SOME THINGS THAT DESCRIBE OUR SERVICE TO THE LORD

Exo. 8:1

Morning Meditation 9/19/17

"And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me."

The Jews were trapped in a situation where their circumstance hindered their service to the Lord. The LORD wanted this nation of slaves to serve Him. So He called Moses to go and confront Pharaoh and tell him that he was standing in the way of the Jews serving Him. Pharaoh disagreed. He didn't know God and had no intention of letting the LORD'S people go so that they could serve Him.

It is important to remember that when the Jews were freed from Egyptian slavery they traveled on their way to the promised land by Mt. Sinai where Moses received the law and the blueprints for the building of the tabernacle wherein blood sacrifices would be offered daily to the LORD. Their worship would involve some of their time which the Egyptians were completely unwilling for them to take. Pharaoh's plans for the Jews was continued slavery that would meet all the needs of that nation. So his answer to Moses would be an emphatic no! The Jews could not do God's will in their worship in the land of Egypt and they could not do Pharaoh's will out of the land. So they were between a rock and a hard place.

So Just as God's people in Egypt are being called by God to serve Him, we also are being called by God to serve Him. And just as God's call to serve Him required separation from Egypt, our call to service requires separation from the world. So let's look first of all that we are,

SENT ONES TO WITNESS

Mark 16:15, "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." This is a command of the Lord to the Church that He had built while on earth. So He is sending them. There is no other institution on earth that has the authority that a commission like this would give. Every New Testament Church is under orders to go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

So we can correctly associate authority with the carrying out of the great commission. Matthew 28:16-20, "Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." The word "power" in the words "all power is given unto me" translates "exousia." This word is "authority" power. We use the word like the power of the president of our nation. He has the power to call out our armed forces and send them on a peace keeping mission.

Jesus gave His church what we call the great commission. It is great because of whom it represents. It is great because of the greatness of the task. It is great because we have great power to carry out his will with those to whom He sends us.

Jesus said, "All power is given to me in heaven and in earth, go ye therefore . . ." So the Church is operating under His power. We are sent one's to witness. Next,

WE ARE AN EPISTLE TO BE READ

2 Corinthians 3:1-3 says, "Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."

Our Lord's work in the heart of a newly born again believer is truly an epistle. It can be read and it is written by the Lord Himself so that what is written there is very readable and it challenges us every time we read it. It is a message not written by the men's hands but on the fleshly tables of the heart to be read of all men. And since God the Father is the author of this epistle, we need to take care concerning what we read.

2 Corinthians 3:2, "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:"

Verse 2. Ye are our epistle. 1 Corinthians 9:2 says, "If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord."

This is a most beautiful and happy turn given to the whole subject. The sense is plain. It is, that the conversion of the Corinthians, under the faithful labors of the apostle, was a better testimonial of his character and fidelity than any letters could be. To see the force of this, it must be remembered,

1. That Corinth was an exceedingly dissolute and abandoned place.

2. That a large number of them had been converted, and a church organized.

3. That their conversion, and the organization of a church in such a city, were events that would be known abroad; and

4. That it had been accomplished entirely under the labor of Paul and his companions. To their knowledge of him, therefore, and to his success there, he could confidently appeal as a testimonial of his character. The characteristics of this commendatory epistle he proceeds immediately to state. The general sense is, that they were the letter of recommendation which God had given to him; and that their conversion under his ministry was the public testimonial of his character, which all might see and read.

Written in our hearts, reads thus, "your hearts;" and Doddridge has adopted this reading, and supposes that it means that the change produced not only in their external conduct, but in their inward temper, was so great, that all must see that it was an unanswerable attestation to his ministry. But there is not sufficient authority for changing the text; nor is it necessary. The sense is, probably, that this letter was, as it were, written on his heart. It was not merely that Paul had a tender affection for them, as Clarke supposes; nor was it that he regarded them as "a copy of the letter of recommendation from Christ written in his heart," according to the fanciful conceit of Macknight; but Paul's idea seems to have been this: He is speaking of the testimonial which he had from God. That testimonial consisted in the conversion of the Corinthians. This he says was written on his heart. It was not a cold letter of introduction, but it was such as, while it left him no room to doubt that God had sent him, also affected his feelings, and was engraved on his soul. It was to him, therefore, far more valuable than any mere letter of commendation or of introduction could be. It was a direct testimonial from God to his own heart of his approbation, and of his having appointed him to the apostolic office. All the difficulty, therefore, which has been felt by commentator on this passage, may be obviated by supposing that Paul here speaks of this testimonial or epistle as addressed to himself, and as satisfactory to him. In the other characteristics which he enumerates, he speaks of it as fitted to be a letter commendatory of himself to others known and read of all men.

Corinth was a large, splendid, and a dissipated city. Their conversion, therefore, would be known afar. All men would hear of it; and their reformation, their subsequent life under the instruction of Paul, and the attestation which God had given among them to his labors, was a sufficient testimonial to the world at large, that God had called him to the apostolic office.

"Ye are our epistle" 1 Corinthians 9:2 says, "If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord."

WE ARE REPRESENTATIVES TO MANIFEST FORTH THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL

1 John 2:8 says, "Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is passed, and the true light now shineth."

When Christ was here, He represented the Father. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." Christ represented us on the cross by taking our sin, and now, as our great High Priest, He represents us at God's right hand. The Spirit having quickened us, the light of the glorious Gospel having shone into our hearts, and chased the darkness of sin and unbelief away, we are to let our light shine. As John says, "Which thing is true in Him (Christ), and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth." That is, when Jesus was here, He was the light of the world; but now we are the light of the world (a very poor light at the best), and we are responsible to shine as such, holding forth the Word of life.

WE ARE HIS VOICE TO SPEAK

John the Baptist said that he was the voice of one crying in the wilderness; and we are a voice to speak for Christ. How many souls, humanly speaking, are lost for want of the Word? We should speak out boldly, like Peter on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14); lovingly, like Stephen when praying for his enemies (Acts 7:60); earnestly, like Paul when he said to the jailor, "Do thyself no harm" (Acts 16:28).

The voice with which we speak should be in meekness and humility just as it was with Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:25-26, "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will."

We have a great responsibility to the Lord in speaking for Him. We must pray for wisdom and utterance that we represent Him, not only with the truth we preach, but the way we say it, and the lives we live.

May the Lord bless our hearts with these truths. God bless each of you.

In Christ

Bro. White