Better to Die Serving God

Well, greetings. Here’s some news for you. The Days of Unleavened Bread, or as we also know it, the days of Passover, are behind us. We self-examined in the weeks, months leading up to the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. We focus very intensely on deleavening our lives. We took the Passover, having deleavened our lives, and took it with a level of joy knowing that our slates were cleaned once again. We spent the Days of Unleavened Bread learning to keep sin out of our lives.

Let me ask a direct question. Now what? What now? Do we go back to business as usual? We start introducing leaven back into our homes and bake bread? I’m one of the beneficiaries of that. My wife enjoys baking bread, in fact, there’s a big loaf waiting for me. Do we go back to all the things that we were doing? Of course not. What we learned during this period of time and we concentrate a lot on that, is that God showed His people, Israel, back then, and I would suggest now, the extent to which He was willing to go to ensure His people would no longer continue that ordinary life or life as usual.

In fact, there are eight chapters in Exodus alone that speak to the extent to which God is willing to go so that a group of people would not go back to life as usual. And it culminates in Exodus chapter fourteen. So let’s turn there. Exodus chapter fourteen, and again, look at the extent to which God was willing to go so that His people could be delivered and no go back... never turn back to life as usual. Exodus chapter fourteen, we’ve read this many times, many of you probably have read it dozens of times, some of you have been in the Church for a long time, maybe even hundreds of times.

Verse twenty-two, we’ll go here very quickly. We read it during the Days of Unleavened Bread, “And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went in after them to the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

Verse twenty-seven, “And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and it returned to its strength when the morning appeared, and the Egyptians fled against it, and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all of the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. There remain not so much as one of them. Not one sole survivor, but the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and left. Thus, the Lord saved or delivered Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore.”

Like I said, many of you probably have read this dozens of times, some of you more than a hundred times, but it’s easy to forget that what we just read occurred over three thousand years ago. And that was no ordinary run-of-the-mill day in human history, and neither were the days leading up to that event. Nothing run-of-the-mill about what occurred. The question for me was, why? What for? Why such extreme, extraordinary measures? The answers were not so obvious. And as I did, you might be thinking God freed them to escape suffering from slavery, from bondage, horrible, dreadful to think the kind of slavery that they were enduring at that time.

You may think that is the reason why God freed them, to free them from suffering. And this might be correct. You know you could consider it correct because it parallels God freeing us from this present evil world. And I could pull back even further, brethren, from these days and go all the way back when we think about our individual callings and marvel at how God delivered each and every one of us out of this world. I’d like to speak personally. There’s no doubt in my mind that God orchestrated certain things in my life that when I look back, there’s no other explanation than God doing the things that He did to free me from this world.

I think about my wife. She recently said she pinches herself every so often to believe that a young lady from a third-world country, in Dominican Republic, who grew up in the poor neighborhoods of Santo Domingo is sitting here at God’s headquarters years later. It gives me chills just to think about that, how God brought our lives together and called both of us. Not very common. We can all think back. I know some of your stories are even more miraculous than mine, or my wife’s story. A gentleman told me on three occasions before coming into the truth, God saved him from death.

Dramatic stories about what God was able to do to bring people out of bondage and deliver them into a freedom that we can all enjoy. Even if you grew up in the church, you could consider the way maybe your grandfather, your grandmother was delivered by God miraculously, I’m sure you heard the stories, or your mother and your father. Meditate on that. Just because it wasn’t miraculous in terms of your own personal life, doesn’t mean it wasn’t miraculous how you’re able to sit here now. God brought us through every circumstance, protected us from death, and despite time and chance, we all had our Red Sea moment, our baptism.

And I would argue that what God did in our lives is no less dramatic or miraculous than what He did for Israel on that day thousands of years ago. God freed us from the grips of Satan, freed us from the grips of sin in society. But what if I told you that that was only a means to an end. Why God delivered Israel from Egypt and why he delivered us out of this evil world was for great purposes, eternal life, right? What if I told you that eternal life was only a means to an end?

It is not an end in and of itself. Eternal life, a means to an end? Yes. So, what could possibly be the purpose or purposes? God answered this question a long time ago. God repeatedly explained to Moses, to Aaron, to Pharaoh, to the Egyptians, to the Israelites, and to people for millennia the reasons why He delivered that people or people from the grips of bondage. Let’s turn to Exodus chapter three. Exodus chapter three, and we’ll pick it up in the famous scene of the burning bush.

Verse two. “And the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush and he looked, saw the bush that burned with fire and was not consumed.” And then in verse seven, “The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters for I know their sorrows and I’m come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land to a good and large land flowing with milk and honey.”

