I remember well, very, very well, the first time
I sang that hymn in a congregation like this from my heart. When I was a 16-year-old rebel, the most painful most difficult, most impossible thing for me
to deal with was my self-will and my rebellion. And now it's been 35, 36 years
since God saved me. And the most painful, most difficult,
most impossible thing for me to deal with is my self-will,
my stubborn rebellion before my God. I've come here tonight to call
you and me to the most ennobling, most honorable, and most honoring
of all things. I'm here recruiting slaves. Slaves. I thought about, right
up until the last minute standing up here preaching, change that
to servants. Servants doesn't do the job. Our translators translated
the word servants throughout the scriptures. The word is slaves. Servants still have some rights.
Servants may have their own property. Servants may wear their own name.
Servants may have time of their own. I'm not here just recruiting
servants. That's good. I'm here recruiting
slaves. People willing, voluntarily, gladly, to give
up their lives to Jesus Christ the Lord. And David Burge, you won't do
it. You wouldn't have done it ten years ago and you won't do
it now unless God makes you willing by His power. I'm calling for
willing slaves. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Had a preacher friend call me
yesterday afternoon, shortly after I got home. Text like this,
and wonder what happened. How do you explain that? Some
things are best not explained. What does that mean, weary and
heavy laden? Are you weary? Are you weary? Is your heart
heavy? About anything, for any reason. Come to me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden. And as surely as you come to
me, our master says, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Brother Ron, he got to put us
under the yoke, but we've got to take it on ourselves. We must be made willing in the
day of His power, but we must be willing. Take my yoke upon
you. Come slip under my yoke and learn
of me. You won't learn any other way.
You won't learn any other way. The only way we learn of Christ
is as we bow to Him and take His yoke on us. Learn of me. For I am meek and lowly in heart,
and you shall find rest unto your souls. Now listen to this next word
from the Master. I spent my life with my fist
shoved in God's face, and I found nothing but misery and bitterness
and heartache and pain. And I contributed nothing to
anyone else's life except misery and bitterness and heartache
and pain. And then he graciously forced
me into his yoke. And I learned something. And I'm still learning it. My
yoke is easy. My burden is light. Oh, it is
a yoke, but oh, what a sweet yoke. Never causes your neck
to be chafed. It is a burden, but oh, what
a light burden. He carries you and the burden.
Now, let's go once more to Leviticus 25. I said I'm calling for you and
me. I'm calling for us as believers
and you who are yet rebels against our God to voluntarily bow to
Him as His slaves and Him as your master. Since the Lord God
has redeemed us, since He has saved us by His grace, He claims
us as His slaves. And as you read through the law
that he gave to Moses, read through all these various commands that
you find in the Old Testament, particularly here in the book
of Leviticus, he always uses one master motive, always, just
always, he has one master motive by which he would inspire us
to live all together unto him, to worship and serve him. He
says in verse 42, For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of
the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as bondmen. Verse 55. For unto me the children
of Israel are servants. They are my servants, whom I
brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your
God. Now if you read the whole context
where he's dealing with this, verses 35 through 55, you'll
see the Lord dealing with the matter of slavery. And he says
concerning his servants, they shall not be sold to another.
He said, now you can take the heathen for your slaves, but
you're not going to own them, my people. You can buy and sell
the heathens like everybody else does, but you're not going to
buy and sell my people. They shall not be sold as bondmen. Not only that, but because they
are my servants, because they are my people, because I have
redeemed them, because I am their God, you treat them right. You
treat them right. Don't you abuse them. Don't you
oppress them, but treat them as your brethren. They are my
servants. Now, before I move on, And I'm
going to take you to the New Testament, see if we can't find
some explanation of what it means to be his servants. This passage
is not to be read as an endorsement of slavery. Slavery is one of
the ugliest swords on the history of humanity. Men trading men
for money. A horrible, horrible evil. It cannot be justified on any
basis. It is a horrible evil. A horrible
evil. It was a horrible evil and sadly
in other parts of the world it still is. A horrible evil. Well, what's the Lord doing here?
God always addresses His people where they are. He addresses
us in our present circumstance, in our present condition. And
here he takes that which was common among men and uses it
as a means by which he would instruct us in the gospel of
his free grace. You have a similar passage, and
it's a totally different subject, but a similar passage in 1 Corinthians
11. And there the Apostle Paul speaks
about women praying and prophesying with their head uncovered. And
so there are whole denominations, lots of churches, where women,
when they come in the church house, put on a little dolly. They call it a veil, put on a
little dolly, because we can't play with our head uncovered.
