In a study of walking with God we have seen that Jesus Christ must be the only Lord and Master and that we submit ourselves to Him being mere slaves.\u00a0 This relationship is accepted at the very beginning as the humble repentance of our sins casts us completely at His feet for mercy and forgiveness.\u00a0 If we had no other relationship with Him we would gladly obey and serve because of what He has done for us in forgiving our sin and giving us eternal life.<\/p>\n
The picture of slavery in the Bible is a strange thing to our modern ears.\u00a0 In the pagan world, both in the Old and New Testaments, believers were sometimes subjects of unbelieving and tyrannical masters who knew only their nations\u2019 oppressive ways.\u00a0 However, in the Jewish nation slaves were more like indentured servants.\u00a0 One could willingly give himself to a Jewish brother as a servant to work off a debt or to redeem land.\u00a0 The law protected the servant from abuse and even commanded his release after seven years or at the year of Jubilee (see Exodus 21 and Leviticus 25).\u00a0 The New Testament commanded masters to treat servants well and even to raise this relationship to one of friendship and respect (see Col 4:1; Eph. 6:9; 1 Tim. 6:1-2; the book of Philemon).<\/p>\n
The Old Testament gave a picture of a servant who came to love his master so much that he would choose to stay with him for life rather than to be released at the appropriate year (Exod. 21:1-6).\u00a0 Whether this is exactly what the New Testament calls a doulos, <\/i>or bond slave, is debatable, since a Roman slave was mere chattel.\u00a0 Yet Paul\u2019s use of the word doulos <\/i>fits this Old Testament picture because Paul describes himself as a doulos, or bond slave, throughout his epistles.\u00a0 This kind of a servant chose to be a slave for life.\u00a0 His ear was pierced through as a mark of ownership as Paul remarked after his stoning, \u201cFrom henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus\u201d (Gal. 6:17).<\/p>\n
This gives the New Testament believer a new glimpse into his relationship with Jesus as Master.\u00a0 When Jesus washed the disciple\u2019s feet he said, \u201cYe call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am\u201d (John 13:13).\u00a0 That relationship cannot and will not be broken.\u00a0 Yet later that fateful night Jesus walked with the disciples and said, \u201cYe are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.\u00a0 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you\u201d (John 15:14-15).\u00a0 This Master-servant relationship is also a Master-friend relationship.\u00a0 It was a relationship unheard-of in the ancient world.<\/p>\n
For the Lord, this new relationship is entered into by promise and faithfulness.\u00a0 For the believer, it is entered into through understanding and submission.\u00a0 \u201cLord, I have come to you as a sinner needing forgiveness and also as a humble servant to a Master. I have found your yoke to be easy and your burden to be light.\u00a0 I have loved your kind and gentle hand upon me and I desire to remain under your care forever.\u00a0 Oh, Lord, take me to the door post and mark me forever as your bond slave.\u00a0 Let me bear in my very body your marks, the marks of my Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then do we find Jesus a Friend as well as a Master.\u00a0 Then does He bring us into His confidence.\u00a0 \u201cDraw me, and we will run after thee:\u00a0 the King hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee\u201d (Song of Solomon 1:4).\u00a0 \u201cIf a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him\u201d (John 14:23).\u00a0 \u201cBehold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any many hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me\u201d (Rev. 3:20).\u00a0 \u201cIf a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master\u2019s use, and prepared unto every good work\u201d (2 Tim. 2:21).<\/p>\n
Being a servant-friend of Jesus Christ is the highest, yet lowest, position for a believer in this life.\u00a0 We serve Him in whatever way He calls us to serve, yet all the while we abide and commune with Him as our Master.\u00a0 Proverbs tells us that \u201ca friend loveth at all times\u201d (17:17); \u201csticketh closer than a brother\u201d (18:24); \u201cfaithful are the wounds of a friend\u201d (27:6); and as \u201ciron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend\u201d (27:17).\u00a0 The New Testament gives us many pictures of our walk with our Master-Friend.<\/p>\n
I am used by Him<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work\u201d (2 Tim. 2:21).\u00a0 We will discuss our body as a vessel for God in a later article, but it is enough here to see that our Lord desires to use a clean vessel, honorable, sanctified, and prepared for work.\u00a0 We know that \u201cwe have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us\u201d (2 Cor. 4:7).\u00a0 We can be fragile but clean, humble but useable.<\/p>\n It is a remarkable thing that God does His work through believers who are not yet glorified.\u00a0 He does not commission angels to preach the gospel nor to petition Him with prayers.\u00a0 No, He sends redeemed sinners to the uttermost parts of the earth to do His bidding, and He is with us always even to the end of this age.\u00a0 In joy or in pain, in success or in failure, in life or in death, we would say with the martyrs, I have served Him all my life and He has never failed me.<\/p>\n I can hide in Him<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSubmit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.