But, brethren, that is their destination, not God’s purpose for them. Now, who remembers what Mr. Park taught recently regarding God’s reasons for delivering Israel? God made it clear multiple times to Pharaoh, again, to the Egyptians, to Moses, to Aaron, to the Israelites. Time and time again, He revealed exactly what he expected once His people were delivered because they were not going to go back to an ordinary life anymore.

God didn’t free His people from Egypt so they could travel roughly two hundred and fifty to three hundred miles to the point where they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. That again, was a means to an end. He led them through the wilderness to teach them three purposes in their lives. If you recall, one was to feast. Remember? Three days journey into the wilderness to feast unto the Lord. But do you know that God only said that one time? Even though He said it one time, think about the implications.

Jump forward to Leviticus. When God gave the law, feasting started with the Sabbath, and we have the new moons, and we have the holy days, all days that we can feast before God. That was a great purpose. God also said six times, a half a dozen times, if I did my research correctly, that He wanted them to sacrifice to Him. Brethren, think about sacrificing. You can think about our free will offerings that we give.

We appear before God three times during the year to give seven holy day offerings. We go above and beyond in our lives. That’s what sacrifice means. And God said that six times, at least, just in those eight, or nine, or ten chapters in Exodus. But there was a third reason. There was a third reason, and God said it more than a dozen times. Verse nine, continuing. What He’s about to tell them, He said, if you take feast and sacrifice and you double it, it doesn’t match the number of times that God stated this particular purpose for which He wanted his people delivered.

Verse nine, “Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. And Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” And He said, “Certainly, I will be with you and this shall be a token.”

Brethren, that term should be very familiar to you. If it’s not, it’s the word oth, O-T-H. It’s the same word God uses regarding the Sabbath. And God doesn’t call the Sabbath a sign until many chapters later, twenty-eight chapters later, in fact. When He says, “It’s a sign between me and my people,” and then in Ezekiel twenty, twelve, we all know that. That the Sabbath is a sign between God and a particular people with whom He has a covenant relationship. So the Sabbath isn’t the only sign between God and a person.

There’s another sign that we have a relationship with the true God. Verse twelve, “And He said, “Certainly, I will be with you and this shall be a token, a sign, a mark unto you that I have sent you. When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God.” God tells Moses the sign, the mark, or proof that He brought Israel out of Egypt is that they serve Him. “That they serve me,” He said. Brethren, serving God is a sign. Our lives are comprised of, I would say, essentially three buckets, feasting before God, sacrificing for Him, and ultimately serving Him. And the latter is continuous.

We take a break every once in a while to feast before God. We throughout the year and in different moments and at different times, we sacrifice unto God. But brethren, we serve God every single day. And that is essentially Christianity summed up. Everything that you look at, everything that we experience in our walk, can be thrown into one of those three buckets. We’re either feasting for God, we’re sacrificing for Him, or we are serving Him.

So today we’re going to examine what serving God means. And consider the extent to which we might go. So let’s begin with how far... or let’s continue with how far God goes. How serious do you think God was or is about this? Let’s read what God told Moses to say to Pharaoh. Let’s go to the next chapter, chapter four, and in verse eighteen, if you’re reading here, Moses approaches Jethro, his father-in-law, and asked permission to return to Egypt. And then in verse twenty, Moses travels to Egypt with his wife and sons and with the... it says the rod of God. Let’s pick it up in verse twenty-one here.

“Now, the Lord said to Moses, when you return to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart that he will not let the people go.” In verse twenty-two. “And you shall say to him, thus says the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn. And I say to you, let him go that he may,” what? “Serve me.”

Now, I never noted this before, but God made it clear to Pharaoh what would happen if he prevented Israel from serving Him.

Before any of the plagues here’s what God told Moses to tell Pharaoh, or Aaron to tell Pharaoh, keep reading. “If you refuse to let him go, my son Israel, my child, behold, I will kill your son, even your firstborn.” I’m going to take matters into my own hand. That’s how serious I am about what I want from my son, Israel. I want him to serve me. And I will go to that extent, if anybody gets in the way between my son and I working together, or him working for me.

And that word in the Hebrew is abad. Just like we read in the previous verse and in this verse. And interestingly, brethren, it’s quite simple in its definition. And so began what we know developed into an epic and historic tag of war between God and Pharaoh over whom Israel was going to work for. Was it going to be for God, or was it going to be for Pharaoh? Because if you go back to chapter one, it says that Pharaoh, who did not know Joseph, the new Pharaoh, made them serve with rigor. Kind of a hint of what that word means.

Let’s go to chapter five. Because God told Moses exactly what He wanted Pharaoh to hear. Pharaoh gets into this heated exchange. An initial exchange with Moses and Aaron, verse two. And this is what Pharaoh said. “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord. I don’t know your God. Neither will I let Israel go, His son.” If you want to call him or call them as such. Verse eighteen, jump down. “Go therefore now and work.” Now I don’t even have to translate it. That’s abad.

