rationale behind this?" That you'd pay a healthy man a whole year when he's doing nothing. Uh, Dale said, "Dad, put the paper in the drawer. Don't keep going over this." You know?

Good advice. Thank you, Dale.

Murmuring, you know? Forget it. God takes care of us. And so I just thought about that, when we do things without murmurings and disputings. Then in verse 17, Paul says, "Yea, if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all."

All the suffering that Paul went through, "I joy and rejoice with you all." Yeah. Let's be servants, and let's joy in it. Amen.

Well, I, uh, I was brought to this subject through the story there of Abraham and his servant, and Isaac and Rebecca, and all that, Genesis, uh, 24. And I want to go there. But before, I want to read a couple of verses here from Hebrews, just to give a little background of Abraham here.

Okay. Hebrews 11, verse 8.

"But without faith, it's impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently serve him, serve him." "By faith, uh, Noah, being warned of God, of seeing— of things not seen as yet, being moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house."

And then verse 8, "By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed." And he went out, not knowing where he was going. "Abraham, you— where are you going?" "I don't know.

God says he'll tell me."

"So by faith, he sojourned in this land of promise, in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, and heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." And then it talks about Sarah. "She received strength to conceive seed, which was Isaac, and was delivered of him when she was past age, because she judged him faithful, who had promised."

So let's turn then to Genesis 24.

Abraham was a faithful servant.

He was in a strange land now. Isaac was probably 30 years old here. Sarah had just died in chapter 23. And Isaac was missing her. And Abraham was an old man, about 137 years old. And, uh, in this story, we see servanthood lived out in the characters: Abraham, his servant; Rebecca, Laban her brother; and Isaac.

So let's read here, 1 to 4. "And Abraham was old and well stricken in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his eldest servant in his house that ruled over all they had, 'Put I pray thee the hand under my thigh, and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell.

But thou shalt go into my country and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.'"

Now, that was quite a request. How would you like to have that one? Go out, about a 400-mile journey, be like going out to Indiana, find a wife for my son.

Well, he had confidence in this servant, didn't he? Yes. Uh, he was— this servant had seen Abraham take up his, uh, son Isaac into mountain when God told him to. He— he had seen Abraham's life. And he would see— he saw

obedience.

So that's the mark, a mark of a true servant.

This servant ruled over all that he had. What kind of a man was he to have such a responsibility? Abraham had a lot of things. And this servant was entrusted with everything.

Verse 5, "The servant said unto him, 'Per adventure, the woman will not be willing to follow me into this land. Mustn't I be need to bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?'"

That's a practical question.

A true servant is practical. Let's put that up here.

Yeah, what if— what if I go out there and I don't find anybody that wants to come?

Well, Abraham was practical too. He said unto him, uh, "The Lord God of heaven," verse 7, "which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred." Think about this, servant. "God took me from Ur of the Chaldees, and brought me here, which spake unto me, and swear unto me, saying, 'Unto thy seed will I give this land.

He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from hence, from thence.'" Sounds pretty, uh, sure. Doesn't— doesn't really act like it's not going to happen that she's not going to come, you know?

And that— that ha— that's Abraham's faith. So that's a— that's a mark.

Brent and Lauren head for the Middle East. That takes faith. They don't know what's going to happen. And when we— when we live our lives here, it takes faith. When we serve others, it takes faith.

Verse 8, "Now if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this, my oath. Only bring not my son thither again."

Abraham was reasonable. He was— he was fair. And I— I would say that the mark of a true servant is that he's just.

He's fair.

Not going to ask something more than what somebody can do and expect it of him, and beat them if they don't do it. No, that's happened.

Verse 9, "The servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swear to him concerning that matter." "Abraham committed this responsibility to his servant, sealing it with an oath." And I call that trustworthy.

A true servant can be given a commission, and

be— they be trusted to do it.

Verse 10, "The servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed, for all the goods of his master were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor."

Ten camels. You know, this trip would have taken some planning.

And some men went with him.

But he departed. That means, like Abraham, when he was told to go do something, he— he departed. He went. Didn't delay. I call that prompt.

You know, procrastination is something that we all deal with. True servant, when he has a commission, gets started without hesitation.

And he arrives here at the city.

