He came to serve
Key Passage: Matthew 20:28
Date: June 7, 2024
The vow there says even as the Son of Jesus, one of His titles, came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many. Sometimes we just have a little disconnect sometimes with us minister. Maybe the closest English word would be serve.
Even as a sentiment, Jesus came not to be served, if you will, to be ministered unto or to be served, but to minister, but to serve. What an amazing thing. That’s Jesus. He didn’t come to, for Rabbi, do everything for Him. He came to serve. And then He says, “and to give His life a ransom for many.” He came to pay our debt. He came to serve the world salvation. Just that convicted and gave me a little vision while I was preparing for tonight. And Lord, I pray, would You do that to all of us? Lord, convict us where we need it. More like You. Jesus, You’re amazing. Stand amazed in Your presence. And would You live through us more because of tonight? And Lord, well, thank You for what You do. We love You. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray and believe. Amen.
Naturally, I’m talking about us. We’re selfish people.
A baby, a newborn baby or a young baby, they don’t look out of their crib in the nursery and see the other child suffering so they cry for the other child. They just don’t do that. They’re crying because they want something. They might need something. And it’s just all about them. I’m not trying to be mean, but that’s just honest truth. Now, everybody else in there, it could be a perfect picture of them, but we’re not smiling just right, or we don’t look good in the picture. Who cares about the rest of the people? We need to take the picture again because of us. Paul Chisgar, for sure, that’s just us. We’re prone to be like that.
Story about a little boy. He had a wagon, and he had his little sister in the wagon. And he was pulling, pulling his sister in the wagon, you know. And his aunt was there. And his aunt was standing in the doorway. And she saw Bobby, and little Bobby said, “I’m trying to make my little sister happy.” And boy, the aunt was impressed. Wow. What a good boy. Man, he’s got a guard, doesn’t he? He’s trying to make his little sister happy. Only problem was the more the aunt watched, the more she realized the little sister was terrified of riding in the wagon. She would do everything she could to get out of the wagon, and little Bobby kept pulling the wagon. Finally the aunt said, “Hey, Bobby, your little sister, she doesn’t want to ride in the wagon. She wants to be out and pull the wagon.” This is what he said: “But I want to pull the wagon. Make her happy doing it my way.” Isn’t that how it is? I guess that’s just our nature. We got it from Adam. We’re just prone to selfishness.
Jesus wasn’t like that. The most unselfish one that ever was. Hey, the God of the universe, He created it all. And yet He left His throne in heaven. Came down to this sudden curse for Him. And He deservedly could have come down here for everybody to do everything for Him. But He said, “I didn’t come for people to minister to Me.” He said, “I came to minister to you.” I mean, if anybody deserves to be served, Jesus does. I’m always amazed at the marriage supper of the Lamb. He’s going to serve us. Incredible.
I’m amazed about this: Jesus, Him and the Father are one, and they never contradict, and three in one—hard to comprehend all that. But He said, “All power is given to Me in heaven and earth” at one point. There’s an ascension there. And Jesus, but you know, the Bible says in Romans 8 that we’re joint heirs with Christ. In other words, He’s got all the inheritance, if you will, everybody else every way with. Philippians too says He made Himself of no reputation. It wasn’t about Him, you know, no, no. He came to the will of the Father.
The most unselfish person you’d ever meet is Jesus. The text we just read: James and John, their mom had come and said, “Hey, Jesus, they got a favorite answer.” She said, “Well, what is it?” She said, “Can my sons sit on Your right?” And Jesus, in fact, said, “Well, you’re going to do that.” He was talking about one day they were going to be martyred also, and they were. But then He said, “Now, but to sit on My right hand, the left hand of the King, who’s going to be?” And that’s when Jesus makes this statement. He said, “Look, I didn’t come to be served. I came to serve.” And He said, “Now, in the world, the ones that rise up, they want everybody else to serve them. But in My kingdom, no, no, you rise up, you serve.” And Jesus said, “I came to serve. I didn’t come to minister to.” That’s the context of what we’re reading. But Jesus, just as unselfishness—it wasn’t about Him, though it could be. And one day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess. See? But just, so how can we get? How can I give? Paul’s got a flesh about a mile long, and I want everybody to do for me. But how can I get from where Paul, my flesh is over here, where Jesus is? More like Jesus, unselfish, where I’m living for others. By the way, that’s the title of it: Living for others.