Brethren, the primary definition of the Hebrew word abad is to work in any sense. If you look it up, that’s what it says, to work in any sense. This Pharaoh wanted the Israelites to work and not just work, but to accept that they were working for him and not this God that Moses was trying to introduce to him. And they had to work under his conditions, the way he wanted. And again, there began the epic tug of war. But where else do we find this word abad proving that it simply means to work?

Whatever role we have in life, brethren, God confirms it and He confirms it in two powerful places. I don’t know if you ever knew this. Let’s turn to Genesis chapter two. Brethren, to serve God means to simply work for Him in any sense. Genesis chapter two. Let’s go back to the beginning. It’s not some lofty idea or concept of serving God. It just means to work. Whatever it is you do in life, God wants you working for Him.

Genesis chapter two and verse seven, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden where He put the man whom He had formed.” Verse fifteen, “And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden to dress it and to keep it.”

Brethren, that phrase, to dress it, the first purpose that God states that He wanted Adam to perform or to fulfill in the garden, to dress it, that means abad, He wanted Him to work in the garden. For example, Jacob, if I could use it in a verb tense, abaded so that he can marry Rachel. He had to work seven years for Leah, and then he had to work seven more years. That’s what it means, to work. He worked for his father-in-law.

Brethren, in whatever job you have in life, God has put you where He has, man or woman, older or younger, to work for Him. Mankind was created by God to work for God regardless of what your role is ultimately in life. And that word, abad, is so important that God made it... Remember I told you there were two places, so important, that word, that He made it part of the fourth commandment.

Six days shall you labor, that word, brethren, abad. And so, how important is the word to God? Again, consider what God was willing to do so Israel could work for Him. 14 times, I believe God made it clear that’s what He wanted. He made it clear to Pharaoh, and He was willing to go to extreme measures to make sure that it happened. Exodus chapter twelve.

Exodus chapter twelve, still building here the case of how... the extent to which God was willing to go.

In verse twelve, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood shall be a token.” There’s that word again, token, same thing, sign. Same as for the Sabbath. Same as for serving. “Upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt.” And verse twenty-nine, “And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from Pharaoh that sat on his throne to the captives in the dungeon and all of the cattle.”

God told Moses and Pharaoh what He was going to do, and He did what He said He was going to do. And, of course, Pharaoh got the message. Verse thirty, “And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, rise up and get you forth from among my people, both you and your children of Israel, and go feast unto the Lord.” No, he didn’t say that. “Go and sacrifice unto the Lord.” He didn’t say that. The first words coming out of his mouth at the death of his son was, “Serve the Lord as you have said.”

It took extreme measures for God to achieve what He wanted to, which is to free His people to ultimately serve Him. God was willing to kill the firstborn of an entire nation for getting in the way of or preventing His people from serving Him. So I would say, I would suggest that extreme is probably an understatement. But God was willing to go even to a greater extreme so mankind could serve Him.

Greater than what we just read. Greater than the eight chapters that we just covered. Hebrews chapter nine and verse twelve, “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood.” Speaking of Christ, He entered once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us. God allowed men, mere mortals, to kill and spill the blood of His son. Why, you may ask. Well, thank you for asking.

Verse thirteen, “For if the blood of bulls and goats and ashes of heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works?” There’s a benefit. Eternal redemption. For what reason, brethren? To serve the living God. I don’t know if any of you noticed or took note of that before.

We heard an inspirational message recently, detailing some of the amazing benefits that mankind can now enjoy because of the sacrifice of Christ, or sacrifices of Christ. I recall over a dozen astonishing, mind-blowing, amazing benefits that mankind can now enjoy because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Everything that He endured. And now I realize that one of those benefits is to, and the ultimate purpose is to serve the living God. Verse fifteen. Just keep reading, “And for this cause, Christ is a mediator of the New Testament.”

If you want to know why Christ serves as a mediator between man and God, for this cause, to serve the living God. Christ mediates between God and mankind so anyone willing can serve Him. Not just people of the past, because that was the purpose obviously for Israel. And not just for us. We’re sitting here in this room and around the world able to serve the living God because of the sacrifice of Christ. But what about the future? Will God’s plan change? Will it shift to something else other than that great purpose?

Revelation chapter seven and verse nine, “After this, I beheld and will a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice saying salvation to our God which sits upon the throne, and unto the lamb, and all the angels stood around about the throne and about the elders.” The twenty-four. Amazing knowledge that we’ve recently learned, “And the four beasts and fell before the throne on their faces and worship God, saying “Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever, amen.”

And one of the elders answered me... answered asking me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes? And where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are they which came out of great tribulation.” Take note of that. “And have washed their robes, and made them white once again in the blood of the lamb.” Making reference to Christ’s sacrifice. Verse fifteen. “Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple.” Brethren, clearly Christ is the mediator of a new and better testament because His blood allows every human, past, present, and future to serve God. Without Christ’s sacrifice, no one could serve God.

