Please turn to the book of Acts, chapter 7. We will begin with verse 17.
But as the time of the promise drew nigh which God vouchsafed unto Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
Till there arose another king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph.
The same dealt craftily with our race, and evil entreated the fathers, that they should cast out their babes to the end they might not live.
At which season Moses was born, and was exceeding fair; and he was nourished three months in his father’s house.
And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in his words and works.
But when he was well-nigh forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, smiting the Egyptian:
And he supposed that his brethren understood that God by his hand was giving them deliverance; but they understood not.
And the day following he showed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
Wouldest thou kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian yesterday?
And Moses fled at this saying, and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons.
Please turn also to Hebrews, chapter 11, beginning with verse 23.
By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a goodly child; and they feared not the king’s commandment.
By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
Choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward.
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.
May we look to the Lord.
Our heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that we, who were once sinners, rebels, misfits—nothing—yet are the objects of Thy great mercy toward us in giving us Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, how we praise and thank Thee that we are the children of God. We praise and thank Thee that we are truly Thy children because we have Thy very life in us. We praise and thank Thee for Thy wonderful salvation. We praise and thank Thee for Thy great purpose toward us.
We praise and thank Thee that we shall not only be called the sons and daughters of God, but also the servants of the Most High. O our Father, as we gather here this morning, our hearts are full of gratitude. We do worship Thee, and we desire to offer ourselves again to Thee, as we are constrained by Thy love.
We pray that Thy will shall be done in each of our lives, as it is in heaven. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
In the past, we have fellowshipped together in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. There we find that Genesis is actually a book of biographies—the biographies of eight men.
It shows us, first, that God is interested in man. Second, God is after the man of His own heart. And third, God is working in the lives of men in order to bring them to be the man who will satisfy God’s own heart.
It begins with Adam. God created Adam in His own image. It ends with Joseph, a man who sits upon the throne.
You know, this is always God’s thought. Image may speak of life; dominion speaks of service. With the image of God’s Son, our life is matured to enter into sonship—the placing of the son. And the placing of the son is to take up responsibility, to have dominion.
Oftentimes, we think dominion means that you sit high above, look down upon everybody, give orders to everybody, and are served. Not so. Dominion actually is service. With dominion, you are able to serve God’s purpose. You are able to serve God and to serve man.
So this is what we find in the first book of the Bible, Genesis.
Now, when you turn to the second book, Exodus, of course we see the plan of God’s salvation: how God saved the children of Israel out of Egypt in order to bring them into the promised land. It is a wonderful story, and it reveals to us God’s plan of salvation.
But for our purpose, we are not going to enter into the history of God’s people, their deliverance, and God’s plan of salvation. Instead, we will use the book of Exodus again as a biographical study. In other words, we will concentrate on Moses.
Moses, the servant of the Lord.
Now, brothers and sisters, you know that sonship and servanthood are the two great themes in the Bible: life and service. With the kind of life you have, you will have the kind of service.
If God can have the man of His own heart, then that man will be used by Him for His own purpose.
We who are the Lord’s are the children of God. But, brothers and sisters, unless we grow, unless we mature, unless we are transformed and conformed to the image of God’s Son, we do not arrive at sonship.
We may be babes in Christ, children of God; but God’s purpose concerning us is that we may grow into maturity, grown up to be sons of God, that He can place us with His Son. Because His Son is to lead many sons into glory.
Now, that is God’s purpose concerning us in life. We need to grow. But at the same time, we are also God’s servants. We are not only God’s children, but we are also God’s servants.
Every child of God is a servant of the Lord. Of course, I speak it in a very general term. In other words, if we are born again into the house of God, then at the same time we are called to serve in God’s house. There is no exception. Every child of God is called to serve.
But sometimes we cannot serve, or we do not serve, not because we are not called to serve—to be servants of God. It is because we do not grow. We do not grow in spiritual stature, and because of that, it hinders us from doing the work that God has called each one of us to do.
If we grow in the Lord, then we will be able to serve God according to God’s thought concerning each one of us.
So, for this reason, I feel that after we have studied the man that God wants, the right sequence will be that we shall also continue with the servant that God wants.
If we want to study servanthood, I think, aside from our Lord Jesus, who is the perfect Servant, in the Old Testament it will be Moses; in the New Testament, it will be Paul. Of course, there are many other servants of the Lord, but these two men, I think, are typical servants from whom we can learn a great deal about servanthood.
Do you remember in Numbers? The Lord said:
My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all My house.
And this is quoted in Hebrews, chapter 3: Moses, the servant of God, who was faithful in all God’s house.