A servant, I think, had some pretty good training under Abraham's training. Verse 11, "He made his camels to kneel down without the city, by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water."

What's that? That's vision.

He thought this thing through. How do I find a lady? Well, the women come out to draw water in the evening, by the well.

Vision. True servant needs vision.

Verses 12 to 14, "And he said, 'O Lord God.'" Can you imagine how he must have felt there?

Lost my place here. Verse 12, "O Lord God, my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham." So what's the first thing he does? He finally gets right to the point. "I'm here now." He prays.

That is an important one.

A true servant prays.

I don't know if he knelt down there, right in the public. I don't know how he did that, for sure. But he offered a bold prayer. He— he required a specific answer.

Again, we see the spirit of Abraham shining through this servant.

Surely it would take faith to lay out such a specific answer. "Let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, 'Let down thy pitcher,' I pray thee, that I may drink, and she shall say, 'Drink,' and I will give thy camels drink also. Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac. And thereby I shall know that thou hast showed kindness unto my master." So he's not saying, "I'll have an answer." He's saying, "My master will have an answer."

He's— he's saying, "Send good speeds for my master, my master."

I call that unselfish. Kindness to my master.

He asks for good speed. He wants Abraham's charge to him to be done, not necessarily for his own convenience, but that Abraham's request could be answered. Two times he mentions, "Show kindness to my master."

That is a beautiful servant spirit. It reminds us about how Jesus came to do his father's will. His request, then, wasn't that she would be a beautiful lady or something like that, but that she would have a servant spirit as well.

"Drink, and then give my camels to drink." That'd be a pretty— pretty bold request. Yes.

Well, then we turn to Rebecca here. Verse 15, "It came to pass, before he had done speaking, that behold, Rebecca came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milca, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

The damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her. And she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up."

Here comes a young woman. She has a pitcher. She's getting water. She goes down to the well, fills it. And, uh, yeah, she didn't know she was under any special— what do you call it? Uh, I can't get the word. But yeah, she was just doing her chores.

She was diligent. She wasn't a lazy girl.

And that was probably a pretty big pitcher on her shoulder. I don't know how these ladies in the Middle East do it, but they carry them on their heads too. Yeah, getting water was a big deal.

And it says that she was beautiful to look upon.

Uh, a true servant is spiritually attractive. Let's say that. Spiritually attractive.

Now, the servant didn't know that she was Abraham's relative. So the first part of his prayer was being fulfilled.

Verse 17, "And the servant ran to meet her, and said, 'Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.' And she said, 'Drink, my Lord.' And she hasted, and let down the pitcher on her hand, and gave him to drink.

She showed a friendly, sociable spirit. She didn't hesitate. She hasted. Sure, help yourself.

I call that sort of brave. She never met this man before. Let's say she was brave.

She didn't know

who this was. Verse 19, "And when she had done giving him drink, she said, 'I'll draw water for your camels also, until they have done drinking.' And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again up to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels."

Now, you know that a camel drinks a lot of water. And if you have ten camels, they drink ten times that much.

I— I believe she was sweating, because that wasn't been a small deal. That wasn't a small deal there. I would say she was a hard worker.

It's an amazing story. It's just wow.

Verse 21, "The man wondering at her held his piece." He was just like, wow.

"To wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not. And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking," verse 22, "that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, and said, 'Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee, is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in?' And she said unto him, 'I'm the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milca, which she bare to Nahor.'" That— that was Abraham's first and a half cousin.

"She said moreover unto him, 'We have both straw, and provender enough, and room to lodge in.'" I call that hospitable. Hospitable.

She was prepared. She was ready for the unexpected.

That's not always easy. Uh, there's something that has to be done ahead of time. You know, if someone comes to your house for lunch you weren't expecting, somehow you've got to be ready. Somehow you've got to have something in the freezer. Somehow you've got to have some forethought. Anyhow, yeah.

Or if Harvey calls you up and says, "Hey, could you preach next Sunday?" Uh, you've got to be prepared. Yeah.

"We have everything you need. Come to our house." Verse 26, "And the man bowed down his head, and worshiped the Lord." There again, we see prayer. "And he said, 'Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master.'" See, master, master, master. "Of his mercy and his truth, I, being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren."

Thankful. Thankful. Immediately, "Thank you, Lord."