So if Christ is willing to go to such an extent, if God is willing to go to such an extent, then let’s ask, I’d like you to write down this question and then I’d like you to leave space right after it. To what extent am I willing to go to serve God? I’d like you to write that down. To what extent am I willing to go to serve God? So leave space there before continuing your notes. Before I suggest an answer, which is essentially the purpose of this message, let’s consider Christ and how He contrasted Himself with Israel.

Matthew chapter four. Matthew four and verse one. “Then was Jesus led up to the spirit into the wilderness.” Now, parallel should be jumping right out at you as we read this account, we know it. We’ll skip through it here. “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days, forty nights,” think of the forty years that Israel spent in the wilderness. “And afterward he hungered.”

Again, parallels should be jumping off the page here. Christ knew what was at stake for Israel back then. He also realized what was at stake for Him at this moment, something maybe you never considered. And Satan, who is, I would say, insanely persistent when it comes to thwarting God’s plan, hits Christ hard out of the gate. Brethren, we don’t know what hunger is. I’ve been hungry, but I don’t know what hunger is. I fasted. That’s nothing.

Just look at some of the commercials on television of children in Africa. That’s hunger. They know what hunger is. Being hungry isn’t a question of life and death. Christ knew what hunger was after forty days, and so Satan hits Him hard because fear and fear of death can be a strong motivator to make good decisions or bad decisions. Decisions people make when they’re scared will reveal who they truly are. Let’s go over to Exodus fourteen. Hold your place right there just for a moment. I want you to go to Exodus fourteen because you’ll hear this, you’ll hear something repeated multiple times before the end of this message.

Exodus chapter fourteen. Again, decisions people make when they’re scared reveal who they truly are. Verse five. Exodus fourteen and verse five. “And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled. The heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people.” It didn’t learn enough. Pharaoh wanted to go back at it in this tug of war because he wanted them serving him, working for him. And the people, they said, “Why have we done this that we have let Israel go from serving, working for us? What did we just do?

I mean, we just lost our children but that doesn’t compare to what we had before, which was a bunch of workers who were serving us day and night under the conditions that we put on them.” Talk about insanely persistent. Just lost their firstborn, and they want their workers back. “Almighty Pharaoh, we can’t let these wonderful slaves... I mean workers go.” Because that word means also to enslave someone or work as a slave. And they meant business. The Pharaoh and the Egyptians, they make one last terrifying attempt to recover their slaves... I mean their workers.

Verse nine, continuing here, “And the Egyptians pursued. And all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army overtook them in camping by the sea.” And let’s not forget, brethren, before I continue here, that this is not the only time that God allowed over the forty years in the wilderness to face death. Because like I said, that’s the ultimate test of whether or not you’re going to make the right decisions in life. Fear of death is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, motivator except for love

Continuing here. “And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes and behold the Egyptians marched after them and they were so afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. And they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us this way and carried us out of Egypt? Isn’t this what we told you back in Egypt saying, let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians for it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than die in the wilderness.” Say that one more time, “For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than die in the wilderness.”

The power to decide whether to work for Pharaoh or God was always in the hands of Israel, not in the hands of God, not in the hands of Pharaoh. The same is true for us. Only you, only I can stop me or you can stop yourself individually from serving God. Say what we may. Not our spouses, not our children, not our parents, not our friends, not our coworkers, not our bosses, supervisors. No one can make us stop serving God except ourselves. No matter what the threat might be from those individuals.

We must decide every day and in every situation whether it’s better for us to die serving God in this wilderness, or live serving Satan in the world. And so God allowed Israel to face death because it is the ultimate test of anyone’s commitment to anything or anyone. Christ explained to the disciples greater love has no one than this, that someone laid down his life for his friends. Let’s go back to Matthew four. Remember that phrase, “For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than die in the wilderness.”

Matthew four, where we were just a few moments ago. Christ did not demonstrate His commitment to serve God just at the cross, brethren. That was the ultimate sacrifice. Remember, He hungered unto the point of death, or Satan wouldn’t have hit Him with that temptation. If He wasn’t hungry, why would Satan go to an extent to tell Him to turn the stones into bread? Notice the third temptation. I’m not going to go through all the temptations, but Christ gave Satan two answers.

In each of the previous two, he only gave one answer to Satan, but in this one, he added a third one, a second answer, and it applied to the previous two, as well as this third one. Matthew four, verse eight. “Again, the devil takes him up to an exceedingly high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and says to Him, “All these things will I give you if you fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus replies, “Get you hence, Satan.” It’s time for you to move along now, “For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God.” There’s His answer to that third temptation, but here’s what He added, “And Him only shall you serve.” This was Christ’s summary statement to Satan, which He could have added to the first temptation or the second temptation.

