Whose servant am I? I hope that we'll all ask ourselves
that question. Whose servant am I? Now that can be answered with
another question. Who do I want to please? That will tell whose servant
I am. Who do I want to please? Am I seeking to please God or
men? Now let's read this verse of
scripture again from Galatians chapter 1 verse 10. For do I
now persuade men or God? Who is it that I'm wanting to persuade regarding what I'm having
to say? Who is it that I want to be impressed
with what I'm saying? Who is it that I care about what
they hear? For do I now persuade men or
God? Or do I seek to please men? Now
he makes this amazing statement. For if I yet please men, I should
not be the servant of Christ. Now, do you hear that? Paul says,
if I pleased men, I would not be the servant of Christ. Now, do I want you to be pleased
with me? Yes, I do. If I love you, I want
you to approve of me. I want your approval. If I love
you, anybody you love, you want their approval. Am I indifferent
about what you think? Of course not. I love you and
I want you to rejoice in the message that I bring. But if that's my aim, pleasing
you, I'm no servant of Christ. Now notice the first word in
this sentence is for. For do I now persuade men, or
God, or do I seek to please men? If I yet please men, I should
not be the servant of Christ. For. What he's about to say is
predicated on what had previously been said in verses six through
nine, and that's why this for is there. So let's kind of refresh
ourselves on what he said. He said beginning in verse six,
I marvel. that you're so soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Now the only gospel there is,
is the grace of Christ. Amen. That's the only gospel
there is. How that salvation is by the
free grace of God. Saving grace. Electing grace. Justifying grace that actually
makes me just before God. Redeeming grace that actually
pays for all my sins. Calling grace that calls me and
gives me life. Preserving grace that keeps me
and will not let me go. That's the only kind of grace
there is, is saving grace. And that's the gospel. The gospel
of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. By grace are you saved. I love the grace of God. Now
he says in verse six, I marvel that you're so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel. These are churches that he had
founded, the churches of Galatia. And he was brokenhearted over
what he was seeing taking place. And he said, this other gospel
is not another, but there'll be some that trouble you and
would pervert the gospel of Christ. Any deviation from grace is a
perversion of the gospel of Christ. Add one work to grace, and it's
no longer grace, is it? I want to tell you about the
grace the Bible speaks of, that he says, I marvel that you've
so soon removed from him that called you to the grace of Christ.
The grace of Christ is the grace where everything is done by grace. Works don't count. They really
don't count. The beginning of my salvation
doesn't begin with my will, it begins with the grace of God.
in the middle of my salvation or doing what we're doing right
now. If I grow in grace, I'm growing
in grace. I don't make myself more holy or more pleasing to
God by my works. I don't become holier by the
things that I do. Salvation's by grace. If I put
a work there, it's no longer grace. When I get to the end
of my salvation and I stand before God in judgment, if I'm rewarded
some higher reward because of some personal obedience here
on earth, that works. Grace does not allow any human
works to get any of the glory, and any deviation from that,
it's no longer the grace of God. Now, we're getting ready to have
a Bible conference in a couple of weeks, and I thought about
the first Bible conference, or what's close to a first Bible
conference, in Acts chapter 15. What was the subject? The subject
was this. Remember those Judaizers had
come saying, true, you're saved by faith, but you also have to
keep the law. And the theme of that meeting, where they all
convened together, was just how much of salvation is by grace.
Y'all like the name of this church. The Todd's Road Grace Church. Are you part of a denomination?
No. No. We didn't get a denomination
in the Bible. You can't argue for that in the Bible. But I
tell you what, we do believe in the grace of God. Salvation
is of the Lord. Now look what Paul goes on to
say in verse 8. He was talking about those who
would pervert or change or modify the gospel of Christ. He says,
but the we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto
you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." As we said before, so say now
again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
which you've received, let him be accursed. Now Paul, that seems so narrow-minded. That seems so unsympathetic towards
the needs of humanity. How can you talk that way? Well,
Paul tells us, well, right now am I persuading men or God? Am
I seeking to please men with what I'm saying? If I were the
pleasing men, I would not be the servant of Christ. If I'm
a man pleaser, I'm not the servant of Christ. If I'm seeking to
accommodate men and try and make the gospel more attractive and
more appealing to them, you know what I am? I'm a man pleaser.
