Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to John 12, please. John 12, verse 26. Our Lord said, If any man serve
me, let him follow me. and where
I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will
my Father honor." If any man minister, that's what
Scripture says. That's what the word serve means.
Any man has a heart after service to the Lord. What am I going to do for God? To believe Him? To hunger after
Him? To long for Him? To thirst after
Him? Serving Him? This particular verse was spoken Well, it was to certain Greeks.
Scripture said we looked at that last week, verse 20. They came
up to Jerusalem to worship. And they came, the Scripture
said, to Philip. Philip went to Andrew. They came
to the Lord, and the Lord began to speak to them. And he's finishing
this discourse to these few men. The scripture says that our Lord
reveals, if a man has a heart to minister, serve. Let him follow me. Let him follow me. Following after Christ. This is the position of one that
is a servant. Amen, serve. Amen, a servant
to me. That position is not entered
into by a man's decision. Listen to this, Romans 1.1. Paul,
a servant. A slave is what that means. A
slave of Jesus Christ. Called. Appointed. Appointed. To be an apostle. Separated. Divided. Set apart. Sanctified. Separated unto the
gospel of God. What a privilege. What an honor. One that sees himself as unprofitable. What am I going to add to God's
honor? Any honor that is to be had is
His. Trophies of His grace. I tell you, you find a man or
a woman that God has given a heart after them, they are going to
be like old Solomon was. Like Paul. Like Isaiah. Broken. The Lord's servants,
any man serve, any man have a heart after me. How'd they get there? Well, I'll tell you how they
got there. They were put there, made willing in the day of God's
power. The Lord's servants are new creatures
doing exactly what they want. Is there a believer this morning that has no heart after Christ? No. Not a believer. Seeing themselves, like that
song we just sang, old John Newton wrote, the Lord's servants, they're
doing what they're doing according to God's grace, mercy and desire
no attention to themselves. Now, let me tell you something.
Not the new man. He doesn't. Peter and James walking
up, a fellow asking alms. Peter says, Silver and gold have I none,
but such as I have. Give I thee in the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth. Rise up and walk." He walked
into that temple, praising God, and everybody started looking
at him and went over to Peter. Peter said, Why are you looking
on us as though we did something? Jesus of Nazareth, by His power,
by His grace, by His mercy, by His good pleasure, Does this
man walk? Now there's an old man that's
there. An old man that will argue with
that new man, and that old man wants all the glory, wants all
the honor. It's that old man that will say,
you'd never find me doing what Solomon did. I won't do it. Don't drive me away from being
faithful. Be careful. Be careful. But for the grace of God, if
Almighty God doesn't keep me, I'd do just exactly the same
thing. The Lord's servants have a demand of self-denial. Turn to Matthew 16. Self-denial
placed upon Him. Matthew 16, verse 24. Then said Jesus unto His disciples,
If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up
his cross, and follow Me. The word there, cross, is exactly this interpretation. That's self-denial. Here's the
way it's written. Then Jesus said unto his disciples,
if any man will come after me, let him deny his self and take
up his denial. Be truthful, be honest, and follow after me. The servant of the Lord is matured
through suffering. And that's a hard pill to swallow. He's told that trouble, persecution,
ridicule and death for Christ's sake is going to be his lot. This is the lot of a believer. This world is not your home. If any man serve Him, if any
man will come after Him, let him disown himself, deny. Let him separate from self. Boy, help me here. I can't do that. But for the grace of God, I won't
do that. I'm born with a nature that wants
me Matthew Henry wrote this, the first lesson in God's school
is self-denial. I'm going to take God's Word
over my word, over my thoughts. This is how you'll find a believer is going
to believe God. If God's Word runs contrary to
what men have taught me, Then this is what a believer is going
to say. Let God be true. If God Almighty says that it
is not by the will of man, then it's not by the will of man.
