The Lord’s Work Done in the Lord’s Way

Seven Marks of Service

I want to point out seven things we can be sure of when we do the Lord’s work in His way.

What God initiates, He will stand by. Whatever the Lord gave you to do, when you do it His way you can be sure that He will be faithful to you in it until the end. Whether your ministry is administration, giving, serving or showing kindness—if He initiated it, He will stand by it.

Consider Moses as one illustration. He didn’t initiate the liberation of the children of Israel. And until the end, God was faithful and took them into the Promised Land. Even though they messed up, God stood by them because He is the One who started it.

But be warned—if someone else initiated it or if you started it, I can assure you, it will be nothing but a burden. If you grab for something, it will become a real problem. But if it begins in Him, He will complete it.

A life that is committed to wait on Him will always be effective, because the ministry originated with Him is fulfilled by Him.

When we do the Lord’s work the Lord’s way, the fruit remains. Regardless of opposition, enemy attacks or delay, the fruit remains. With Madison Avenue methods, manipulation, tricks, intelligence and money, we can build a lot of things; but they will fade away in time. They will not endure for eternity. Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”

Our role in ministry is one of a love-slave relationship to our Lord. We will not seek for what makes us happy, more comfortable or better equipped. Our only desire is to glorify Him. Our attitude in ministry will be one of belonging to Him and doing His will. We will say, “Please, Master, I want to be yours and serve You because I love You. I will only listen to You, and I will only seek for Your glory.”

In this kind of a relationship, we will have God’s authority on us. We will have God’s power, provision and protection. When Jesus sent out His disciples in Matthew 28, He shared His authority with them. When He sends us out, He stands by us.

In Acts 27, Paul says to those who were on the ship in the storm with him, “I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve” (Acts 27:22–23).

Paul was not frightened or scared. There was boldness and authority in him. Heaven knew Paul; heaven recognized him because of the authority that was on his life that came from his relationship with Christ.

This kind of ministry will change us into the likeness of Christ. It will lead us into holiness and cause us to love Christ more. It is not the work that will bring about these changes; it is waiting upon the Lord that changes us. When we stand before God, we are transformed.

Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” We become like Him as we behold Him. Are you becoming more like Him—the humble One, the broken One, the One who came to serve?

When we do the Lord’s work the Lord’s way, we remain faithful and committed to what He has called us to. Second Corinthians 4:1–2 says, “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.” We don’t give up. Not everything is going to go well. There will be hardships, trials and temptations. But the Lord is the One who called us. It is His work, and as we stand before Him, we receive His grace, grace that is sufficient for every season and trial of life.

When our life is over and the work the Lord has given us is completed, our reward will be given to us by the Lord Himself. He is coming back with the reward in His hand. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:7–8 (NIV), “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

He is coming to you with the reward for you because you waited before Him, you loved Him, you followed Him—you did the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way.

© 2004 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

Notes

Chapter 1 1 Zac Poonen, God-Centered Praying (Bangalore, India: Christian Fellowship Centre, 1971), p. 35. Copyright by Zac Poonen, 6 DaCosta Square, Bangalore– 560084. Chapter 3 1 A.W. Tozer, The Tozer Pulpit—Vol. 1 (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1994), pp. 134–136. Chapter 4 1 Madame Guyon, Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ—Vol. 2 (Sargent, GA: Seedsowers, 1975), pp. 53–54. Chapter 5 1 Roy Hession, “When I Saw Him . . .”: Where Revival Begins (Fort Washington, PA: CLC, 1975), pp. 17, 21–22. 2 J.C. Metcalfe, Molded by the Cross, ed. Robert Delancy (Fort Washington, PA: CLC, 1997), p. 38. Chapter 6 1 Zac Poonen, Living As Jesus Lived (Bangalore, India: Christian Fellowship Centre, 1977), p. 30. Copyright by Zac Poonen, 6 DaCosta Square, Bangalore– 560084. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid.