\u00a0 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you\u201d (James 4:7-8).\u00a0 Satan is a roaring lion walking about seeking to devour me (1 Pet. 5:8).\u00a0 I am like Peter and could be sifted as wheat by him (Lk. 22:31) except that my Master-Friend intercedes for me.\u00a0 As Luther wrote in his hymn,<\/p>\n Did we in our own strength confide,<\/i><\/p>\n Our striving would be losing, <\/i><\/p>\n Were not the right man on our side,<\/i><\/p>\n The Man of God\u2019s own choosing.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The church has lost too much respect for the devil.\u00a0 Of course I don\u2019t mean admiration but rather a healthy knowledge of his power and might.\u00a0 We don\u2019t understand well enough the doctrines of demons nor do we see clearly the spiritual wickedness that exists in high places.\u00a0 We play too loosely with the pleasures of the world and do not fear the harm that inevitably results.\u00a0 Our Master-Friend said, \u201cThe servant is not greater than his lord.\u00a0 If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you\u201d (John 15:20).\u00a0 Why should we think that we can partake of the pleasures of sin for a season and not be harmed, contrary to our Lord?\u00a0 But He also said, \u201cThese things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.\u00a0 In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world\u201d (John 16:33).<\/p>\n I can walk with Him<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him\u201d (Col. 2:6).\u00a0 \u201cAnd this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it\u201d (2 John 6).\u00a0 Walking is the most frequent analogy of fellowship with the Lord that we have in the New Testament.\u00a0 There are at least four Greek words that are translated \u201cwalk\u201d which range from walking carefully, to traveling, to keeping straight, to marching and keeping rank.\u00a0 In all of our necessary modes of walking through this life, we have a Friend that walks with us.<\/p>\n On resurrection Sunday afternoon two disciples walked to the village of Emmaus and Jesus appeared and walked with them.\u00a0 Though they didn\u2019t recognize Him, He spoke to them of the events surrounding His death and resurrection.\u00a0 When He suddenly departed they said, \u201cDid not our heart burn within us, while he walked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?\u201d (Luke 24:32).\u00a0 Friends walk shoulder to shoulder and enjoy fellowship because they are of a kindred mind and seek a common goal.\u00a0 When you have this Friend walking with you, it doesn\u2019t matter if there are two or two hundred walking along.\u00a0 The joy and fellowship is because of Him.<\/p>\n I can abide with Him<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing\u201d (John 15:5).\u00a0 John later recorded, \u201cAnd now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming\u201d (1 John 2:28).\u00a0 We should not confuse our position of being in Him with our relationship of abiding in Him.\u00a0 We are secure in Him and are given all the rights of children.\u00a0 At the same time, while we walk through this life, we carry the old nature also which can commit sin and break close communion with our Master-Friend.<\/p>\n Can\u2019t you see those two disciples at Emmaus stopping at the Inn and reaching out to Jesus\u2019 arm saying, \u201cAbide with us; for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent\u201d (Luke 24:29)?\u00a0 The song writer put it,<\/p>\n Abide with me!\u00a0 Fast falls the e-ven\u00a0\u00a0 tide; <\/i><\/p>\n The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Those disciples sat at meat with Him and watched Him break bread and then they knew Him.\u00a0 We also would know Him better if our evenings were occupied more with His abiding presence.<\/p>\n I can talk with Him<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us\u201d (1 John 5:14).\u00a0 \u201cAnd the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend\u201d (Ex. 33:11).\u00a0 For Moses that was an unusual occurrence.\u00a0 But for us, though we do not see God, we have the privilege of speaking directly to Him because of the intercession of our Lord and of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 We come boldly to the throne of grace and find mercy and grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).<\/p>\n Someone said, \u201cIf you walk with God, you must also talk with God, or you will soon cease to walk with God.\u201d\u00a0 We should not be a quiet friend who enjoys the company but never responds or interacts.\u00a0 The Lord invites us to speak.\u00a0 \u201cHis eyes are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers\u201d (1 Pet. 3:12).\u00a0 His words are forever recorded for us.<\/p>\n I can trust Him<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTrust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths\u201d (Prov. 3:5-6).\u00a0 \u201cAnd such trust have we through Christ to God\u201d (2 Cor. 3:4).\u00a0 Again, I am not speaking of that wonderful time when we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior.\u00a0 That trust is secure and cannot be broken.\u00a0 I am speaking of a trust that places confidence in Him day by day, that knows He will do what is best, and that in everything gives thanks knowing that this is the will of God for me.<\/p>\n The providence of God is a wonderful blessing to the believer.\u00a0 My Lord is in control.\u00a0 \u201cWho being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power\u201d (Heb. 1:3).\u00a0 \u201cAnd he is before all things, and by him all things consist\u201d (Col. 1:17).