How can I be like Jesus, living for others? Look over in Galatians 2. And look at verse number 20. It’s a great verse, probably many of you know it by heart. It’s a wonderful verse.
“Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Now, here’s the thing. I said, “I am crucified with Christ.” By the way, positionally, we are there. Truthfully, the Holy Spirit has to help me with this. And sometimes it’s me saying it over and over again: “I’m crucified with Christ.” It’s not about Paul anymore. I’m crucified with Christ. If I’m going to get from over here, where my flesh is concerned about me, and the more I give myself to Jesus, I’m not my own anymore. I’m Yours. I’m bought with a price. Lord, You have my ears, You have my eyes, You have my nose, You have my mouth. I’m Yours. These hands are Your hands, these feet are Your feet. I’m Yours. The more Jesus gets to flow through you, you begin to resemble Him, that He wasn’t concerned about me, me, me, me, me. You ever find yourself in conversation: “How do I get to where Jesus is?” I’m crucified with Christ. Oh, friend, that’s key. I’m crucified with Christ. It’s not me living. What Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ.” Yeah. The same truth.
And it’s about Jesus living through. It’s no longer about your feelings and what you want to do. “What do you want to do with your life?” We ask so many young people, “What do you want to do?” I understand. I ask that sometimes, but the honest truth is, for a Christian, it’s not about what they want to do with their life. It’s about what God wants them to do with their life.
I often think about this: I worked in a lot of factories for years and years and welding shops and all that. If you drop a selfish Christian in the middle of a factory, a bunch of lost guys, for the most part, he’s going to repel them. Now, yes, if you live God in Christ Jesus, there’s going to be some persecution. But you drop a fellow in the middle of that factory that’s like Jesus, and there’s going to be some attraction. Jesus wasn’t all about Him. He was all about others. See?
It’s an interesting story I’ve read years ago. Sir Ernest Shackleton, a great explorer. He was big into exploring the Antarctic. And it was just kind of… And he said, “Well, it was a night. We were in an emergency hut. We were out of food. We thought we were going to die.” And he said, “We were just stranded out there in the Antarctic and couldn’t get our way back and whatnot. And we had just given out our last food… biscuits.” Biscuits were fighting over. Somebody say amen right there, especially if you get some jelly on there, you know, come on. And I said, “We’re giving it out.” And he said, “I thought everybody was asleep.” And he said, “I was in this emergency hut.” And he said, “It was late, but I was still awake a little bit.” And he said, “I could not believe it.” He said, “I was just… I just couldn’t believe it. I trusted him.” And he’s reaching over and taking this other… And then he said, “I saw that man take his biscuit and put it in his pack.” He said, “I dare not tell you that man’s name. I felt that was an act secret between himself and God.” If we have love one for another, yeah, we love one another. Jesus is about other people. So how can I? I died 2,000 years ago with Christ. And I’m living, but not me—it’s Christ living in me. That’s point number one.
Now let’s go to the next thing. Look over in 1 John 4, verse number 8. 1 John 4, and verse number 8. We used to sing these verses: 1 John 4:7 and 8, a great, great song. By the way, a great way to learn the Bible is singing. 1 John 4. And look in verse number… “He who does not love knows not God, for God is love.” Now, first thing: if I’m going to live for others, I’m going to love others. And I’m here to say, head knowledge—yes, that. I’m talking about a heart. You get close to Him. You start a beautiful world for us. You get your prayer calls and you say, “Lord, I just, I need to be with You. Please, can I see You more? Closer to You?”
I am amazed. I don’t do it very often. It can be depressing. But I’m amazed every once in a while. I’ll listen to one of my sermons. I don’t know if I ever listen to one of them through because it’s kind of discouraging sometimes to listen to yourself. But here’s the thing: when I first listen to it, I’m always amazed about this. First thing I think: “Man, do I really sound that hillbilly?” They were picking on me about how I say “Chattanooga.” I don’t know if I say it right now or not. I don’t know. I used to not, but maybe a little bit closer to right now. But anyway, that’s the first thing I think of: “Man, where in the world? That hillbilly prayer.” Thank you, Mom. I’ll take it. Amen. Here’s the thing: I went to Bible College up north. Yeah. Amen, Ms. Barham. Just a little bit south of Chicago, northwest Indiana. And when I first got there, they were on me. “Man, we got this southern boy here,” you know. You ever have somebody just tell you, “Talk.” “Well, what do you want to talk about? Just talk about anything.” We just want to hear you talk. Now, don’t follow anything you’re really going to be, but after I was there a couple of years, I began to talk a little bit like them. But it still had a little bit of that in there, so they’d give me a hard time. And they’d go back down south and they said, “When you go back down south, you start talking like those people,” and they would give me a hard time. I mean, that’s like the fellow you heard about—the fellow who didn’t know if he was on the Union or the Confederate side, so I wore a gray shirt. I wasn’t trying to do that. I was just hanging around people, and it was rubbing off on me. And you hang around God; it begins to rub off on you, and it becomes less about you and more about others. You become godly. And it’s not always you beating yourself into doing it. I want to please Him, but it just rubs off on you. If you get close to God, God’s got a heartbeat for people, for God so loved the world.