He told Satan what Israel should have said in the face of death at the hands of Pharaoh’s army. I would rather die serving God in the wilderness than live serving you. Christ understood why God delivered Israel. Christ understood why God delivered me so miraculously. God understood why he delivered my wife so miraculously, and every single one of you that are in God’s church. Christ was committed no matter what, to fulfilling God’s purpose. Christ knew that Satan hated anyone willing to work for God because Satan wants as many people as possible to work for him. That’s why Pharaoh so perfectly types Satan. That’s why Egypt so perfectly types the world.

God wants to know the answer to the great question, brethren. To what extent are you willing to go daily to serve me, to serve God? And, brethren, think about it. What Israel endured for forty years could have been four hundred years, could have been four thousand years. No matter what they would’ve endured, it pales compared to what the Son of God, God in flesh, endured. Anything. Anything we might endure pales as well. Remember the question. To what extent am I willing to go to serve God?

Well, in that space I hope you left there, I ask that you write down the following for your consideration. Better to die serving God than to live serving Satan, society, or self. For your consideration. It’s for everyone’s considerations. It’s for my consideration. Better to die serving God than to live serving Satan, society, or self. God delivered you and me in the most extraordinary ways so that we could choose. God has allowed circumstances in our lives, sometimes extremely difficult ones, to test what our decision will be, that very question.

And if we’re willing to die serving God than live serving Satan, society, or self, if that’s the extent to which, brethren, we’re willing to go, then what does it mean to serve God? Let’s get right down to it. If you want to know the answers, they’re all throughout the Bible. We’re going to focus mainly on the New Testament. Why? Because in the New Testament, God didn’t lower the bar. He actually raised it. That’s why the world has it all backwards.

Think about Matthew five when he was saying, “I’ve come to fulfill the law. You have heard that you shall not commit adultery. I tell you, if you lust after a woman, you’ve already committed adultery in your heart.” That’s raising the bar, not lowering it. That’s why when Christ taught His disciples, “Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who despitefully use you.” That’s not lowering the bar, that’s raising the bar. So if you want to understand truly serving God, you got to go to the New Testament, what Christ taught. You can glean from the Old Testament, but Israel is not a very good example to follow in terms of understanding the Spirit to which God wants us to serve. So point number one, serving God as we dive into what it means to serve God. Point one, serving God applies to everyone, not just some of us, and it applies to every area of life.

Colossians chapter three. Colossians three. Verse seventeen, “Whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. Wives,” verse eighteen, “...submit yourself to your husband as is proper in the Lord,” or correct in the Lord. That’s what that word means there. “Husbands, love your wives and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.” He’s not talking about serving, is he? That has nothing to do with serving, does it?

Let’s keep reading. “Fathers,” you could include mothers, parents, “...provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Servants,” employees, go to this verse quite often. “...obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever you do,” that means everybody on the list, not just the servants or the employees. If you’re a husband or a wife, a man, a woman or a child, “...do it heartily, as to the Lord and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ.”

Pharaoh wanted every man, woman, and child to work for him according to his conditions. God, on the other hand, wanted Israel to work for Him according to His conditions. Society, look how backward they have it, how it’s become. Kids want their parents to work for them, and parents do it. They do work for their children because they don’t realize or accept the fact that they should be working for God as a mother or father. If they knew that they were working for God as a father or mother, the child rearing in this country would be completely different.

Husbands have allowed wives to become their masters. Wives have taken on the role of being both the husband and the father figure in the home in society today because they don’t realize or accept that they should both be working for God in their roles as husband and wife, as parents. Employers think employees work for them, not realizing how profitable their businesses would actually be if they all worked for God. Teachers, professors in colleges believe they are our children’s masters and that their children work for them, do their homework for them, study for them.

Brethren, the entire educational system, no matter where in the world, think about the Kingdom, should teach how to serve God. Romans chapter one. Romans chapter one. We can sum up. We can basically distill down to one thing, one cause of all the problems we have in society today. Romans one. We read this occasionally, but did you ever notice this, verse twenty-five. We’ll just jump right into the thought, speaking of men up in verse eighteen, “who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” That’s who he’s talking about, that’s the subject here.

“Who these people changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause,” that’s what verse twenty-six off with, “...for this cause,” because they decided to serve someone else other than God or something other than God, here’s what we have, “...God gave them up to vile affections, women with women, men lusting men.” Verse twenty-eight, “God gave them over to a reprobate mind.” Twenty-nine, “Filled them with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiters.”