I'm a man pleaser. Most of what goes on under the
name of Christianity is nothing more than Christianized humanism.
That's about all you can call it, Christianized humanism, where
man is the center, man's happiness is the great goal, and salvation
hangs on man's will and not God's will. Paul says, if I'm bent
on pleasing men, I'll accommodate and modify my message to achieve
that end. And if that's what I'm about,
I cannot be the servant of Christ. And notice the language. He didn't
say I won't make a very good servant of Christ. He said if
I'm a man pleaser, I'm not the servant of Christ. I don't know
him. I'm not one of his. Now I'm either the servant of
men or I'm the servant of Christ. You do. You're either the servant
of man or the servant of Christ. You cannot serve both. They are mutually exclusive to
one another. You can't be the servant of Christ
and the servant of men. And you cannot be the servant
of men and also be the servant of Christ. Now, let me remind
you of something. God's chief end is not my happiness. It's his own glory. The cry of
the 420 elders in Revelation 411 is, Thou art worthy, O Lord,
to receive honor and glory and power, for Thou hast created
all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. That's what God does. He does
all things for His own glory and for His own pleasure. Now,
I'm thankful. The reason God saves people,
yes, He loves sinners. He loves men for Christ's sake.
He loves those in Christ. He loves those who are united
to Christ. But the reason God saves sinners is to manifest
who He is. If there were no salvation of
sinners, we couldn't really truly know the character of God. What
would we know of grace? if He didn't save sinners, which
is such a glorious thing, the grace of God. What would we know
of the forgiveness of sins if He didn't save sinners? What
would we know of His mercy if He didn't save sinners? What
would we know of His wisdom if He didn't make a way to be just
and yet justify the ungodly? His purpose in all he does is
to glorify himself. Now I'm thankful we benefit greatly
from what he does. Aren't you thankful for your
salvation? We benefit greatly in it. But his motive is his
own glory. And any lesser motive would be
beneath the dignity of God. It's right for him to seek his
own glory. Now if I'm seeking my own glory,
it's wrong, it's evil, but it's right for him to seek his own
glory because of who he is. He is God over all, blessed forever. Now what is most important to
God? His own glory. He said, my glory
I'll not share with another. He's not going to share it with
you, me, or anybody else. The scripture says we're saved
to the praise of the glory of His grace. That's God's chief
end in what He does. We're saved to the praise of
the glory of His grace. I love thinking about this. I
know this is so. When I stand in glory, I'm going
to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I'm going to be
the biggest example of just how much salvation is by grace. Now,
I know some of you would argue with me there and you think you'll
be the biggest example, but I'm thinking I'm the biggest example
of just how much salvation is all of the grace of God. What's most important to God?
His son. the glory and the honor of His
Son. Would you turn with me for a
moment to Isaiah 42? I was just reading this and was
so blessed in what it said, so I want to get it incorporated
into my sermon somehow. It was such a blessing. Isaiah
chapter 42, these first eight verses. God says, behold, and when he
says behold, don't you reckon we ought to behold? Shouldn't
we perk up? Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect, I love the way he calls the son his elect, my chosen,
in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him,
and he shall bring forth judgment, to the Gentiles. That's talking
about His justifying work of grace. He'll bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause His voice to be heard in the streets. He didn't come
to draw attention to Himself, but to glorify His Father. That's
why He came. I think that's beautiful, the
way He's not going to cry, or cry, everybody hear me? Everybody
see me? He came to glorify His Father. That was His only purpose. Verse 3 says, a bruised reed
shall he not break. This is quoted in Matthew chapter
12. And the smoking flax shall he not quench. Now what is more
weak and useless than a bruised reed? It can't hold up anything. It has no strength. What about
a smoking flax, a candle when it's just about to go out and
start smoking and it stinks and it's so weak? But yet our Lord promises, because
He's so merciful and so gracious, He says that bruised reed, I
won't break. That smoking flax that's so weak
and just doesn't put out any light at all, and it's nothing
but a bad smell, He says, I won't put it out. Rather, I'll keep
it going. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. Now, that smoking flax, And that
bruised reed is going to stand in judgment day perfect before
God, perfectly righteous. And that's the truth. He says
in verse four, he shall not fail nor be discouraged. You know,
there's no way the Son of God can fail at anything He's doing.
