A Compelling Testimony: Maintaining a Disciplined Walk, Christlike Character, and Godly Relationships as God's Servant

Ses s i on 5: Cu l t i vat i ng Our Charac ter : The Outward Di sc i p l i nes 209

5. Seek the mind of the Lord in dependence on the Holy Spirit to identify those instances which call for resistance instead of submission, e.g., Dan. 3.17-18 – If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. [18] But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.

a. Matt. 10.28 – And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

b. Acts 4.19 – But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge”

c. Acts 5.29 – But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”

d. Rev. 2.10 – Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

6. Remember Foster’s dictum: “Revolutionary subordination commands us to live in submission to human authority until it becomes destructive.”

Matt. 20.26-28 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, [27] and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, [28] even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

IV. The Discipline of Service

As the cross is the sign of submission, so the towel is the sign of service. When Jesus gathered his disciples for the Last Supper they were having trouble deciding who was the greatest. This was no new issue for them. “And an argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest” (Luke 9.46). Whenever there is trouble over