\u00a0 I find myself saying, \u201cCan the world get any worse than this?\u00a0 Can human beings become any more depraved than they are today?\u201d\u00a0 But I remind myself that I am merely a servant for my Master-Friend.\u00a0 He is the Builder of the whole house and controls everything in it.\u00a0 \u201cFear not,\u201d He said,\u00a0 \u201cI am the first and the last:\u00a0 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death\u201d (Rev. 1:17-18).<\/p>\n I can die with Him<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;\u00a0 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body\u201d (2 Cor. 4:8-10).\u00a0 In our position in Christ we have been crucified with Him and yet we live (Gal. 2:20).\u00a0 Yet this living is also a continual dying.\u00a0 Jesus said to the disciples, \u201cYe shall indeed drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with\u201d (Matt. 20:22).\u00a0 For many, that has meant the very death of the body in martyrdom.\u00a0 For others it means the giving of the body to God as a living sacrifice to do with as He sees fit.\u00a0 It may be in mocking or perhaps in some cruelty.<\/p>\n Paul confessed \u201cI die daily,\u201d and then said, \u201cAwake to righteousness and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame\u201d (1 Cor. 15:31, 34).\u00a0 It ought to be our joy to give ourselves to our Lord and to whatever comes our way for His name\u2019s sake.\u00a0 \u201cBy pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned\u201d (2 Cor. 6:6).<\/p>\n It will never become easier to be an outcast in the world.\u00a0 In the latter days things will become worse and worse (1 Tim. 4:1-3).\u00a0 The antipathy toward Christ and things that are holy will only become greater.\u00a0 Yet we are encouraged, \u201cLet us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach\u201d (Heb. 13:13).\u00a0 One likely view of Paul\u2019s infirmity in the flesh is that it was the constant persecution which he endured.\u00a0 When Jesus explained to him that it was in these times of weakness that His strength was manifested, Paul said, \u201cMost gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me\u201d (2 Cor. 12:9).\u00a0 It is a privilege and a strength for the believer to die daily with the Master-Friend.<\/p>\n I can look for Him<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation\u201d (Heb. 9:28).\u00a0 \u201cFor our conversation is in heaven; from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ\u201d (Phil. 3:20).\u00a0 This is the blessed hope of the church (Tit. 2:13).\u00a0 We have the privilege of waiting for Jesus to return and catch us away in the air to ever be with Him (1 Thes. 4:13-18).\u00a0 He has not appointed us to the coming wrath, but to obtain this salvation through Him (1 Thes. 5:9).<\/p>\n We do not look up enough.\u00a0 We aren\u2019t constantly looking for the coming of our Master-Friend as we should be.\u00a0 It is hard for us now to realize what joy we will experience when Jesus comes again.\u00a0 If we could understand that as we should, we would constantly strain our eyes for His return.\u00a0 The song writer wrote,<\/p>\n \u00a0Then we shall be where we would be, <\/i><\/p>\n Then we shall be what we should be;<\/i><\/p>\n \u00a0Things that are not now, nor could be,<\/i><\/p>\n \u00a0Soon shall be our own.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And So . . .<\/b><\/p>\n The benefits of knowing Jesus Christ as Savior are eternally wonderful.\u00a0 Also knowing Jesus Christ as our Master-Friend is a blessing that only believers in Him can experience in this life.\u00a0 It seems ironic, almost oxymoronic, that a Master could also be our Friend but it is true.\u00a0 We gladly obey His commands and yet find them encouraging and true.\u00a0 We\u2019ve desired that He be our Master forever and He has also become our Friend.<\/p>\n Having used hymn illustrations so far, let me conclude with another familiar hymn.\u00a0 Joseph Scriven (1819-1886) was born in Ireland and graduated from Trinity College, London.\u00a0 He was engaged to be married soon after graduation but tragedy struck when his fianc\u00e9 drowned the day before the wedding.\u00a0 Joseph moved to Woodstock, Ontario, Canada and met a Christian girl named Eliza Rice.\u00a0 But tragedy came again when Eliza died of illness weeks before the wedding.\u00a0 Scriven wrote the words to this well-known hymn after these great trials,<\/p>\n What a friend we have in Jesus,<\/i><\/p>\n All our sins and griefs to bear!<\/i><\/p>\n What a privilege to carry,<\/i><\/p>\n Everything to God in prayer!<\/i><\/p>\n O, what peace we often forfeit, <\/i><\/p>\n O, what needless pain we bear,<\/i><\/p>\n All because we do not carry,<\/i><\/p>\n Everything to God in prayer.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Joseph Scriven died from drowning not long after his lines were put in to music.\u00a0 Two decades later D.L. Moody heard the song and gave it national recognition and it has remained there ever since.\u00a0 The words are true and scriptural.\u00a0 We have a Friend, a Master-Friend in Jesus.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a study of walking with God we have seen that Jesus Christ must be the only Lord and Master and that we submit ourselves to Him being mere slaves.\u00a0 This relationship is accepted at the very beginning as the humble repentance of our sins casts us completely at His feet for mercy and forgiveness.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[167],"class_list":["post-7354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-christian-living-cross-discipleship"],"yoast_head":"\n