He's the Son of God. He's got the Son. He's incapable
of failure. He's not going to be discouraged.
He's not going to be frustrated because His will was not done.
His will is always done. Exactly what He wants to do is
what is done. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged,
till He hath set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall
wait for His law. Thus saith God the Lord. This
is who God is pleased with. He that created the heavens and
stretched it. He that spread forth the earth
and that which cometh out of it. He that giveth breath unto
the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein. I
the Lord have called thee in righteousness and will hold thine
hand and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant of the people,
the light of the Gentiles to open the blind eyes, to bring
out the prisoners from the prison. And then that said in darkness
out of the prison house, I am the Lord. That's my name. and
my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to the graven
images." Now that's who he delights in. That's who he's pleased with.
You know, who wants to please God? Now let me give you a hint
right now. The only way you're going to
please God is if you're in Him. This is something every believer
knows that the unbeliever doesn't know. This is the mystery of
godliness. The only thing God is pleased
with, the only one God is pleased with is Christ. and those in
him. Now let me try to give an example
of what I'm trying to talk about. I hope that in preaching this
sermon I'm serving the Lord. That's what I want to do. I want
to be his servant. I want him to be pleased with
what I'm saying. Now is the Lord pleased with
this sermon? Now I've sought the Lord in this
I don't know how it'll end up, you know, when, when preachers
get upset, I've got a message for you. And I think, well, we'll
find out afterwards, you know, I mean, I don't know how, you know, I
hope, I hope I've got a message from the Lord. But I know this.
I've prayed, I've studied, I've done my best. I've tried to give
a clear exposition of this passage of scripture. Will the Lord accept
this sermon because of that? No. I don't believe there's error
in it. I believe this is the very truth of God and it doesn't
have error in it. Now, will the Lord accept this
sermon because there's no error in it? No. I hope my motive is His glory. Does He accept this sermon because
I've got a good motive? If I do? No. There's only one thing that's
pleasing about this sermon. If Christ takes it and makes
it acceptable for the Father, that's it. If He takes it and
covers it with His righteousness and puts away the sin that's
in it through His blood, there's one reason this sermon will be
accepted for Christ's sake. No other reason. Now, if you want to learn anything
about pleasing God, you're going to have to know what pleases
Him. If I'm going to learn anything about what pleases God, I'm going
to have to learn what pleases Him. Jesus Christ pleases the
Father. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. And beloved, if you're in Jesus
Christ, God is well pleased with you. He's satisfied with you. He's not looking for anything
else. He is well pleased. God is pleased with His Word.
I want to have some understanding of what it is God's well pleased
with. God's well pleased with His Word. Psalm, I can't remember
if it's Psalm 132 or Psalm 113. I wish I would have written it
down, but this is the scripture. You can look it up. I don't have
the scripture reference, but it says, Thou hast magnified thy
word above all thy God is well-pleased with his
word. If I'm going to please God, it's
going to have to be somehow connected with his word. Thou hast magnified
thy word above all thy name. Dare we add to it? Dare we subtract
from it? I love several scriptures in
the New Testament. Like in Romans chapter 9, it
says, For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same
purpose have I raised thee up. Now wait a minute, didn't God
say it? Yes, God who said it. But I love the way the scripture
says, the scripture saith to Pharaoh. The scripture preached
before the gospel to Abraham saying, in thee shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed. When scripture speaks, God speaks. Same thing. What about the Lord
when He's tempted by the devil three different times with those
three different temptations? What did He say? It is written. What a high view the Lord had
of the Scriptures. It is written. It is written. Hebrews 11, 6 says, without faith,
it is impossible to please God. It's impossible. But by faith. By me, God giving me faith. Enabling me to actually trust
His Son as everything I need to make me accepted before God.
