Sacrificial Service
A growing Christian is one who is actively serving the Lord and not being passive, and is willing to make sacrifices and suffer for Him.
Miles J. Stanford emphasizes the importance of actively growing in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, cautioning against compulsive activity that may not bear fruit. He encourages believers to maintain a balance between secular work and serving the Lord, waiting for the Lord's grace to guide their decisions. Stanford highlights the significance of abiding in Jesus to effectively demonstrate the Father's love to others and to align oneself with God's truth rather than seeking to conform truth to personal desires. He concludes by pointing out that true sacrifice and readiness to suffer come from knowing Jesus as life, not just as a taskmaster.
Text
"For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:11).
The growing Christian is often accused of passivity by the doing Christian. The Lord Jesus was not passive; the Apostle Paul was not passive; nor is the believer passive who seeks to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). Compulsive activity is not necessarily fruitful, as the "works of the flesh" attest.
"The Lord keep you in the freshness of faith in Himself, going forth in His work, not undertaking more than He gives you grace for. I have pressed upon my brethren not to give up their secular employment until the work of the Lord so increased upon them that they must give up one or the other."
"The one who knows best the Father's love will be the best exponent of that love--the best qualified servant for the Father to send on a mission of interest to those who are ignorant of it. Abide in Him. 'The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him' (John 1:18)."
"Under the Mosaic law-system, love for others was to be in the degree in which one loved himself; under grace it is to be in the degree in which the Lord Jesus has loved the believer and given His life for him (1 John 3:16)." -L.S.C.
"Perversion of truth takes its rise from having the eye turned to man, and seeking to make the truth suit him, and not to conform man to the truth; so that the way to resolve this difference is by the simple question, Is it God-ward I am looking, or man-ward?"
"If you only know the work of the Lord Jesus you are prepared to make sacrifices, but if you know Him as your life then you are ready to suffer for Him."
"So then death worketh in us, but life in you" (2 Corinthians 4:12).
Sermon Outline
- The Nature of the Growing Christian
- The Importance of Faith in God
- The Degree of Love Under Grace
- The Perversion of Truth
- Sacrificial Service
- Knowing the work of the Lord Jesus
- Suffering for Him as life
Key Quotes
“The one who knows best the Father's love will be the best exponent of that love--the best qualified servant for the Father to send on a mission of interest to those who are ignorant of it.” — Miles J. Stanford
“If you only know the work of the Lord Jesus you are prepared to make sacrifices, but if you know Him as your life then you are ready to suffer for Him.” — Miles J. Stanford
“The Lord keep you in the freshness of faith in Himself, going forth in His work, not undertaking more than He gives you grace for.” — Miles J. Stanford
Application Points
- As a growing Christian, I will actively serve the Lord and not be passive.
- I will abide in God by looking to Him and conforming to His truth.
- I will be willing to make sacrifices and suffer for the Lord, knowing that He is my life.