Qualifications for Ministry

What Are the Things God Works Into a Life to Make a Person a Servant?

Philippians 2:7

AUDIO MP3

June 5, 2011 PM

Pastor Craig Ledbetter

Bible Baptist Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland

www.biblebc.com

I. Introduction (Philp 2:7)

A. Jesus took upon Himself the form of a servant

1. Not a prince, or a pope, or a governor, or a leader

2. But of a servant!

B. Just what is it that Jesus became like? We could study this concept for a whole year

C. Jesus teaches us that to be a servant is the HIGHEST of callings (Mt 25:21)

1. Imagine if I was talking about being a successful Billionaire

2. Or a successful Architect

3. Or a successful President

4. Of a successful Engineer

D. Let’s look at some of the important qualifications of being a successful Servant

II. Message

A. Examples of Servants of the Lord – the Bible is full of SERVANTS

1. Moses (Dt 34:5)

2. Joshua (Josh 24:29)

3. David (Psalm 18:1)

4. Paul (Romans 1:1)

5. James (Jam 1:1)

6. Epaphras (Col 4:12)

7. Jesus (Mt 12:15-18; Philp 2:7)

8. All Christians (2Tim 2:24-26)

B. The Purpose of Serving

1. To serve – meet needs

2. To become leaders – the right kind of leaders

C. Qualifications to be a Servant of God

1. You can be the servant of anything and anyone. Believe me, you are always the servant of something!

a. Sin (Rom 6:16,17)

b. Satan – he fills people HEARTS with his will (John 8:44)

c. Self – the worst master of all!

2. But to be a servant of Christ is special – requires:

a. Brokenness

1) Able to be humiliated, embarrassed

2) Loss of reputation

3) We in the Western world really worry about our reputation

4) Moses (Ex 2:11-15)

a) At the prime of his life (40 years old) loses everything

b) Lost everything Egypt ever gave him

1. Education

2. Preparation to be king of Egypt

3. Great name

c) Lost every ability that came naturally

1. Great speaker

2. Motivator

3. Army leader

d) 40 years later, felt only a failure

e) That’s GOOD – with God, that is the start

1. Repentance is starting at zero – as a sinner under the wrath of God

2. Jesus said become as little children – weak

5) Paul had to learn that everything that he had valued was worthless (Philp 3:8,9)

6) Paul instead started to glory in his inabilities more than his strengths

7) Pride has got to go (Luke 14:11, 18:14; James 4:6)

b. A Best Friend Relationship

1) Serve only ONE master (Lk 16:13)

2) A relationship with God that was continuous – not once a week, or every once in a while when you feel down

3) A constant walk with Jesus (1John 1:7)

4) This is where we miss real discipleship (Acts 4:13)

a) Not all the knowledge and the wisdom

b) But the fact that people can tell we spend time with Jesus!

5) Serve out of love for Jesus, and you will never lack strength!

6) This is the place of quiet rest that a Christian must learn to find

a) Resting in His will – putting you right where you are

b) Resting in His care – taking care of you and getting you through

c) Trusting His ways – they are definitely NOT our ways

d) Serving the Lord always goes hand in hand with joy and gladness

1. Act 20:24

2. Psalm 100:2

3. Psalm 37:1-7

e) Only a real time with the living Jesus can bring peace in the midst of such awful troubles and failure (John 16:33)

c. Burden (Ex 3)

1) God could not give Moses a burden until He had gotten his attention and spoken to him for a while and worked on his heart

2) God spend an hour with Moses transferring His burden to Moses

a) I have seen the affliction (3:7)

b) I have heard their cry

c) I know their sorrows

d) There is a place that is promised them (3:8)

e) I want YOU to take them there – as impossible as it sounds!

3) He did the same with Paul (Acts 17:22,23)

4) You need a burden from the Lord (Isa 13:1)

a) Comes as you see the world through the eyes of a Bible believer

b) Comes as you walk with Jesus and talk with Him and LISTEN to Him

c) If you get dry and cold, get a burden from the Lord

d. Battles – right battles

1) Willing and ready to fight

2) First with God

a) Moses struggled with the will of God! “But, but, but!”

b) Struggled with the commands of God

c) Elijah wrestled with God – just upset at how things were turning out

d) Peter wrestled with God – on many an occasion

1. Witnessing to Cornelius

2. Christ’s will for him to die a martyr’s death

3) Then with yourself

a) Your own weaknesses, limitations

b) Your inhibitions, confusions

c) Your pride again (Mt 8:8,9) – come under authority

d) Paul teaches us to press on (Philp 3:13,4) – He never claimed to have “arrived” at perfection!

e) Work OUT what God puts in (Philp 2:12,13)

4) Then finally, and always, against the right enemies (Cf Acts 9:6; Eph 6:12)

a) Battle with the Gospel

b) Battle with the word of God – speak up like a light, a trumpet

c) Battle with prayer

d) Battle with perseverance

e) Battle with misunderstandings – people are going to mock you and misunderstand you, hate you

5) You are NOT really fighting this battle (1Cor 3:9; Ex 14:14)

e. Belief – strong belief

1) The apostles REALLY believed Jesus is alive

2) It was the source of their courage

3) You have no beliefs that you are not willing to die for – means, only those beliefs that you will live and die by are what you really believe

4) You had better get some strong beliefs!

a) That Jesus saved you

b) That Jesus loves you and is determined to use you

c) That failure only occurs when you give up

d) That you serve ONLY Jesus

e) That God is right in what He is allowing into your life right now

f) That it will get better

g) That Jesus makes people and all their quirks worth it

h) That only the servant has a great future (Jn 12:26)

i) That NOT serving will cost you rewards (Mt 25:26-30)

III. Conclusion

A. Jesus took upon Himself the form of a servant

1. Not a prince, or a pope, or a governor, or a leader

2. But of a servant!

B. Jesus teaches us that to be a servant is the HIGHEST of callings (Mt 25:21)

C. We have looked at a few Examples of Servants of the Lord

D. Then we looked at some qualifications to be a Servant of God

1. Brokenness

2. A Best Friend

3. A Burden

4. Battles – right battles

5. Strong Belief

E. Is God preparing YOU to be a servant? If any of the above are going on in your life, then the answer is a definite YES!