Let me breathe here for a moment. “...God haters, despiteful, proud bolsters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, no understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable and unmerciful.” All of this, all of this, can be distilled down to one factor, serving something else or someone else and not God. Talk about cause and effect, but that’s the world, Mr. Houk, not us. What about envy? Yes, that’s in there. We don’t envy, do we? Ever? We’re never deceitful or proud. We don’t gossip. We’re not disobedient to parents or covetous. We don’t do those things, right? If we are, if we do, brethren, could it be that we are serving something or someone else other than God?

All these things will keep us from serving God. That, my friends, is why we self-examined. That is why we de-leavened our lives. That’s why we took the Passover. That’s why we learned to keep sin out of our lives, so that we could serve God, the Creator. Think back to Genesis. Cause and effect. If you listen or look very carefully at yourself, you may, brethren, despite all appearances in certain areas, be self-serving rather than genuinely serving God.

What are the reasons for the sheep’s reward and the goat’s punishment on the Day of the Lord? Matthew twenty-five. Matthew twenty-five. We’ll spot through this very quickly. It’s an account. What does it mean to serve God? It’s the question we’re answering. The first point was that it applies to everyone, no matter your role in life, serving God. Husband, wife, mother, father, student, employee. Second point. Verse thirty-one. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the holy angels, messengers with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory and before Him shall be gathered all nations.” And then it says they put the sheep on the right and the goats to the left.

What does it mean to serve God? What does it mean to serve Christ, as we read, the Lord Christ? Verse thirty-five to the sheep. “For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. Naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.” What a humble attitude.

When did we do that for you? When did we serve you? When you did it to one of the least of these brethren, you did it unto me. That’s what serving God looks like. That’s one. What happened with the goats? The exact opposite. Because you didn’t give me meat or drink, or did not take me in, or did not clothe me, or visit me. Verse forty-six, Christ concludes that, “Thee shall go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous unto eternal life.” But again, eternal life is not an end. It is a means to an end. Brethren, who will teach these nations, prior to the sheep and goats judgment, what serving God is about in the Kingdom? Us. How could we qualify though to teach such a great principle if we don’t work our proverbial tales off learning and doing what it means now?

Luke chapter two. Point number two, serving God means serving others and especially one another. Serving God means serving others and especially one another. After all, are we not the sheep that God seeks? How many times have we read or heard, “Let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially those of the household of faith.” That is stated there because that is how we serve God, not others. In and of itself, we serve people because ultimately we are serving working for God. We work for God, that’s why I serve you. That’s why I help, because I work for God. He’s my boss, not you.

Point number three, as we go into Luke two. I’m going to share with you two ways to effectively, genuinely, and completely serve God. I’m going to give you the recipe to success. When you feel like you’re not effectively working for God and you feel like you’re working for someone or something else, when you feel like you’re not genuinely working for God and you’re just going through the motions, if you feel like you’re not completely in every area of your life serving for God, I’m going to give you two secrets to success.

And I don’t mind admitting that I learned this, what I’ll call a thing or two, from a little old widow woman. Verse twenty-two, “And when the days of her purification according to the Law of Moses were accomplished,” that’s Mary, “...they brought Him,” speaking of Jesus, “...to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written, ‘Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.’” They encounter Simon, who blessed God, then he blessed Jesus, Joseph and Mary, in verse thirty-four. And then along comes Anna. Like I said, a little old widow woman. As it says in the latter part of verse thirty-six, “She was of great age.”

Take note. Although it doesn’t say much about what she said to those who were present, this is what she taught me about serving God. Verse thirty-seven, “She was a widow of about four score and four years,” eighty-four years of age, “...which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings,” plural, “...and prayers day and night,” or night and day. Brethren, we cannot serve God effectively, nor genuinely, nor completely if we don’t periodically fast and if we are not praying day and night, every day about it. And I’m certain she didn’t fast every day or she wouldn’t have reached eighty-four years of age. But I am certain she prayed about it every day.

So in the morning, very simple, you can say it however you want in the words that you want. “God, I want to serve you at every opportunity in ways that please you. I want to do it effectively.” And in the evening, “Father, I thank you for every opportunity that you gave me to work for you today by serving others, helping others in whatever way,.” That’s it. Including in our prayers, “God, I want to serve you every opportunity today.” And at the end of the night, “Thank you for every opportunity you gave me to serve you, to work for you.” And when I’m not doing it effectively or genuinely or completely, I need to fast because my entire life is about working for God and not anyone else.

And when I fast, I’m not fasting to draw closer to anyone other than God. And why am I drawing closer to God? So that I can understand how he wants me to work for Him day in and day out. So point three, it takes fasting and daily prayer if you truly want to effectively and genuinely and completely serve God. Deuteronomy chapter ten. We heard recently a sermon about not turning back to Egypt. In it, we were said, we don’t turn back to go to that bondage, because if we turn back and are continuously looking at the world, we run the risk of going back. And if you go back, I will tell you, you will end up working for someone or something that she shouldn’t be.