You get real close to God. By the way, part of this thing is—some people, they just kind of go into panic mode because of maybe the way they’re raised or whatnot. And whoever’s around them, they’re going to be dragging and pulling, kind of like somebody drowned and going into panic mode. They’re just… But now the Lord meets your needs, and you’re not drowning anymore. And He satisfies your longings, so you’re not so insecure and so focused on you anymore. It begins to change. He just rubs off on you, and it becomes more about others. I’ve noticed when I’m not spending much time with the Lord: “How is everybody treating me? What kind of wife is my wife to me? Hey, what are people saying about me? What are they doing? And how is somebody treating me?” And when I’m spending a little bit more time with the Lord, it’s not about all that. “Am I meeting my needs? Am I helping those I’m around? Am I loving them?” I get, man, I got a flesh about 10 miles long, you know: “Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul. How can I get over there to over here like Jesus?” Well, number one, I get up on the cross with Christ. I’m crucified with Christ. “Not I, but Christ liveth in me.” And then number two, I just hang around Him. I just get to know Him. Hey, look, if you know Him, you see…
Number three: If you look over in 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter number one real quickly. 1 Peter chapter number one, we won’t—we won’t get all this. There’s no way, there’s a lot there. Let’s just touch at it real quick. Second Peter—did I say Second Peter? First Peter, I’m sorry. Second Peter, Second Peter chapter number one. Second Peter chapter number one, and look in verse number five. Second Peter 1:5.
By the way, I think this cycle gets bigger and bigger: “Add to your faith virtue,” the strength, strengthen up to what’s right, and to virtue, knowledge, temperance, and to temperance, patience, and to patience, charity. Basically, you can kind of boil them down to this: It’s no longer about you; it’s about them. Charity seeks not its own. And it’s amazing, this cycle. Paul wants to be all about Paul. If I’m going to get from here to over there, being like Jesus—Jesus said, “I didn’t come for people to minister to Me. I came to minister. I came to give My life a ransom for many.” And if I’m going to get over here, you grow in grace, and you continue to grow. And in some of these upper stages—I’m not saying I’m there, but you get there—this brotherly kindness and charity… “He shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” By the way, if you don’t grow, you can forget being unfruitful. I was talking about dropping that guy in the middle of one of those factories, a bunch of sinners around there. We’re all there, but a lot of lost people there. And that guy… cut away some things out of my life and add some things to my life. And I stay faithful to the Lord. I stay in church. Stay in the Bible reading. I take the next step, every step. “Suffereth long, is kind, it’s not puffed up, it doesn’t behave itself unseemly.” I can’t… It’s not… Let Him continue to mold you and make you. And the more, Lord Jesus, “I’m Yours, and I want to follow.” I want to get up… Fellas, and more He meets your needs, and no longer is it kind of just like a vacuum, everybody around gets sucked in. It’s not about, you know, it’s now, the Lord’s met my needs. Again, you work at this thing, you’re diligent, you’re trying to grow in the Lord, and you get that brotherly kindness, charity…
There’s an artist, Turner. His pictures are on the internet, just bright scenery. And they were opening a new art museum exhibit in 1826, and they hung his painting between two of Sir Thomas Lawrence’s. Now, here’s the thing about Sir Thomas Lawrence: their paintings were kind of dull. They weren’t real bright and vibrant. So it bothered Turner. He went to Lawrence and said, “Look, would you move my painting?” Other people had said, “Your painting is so bright, it makes his look just bad.” And it bothered him. He went to Lawrence and said, “Would you move my painting? I don’t want to be there. I don’t want to be in that spot because of the way it made the other guy look.” Right, just a vibrant painting. And so he took a party of people to see this bright, vibrant painting in the middle of these two dull paintings. And he went to the artist—he knew him. He said, “What happened? Your painting is ruined.” And he said, “Shh.” That’s what they call charity. Well, you’re living for others. It’s not all about you. And that’s Jesus. He didn’t come for people to serve Him. He came to serve. He gave His life a ransom for many. I’m not there. How do I get from being fleshly? When I get up on the cross with Christ, I’m crucified with Christ. He lives through you. Then I just walk with Him, and He begins to rub off on me. And then I say, “Lord, I just want to keep growing. Whatever changes need to be made, I’ll make them because I want to keep growing.” And He answers that. It gets to the point where brotherly kindness and charity… They were arguing about who’s going to be the greatest. Jesus said, “Fellas, I didn’t come to be ministered unto; I came to minister and give My life a ransom for many.”
Would you bow your heads, please? Would you bow your heads? I’m not there like I like to be, but I like to grow. You’re there tonight. You said, “Preacher, I’d like to be crucified with Christ. I’d like for Christ to live through me more.” God spoke to my heart about that. I’d like to get up on the cross with Christ and be crucified, Him live through me more. That’s you tonight? Preacher, would you slip your hand up? I’d like to be there more. I’d like to be there. Me too. I’m with you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Wonderful. Wonderful. They that are Christ’s have crucified themselves. I thank you so very much for letting the Lord work in your heart. You’re here to know. I brought off on me a little bit. Preacher, God spoke to my heart about spending more time with the Lord. That’s you? Me too. Me too. Me too. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you so very much. Thank you so very much. You put your hands up. By the way, you can do it anywhere. Cry out to the Lord still. You can be talking to the Lord inside here tonight. You said, “Preacher, I just want to keep growing. I want to grow in the Lord. I want Him to keep adding in my life, and I’m willing to change, and I want Him to mold me, and I’m growing. I’ll fall, but I want to keep getting up and growing for the Lord,” and God spoke to my heart, “I need to grow in the Lord.” And God spoke to me, “I need to keep following and obeying and letting Him grow me in my life,” and that spoke to my heart about that tonight. Anybody like that? Just look up here. That’s me. That’s me. Oh, God bless you. God bless you. Wonderful, wonderful. God growing us. Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you so very, very much.
Maybe you’re here tonight. You say, “Preacher, I’m not taking that step of putting my faith in Jesus Christ. If tonight were my last night on earth, I’d wake up tomorrow in hell.” Friend, God loves you. He doesn’t want that for you. He gave His Son. Jesus shed His blood. He came to make a ransom for you. Here tonight, you said, “Preacher, I don’t know that heaven’s my home. I don’t know that I’m a child of God on my way to heaven.” I’d love to pray for it. Hey, Christians, let’s seek to be like Jesus. Let’s let Him shine through us. Would you please stand tonight? We’re going to have a word of prayer.
I don’t deserve it, Lord. Thank You, thank You, thank You for being a servant. Lord, we’d like to be like You. Forgive me, I’m so selfish. Would You allow us to be on the cross with You? Would You live through us? Would You let us get closer to You? We want You to rub off on us. We need You to, Lord. And Father, would You continue to grow? Show us each step. Grow us in and for You. Help our people. Invitation, Lord, in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Would you just be obedient to the Lord? Would you come as we sing? Take your time. If you’re down front, take your time there. If you’d like to be baptized tonight, then that would be a great time to do it. If you’d like to take your time at the altar, we’ll sing another verse. Praise the Lord for it. Brother Grady and Ms. Jennifer, we’re going to get… Can y’all stay? Everybody knows y’all, but you’re like… they’re going to embarrass… He’s going to embarrass me. And been saved, been baptized, we kind of made them members already, we adopted them, you know, but they came forth tonight and they said, “We want to join the church.” Amen. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord for that. And we won’t… Can y’all just kind of stay around? We’re going to baptize them. We’ve got to get you up here, and we’re thrilled to have them. I got to preach a little revival down outside Woodbury a little while ago, and they came down. Brother Grady came down and sang two nights. And here’s the thing: it wasn’t just him singing. You and I can tell them, and they wanted to be a blessing. They were concerned about just a little handful of people, just a small church, but they had that burden about those people. I like that. Good people. And praise the Lord for it, and glad to have them in the church. They’re good people, and excited about it and thrilled, and praise the Lord for just God assembling the team together. That’s wonderful. And so, can y’all just hang up front here just a little bit? And Ms. Trees went back to her. She’s getting ready with Megan. She’s getting ready to baptize. Praise the Lord, that’s a victory right there. And Megan’s been wanting to get baptized in a river. And, man, we just had a river baptism not