And I get letters, folks wanting to fuss at me because I don't
insist on it. And what they fail to understand is Paul is seizing
that which was the common custom of the day. Women in his day
and in his society wore a veil. It wasn't a pretty little dolly
for them to put in your handkerchief. It was exactly the kind of veil
you see in the most strict Islamic countries in this day. And if
you're going to pretend to wear one, wear one of those. That's
what he's talking about. But that veil displayed modesty
and displayed subjection to her husband. And what Paul is teaching
us by inspiration is that women are to be in subjection to their
husbands just as men are to be in subjection to their Lord.
And we are to be in subjection to those in authority over us
in all things. And particularly, this is to
be displayed in the house of God. So the scriptures often
will take that which is common among men, and use it as an example
to teach a spiritual truth without in any way endorsing or enforcing
that particular example. Now, read this chapter here in
Leviticus 25 carefully. And you'll see that when the
Lord says, they are my servants, he claimed rule over the children
of Israel. He claimed rule over them, not
as God their Creator and their Sovereign Desperate, but as God
their Savior and their Redeemer and their Sovereign Master, and
there's a huge difference. He has the right to claim rule,
and he does claim rule over all men because he is God, our creator,
because he is the sovereign despot who has the right to do with
his own what he will. That includes kill or make alive. He has the right to do what he
will. But he claims rule over his people as God, our redeemer,
and our master. But you'll read this chapter
and see that he claims rule over everything. He dictates to them
what they were to be. He dictates to them what they
were to do. He claimed the rule of their
property. He claimed the rule of their families. He claimed
the rule of their time. He claimed the rule of their
money. He claimed the rule of their cattle. He claimed the
rule of their affections. He even claimed the rule of their
attitudes. Everything. Everything. That's
called slavery. You're my servants. And it is
only reasonable that he should claim it and we should give it. Turn with me to Romans chapter
12. What does it mean to be his servant?
Romans chapter 12. God Almighty, my Savior, my Redeemer,
has the right to claim the rule of my life in its entirety. He has the right to dictate to
me exactly what I am to do with my life, my time, my family,
my possessions. Because they're not mine, they're
His. Remember, I'm His slave. I don't
own anything. I don't possess anything. I don't
even have a right to have a will of my own. I'm His. And this
is reasonable. Romans chapter 12. I beseech
you, therefore, Paul was referring back to all that he had spoken
to us concerning God's bountiful grace. He cast off the Jews that
he might have mercy on the Gentiles. He preserved the Jews through
all those various stages revealed in the Old Testament. and brought
the Lord Jesus into this world by the seed of Abraham that he
might save, not Abraham's physical seed, but his spiritual seed,
and has cast them off in his wise and good providence, he's
arranged everything to bring you the gospel. He not only chose
you and redeemed you, he called you by his grace and he has,
by his wise and good providence, secured all good for you and
continues to. I beseech you therefore, therefore,
this is most reasonable, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, not by law, not by terror, not by threat of punishment,
not by promise of reward, I beseech you by the mercies of God that
you present your bodies, your whole life, It is. A living sacrifice. Lay the whole thing on the altar. Holy. Holy. Set apart, sanctified by God
the Holy Spirit. Acceptable unto God. You mean
He'd have James Jordan? You? You mean he'll take this sacrifice? He required in the
Old Testament that sacrifice not even have a bum finger. Much less be defiled and corrupt.
But he takes this corrupt thing called Don Fortner and made it
holy and acceptable unto God. which is your reasonable service. Give up everything to Christ?