The whole life of Moses—the Holy Spirit divides his life into three parts of forty years each. If you read Acts, chapter 7, which is the comment of the Holy Spirit, the summary of the life of Moses, you find that the Holy Spirit sums up his life into three periods of forty years each:
Now, forty in the Scripture is a very special number. Every number in the Scripture has spiritual significance. Forty is a number of testing or trial. Four is the number of man; ten is the number of responsibility. When you multiply four by ten, you have testing or trial.
Our Lord Jesus was in the wilderness being tested for forty days. Moses went up to the top of the mountain for forty days and forty nights, waiting to receive the Ten Commandments. The children of Israel were in the wilderness for forty years. Forty is a number of testing or trial.
Here you find Moses’ life: forty, forty, and forty. The first forty years he was tested by the riches of Egypt. The second forty years he was tested by those dumb sheep. In the last forty years, he was tested by those stiff-necked people of Israel.
It seems as if he was tested and tested and tested. The testing never seemed to come to an end. But out of all these testings, you find a servant of the Lord.
So do not be afraid of being tested. You will be tested to the very end. But thank God that out of all these testings, you will find God’s servant. “Well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
Oh, may it be so with every one of us.
Now, this morning I would like to share with you the first forty years. We will see how far we can cover.
Moses was born under an impossible situation, but he was born with a definite purpose of God.
When Moses was born, he was born under a king who did not know Joseph. From secular history, we know that at that time another dynasty came to rule over Egypt. This new dynasty did not know the story of Joseph—how God used Joseph to save Egypt and to save the world.
Therefore, the king did not appreciate the children of Israel as the former dynasty had done. Because God blessed the children of Israel and they grew so rapidly, the new king was afraid of these people. He thought that if there should be war, they would turn against him and leave.
Because of that, he oppressed them. He put them into hard labor, slave labor. He caused them to build cities and storehouses. But still the people grew.
So he decreed that every male child born to the children of Israel must be cast into the River Nile. He wanted to wipe out that race.
When Moses was born, he was born under the sentence of death. In other words, he was born to die. He was not born to live. After he was born, he was to be cast into the River Nile and swallowed up by the crocodiles.
But the Bible says he was a beautiful child. He was exceedingly beautiful.
Now, I wonder whether there is any baby who is not beautiful—at least in the eyes of the parents. I think every child is beautiful. Then why does the Bible put it in such an emphatic way?
You find in Exodus that Moses, when he was born, was beautiful. You find in Acts that he was “exceeding fair,” which means fair unto God. Then you find in Hebrews again that he was beautiful. Why does the Holy Spirit draw attention to this?
I believe it is more than simply a beautiful baby physically. I believe that he was beautiful in God’s purpose. This child was born with a definite purpose of God. Why? Because God wanted to use this child to deliver the children of Israel.
But, strange to say, God had such a purpose for the child, and yet that child was born under an impossible situation. Humanly speaking, he was going to die. There was no way out.
His parents saw that he was fair unto God. Somehow, they sensed in their spirit that this child was different from other children, that God wanted to use the child. Therefore, the Bible says, by faith they hid the child.
Now, that was not easy. When a baby wanted to cry, what could you do? I think many mothers are exasperated when, in a meeting, the child begins to cry. What can you do? Everybody will look at you.
They hid the child for three months. That was quite something. But after three months they could not hide him anymore, because he got louder and louder. There were spies everywhere.
So finally they made an ark. They daubed it with pitch, made it watertight, put the little baby in the basket, and put him in the River Nile. That was the king’s sentence.
But God is sovereign. Pharaoh’s daughter came to the river to bathe, and she saw that basket. She asked her maid to take the basket. When the basket was opened, God caused the baby to cry, and that cry touched the heart of a woman.
She knew it was a Hebrew baby. She knew that. But her heart was touched. She took the baby, and Moses’ mother nursed the baby for Pharaoh’s daughter until he was weaned. Then he was brought to the palace, and there he was as Pharaoh’s daughter’s son.
He was not only allowed to live, but he lived in the palace. The Bible says he was mighty in words and deeds. In other words, he learned all the learning that Egypt could offer. Egypt was the greatest empire in the world at that time.
He learned everything Egypt could offer, and he became mighty in words and deeds. He was eloquent. He became great. According to secular history or tradition, we are told that Moses became a great general.
Pharaoh’s daughter was a great woman in the Egyptian empire, and Moses had every opportunity to succeed to the throne. He became very great. All the riches of Egypt were before him. He was to inherit the world.
But somehow, he was restless. He was not satisfied with the riches of Egypt. Somehow, down within his spirit, something was stirring. Probably that was planted in his little heart when he was nursing at his mother’s breast.
Somehow, the mother had put God into his heart. Somehow, God was drawing him. Somehow, he felt that God was home. He could not rest.
A servant of the Lord is sovereignly chosen.
You remember the story of Jeremiah. When he was young, God spoke to him and said:
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee,
And before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee;
I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.
You remember what Paul says in Galatians, chapter 1. He says that God set him apart from his mother’s womb.
Ephesians, chapter 1, tells us that we were chosen in Christ Jesus even before the foundation of the world.
Now, it becomes more and more mysterious. Even before we were born, God had chosen us. Even before we were formed in the mother’s womb, God already knew us. Even before the foundation of the world was laid, God had already chosen us in Christ Jesus.
Now, it is a mystery we do not understand, but we know the fact.
So far as Moses was concerned, even before he was born, God knew him. Even before he was born, God had consecrated him. Even before the foundation of the world, God had chosen him. He did not choose God; God chose him to be His servant.
And this is true of every one of us here, dear brothers and sisters. When you come to this matter of servanthood, the first principle of servanthood is that God chooses us.
You do not choose Him; He chooses you. He chose you even before the foundation of the world. He chose you even before you were born in your mother’s womb. He chose you even while you were in your mother’s womb.
You were not conscious of it. You did not know anything about it, but He knew all the time. He has chosen you to be not only His children, but also His servants. You are chosen. It is sovereign.
Even though it seems as if the environment is against God’s purpose, God has chosen. Moses was born with a sentence of death upon him. He was cast into the River Nile. Even after he was reared in the palace of Egypt, with all the riches of the world, it did not seem to agree with God’s choice. And yet God chose.
No matter what the circumstances, dear brothers and sisters, oftentimes you find that because God has chosen you, all the circumstances seem to be just the opposite—taking you away from God, away from the service of God. Yet God has chosen you.
In the service of God, there is no volunteer. Our whole concept of service is wrong. We think that we volunteer to serve God. We think that God should be honored because we serve Him. We think that He should thank us because we are willing to serve.
No such thing. No servant chooses his master. The master chooses his servant. You do not choose Him; He chooses you.
And if He has chosen you, you have no way out.
Do you remember what Paul says in 1 Corinthians, chapter 9?
For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; for woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.
For if I do this of mine own will, I have a reward: but if not of mine own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me.
If you volunteer, you have something to boast of. But Paul says, “If I announce the good tidings, I have nothing to boast of, for a necessity is laid upon me. Woe is unto me if I should not announce the good tidings.”
If I do it voluntarily, I have a reward, thank God for that. But if not voluntarily, I am entrusted with an administration. Even if I do not want to, I have already been entrusted. What can I do? I have to do it.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, I do hope we can see this. I do hope we can see that we have not volunteered in the service of God. I do hope we can see that God has chosen us.
Our Lord Jesus said in John 15:16:
Ye did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that ye should go and bear fruit.
He has chosen you. Because He has chosen you, you are chosen. There is no escape. If you do it willingly and voluntarily, you have a reward. If you do not do it willingly, you still have to do it, because God has chosen you.
This is the first principle of serving. We need to see, dear brothers and sisters, that we are chosen.
You are not only chosen to be a child of God—and thank God for that—but do you not know that at the same time you are also chosen to be a servant of the Lord?
In what capacity you serve, I do not know. But you are a servant nevertheless. You are chosen. Do you thank Him for that, or are you afraid of hearing that?
Sometimes among Christians, you do not find people debating whether they want to be saved or not. But you find among Christians that they are debating whether they will serve or not.
You have no choice. You have to serve. Every brother and every sister is called to serve.
Let my people go, that they may serve me.
This is the word God gave to Pharaoh through Moses.
Because of this, you find that God was working within the heart of Moses. He could not rest. Somehow he felt he had a calling. Somehow he knew God had chosen him to deliver the children of Israel. He could not help it.
When he was forty years old, fully matured, he made a decision.
Here you come to the second principle of servanthood. The first principle of servanthood is that God chooses you. The second principle of servanthood is that you choose God.
You cannot reverse the order.
In Hebrews, chapter 11, it says, “Moses, choosing rather.” There is a choice you have to make; that is true. But your choice is next, not first. God chooses you first, and because God has chosen you, one day, so far as your personal experience is concerned, you will come to a time when you have to make a choice.
Will you choose God and His service, or will you choose the world?
Here you find Moses:
By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
Choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
Moses had to make a choice between the people of God and the pleasure of sin; to share the sufferings of God’s people, or to enjoy the pleasures of sin. He had to make a choice between the reproach of Christ and the riches of Egypt.
Christ or the world. Suffering or the pleasures of sin.