Lots of times something we forget to thank God when he answers our needs, which he does so often, so many times.

And then if I can get my notes here.

Verse 28, "And the damsel ran." I just marvel at the speed. I mean, it hasted, ran. "And told them of her of her mother's house these things. And Rebecca had a brother, and his name was Laban.

And Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well. And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and the bracelet upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebecca, his sister saying, 'Thus spake the man unto me,' that he came unto the man, and behold, he stood by the camels at the well. And he said, 'Come in, thou blessed art of the Lord. Wherefore standest thou without? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.'" See how far we're reading here.

Verse 33, "And the man came unto the house, and he ungirted his camels. He gave straw and provender for the camels, water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him. And there was set before them meat to eat. But he said, 'Uh, I— I won't eat until I have told you my mission.'" And he said, "Speak on."

So here we see Laban being a servant. He's getting— he's— he's taking care of the camels. He's ungirting. And that's probably a big job too, ungirting ten camels. And, uh, then he had— he had, uh, provender, straw, water to wash the servant's feet, uh, the men's feet that were with him.

And he said, "Here, here's a meal." Wow.

Then he said, "Wait a minute. I'm not going to eat. I have a mission. I have a mission." Oh, I call that focused.

He didn't get sidetracked. He still had this mission to do.

Verse— we're going to— then he recounts. He tells them how God had— how Abraham had sent him out, and so on, and so on. And then we go down to verse 49. "And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master"— there's a master again— "tell me; if not, I tell me that I may turn to the right hand or to the left." And then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, "Hmm, looks like the Lord's working in this. The thing proceedeth from the Lord. We cannot speak unto thee bad or good." In other words, the answer is pretty evident. "Behold, Rebecca is here. Take her, and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord has spoken."

And it came to pass, that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshiped the Lord again, bowing himself to the earth. He just knelt right down before them there. "Lord, thank you."

He was intent on getting his answer. Uh, let's see here, 49 to 61. I'm not reading far enough. Verse 52, "And it came to pass, that when Abraham's servant heard the words, 'He worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth,' and the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them unto Rebecca. And he gave also to her brother, and to her mother, precious things.

And they did eat, and drink, and the men that were with him, and tarried all night. And they rose up in the morning, and he said, 'Send me away unto my master.'" And her brother and her mother said, "Well, let the damsel abide with us a few days, at least maybe ten. After that, she should go." He said unto them, "Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way. Send me away, that I may go to my master."

And they said, "Well, we will call the damsel and inquire at her mouth." So they called Rebecca, and said unto her, "Wilt thou go with this man?" She said, "I will go."

And they sent away Rebecca, their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men. And they blessed Rebecca, and they said unto her, "Thou art our sister.

Be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them." And Rebecca arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man. And the servant took Rebecca, and went his way.

Wow. Beautiful. Beautiful story. And then, uh, verse 62, "Isaac came from the way of the well Laheroy, for he dwelt in the south country. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at evening. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and behold, the camels were coming."

Now, Isaac knew that this servant was sent out. And 400 miles— I don't know how long it took— and then 400 miles back again. Uh, yeah. See, he was out meditating in the field. I think he was praying, seeking God's will for his life. And hey, here come the camels.

I believe he was expectant, you know. I think that's what he was.

And I think that's— that's the true servant. Can expect God's blessing. You know, we're looking forward to God's blessing.

He had the spirit of his father too, I believe.

And then verse 64 and 65, yeah, here. "Rebecca lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the man— to the servant, 'What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us?' And the servant had said, 'It is my master.'

Therefore she took a veil, and covered herself." I call that humility.

She is covering her beauty.

And she realizes that she's meeting her future husband. It's a beautiful ending, you know, when we all do our part. She covered herself with a veil. And then the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebecca, and she became his wife. And he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

Beautiful ending. So may we all be encouraged to be true servants, and, uh, make someone else's life beautiful.

Shall we pray? Let's stand for prayer.

Father in heaven, as we think about this thing about being servants, help us to be able to humble ourselves, to let this mind be in us, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Father, help us to be willing to do the tasks that aren't noticed.

Help us to find joy in serving you too.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here together today. Bless each of us as we go forth into the next week here, that we'd be able to somehow be better servant. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.