FIRST QUARTER 2021
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #9
FEBRUARY 27, 2021
“TO SERVE AND TO SAVE”

 

Our lesson today is all about service – and being a servant.  Right up front let’s clarify that there is a vast difference between the service that God desires, and the service that most in the religious are experiencing.  One of our passages today, Isaiah 41:3, speaks of, “Abraham My friend.”  And Jesus gives us insight into the difference between the “service” of a friend, and “service” of another character.  “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15).  According to Jesus, the difference between the service of a friend is that “friends” KNOW WHAT AND WHY their friend is doing what He is doing.  While servants are often doing what they are supposed to be doing, they don’t know why they are doing what they are doing.

 

This kind of servant is really a blind slave.  Their tendency is to stay in the master’s service because they want a reward and they fear the consequences of not obeying the master.  Their “service” is not based on love and appreciation, but on obligation and fear.  “Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven.  Such religion is worth nothing.” (SC 44.2).  These are the types of “servants” that God wants to turn in to “friends” who serve from love and understanding.

 

God is not asking for blind obedience – blind service.  God is looking for the intelligent service of a friend who knows God’s character, His goodness, and why He does what He does.  “The man who attempts to keep the commandments of God from a sense of obligation merely--because he is required to do so--will never enter into the joy of obedience.  He does not obey. . . True obedience is the outworking of a principle within. . . This will lead us to do right because it is right . . .”  {COL 97.3}.  One cannot “do right because it is right”, if they do not understand WHY something is right.  This is the service of an understanding friend.

 

Are God’s friends also His servants?  Yes – but it is the service of freedom and understanding – not the service of obligation, fear, and ignorance.  Abraham - the father of the faithful – God called His friend, as was Moses, who spoke to God face to face as a man speaks to His friend.  So, as we study our lesson this week, let us remember the difference between a servant friend and a blind fearful servant.

 

E. J. Waggoner, calls our attention to the importance of servants: “The student should not fail to note the frequent occurrence of the word “servant,” in the book of Isaiah.”  And in Isaiah 42, this servant is none other than Jesus Christ Himself!  Waggoner goes on, “let us not forget that we are the servants of God equally with Christ, so that the work that is given Him to do is ours also and all the encouragement that God speaks to Him, He speaks to us also.”  What a powerful encouragement!!!  When we see God speaking encouragement and approval to Christ, He is speaking to us also!

 

One of the identifying characteristics of the Servant Jesus in Isaiah 42:1, is that He will “bring forth justice to the Gentiles”.  Notice how Waggoner puts this in the context of the great controversy and our role with Christ in this conflict:

 

“(Christ) is the representative of God, charged with the task of carrying on God's case. It is He Who conducts God's case at law to a successful issue. He causes judgment to be rendered in God's favor. The Father does not appear in the case at all, except in Christ, Who has full authority to speak and act in every matter in the name of the Father. What wonderful confidence the Father has reposed in this Servant! "The Father judges no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son; that all should honor the Son even as they honor the Father." John 5:22-23. The Father has placed His reputation and even His character in the hands of Jesus Christ. The "faithful and wise servant" of the Lord is made ruler over His household, and set over all His goods. See Matthew 24:45-46. But here again we are brought face to face with the fact that we are servants of the Lord, and that this high place of ruling over the house is entrusted to us. God is not partial. He has no special favorites. What He says to one servant, even though that servant be His only-begotten Son, He says to all. The same love that He has for Christ, He has for us. John 17:23. This places a wonderful responsibility upon us. We see by this, and shall see still more plainly as we proceed, that the Lord has committed His case to us. His character is in our hands. We are to be agents to establish judgment in the earth, and to let the world know who is God.”

 

We might feel a bit overwhelmed by the faith that God has reposed in His people.  We might feel inadequate to fulfill the Lord’s destiny and hope for us as His people – and justifiably so.  But remember, we have a Servant that we are following in the footsteps of Who, “will not raise His voice” (Isaiah 42:2).  He’s safe for us to be completely honest and transparent with because He already knows us, and our weaknesses – because He Himself was beset by weakness (Hebrews 5:2).  This Servant, “will not fail nor be discouraged” (Isaiah 42:4) – so we can be confident that He will keep us from failing, and even if we do fail, He won’t be discouraged in lifting us up again.

 

Notice this fantastic passage from E. J. Waggoner about Jesus’ faithfulness to us:

 

“A discouraged man is a bruised and crushed man. He is one whose light has almost gone out. Hope is expiring in his breast. Such a one Jesus will restore. He will breathe new life into him. He heals the bruised and crushed one. There is no more difficult task in this world than trying to encourage a despondent person. How many there are who think that they have good reason to be discouraged, because they are so sinful, so easily led astray. They have fallen again and again, until they can scarcely be persuaded that there is any hope of their salvation. The servant of the Lord deals with such cases, whispering words of hope and comfort, and does not himself become discouraged. He receives rebuffs but will not be crushed by them. His light will not burn dim, but He will gather courage from apparent defeat. What a blessed assurance this is to us when we think of it as applied to Christ! He will not be discouraged until He have set judgment in the earth, that is, in the hearts of men - in our hearts. Then when I am almost discouraged over my many failures, I will think, "The Lord Jesus has the task of making me strong and giving me the victory, and He is not discouraged in spite of my many failures. He knows my weakness and sinfulness better than I do myself. Surely if He is not yet discouraged, I have no cause to be." And thus, gathering new courage from the courage of the Lord, we become strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might, and the victory is ours. . .  Remember that we are the servants of God, if we yield to Him, that is, if we are willing to be His servants; and therefore, we have the same promise of being upheld that Jesus Christ Himself had. We have the same power to keep us from falling that He had. Nowhere has the Lord left any ground for discouragement.”

 

Praise the Lord!  This is the good news of the 1888 message.  Not that we will continue to fail so why even try to be free from sin.  Not a sense of raw obligation based on fear.  But wonderful promises that what God did in Jesus, They will do in us!  Not because we are strong, but because They are strong.  Not because our faith is perfect, but because Their faith is perfect!

 

Waggoner concludes his commentary on the Servant of Isaiah 42 with this encouragement:

 

“God must carry the case in which He is concerned to a successful issue. What a blessed assurance it is to know that He will do this. Wrong shall not prevail against God. Though it for a season seems to have the best of the struggle, it is only in appearance, and but for a moment. "In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength," and He will gain the victory over all foes. Who will cast in their lot with Him? Who is on the Lord's side?”

 

I want to answer YES!  Let us join Jesus the Servant in revealing the character of God to a tired and discouraged planet that is waiting for the “good news”.

 

~Bob Hunsaker