I LOVE MY – PART ONE

I bring you greetings, friends. I salute you as you meet with the Lord this weekend, and I believe beyond this weekend. It is my prayer that He would meet with you, and that He would meet all your needs.

Today, I want to speak on: I Love My Master. And the text is taken from Deuteronomy 15, which we would read before we proceed.

Deuteronomy 15:12

¹² “If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. ¹³ And when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; ¹⁴ you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the Lord your God has blessed you with, you shall give to him. ¹⁵ You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today. ¹⁶ And if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. ¹⁸ It shall not seem hard to you when you send him away free from you; for he has been worth a double hired servant in serving you six years. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

That’s Deuteronomy 15 from verses 12 to 18.

“I Love My Master” is the title of the message.

Shall we pray.

PRAYER

Our Father and our God, we are thankful to You for a time like this. We have come to seek your face, trusting Your Word that says: “Whoever that seeks You with His or her whole heart shall find You.” They will find You, Lord: and they find the goodness of You this weekend. You will meet with them, dear Lord; You will touch them…in Jesus Name. Amen!

Our text is one of the many laws God’s redeemed people of Israel were expected to observe. And for those who want to live for God or serve Him on the basis of law or rules and regulation I have news for you. Do you know that Orthodox Jews (by Orthodox Jews we mean religious Jews) up till today have much more than ten commandments to keep.

I want you to listen to a present day Orthodox Jewish woman – interestingly it’s a woman whose testimony I want to share with you, an Orthodox woman. And this information I got on August 11 2016. So it’s very recent. This orthodox Jewish woman says, “I have been keeping kosher and observing the Jewish Sabbath my entire life.” By Kosher she means Jewish dietary laws. “I’ve been keeping kosher and observing Jewish Sabbath my entire life along with striving to stick to the 611 commandments of the Torah.” The Torah is the first five books of the Old Testament. Do you hear what this woman says? She’s been observing the dietary laws that you find in the Old Testament. She’s been keeping the Sabbath her entire life; and besides, she’s been striving to keep the 611 commandments given to them in the Torah. Thank God that we live by His grace.

Our text addresses the freeing of bond slaves or servants. The freedom of the Jewish bondservant was mandatory after six years. A bond servant had two choices to make: freedom to separate from His or her master after six years or to live with continuing servitude or slavery. This bondservant had one of these two choices to make. For the bondservant who chose to remain with his or her master after six years his or her master would pierce his or her ear at the door as a confirmation of the choice. That’s what we read in verses 16 and 17: ¹⁶ And if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl [a pointed instrument for piercing small holes in leader and wood] and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. This command is for both male and female bondservants who would not want to leave after six years.

This piercing of the ear of the bondservant at the door was his or her way of saying eloquently, “I now choose to belong to this household permanently; and have come under the authority of my master, not out of compulsion but out of love.” His or her service from now on becomes an expression of love which is freedom indeed.

It is from this standpoint that I approach the topic: I Love My Master. I will discuss the topic under the following headings:

1. The example of the master
2. The demands of the master

• The response of the bondservant

THE EXAMPLE OF THE MASTER

Who is the Master in question? In Psalms 40:6-8, we find a Messianic psalm: a psalm that speaks of the Messiah in which the ear of the Messiah is dug or opened. And this opened ear becomes the body that is prepared for service. In Hebrews 10:5-7 – Hebrews 10:5-7   is quoted from Psalm 40:6-8, where the ear of the Bondservant is opened. And that bondservant is identified in Hebrews 10 as the Lord Jesus Christ. Like the bondservant of Deuteronomy 15, Jesus became God’s willing Bondservant. And no wonder we read in Philippians 2 from verse 5.

Philippians 2:5-9

⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus was free to walk away from judgment; for He was free from sin. But out of love for the Father and out of love for mankind He chose to offer Himself as a bondservant in order to pay the debt for the sins of the world.

A songwriter was right when he says,

He paid the debt He did not owe;

I owe the debt I could not pay.

I needed someone to take my sins away.

Now I can sing a brand new song:

Amazing grace!

Lord Jesus Paid the debt I could never ever pay:

As the bondservant

How did the master – the bondservant demonstrate his love? Remember the title of our message: I Love My Master. How did He demonstrate His Love – this bondservant?

1. It was sacrificial. He demonstrated His love for the Father and for you and for me by sacrificing Himself. That’s why He says in John 15:13,

John 15:13

¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.  

And in Mark 10:45, Jesus says, ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

He demonstrated His love sacrificially.

1. Secondly, He demonstrated His love out of humility. We read earlier in Philippians 2:8:

⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

That’s the Bondservant demonstrating His love in a sacrificial manner – in a humble manner.

• But thirdly, it was in purity.

In John 17:18-19, Jesus says,

¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

He served in purity. In Hebrews 4:15, testifying again concerning the Bondservant the Lord Jesus Christ, Hebrews 4:15 says,

¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

And when He was here on earth serving the Father He stood before His enemies and said, which one of you convicts me of sin? And no one. Even the one who sentenced Him to death said to the accusers of the Bondservant, I find no fault in this man. He served in purity of life.

1. Fourthly, this Bondservant served in prayer. His service was bathed in prayer. No one in the history of mankind ever prayed like Jesus. And no wonder He served the Father the way He did.

In Mark 1:35, it is testified of Him,

Mark 1:35

³⁵ Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

Having risen a great while, before sunrise…the sun usually would rise early in the land of Palestine, especially in the summer month…don’t be surprised that by 4am or earlier you would see the sun rise…but Jesus rose a great while before then to seek the face of the Father. It was from there, from the place of prayer that the Bondservant served the Father.

In Luke 5:16, again, speaking of Jesus:

¹⁶ So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

Often!

We’ve seen how the Bondservant Jesus Christ served the Father and you and me. It was sacrificial, it was out of humility, it was in purity – and His service was birthed in prayer.

We will continue when we come back next time to look at the demands of the Master and number 3, the response of the Bondservant of the Master.

Let us pray.

PRAYER

Faithful Father, blessed Lord, we thank You again for the time we have spent in Your Word. I commit into Your hands now as many as would yield themselves to the Savior. Give them assurance of Your salvation, write their names in the Book of Life, and destroy the works of Satan in their lives in any form or shape…in Jesus Mighty Name we have prayed. AMEN!