This is episode 9, and the last episode, of our first series. Last time examined the lives of several slaves of God. They did not obey God because they "felt" like it or because they had the "heart" for it. Instead they obeyed God simply because God commanded it. Indeed in most cases, if they had followed their hearts, they would not have acted at all.

Know whose slave you are and whose slave you are not. Submit to those in authority, but do not be their slaves.

Remember whose slave you are and whose slave you are not. As a believer you are called to be a Slave-of-Christ. You are not called to be “slave” of your husband, your wife, the pastor, or any other person of authority within the church or any other ministry. Jesus stated in Mark 10:42-45 that believers in positions of authority are not to “lord it over” others, explaining: whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

But the sad truth is that there are local churches in which pastors and elders do lord it over others in the congregation. There are spouses who lord it over the other spouse.

We see an example of this in 3 John. The Apostle John writes to the “beloved Gaius.” It seems that Gaius and the local church were struggling with a leader named, Diotrephes, “who likes to put himself first.” Diotrephes was a “control freak” (not sure there is a Greek term for this) who wanted to be in charge of everything and to tell everyone else what to do. Diotrepehes refused to recognize the authority of the Apostles and ex-communicated or threw people out of church if they did not obey him.

John dismisses the actions of Diotrephes as evil and urges Gaius not to imitate such evil ways. John gives us insight as to how to deal with such men, walk away from them if you can, and let the Lord deal with them. But even if you cannot walk away, know that you are not their slave.

Paul urges all the believers in Ephesus to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. So we submit, in the sense of deferring, to leaders and others in authority. In contrast, in Ephesians 6:5, actual slaves are called to obey their earthly masters with fear and trembling. But nowhere are believers called to obey husbands, wives, pastors, and other ministry leaders with fear and trembling as if we were the slaves of such men (women).

Well, it’s time to go to work.

This is episode 8 of our first series. Last time we saw that Biblical worship is very different from contemporary 21st Century Church worship. Biblical worship involved offering your body as a living sacrifice, as a slave to God.

Today we are going to look as some Biblical examples of the Slaves of God. I have to warn you, it’s not pretty.

The slaves of God in Scripture did not act because they "felt" like it or because they had the "heart" for it. Instead they acted simply because God commanded it. Indeed in most cases, if they had followed their hearts, they would not have acted at all.

Slaves-of-God are not asked if they would like to “help” God out. Slaves-of-God are not offered choices. They are not always given ministry tasks that fit their spiritual gifts or their heart story. Slaves-of-God are simply told to do something, and they are not always told why. See:

Moses – Exodus 1:1-4:20

Philip – Acts 8:26-40

Ananias – Acts 9:10-19

Peter – Acts 10

Paul – Acts, 2 Corinthians 11:23-38

Being a Slave-of-Christ surely means being called to serve outside of our comfort zone, like Philip and Peter; being in vulnerable positions, even physical danger, like Ananias and Paul; being rewarded for obedience like Peter; being extremely difficult and frustrated as Moses leading the rebellious Hebrews though the desert for forty years; and in still other situations, we are called to act like Philip but not given a lot of information why. See also Philippians 2:5-11.

And yes, some like Peter and Paul are called to follow the example of Jesus, being martyred for their obedience to the faith. We are called to be Slaves-of-God, men and women such as these. But count the cost, it’s not pretty.

This is episode 7 of our first series. Last time we saw that the only way to show our love for Jesus was to obey his commands, and if we did not obey his commands, we were demonstrating that we did not love him.

Perhaps we are not always obeying the commands of Jesus, but what about worship? Do we not show our love for God through our worship? Some have said that God wants our worship more than our obedience. But is that true? Let’s start by asking what it means to “worship.”

The word worship occurs approximately 188 times in the King James Bible. In Old Testament the underlying Hebrew word for the English word worship is most frequently shachah, which means: “to make low, bow, prostrate, fall down, reverence, and worship.” As an example, in Psalm 95:6 the call is made: To come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.

In the New Testament the underlying Greek word for the English word worship is almost always proskuneo, which means: “to kiss, fawn, crouch, prostrate, bow, reverence, and honor.” As an example, in Matthew 28:9, And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. The actual act of worship described in both the Old and New Testaments sounds an awful lot like what a slave or servant does before his master, all this bowing, prostrating, and making low.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:1-2, gives us the definition of spiritual worship, he says: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Consistent with the teaching of Romans, the Old Testament concept of worship is clearly tied the concept of service. Moses warned the Hebrew people not to go after other gods by serving them and worshipping them. Deu 8:19, 11:16, 30:17.

The Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, after the Temple was built, and warned him about serving other gods and worshipping them. 1 Kings 9:4-7; 2 Chron. 7:17-20.

King Amon is criticized for serving and worshipping the idols of his father, Manasseh. 2 King 21:21