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The Lord’s Work Done in the Lord’s Way

Jesus Our Model

Jesus is our perfect example of how to do the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way. In his book Living As Jesus Lived, Zac Poonen spoke of this, saying,

Jesus has not only redeemed us through His death, but also shown us through His life on earth, how God intended man to live. He is not only our Saviour but also our Forerunner (Heb. 6:20). He has given us an example of how to live at all times and in all situations, in perfect obedience to God. Jesus did not come to earth as an angel, but like us. The Bible says, “He was made like His brothers in all things” (Heb. 2:17) (His brothers are His disciples— Matt. 12:50.) If He had not been made like us (His brothers) “in all things,” He could not have become our Example.1

Consider the example He gave us in the Gospel of John. All throughout, we see Jesus saying, “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner” (John 5:19). “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30). “I speak what I have seen with My Father” (John 8:38). “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak” (John 12:49). “The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14:10).

In all these verses, there is a common element—Jesus did nothing and said nothing apart from the Father. Everything Christ did flowed out from His relationship with the Father. Nothing else and no one else, not even Himself, motivated Jesus to do what He did.

Remember when Jesus called His disciples? Nowhere in the Gospels do we read that the Father called the disciples. Jesus went and called the disciples. But when He talked to the Father about them, He said, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me” (John 17:6, emphasis mine).

Do you see it? The selection of the 12 disciples was not Christ’s choice; it was His Father’s. Jesus was only doing the Father’s will.

The night before Jesus called them He didn’t sleep. He “continued all night in prayer to God” (Luke 6:12). All night He stood before His Father waiting for His direction and plan, and “when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself” (Luke 6:13).

He didn’t say, “John, Matthew, My Father is calling you.” No. He said, “Come, follow me” (Mark 1:17, NIV). And they followed Him.

Another thing we can learn from our Lord as we serve Him, is how He made Himself a servant to the Father. Therefore, it was never external things that motivated Him, but His love for the Father and desire to serve Him and do what He desires.

Jesus never acted merely because He saw a need. He saw the need, was concerned about it, but acted only when His Father told Him to. He waited at least four thousand years in Heaven, while the world lay desperately in need of a Saviour, and then came to earth when His Father sent Him (Jn. 8:42). “When the right time came, the time God decided on, He sent His Son” (Gal. 4:4-Living). . . . And when Jesus came to earth, He did not just go around doing whatever He felt was good. Even though His mind was perfectly pure, yet He never acted on any bright idea that came to mind. No. He made His mind a servant of the Holy Spirit.2

Today there are those who seemingly serve the Lord. They do great things and have such apparently great ministries, but the Lord has nothing to do with it.

Jesus spoke of these people in Matthew 7:22–23 (NLT)—“On judgment day many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.’ ”

What can we learn from this?

I know for our movement, there are so many opportunities and challenges we face. There are students to train, leaders to raise up, missionaries to send out. We need to get the job done. There is tremendous opportunity. The list of things to do is so long, the need urgent and the door wide open.

But we must make sure to follow our Example. “There were many good things that Jesus could have done, that He never did, because they were outside the scope of His Father’s will for Him. He was always busy doing the very best things. And those were enough. He had not come to earth to do good things, but to do the will of His Father.”3

It is wonderful that we move forward as best we can to accomplish whatever job the Lord has called us to do. It is good to be driven and focused and moving full speed ahead. We cannot be slothful. Christ was never lazy or slothful. Neither were His disciples.

But the key question is this: When it is all said and done, can we say like Christ did to His Father, “Father, thank You for the students You gave us. Father, thank You for the staff You recruited. Thank You for the missionaries You sent out and the leaders You raised up. It is You who gave all these to us, and this work is the work You gave us to do.”

When we enter into this kind of striveless serving, doing simply what He has given us to do, our lives and ministry change. All the murmuring and complaining that come with trying to make things happen cease. There is no scratching your head, pulling out your hair and going nights without sleep, wondering what is going to happen and how the need will be met.

Why?

Because the work is not dependent on your plans, your meetings or your efforts. You simply allow the Lord to live through you. You enter His rest.

When we serve Him like this, we are able to endure the hardest days and the most painful seasons of life, because it is Christ living in us and He is the One doing the work through us. Our attitude remains one of trust and love, and we are able to say, “Lord, thank You for the privilege You gave me to serve You. I am grateful.”

© 2004 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

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The Lord’s Work Done in the Lord’s Way

No Sweat

When our ministry to the people around us is done as a ministry unto the Lord—doing His work in His way— there will be no striving. There will be no human sweat.

Why?

Because sweat signifies man’s effort. The first time sweat is mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 3:19. Because Adam had eaten from the forbidden tree, God told him, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread” (Genesis 3:17–19).