If God Almighty says that He's chosen a people in Christ from
before the foundation of the world, then God Almighty has
chosen a people from before the foundation of the world. If God
says, My mercy will never depart from you. A believer will hate
himself and will deny himself and believe God and thank God
and struggle the rest of his life in this world. My friend,
grace is free, but it's not cheap. It's the free grace of God, but
it came with a high cost. Faith in Christ. is a surrender
myself to Him. And it is not something that
I can do. It is God that worketh in you. Both the will and do of His good
pleasure. So when it's all said and done, you still don't have
anything but glory and save Christ and Him crucified. That's it. Who was the one that said, all
these many years I've been faithful? I never did all these things
that that prodigal brother of mine did. Who was the one that was broken
and came to himself? That's the one that the father
robed and put shoes on, killed a calf on. I'm telling you, I'm
telling you, Leave a man to himself. Either a man surrenders to Christ
by the grace of God, surrenders, cares of this world, struggles. And I know, my friend, I know
the struggles we have. Surrenders by God's grace, His
will to God's will, or he's going to perish. One of the two. This surrender. It's a battle
that a believer engages in daily. Wars against that old man, against
his flesh, against his world. And a battle that a new man knows
is real. Real. As I said before, try to
pray. Try to pray. Be honest. Tell
me the struggles that you have. We guard and stay on guard. against
this terrible tendency of our sinful flesh to rebel against
His rule, His will. We strive after Him. Admitting
what we are. Knowing what we are. If any man
serve me. Now here's the walk of a believer
in closing. Let him follow me. I had to go look that up again
this morning. Let Him follow me. Here's what it is. Bear the lot. Bear what God Almighty has given
you to bear. Let Him follow me. And I like
this. Love what I love. Let Him follow
me. Bear that which I bear and love
that which I love. I know. It's a high order. And never perfectly attained
in my flesh, in this world itself. But every believer desires it,
strives after it. Knowing that in Christ, And here's
the grace of God. It is only in Christ that I'm
accepted. In myself, no. Following Him,
we consider His walk. I do love Him. He who first loved
me. I love that which He loves. It's
what a believer says. And He does. He does. He loves
His gospel. He loves His people. He loves
His sovereign rule. I love God's sovereignty. I love
that God's the boss. I love knowing where the lines
are. Not as I ought. Not as I desire. Not as I do. Peter said, Lord, You know all
things. You know that I love You. Oh, we struggle. Struggle following
after Him, loving that which He loves. Resigned to the fact
that He rules and reigns and orders and directs all things
according to His counsel. His lot. His lot. The Lord's
lot was to be hated by this world, and we follow Him. Man by nature
hates the gospel of free grace. They hate it because they don't
have any honor in it for themselves. We gladly take the smile of God
over the frown of this world. You that know Him, when the world
frowns at you, for that you're thankful. You feel sorry. You feel sorry. The Lord's will is in submission
to the will of His Father, and the will of His people is toward
Him, His will. You that know Him, do you not
find joy in bowing to Him? Coming to Him daily as needy
sinners, reading His Word, praying, seeking His counsel, His direction,
His pleasure. Is that not your delight? If any man serve me, let him
follow me." And here's the promise of his reward. And he said, and
where I am. Where he is right now. And where I am. Where he was
when he spoke to them. Where he is right now in the
presence of his people. Where two or three are gathered
together in my name, he said. And where I am. That's where my servants are
going to be. No man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is
in heaven. And where I am, there will my
servants be. My friend, we know little. We know little. Sadly, we don't
believe as we ought But I will tell you this for a believer,
they want to be where Christ is. They want to be where He
is, accepting His service, knowing all the while, robed in His righteousness,
taught of Him, loved of Him, blessed by Him. has no promises that he's going
to keep. But his word is going to endure
forever. I know this. I live in a body that was created
to live forever. And there's something that's
just there in every human being that doesn't want to leave. If I don't feel good or something,
I'm going to go see about it. Check it out. But I know this. There's coming a day where it
will be over. And when it's over, this is all
my hope right here. Any man serve me, let him follow
me. And where my servant is, And
where I am, there shall my servant be also." I know this according
to God's Word for everyone that God Almighty has given heart
after Him, absent from this body, present with the Lord. The Lord
bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake.