The Mandate for Kingdom Service II by Pastor Emmanuel S. Olowokere. Feb 21, 2010. Watch photo album of the service
Click to see Part 1 of The Mandate for Kingdom Service
We were able to establish last week that the major reason man was created was to serve God. Man was not created merely to serve any personal ends and aspirations.
We also touched on the place of choice in service. Specifically, we saw that it is by choice that we serve anyone we worship, and that our worship is incomplete until we begin to serve God (Matthew 4: 8-10). Finally, we said that “I am delivered because of service” and we looked at the case of the deliverance of the Israelites from servitude in Egypt (Exodus 4:20-23).
Let’s consider two more salient points on service.
4. God does not deal kindly with anything or anyone that stops his people from serving Him. Exodus 9:1-3 says
Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,
Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.
Exodus 8:1-3 equally reveals
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.
And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:
And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs:
5. The level of deliverance I enjoy is dependent upon my service commitment to God. In the Book of Daniel 6:16-28 we see how Daniel gave himself in service completely to God even at the risk of paying the ultimate price. He was unfazed by the threat of being dumped in a lions’ den but steadfastly committed to prayer. It should come as no surprise therefore when God showed up for him big time. The nineteenth to the twenty-third verses show how much of a surprise his preservation was:
Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.
And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
Then was the king exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.
The lesson here shouldn’t be lost on us. Our level of service commitment to God is associated with the level of deliverance we get.
May the good Lord grant us the grace to continually serve Him with all that we’ve got so that He may grant us all He has.
Have a refreshing week in His presence!