Sweat is a result of the curse that sin brought. Because of it, the ground would not yield its fruit without man’s effort and sweat.

Scripture also tells us that those who ministered before the Lord in the inner court were not to wear anything made of wool, anything that would cause them to sweat. “And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates of the inner court . . . They shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat” (Ezekiel 44:17–18).

This is a picture of the kind of service that honors the Lord. Work done out of man’s ability, smartness or money can be a horrible sweat. But when you come to the place in your life at which you begin to live and serve in His strength, you understand what it means to bear His yoke, which is easy and light (see Matthew 11:28).

In this way, the assignment He gives you will never destroy you emotionally or physically. It will not tear you apart. Why? Because you are not working in the realm of human talents, resources and strength. You are not producing it out of your own labor and sweat. There is no longer any flesh involved. It is Him—ministry unto Him and empowered by Him.

This brings tremendous freedom and liberty to laugh and be content and joyful in whatever comes. It makes no difference whether you are asked to turn the world upside-down or just to be a doorkeeper at the house of God. You simply do the work that He has given you in the strength that He supplies as a ministry unto Him.

Forsaking Our Own Ways

Is your life full of suspense, frustration and discouragement? Are you worried about the future? Are you anxious and frustrated, discouraged in the ministry and ready to quit? Are you one saying, “This ministry stuff is hard. It’s not fair. I just want to do some ordinary job and have a normal life again”? Maybe you need to learn from the life of the prophet Isaiah.

Roy Hession, in his book “When I Saw Him . . .”: Where Revival Begins1 relates Isaiah’s encounter with the Lord. He starts out by describing him, from the first five chapters of Isaiah, as being a man full of anger. As a prophet, he is speaking the words of God, but you can hear his anger and frustration in it all. Isaiah is really sweating. He is trying to do what God called him to do, but in his own strength, ability and sweat.

Then in Isaiah 6 something happens.

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isaiah 6:1–3).

Isaiah “saw the Lord.” This changed everything. In God’s holy presence, he becomes absolutely undone. And not only did he see the Holy One, but listen as he describes in detail the heavenly creatures who cried out, “Holy is the LORD!”

Each seraphim had six wings. Notice how only two of the wings were for the work of flying; the other four were used to veil themselves.

These were incredibly glorious and beautiful creatures, but the One who sat on the throne was far greater and infinitely more beautiful and awesome. The seraphim didn’t want their presence in any way to divert attention from the One who sat on the throne, so they covered themselves with their wings.

Please understand. Isaiah’s ministry was preaching! He was a powerful orator—a prophet! But suddenly, as he stood in God’s presence with the veiled seraphim, he saw how his work, all his service was just filthy rags because it was done in his own strength. He was striving and sweating doing the ministry.

The same thing can happen to us when we come into His presence. Our strength, abilities and success become of no importance. In His presence, all else becomes shadows. The strength and effort of ourselves are exposed for the frailty they are compared to His.

My brothers and sisters, we must have this type of experience in our ministry. We must continually see the Lord. By this our ministry remains focused on the Holy One, and we live in His presence and minister in His strength. Like the seraphim, the majority of our ministry must be not the work, but be ministering to the Lord—in everything seeking to exalt Him, to magnify Him and to bring all the attention and praise to the One on the throne. Like John the Baptist, we must live with the ministry mindset that “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30, NIV).

When God took away Isaiah’s uncleanness, his ministry was transformed and without sweat. The same thing happens to us as we continually come before Him. We are taken up with Him and lost in the wonder of His presence. Then our ministry and what we can do no longer matter; it is only Him and seeking to bring Him glory.

My brothers and sisters, this is the way to live! Let us lay down our striving and our sweat and do His work His way. Then there is nothing to get frustrated and worked up about, and our lives bear good fruit that endures for all eternity.

My Personal Experience

How Isaiah was in the first five chapters of the book of Isaiah reminds me of myself in the beginning days of our movement.

The preaching I did in many churches during those days was very judgmental and critical. I used kind words, but inside I was angry all the time. I was frustrated. God had told me to do what I was doing, and I was doing it. I expected people to jump up and down in excitement and join with us to see God’s work done, but it wasn’t happening that way at all!