Moses had the world almost in his hand. He would be the future Pharaoh. He had already proven himself mighty. He was successful as a great statesman, a great general, an empire builder.
But, on the other hand, he was to serve God’s purpose by serving the children of Israel. In doing that, he had to suffer with them. It was the reproach of Christ or the riches of the world. He had to make a choice.
It took him forty years to make that choice. Finally, at the end of forty years, he cast his lot with God, with the people of God. Why? He saw Him who is invisible.
By faith he made the choice. It is a choice of faith.
There is no contradiction between these two choices. So far as God’s eternal purpose is concerned, God chooses us. But so far as our response to God’s purpose is concerned, we choose Him.
There will come a day, dear brothers and sisters, when you have to make that choice. There is no neutral ground.
Are you going to live for yourself? Are you going to build your own empire? Are you going to be successful in the world? Or are you going to live for God, to serve His purpose, to do whatever His will may be for you, that His people may be built and His kingdom may be manifested?
You have to make the choice.
You may not have all the opportunities Moses had, but still you have your world. In principle, it is just the same.
Dear brothers and sisters, I wonder how many have already made the choice. I wonder how many are delaying their choice. I wonder how many are still weighing these two things and do not know what to do.
For God or for the world? No, you cannot have both. There is bound to come a time when you have to make the choice. It is a critical moment.
Whom will you serve? God or mammon? Yourself or Christ?
Now, it is true: so far as your flesh is concerned, if you choose Christ, it may mean reproach. It may mean suffering. If you choose the world, it may mean the pleasures of sin—namely, the riches of the treasures of Egypt.
But are you shortsighted or farsighted? Do you see the Invisible One? If all you see is the visible, the seen, then no doubt you would choose Egypt. But, dear brothers and sisters, if you see the unseen, what is the world? It is but refuse.
Paul made that choice. He said:
I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.
And he made that choice. It was not easy for Moses. I believe he went through many heart-searchings, many nights without sleep. But somehow the love of God constrained him. When he was forty, he cast his lot with the people of God. He made the choice.
Dear brothers and sisters, I know God has chosen every one of us, but I wonder how many of us have chosen Him—choosing rather.
I do not believe that we can live our life halfheartedly, halfway. You have to make your choice. Yes, you need to see the Invisible One in order to make the right choice. It takes faith.
This is the second principle of servanthood.
Now Moses was walking in the position of a servant. What is the sign of a servant?
The first sign of a servant is that Moses became interested in the people of God. When he was forty, it came into his heart to look after the condition of his brethren.
Before that, he lived in a palace. He lived royally because he belonged to the royal family. While his own brethren were suffering as slaves, he was not concerned with them. He was concerned with himself. What could he get? How much could he enjoy? How much could he gain? He wanted to gain the whole world. That was his concern and his interest.
But once he became a servant of the Lord, the first sign was that he became interested in what God was interested in. He felt concerned about the people of Israel because they were the people with whom God was concerned.
Now, brothers and sisters, how do you know that you are a servant of the Lord? How do you know that you are in that place where you may begin to serve? I think the first sign is that you become concerned and interested in God’s interests and in God’s people. That is a sure sign of servanthood.
Before that, you are interested in yourself. Perhaps you are interested in your life, your studies, your business, or your future. But one day, when you begin to be concerned about God’s people, His church, His kingdom, and His righteousness, then you know you are growing.
Service is not a work that is put upon anybody. Service is something that grows out of a heart concern.
In this world, work is something put upon you. You do a job; that is it. You may not be concerned whether the business prospers, fails, or is going down. That is the concern of the owner. You are just an employee. You come, do your work, and receive your wages. That is all.
But in the service of God, it is very different. In the service of God, there is nothing simply put upon anybody. It has to come from within you. God has put a burden in you. God has put a concern in you. God has put an interest in you.
It is His interest, His concern, His burden. As the burden begins to grow within you, then you know it is something God wants you to serve.
Moses began to say, “I live in a palace, and my brothers are dying. Let me go and see how they are.” So he went out.
Unfortunately, he began his work independently. The burden was right. The concern was right. But instead of waiting upon God and letting God take the initiative, and waiting upon God to show him what to do and how to do it, out of his good heart he just went out and tried to see what he could find and what he could do.
Sure enough, temptation came before him. He went out the first day, and there was an Egyptian ill-treating a Hebrew. He looked to the right and to the left, and there was nobody there. He was mighty in deeds, so he smote the Egyptian and buried him under the sand.
He thought his brethren knew that God was using him to deliver them. He thought he was being used by God. He thought he was serving God. Now he had begun.