I'm relying on Him. I'm pleasing to God. Now, without
faith, it's impossible to please God. But by faith, we please
Him. Now, turn with me to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2. Verse 1. For yourselves, brethren, know
our entrance in unto you, when we first came to you, preaching
the gospel. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. And as I understand it, he
is writing this three weeks after he had been there, and they got
ran out of town. And that's, somebody that's supposed
to know said that. But it says in verse two, but
even after that we had suffered before and were shamefully entreated
as you know at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto
you the gospel of God with much contention. Now, Paul didn't
preach what men wanted to hear. He preached what men needed to
hear. May God give me the grace and
you the grace to do that. And then he said, for our exhortation,
our preaching, was not of deceit or error. It was not of uncleanness. It was not in guile. Bait is where we get that word
from. You know, that's what most people do when they're fishing.
They bait the hook so the fish can't tell what it is. That's
what most preaching is. It's baited up so you can't tell
what it is. Paul says, but as we were allowed of God to be
put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing
men, but God which trieth our hearts. We were allowed by God
to be put in trust with the gospel. He gave us this sacred trust,
the gospel. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And
he identifies the gospel as this. How that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures. And He was buried and rose again
the third day according to the Scriptures. Now I heard a preacher
on the radio the other day said the gospel is the death, burial,
and resurrection of Christ. No, it's not. No, it's not. You can't get that from the Scriptures.
Paul said it's how that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, the Old Testament Scriptures. I just read one.
He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Everybody he died for must be
saved. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. It's how that Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures. Now any doctrine Any method that
detracts from this, that detracts from His glory is being a man
pleaser. Look what it says in verse 5.
For neither at any time use we flattering words, as ye know,
nor a cloak of covetousness. God is witness, nor of men sought
we glory, neither of you nor yet of others, when we might
have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ. But we were gentle
among you, even as an earth nurse cherishes her children. Now,
the fact that Paul said, if I yet please men, I should not be the
servant of Christ. That tells us that there was
a time when that's what he was doing. Turn back to Galatians
chapter 1. He says in verse 13, Let's read
verses 10-13, For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to
please men? For if I yet please men, I should
not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren,
I assure you, that the gospel which was preached of me is not
after man, it was not derived from any human source. For I
neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ. For you've heard of my conversation
in times past in the Jews' religion, have it beyond measure. I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it, and I profited in the Jews'
religion above many mine equals in mine own nation. Being more
exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers, I was getting
somewhere, but it was all man-pleasing. That's all it was. Nothing more
than that. Trying to impress the flesh. And nothing more. Now, all of
his religion was nothing but that. Man pleasing. Now I ask myself a question.
Am I a man pleaser? Or do I want to seek to please
God? Now, I say to myself, if you
really wanted to please God, you wouldn't see it anymore.
Seems that way, doesn't it? If you really wanted to please
God, you wouldn't sin anymore. Well, I don't want to sin anymore. I don't. But I know I will. And I know you will too. I'm
not excusing it. I'm not saying it's okay. But
if you're in the flesh, you will sin. As long as we live in these
bodies, it doesn't excuse it in any way. So do I still want
to please God even though I sin? It seems like if I really wanted
to please God, I'd stop sinning. Well, I really want to please
God. I know that. I really want to
please God. And I know this. I have some understanding of
how I can please God. I have some understanding of
how I'm going to hear him say to me, Well done, thou good and
faithful servant. Enter thou in to the joy of thy
Lord. I'm going to hear those words.
And so is everybody else that's in Christ. That's how you hear those words,
by being in the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a, what a blessing that
is. Where'd I take my glasses off?
There they are. Couldn't see them. Can't see
my notes without glasses. The true service of God is founded
on a right understanding of the gospel. Now, I want to be his
servant. I want to be a true servant of
God. Now, if I'm a man pleaser, I can't be one. He already told
us that. But what is a true servant of God? How can I be a true servant
of Christ? Well, first of all, by grace.
That's simple enough, isn't it? The only way you or I will be
a true servant of Christ and not be controlled by being man-pleasers
is by the grace of God. And I'm being a servant of Christ
when I stop being a man-pleaser in our preaching. Like I said,
I want you to be pleased with my preaching. I really do. But
that's not my aim. My aim is to please the Lord
Jesus Christ. What I say about Him, what I
say regarding His truth, that's who I want to be pleased with
my preaching. Now, I don't want to be a man
pleaser. I want to be somebody who wants to please the Lord
Jesus Christ in all that I say. Now in our works, who are we
pleasing? You know, I thought of this passage
of scripture, I don't think I've ever said this the way it ought
to be said, but you know that scripture in Matthew chapter 5 where the
Lord says, let your light so shine before men that they may
behold your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Now most folks, they let their
light so shine before men that they may glorify themselves.