You're calling for us to surrender time, talent, money, everything
to the rule of Christ? You're calling for us to give
up our lives so that our families, everything is under the rule
of Christ, and He does what He will, and we'll bow to Him all
the time? You're calling for that? Boy,
that's an awful lot. Rex Barclay. That's not even
a beginning of anything for us to do. That's nothing. This is just your reasonable
service. Your reasonable service. Now
the Holy Spirit tells us exactly what this slavery is in 1 Corinthians
6. Turn over there if you will. We'll begin in chapter 6 verse
9. Paul is arguing for you and I to live for God. That's the
context. Live for God. I love the way he presents his
arguments. He says in verse 9, Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the
kingdom of God. Well, that just sets us all out,
doesn't it? It would. And such were some
of you. That's what we were. And that's
what we are by nature. But you are washed. But you are sanctified. But you
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit
of our God. You, who could not by any means
enter the kingdom of God because of what you are by nature, Jesus
Christ has washed you in His blood, sanctified you by His
grace, justified you before God Almighty. Now, look at verse
19. What? Know ye not that your body,
your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you. God the Holy Spirit in saving
grace, invades the hearts of chosen sinners, and takes up
permanent residence in us, and makes us to be the temple of
God. The temple of God. I sat down
a little while ago looking at that. He calls us God's temple. God's,
not just his dwelling place, not just his habitation, God's
temple. To this man will I look, him
that trembles at my word, he that is of a poor and contrite
spirit. But he calls this God's temple,
God's temple. The temple was the place of God's
manifest residence. The temple was the place of divine
worship. The temple was the place of constant
sacrifice. The temple was the place where
God showed his glory. The temple was the place from
which light shined unto men. You are the temple of God. Did
you get that, Sally Ponser? The temple of God. And you're not your own. For you've been bought with a
price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit,
which are God's. Now let's look at this and learn
of God. You're bought with a price. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
bought us. He bought us with his own precious
blood. He bought us out from under the
curse of God's law. He brought us out from the bondage
of Egypt. And he sought us out of the world
for his namesake. Because he bought us with the
price. Oh, what a price! Hold your heads here, turn over
to 1 Peter. Verse 18. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed from corruptible things, or with corruptible things,
like silver and gold, from your vain conversation." At least that's a pretty good
way to describe our whole lives, our vain lives. Sometimes I hear folks talk about
what they gave up for Christ. What they sacrificed when they
started serving the Lord. I could have been a football
player. I was this. I was that. All Larry Brown gave
up was vanity. That's all. Just vanity. A puff of wind. Your vain conversation. Oh, but that's such a pretty
piece of vanity. Still vanity. But other folks
who live in vanity think he's something else. Still, just vanity. Your vain conversation. That's
what the word conversation means. Manner of life. Received by tradition
from your fathers. That is, we sought after vanity,
lived for vanity, would die for vanity, because that's what our
fathers did and that's what we learned from them. You weren't redeemed with corruptible
things from this, but with the precious blood of Christ. Oh, thank God for sin-atoning
blood. The blood of Him who is God Almighty. Eternal blood. sin-atoning blood,
redeeming blood, efficacious blood, blood accepted in heaven,
you'll be redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world. In other words, God Almighty
set His heart on you before the world began. gave His Son for
you before the world began, and in the fullness of time set His
Son down here to shed His blood for you, to redeem you, to save
you, to justify you from your vanity. Now in these last times
was manifest for you. He came here to get Bobby Estes
with His blood. You've been bought with a price.
The price of the life of the Son of God. He gave Himself for
you. Now this is either fact or it's
not. Either you've been bought or you'll perish. If it's a fact. If Christ bought you, it's the
greatest fact in history for you. And the greatest fact it
shall be to the amazement of your soul to eternity. Nothing outweighs it. Imagine
that. Paul said, the Son of God loved
me, gave himself for me. He loved me and gave himself
for me. Now look at this. The Lord says,
I brought you out. I brought you. You're my servants.
This is what that means. You're not your own. Need any explanation? You're not your own. You're not
your own. But you are not your own. Sam
Wall, you are not your own. Not your own. Dave Coburn, you're
not your own. You're not your own. Ye are not
your own. Well, where's that made? You don't have to provide for
yourself. Sheep are provided for by the shepherd. You're not
your own to choose your own way. Ships are stirred by the pilot.
You're not your own to care for yourself as a father. Children
are taken care of by their parents. You're not your own to waste
away your time and your energies and what God puts in your hands
in idleness, amusement, and in your own delights and in your
own lust. You're not your own to use. You're
not your own to rule. You're not your own. God teach
me. I am not my own. I have nothing of mine. Nothing. Therefore, he says, glorify God in your body and
in your spirit. which are God's. Just in case you don't understand what this means, you're not your
own. That's talking about your body and your spirit. That's talking about what is
related to the physical life and what's related to the inward
life. what's related to the function of the body, and what's related
to the spirit within you. You're gods. Always gods. And it is our responsibility,
because we're His, and oh, what a privilege to glorify God in
your body and in your spirits, which are gods. I tell young parents all the
time, if somehow you can inspire in your children a desire to please and honor
you, you've got the battle of raising children half whipped.