Instead, right after I shared about the great need of the lost world, the leaders of these churches would take me out for ice cream, all while having a good time laughing and joking.

It was while driving in North Carolina one day, from one meeting to the next, that I simply could not take it anymore. I was so frustrated and angry, trying in every way I knew how to do the ministry He had called me to and still not seeing the results I expected.

In the midst of this frustration, driving along in a little Chevette, the Lord spoke: “My son, you are so torn up and hurt inside. You are complaining and murmuring like you are against the whole world and the whole world is against you. Just give it up. It’s Me. Do only what I ask you to do. That’s all that matters. Don’t seek for praise. Don’t seek for results.”

I was on the road for an hour and a half as the Lord spoke to me. When it was over, I was so thrilled and excited to get to the next meeting place because of the incredible freedom that had just entered my life.

I arrived at my meeting and shared, and the Lord touched the hearts of people that night. I couldn’t even remember all that I had said. It was nothing I made happen. Many came forward with tears and repentance. I ministered with the awareness that I was there only because He asked me to come. I represented Christ—that was all I knew. I was free, and what I was doing was only for Him. Nothing else mattered. I wasn’t looking for results. I wasn’t striving any longer. That was one of the significant turning points in my life and in our ministry.

Consecrated Flesh

What are some sure signs that we are ministering in our own strength? When we seek to do the ministry dependent upon our own strength rather than ministering out of the abundance of a life lived in His presence, three things happen.

First, our service becomes self-willed. I see the needs. I make the plans. I have the agendas. I know better. It is ME!

Second, our service is by self-effort. It is my effort. It is my work. It is laborious and produces sweat. It is a pain in the neck.

Third, it is for self-glory. I get disappointed when people don’t recognize what I have done. It bothers me when people don’t appreciate me or when somebody else gets the appreciation for what I have done. Because my flesh did it, I want something out of it. We are full of our own ways.

Jessie Penn-Lewis was a godly woman greatly used in the Welsh revival. In the book, Molded by the Cross, she tells how God dealt with her on this issue.

Then came the climax, when one morning I awoke and saw before me a hand holding up in terrible light a handful of filthy rags, whilst a gentle voice said: “This is the outcome of all your past service for God.” “But Lord, I have been surrendered and consecrated to Thee all these years; it was consecrated work!” “Yes, My child, but all your service has been CONSECRATED FLESH; the outcome of your OWN ENERGY; your OWN PLANS for winning souls; your OWN DEVOTION. All for Me I grant you, but yourself, all the same.”2

Our service can be just flesh that is consecrated to God. But God does not want flesh consecrated to Him. It is full of wrong motives, stress, worry and sweat.

For Isaiah, the answer to the problem was cleansing. He admitted his sin. He said, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5).

The answer is the same for us. No matter where we are in our journey, when we fail in our ministry, beginning to carry things out in our own flesh, we need to come before Him and repent. He is faithful to cleanse our ministry and purify us for service. For Isaiah there was the burning coal that the angel brought to touch his lips. The great ministry Isaiah had happened after that incident.

We must have a similar experience, to be cleansed of our own ways so that we may know Him and serve Him in a way that brings Him true honor and praise.

Know Him

Today, as of old, God is searching for those who will do His work in His way— those who will simply seek to know Him and minister out of their love for Him and as unto Him.

In Ezekiel 22:30 God said, “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”

Notice the statement, “to stand . . . before Me.” God was looking for just one person to simply “stand” before Him, to come into His presence and know Him.

The sad thing is, if you read earlier in that chapter of the book of Ezekiel, you find many people—prophets, priests and princes—involved in active, visible service. But God said (paraphrase), “In all of these I can’t find even one who knows My ways. All they want is to know My acts. Just like the children of Israel, they want miracles. They want results. They want things they can see and talk about. But they do not want to know My ways.”

How I pray that the Lord would find in us a people who seek the greater thing—sitting at His feet in love and adoration, wanting simply to draw close to our Lord and know Him more. Only when we become people who live in His presence, continually listening for Him, will we be people fully equipped for every good work, able to carry out the ministry He gave us to do.

© 2004 by KP Yohannan, the president and founder of Gospel for Asia. It was written with the intention of encouraging and edifying the Body of Christ. To learn more about Gospel for Asia or to receive additional free resources, visit Gospel for Asia’s website.

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