I don't want to do that. I want to let my light so shine
before men that they may see my good works and glorify my
Father. And if they're glorifying me,
I've done it in such a way to bring glory to myself. I'm sure
of that. Turn with me for a moment to
Matthew chapter 25. beginning in verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come
in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he
sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered
all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd
divided his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. For I was hungry, and you gave
me meat. 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 unto me. Then shall the
righteous answer and say, Lord, when saw we thee that hungered,
and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we
thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
We're not aware of doing anything. And the king shall answer and
say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you've done
it to one of the least of these my brethren, you've done it to
me. Now there are four things I want to point out about that
passage of scripture. First, salvation accomplished before
we even experienced it. Don't you love that? Inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. That lets us know that it is
not by our works. It was given to us before we
had any works, good or bad, and we inherit it. We don't earn
it, we inherit it. And the second thing I would
like to point out is union with Christ. Inasmuch as you did it
to the least of these, my brethren, You did it to me. He didn't say
it's as if you did it to me. If you're a believer, how I treat
you is how I treat Jesus Christ himself. That's how real union
is. You're one with him. If I mistreat
you, I mistreat him. Oh, may the Lord deliver me from
that, and may we enter into the joy of this thing of being united
to Christ, all that he is, I am. As he is, so are we in this world
right now, united to the Lord Jesus Christ, so that in as much
as you've done it to the least of these, my brethren, you've
done it to me. Now, the third thing that I would
notice in this is humility. They didn't know they'd done
any of these things. They really didn't. They didn't have a clue. You know, if you hear that passage
of scripture and think, man, you know, I'm doing pretty good
here, you missed it altogether. You missed it altogether. They
didn't even know they'd done any of these things. If you think
you've done these things, I guarantee you haven't. I'm sure of it.
If somebody's thinking, oh, I'm afraid I haven't done these things,
well, you have. If somebody's thinking, I've
done them, you've not. You've not. They weren't aware
of it. But look at verse 35 through 37 again. This is, more than
anything else, this is what we do in the preaching of the gospel.
For I was hungered, and you gave me meat. I was thirsty, and you
gave me drink. This is what we do when we preach
the gospel. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked,
and you clothed me. with the very righteousness of
Christ. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, locked up,
unable to get out, and you came unto me." Now, why would we preach
the gospel of Christ to Christ? Well, if I preach the gospel
to you, and you're one of His, I'm preaching the gospel to Christ,
the body of Christ. And who is it really that I want
to be impressed with the message I bring? Christ Himself. This is a glorious picture of
the preaching of the gospel. We're pleasing Christ. Now, I say to every believer,
I may be the preacher right now, but you're just as involved in
the preaching of the gospel as I am. The servant's primary purpose
in life is to please his master. never been a better master, never been a poorer servant,
but oh that my one desire is to please my master. Now here is our rule of life. What pleases him? You know, I touched on this at
the first of the message. If you love somebody, If you
really love them, you crave their approval. And if you don't crave
their approval, you do not love them. May we all be someone who
craves the approval of Jesus Christ and oh that he fulfilled
may see the travel of his soul in me and with his work contented
be as I with my dear Savior. But let me relieve you also because
we think how can he ever be approved of me and be pleased with me?
How could that be? Don't forget this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased and God the holy glorious God
is well pleased right now with everybody in Christ. So I'm not going when I'm while
I crave to I want him to be pleased with me. I love him. I want him
to be pleased with me. But I know all of His pleasure
with me is in the Lord Jesus Christ and nowhere else. Let's
pray together. Lord, we ask that we might be
found in Thy Son Lord, we ask that our one desire
is to please Thee. And Lord, we know that the only
way we can please You is in Thy blessed Son. Lord, deliver us
from being men-pleasers. Lord, it would be so easy to
fall into that trap, but deliver us from that and cause us to
seek only Thy glory. Bless this message for Christ's
sake. Give us hearing ears and receptive
hearts. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.