If you can just inspire somehow, somehow inspire in them a desire
to please and honor you. Nothing is more powerful to control
their lives. Nothing more powerful to keep
them from giving vent to their own wills than the desire to
please and honor you. Now God Almighty has set in the
hearts of His people a desire to please and honor Him. Glorify God in your body and
in your spirits, which are God's. Glorify God in your body. Whatsoever you do, do all to
the glory of God. Whether therefore you eat or
drink or whatever you do, do all to God's glory. Glorify God
in the deeds of your body. Now, a word of caution. I'm not talking about doing things
to show people that you glorify God. That's a show of religion.
That's hypocrisy. That's evil. That's abominable. I listened to a sermon recently.
A fellow missed a great opportunity to preach the gospel of God's
grace. He said, for me to live is Christ. He said, you need to live out
Jesus in your life so people can see Jesus in you. People
didn't see Jesus in Jesus. They sure ain't going to see
him in you. That's not what he's talking about. That's not what
he's talking about. What's he talking about? Live in this world. in the totality
of your life for God's honor. I want to honor God in this.
I want to honor God in this. Everything I do in this thing
called life, honor God. Number one priority. And Bob,
if it's number one priority, it consumes all other priorities. Glorify God in your body and
in your spirit. Glorify God in what you do. And glorify God in your attitude. Live in this world believing
God. Live in this world with hope
of resurrection glory. Live in this world loving God
and His people. Turn to Colossians 3. Paul does
so much better job preaching what he means than I do. Colossians
chapter 3 is talking about our life. Our life is hidden with Christ
in God. In verse 11 he says Christ is all. Christ is all. Christ
is all and in all. He's the only thing that matters
at all. Christ is all. Now is that so? Is that really
so? Look at verse 12. Put on therefore. Did you say amen when I said
Christ is all? Put on therefore as the elect of God. holy and
beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness of mind, humbleness of mind,
meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, forgiving one another.
If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you,
so also do ye. And above all these, put on charity. self-sacrificing, loving service,
which is the bond of perfectness. This is what makes your perfection
strong. This is what gets you together. And let the peace of
God rule in your hearts, to which also you are called in one body,
and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly, in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another. And I'd sure like to sit down in churches all around
the country, all around the world. Folks say, well, we need to watch
out for Brother Bob. I need to reprove him and correct
him. I need to govern his, I need
to tell him what to do. You know, he's, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah. No. You live for God, and then
you teach your brother how to as you worship together in the
house of God. You see what he's talking about?
Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, in hymns,
and spiritual songs. Teaching what? Teaching folks
to worship God. Teaching folks to live for God.
Teaching folks the adoration of God. Teaching folks that He
is indeed supreme! And where He is, let's then live
for Him. Singing with grace in your hearts
to the Lord. And whatever you do. Whatever
you do. Whatever you do. It doesn't say
now you sit down and decide what Brother Joe is supposed to do.
Whatever you do. Whatever you do. It is our natural foolish hearts lust. We love
law. We just love it. We just love
it. We love bondage. That's our nature. And we try
our best to get somebody to give us some kind of rule. Now tell
me what to do! Whatever you do, do all to the
glory of God. Whatever you do in word or in
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God and the Father by Him. Now let's look back at Romans
12 for just a minute. God says you're not your own. You're my servants. I brought
you out. I'm your God. I've saved you
by my matchless grace. I beseech you, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. And be not conformed to this
world. Don't let this world rule you. Don't let this world control
you. Don't let the care of this world,
the way of this world, the things of this world control you. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. But be you transformed
by the renewing of your mind Paul is saying you'll be in a constant stage
of metamorphosis. Do you know what that is? A constant
stage of change. A constant stage of change. I'm not one of those fellows
who catches butterflies. I know a little something about
them. That beautiful monarch butterfly. Ah! Spectacular. They don't live
very long, but spectacular. Spectacular. You can start out
as just a little egg and hatch out into something that ain't
very pretty called a caterpillar. And then they spin a little house around themselves
called a cocoon. And they crawl into that thing
as they make it. And there they're just suspended
as it were in time. Now come out of that thing. Where'd that thing come from?
Look at the beauty of that thing. You be continually transformed,
continually, constantly, in the process of complete change, by
the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good
and acceptable and perfect will of God. And when this cuckoo is just completely withered up,
dry and dead. The angels of God. Look at that. Look at that. Look at that. Look what grace
has done for that old rebel made to be God's servant. Amen.