Anna decided, just like Christ did, it was better to die serving God than to live serving Satan or this world. Now, for those who want to be the best, at everything we do for God when we work for Him, let’s start with what Moses told Israel at the end of forty years. Deuteronomy ten verse twelve, fasting in prayer will get you in a position where you can effectively and genuinely and completely work for God every day, but I don’t want you to lose this very important point that we’re about to cover when it comes to working for God. Verse twelve, “And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Fear God, walk in His ways, love Him, and serve the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you this day for your good.”

I said it as a statement, it was written like a question. Much of the Bible, brethren, and we’re just going to see a smidgen of the many verses that talk about working for God and almost every instance, it tells us how to work for God, because it’s not just enough to work for God, it’s how you work for God, and we’re going to see that. Remember I said back in Matthew five, Christ raised the bar. Think about what’s at stake. The promise.

I am not going to make a big deal of this point right here in Deuteronomy ten, but all the requirements on either side of serving God, if you look at that verse very carefully, sandwiched right in there in the middle of it, is serving God with all our hearts and lives, but also consider the descriptions on either side as how we should serve God. So, let me ask you this, why do we learn to fear God? You ever think of that question? We’re commanded at the feast to learn to fear God, but why do we learn to fear God? Why do we live in righteousness? Why do we obey God’s commandments? Why do we resist being double-minded? Why do we hate our lives in this present evil world?

Why do we imitate Christ? Why do we develop humility? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Well, let’s start with fear. Hebrews chapter twelve. Why do we do all those things? I can’t be tied to what we’re talking about today. Could it? Hebrews chapter twelve and verse twenty-eight, “Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with,” what? “...reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.” Now remember, the Bible is written to the church, not to the world. “Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably.” Interesting. How do we serve God? You can serve God, but do you serve God acceptably? With reverence and godly fear, will get you there.

What we do and how we should do it, those two are tied together. Serve God is what we should do, with reverence and godly fear is how we should do it. Verse twenty-eight starts with wherefore. Wherefore, that’s a conclusion. That’s coming to a conclusion. So that would provoke us to read all the verses prior to that. Go back and read the preceding verses. They don’t read like we are held to a lower standard than Moses in Israel. Chastening, resisting unto death, Esau’s error. Rather, it reads as though God was raising the bar. And the last statement he says, “For our God is a consuming fire.”

Brethren, how we serve God is almost, I would argue, more important than what we do for God. What else did Deuteronomy say? Not just fear and with reverence, serve God. It says, keep the Lord’s commandments and statutes. Brethren, it is impossible to serve God and not keep his laws, correct? Romans fourteen. It’s a memory verse for me. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” How many of us remember that? It’s a memory verse. “For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

But what never registered in my mind until recently is what immediately follows. Verse seventeen, “For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness.” Righteousness we know is what? God’s commandments and statutes, well established, as well as, “...peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Verse eighteen, “For he that in these things serves, is accepted by God and approved of men.” Now, take that in. “For he that in these things serves, is accepted by God and approved of men.” Hebrews twelve said, “Serve God acceptably.”

There is an acceptable way to work for God and there’s an unacceptable way to serve God. That’s the only thing you can draw in terms of conclusion is impossible to be acceptable to God and approved by men. That’s added there. By the way, approved by men, not any ordinary man. That could be your boss, that could be your husband, it could be your wife, it could be the ministry, if we do not serve in righteousness, right? If you don’t serve in righteousness, if you don’t serve according to God’s law, how in the world are you going to be accepted by God and approved by, for example, the ministry? Well, I serve God, but are you sinning or are you doing it acceptably?

This is the point where you’re going, “Mr. Houk is setting us up for something.” And you’re exactly right. Well, I have seen my share of people who serve God without the other two things. As the Apostle Paul calls them, peace and joy. And I’m going to be frank with you. I disapprove when I see an individual serving like this. How could I approve if God doesn’t find it acceptable? How could I possibly approve if someone is not serving in these things, which is not only God’s laws and commandments, that’s an obligation, that’s a layup, but to do it in peace and joy. Now, there’s a whole another level. If it’s not acceptable to God, then how can I approve it? I’ll let that one slide.

In fact, I would prefer those who can’t serve with joy and peace to step aside and let those who can serve in these righteousness, peace and joy to step in. Why? Why? Because that is what the Kingdom of God will be like. We are practicing now. Point five, how we work for God matters more than what we do. I have said it time and time again, the end does not justify the means. And I will repeat, the end does not justify the means. And I will repeat, the end does not justify the means. Godly fear and reverence, righteousness, peace and joy. Let’s go to Colossians chapter three. Colossians chapter three. Let’s go back there for a moment. We will only be the best housewife, husband, student, employee, friend, if we work for God in the way He wants.