too long ago, and you’ve got to change everything and whatnot. You know, how about in here? She said, “I got it.” And praise the Lord tonight, she said, “Let’s just do it.” Praise the Lord. And I’m thrilled about it and excited about her getting baptized. You can be seated. I’ll go back and get ready. You got a song, maybe just leave us a quick song, Brother Anthony. And you pick out a song, great. And I got to tell you the story. She’s getting ready anyway. I’ve used… many of you know it before I even tell it. It’s story number 48. You remember that one? Many of you heard me tell it about the girl. She stayed in a home, and there was a picture of Jesus over the bed, and then there was a mirror at the foot of her bed. And she loved to see Jesus. But every time she sat up in the bed to see a little bit better, she couldn’t see Jesus. She could see herself. And that’s what happens with me. And when we were crucified with Christ, Jesus shines through. And I had to tell that. That’s it, though most of you’ve heard it about 40 times already, you know. So, amen. I’ll go back and get ready to baptize. Praise the Lord, baptized on a Sunday night. That’s the Lord. That’s exciting. Thank you, Brother Anthony. We’ll sing page number 402. Isn’t the Love of Jesus Something Wonderful? Sing that first, second, and last verse.
Jesus’ love divine, just to save a sinful soul like mine. Isn’t the love of Jesus something wonderful? Oh, isn’t the love of Jesus something wonderful? It is to me.
On the second: Boundless as the universe around me, reaching to the furthest soul away, saving, keeping, loving, was the way He found me. That is why my heart can truly say, “Isn’t the love of Jesus something wonderful?” Wonderful, wonderful. Oh, isn’t the love of Jesus something wonderful? It is to me.
On the last: Love beyond our human comprehending, love of God and Christ, so can it be? This will be my theme and never ending: Great redeeming love of Calvary. Isn’t the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful. Oh, isn’t the love of Jesus something wonderful? It is to me.
This is Megan, and, oh, I think it was two Sundays ago. Yes, sir. She came, and I hope she doesn’t… Her mom said that she had said before, she said, “I’m not going to get saved.” And she was going through the valley. And God worked in her heart in that valley. And after service, she came, she said, “I’m going through the valley,” and God was just… it was the Lord working in her heart. And I said, “Would you talk with my wife a little bit about going to heaven?” She said, “I will.” And she asked Jesus Christ to be her Savior that afternoon. And she’s been such a blessing in the Lord, been reading her Bible. And she’s trying to get in church. She lives a little ways away. And if you’re excited about Megan getting baptized tonight, would you say amen? Amen. And praise the Lord. God’s looking down on Megan. He’s very proud of you tonight, very pleased. Now, will you get baptized? Praise the Lord for that. Megan, do you ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior? You know you’re saved? Yes, sir. Amen. Amen. In obedience to the command of our Lord and Master, and upon your public profession of faith in Him, I baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Ghost. Buried in the likeness of His death. Here we go. Raised in the likeness of His resurrection. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. God bless you. Amen. And it’s exciting to see people follow the Lord in believer’s baptism. What a wonderful, wonderful thing. Amen.
Let’s stand, if you would, please. And, oh, we’ve got Brother Grady, Miss Jennifer. Boy, it’s been just a great, great night. Praise the Lord for them. Can I get you all to come stand in front of the Lord’s Supper table there? And let’s come by. We’ll pray and be dismissed to come by and welcome them into the church. Praise the Lord for great people. They have a heart for the Lord, and I’m probably saying more than I should, but they were, of course, a bit out of church for years, but going to church. It started going a little bit worldly, and they said, “No, we don’t want that.” And praise the Lord, we’re just thrilled to have them. Great, great people, and we’re thankful to have them in our church. What a blessing. And Brother Gary is our guest tonight. Appreciate him driving up to be with us today. Thank you, Brother Gary. Would you dismiss us? And come by and shake their hands, please.
Original File: He came to Serve - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday PM 102719