The next day he went out again, and another temptation came. Two Hebrews were quarrelling, and one was wronging the other. Moses was mighty in words, so he began to use his eloquence and tried to solve their quarrel. He said, “You are brethren. Why do you wrong one another?”
He thought certainly they would understand, but they did not. One pushed him back and said, “Who made you our judge? Do you want to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?”
Moses knew the news had spread. Pharaoh heard about it, and Moses fled for his life.
Thank God for that.
You know, dear brothers and sisters, if you do not consider yourself a servant of God, you have absolutely no interest or concern in God’s church, God’s people, or God’s interests. You are only thinking of yourself. You are only trying to build up yourself. That is all you are thinking of doing.
But once you begin to respond to God’s call, and you begin to be concerned with God’s people, interested in whatever God is interested in, you begin to feel that you have a responsibility among the brothers and sisters. Thank God for that. You should.
But the problem is this: after you begin to be interested, and after you begin to be zealous for the Lord, instead of waiting upon the Lord and letting the Lord show you what He wants you to do and how to do it, you just go ahead.
You take the initiative. You begin to speak out. You begin to work it out. The problem is that it is all your flesh.
Yes, you may be mighty in words and deeds, but that mightiness is terrible. Your heart is right. Your intention is right. But your way is wrong.
The good you can do is very little, but the trouble you can cause is very great. That is probably what we find among God’s people.
Oftentimes, we hope that all of God’s people will rise up, that everybody will be active, everybody will contribute, everybody will do his part, and everybody will take responsibility. That is what it should be. Every talent should be used—the five talents, the two talents, and the one talent. If this were the case, you would see the church in glory.
But if brothers and sisters are not concerned and a few take the whole responsibility, those few will work themselves to death. That is true, but there is very little problem.
Whenever everybody becomes interested, however, and each has a word, you find all the discussions and pulling here and there: “I agree.” “I do not agree.” “I think this way is better.” “I think that way is best.” “I do not see how it should be done that way. I think it should be done this way.”
All these opinions come out. Instead of waiting upon the Lord to know His mind, everybody gives his piece of mind.
Not only words, but deeds too. There are lots of activities. You want to do this; someone else wants to do that. One says, “You should do this,” and another says, “At least you should do that.” All these things begin to come up.
You may kill one Egyptian; that is all. You cannot even solve the problem between two brothers. Finally, you have to flee for your life.
Oh, you think, “I am so disappointed. God called me. Now I am taking up responsibility. God should back me up, use me, and prosper me. Why do my brethren not understand? Do they not understand that God is calling me?”
They reject you. What do you do? You think, “From now on, I will not say a word. Even if the house collapses, let it collapse. From now on, I will not raise a finger. I will not do anything.”
Or even worse: “From now on, you will not see my face anymore. You are finished. You do not deserve to be delivered.”
Dear brothers and sisters, do you know this is the way we learn? Nobody is born to be a servant of the Lord without the need of learning. There is no such thing as a spiritual genius. We all have to learn the hard way.
The third principle of servanthood is the cross. We have to learn the lesson of the cross. Let the cross work in our flesh and cut it off.
It is through failures, disappointments, and despair that we are delivered from ourselves. Unless we are delivered from ourselves, we cannot deliver any brother or sister. Unless we are delivered from ourselves, we cannot be used in the work of God.
Why? Because otherwise it will be our work, in our way, with our strength, for our glory.
Brothers and sisters, on the one hand, we need to rise up and give ourselves to God, willing to serve. But on the other hand, we need to accept the cross working in our lives, that our flesh, our strength, and our self may be dealt with and touch the heart of God.
There seems to be a paradox, and yet this is the way God prepares His servants.
I think probably we will just stop here. But I do hope that, brothers and sisters, we see the principles that govern servanthood.
Every one of us is a servant. In whatever capacity, the Lord knows. Nevertheless, serving the Lord is our life. We serve the Lord with our life, with the life that He has given us.
But remember these three principles:
Then, through these testings, the Lord is able to produce servants who will really serve His purpose.
Our heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that it is Thou who hast chosen us, not we who chose Thee. How far do we thank Thee that we, who are we, are chosen to serve such a great God, such a merciful Master. It is our honor to serve Thee.
Our Father, we pray that we may be constrained by the love of Christ, that we may give ourselves to Thee and say, “Lord, we do not go out free, because we do not want to do our own things. We want to serve Thee for life.”
Father, do teach us the lesson of the cross, that we may not just come to serve Thee in zeal but without knowledge. We pray that we may not touch the ark with the hand of flesh. We pray that Thou wilt deal with us by Thy cross, that our service may be offered through and unto Thee.
In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.