Let’s not forget Anna, who served God with prayer and fastings. I’m sure she did it with joy, and peace, and righteousness. You must be convinced, brethren, that how you work for God counts as much or even more than what you do for Him. You have to be convinced of that. There’s too much writing on it. Everything, every verse that we visited, and the countless verses that I haven’t visited, marry up working for God, serving God, and how you should do it so that it’s acceptable to God and approved by men. Verse seventeen, “Whatsoever you do, in word or deed, giving thanks to God and the Father.”

Verse eighteen, remember where we were just a little while ago, wives. Verse nineteen, husbands. Verse twenty, children. Twenty-one, fathers and mothers, parents. Twenty-two servants, in singleness of heart, fearing God. There it is again. Whatsoever you do, everyone on the list, do it heartily. Now you have singleness of heart, fearing God repeated. Do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance. The reward of the inheritance is tied to how we work for God as much it is what we do for God. And that applies to whatever role we have.

Could receiving eternal life be tied as much to how we work for God as to what we do for God? I’ll leave that for you to ponder, to think about, to meditate on. Because at the core of our entire existence, our heart and soul, we must serve God in ways that are acceptable to Him and approved by men. I feel strongly about that as you can tell, brethren. Christianity is not just about getting it right or doing what is right. It’s hard enough. It’s also about doing it the right way. I am going to say that one more time. Christianity is not just about getting it right or doing what is right. That’s hard. But it is about doing it the right way.

Brethren, better to die serving God than live serving the god of this world. Great honor comes with it. Acts chapter twenty. A couple of verses as we wrap up. Acts chapter twenty, I only gave you a handful of ways, fear and reverence, righteousness, joy and peace, singleness of heart, humility, heartily. That’s eight. There’s more. That’s the way in which you serve God. Focus on that in the days ahead. Don’t let your life be ordinary. Don’t go back to doing and working for God the same way you did in the past. Improve on it. If you lack joy, find joy. If you lack peace, find peace. If you weren’t doing it heartily, do it heartily.

Acts twenty. Here’s a great example, the Apostle Paul, verse seventeen, “And from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they came to him, he said, ‘You know from the first day that I came into Asia after what manner I have been with you at all seasons.’” What manner? In what way? In other words, he’s talking about how he did things in front of them. Verse nineteen, “Serving the Lord.” There it is again, “Serving the Lord with all humility of mind.” Again, how? But now, he is about to tell them under what conditions he served the Lord. So it’s not just enough to work for God and how you should work for God, “...and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews.”

Paul would not let anything deter him from serving God, or doing it in a way contrary to how God expected him to do it. He knew that serving God was not only a sign between Israel and God, but between him and God. Brethren, we may not have people lying in wait to hurt us, maybe we do, but that is not the only circumstance that might cause us to cry or tempt us not to serve God, because Satan knows doing so is a token, a sign, or a mark that God delivered us. Whether we’re facing crushing debt, whether we’re being hit by depression, disease, divorce, and, yes, even death, only we can decide.

What will you do with the freedom God has given you? One man famously declared the answer, “Abad.” Remember to work in any sense in any area. It appears hundreds of times. Most of the times that abad appears is in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. But I want us to consider as we close, Joshua. It would be no surprise that abad appears many times in the book of Joshua.

If you want to learn about serving God and doing it the right way, despite the circumstances, well, let’s remember, at roughly thirty years of age, Joshua saw the plagues in Egypt. He was present the night the Lord killed all the firstborns. He knew why God wanted to deliver him and Israel. He stood at the Red Sea. He journeyed forty years in the wilderness.

So let’s turn to chapter twenty-four. Chapter twenty-four. Joshua twenty-four as we close, “After roughly forty years with the Israelites in the Promised Land, Joshua is now a-hundred-and-ten years of age.” What’s the subject in this chapter? Serving God.

Twenty-one times, I think, abad appears in the book of Joshua. Sixteen of those times in the last chapter of Joshua. At the end of his life, this is what the famous last words that he wanted to leave them with, or the life lesson he wanted to leave them with. Verse fifteen, as he gathered the elders, the head of households, the judges and officers to present themselves before the God. Fifteen, “Choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” And verse twenty-four, “And the people said to Joshua, the Lord our God we will serve, and his voice will we obey.”

Brethren, you know the rest of the story. You know only a few individuals over time put their money where their mouths were. Of the few men and women of the Old Testament who served God, only three carry a very special title. If you search the exact words or phrase, the ‘Servant of the Lord,’ you only find it applied to three people. Moses, David, and Joshua. Verse twenty-nine, Joshua’s legacy among those two great men, Moses and David, is recorded and sealed. “Joshua, the servant of the Lord.” He obtained that title because he finished his course like Anna, and Christ, and the Apostles. They all finished their course believing it was better to die serving God than live serving Satan, society, or self.