0157. YOUR MASTER

YOUR MASTER

"One is your Master, Christ" (Mat_23:8)

"What kind of a master have you?" asked an Irish tramp of a farm servant, who was busy in the field. "He is a good master when you give him all his own way." "Och, sure, so is the Devil," was his comment. But although you do give the Devil all his own way he never can be a good master; but give the Lord Jesus Christ His own way, and you will find Him the Good Master, and His service the best and sweetest of all. His will is the only true and lasting good; to be in it is to be in the best of all environments, and the surest and safest way to abiding peace and eternal success. "Good is the will of the Lord." "Ye call Me Master….and so I am." What about the servants?

I. The Servant’s Relationship. "You are not your own, for you have been redeemed at infinite cost" (1Co_6:20, Weymouth). His servants have been bought with a price, the value of which is for ever beyond the grasp of man’s finite mind. It does not become those bought with His blood to be servants of men (1Co_7:23). Redeemed by Him, and for Him, "therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."

II. The Servant’s Motive. "I love my master…I will not go free" (Exo_21:5). The experience of this Hebrew is that of all those who have yielded themselves heartily to the service of Jesus Christ, they fall in love with their Master, and count His service the greatest liberty and sweetest delight. The love of Christ constraineth us. We love Him because He first loved us. Love is the fulfilling of the law, not duty.

III. The Servant’s Work. "The Son of Man…gave… to every man his work" (Mar_13:34). "To each one his special duty" (Weymouth). The Son of Man does not lay upon every servant the same task; the gift of work is according to the character of the vessel, or the ability of the worker. A vessel made meet for the Master’s use will be put by Him to the highest possible use. Let us not say "What can I do?" but "What wilt Thou have me to do?" "Christ is over His own house; whose house are we?" (Heb_3:6). Therefore the ordering of the vessels and the service is in His hands. "What is that in thine hand?"

IV. The Servant’s Supply. "He called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come" (Luk_19:13). When He gives the work, He gives the power to carry it out. Each servant received his pound, and each pound meant a Pentecost; it was an enduement with power, to occupy his place till he should come again. "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal." Let us take heed that we are trading (serving) with His gift (Holy Spirit) and not depending on our own acquirements, to the neglect of His pound and the ruin of our own testimony.

V. The Servant’s Encouragement. "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age" (Mat_28:20). This is not only the promise of His presence, it is the assurance of His co-operation. "The Lord is with thee… go in this thy might" (Jdg_6:12-14). As servants, we are His property, to do His work, using His means and enjoying His presence and help. In this holy service we have nothing that we have not received, but in this lies the secret of our confidence. We take His yoke upon us, and so learn of Him who walks in the yoke with us (Php_4:13).

VI. The Servant’s Reward. "Well done, good and faithful servant..enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" (Mat_25:21). As ye have shared your Master’s service and sufferings, ye shall also be sharers of His joy. In His right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Psa_16:11, R.V.). None shall pluck us out of this hand. But the servant of Jesus Christ has a mighty reward now as well as awaiting him, for the Spirit of God is in him, and the honour of the Father upon him, as well as the joy of the Lord before him. Eternal life is a gift, but it is the over-comers who sit with Him on His throne (Rev_3:21). This reward is not for being saved, but for being faithful servants and sufferers for His sake. "If we suffer we shall also reign with Him."

Autor: James Smith