Power to Lead — Peter Maiden

Jesus’ Servant Leadership in Matthew 20

But our readings begin in the 20th chapter of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew chapter 20, and we read from verse 20 down to verse 28. Matthew chapter 20, verse 20. Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and kneeling down asked a favor of him.

What is it you want? he asked. She said, grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom. You don't know what you're asking, Jesus said to them.

Can you drink the cup I'm going to drink? We can, they answered. Jesus said to them, you will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my father.

When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them.

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. And whoever wants to be first must be your slave. Just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

God’s Power in Human Weakness

Enter that passage in 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 4, and we read from verse 7 to verse 12. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. Finally, just one verse in 2 Timothy, chapter 3.

2 Timothy, chapter 3, and it's just the tenth verse. You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, and sufferings. Let's just pray together.

Father, we really want to thank you tonight for the privilege of being together and of being able to open your word freely, publicly, together, and consider what you would have to say to us. Speak, Lord, in the stillness while we wait upon you.

Jesus’ Contrast Between Tyranny and Servanthood

Help us to hear your voice and grant to us the grace to obey everything you have to say to us. In Jesus' name, amen. In the 25th verse of Matthew's Gospel, chapter 20, Jesus describes the nature of the leadership of those whom he defines as the rulers of the Gentiles, or the rulers of the nations.

He says, you know, they lord it over people. That's the nature of their leadership. They lord it over people, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Other translations read, the rulers of the heathen lord it over them, and their great men rule as despots.

Another translation has it, their great men are tyrants over them. Tasker writes, in colloquial English, we speak of those who throw their weight about. That's exactly what Jesus is talking about here.

Leaders who lead by throwing their weight about. They lead by tyranny, they lead by threat, they lead by muscle. Now you'll see if you just glance at the next chapter of Matthew's Gospel, chapter 21, that Jesus is just about to make his triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

And before doing so, Jesus wants to prepare his disciples for what they're about to hear, and for what they're about to see and experience. You see, all through their history, the Jews had dreamed, as they dream today, of their Messiah.

But the Messiah of whom they dreamed was always a conquering king, a mighty leader, who would smash the enemies of Israel, and would rule in power over the kingdoms of the earth. They were looking for a conqueror, and they received one.

But they didn't recognize him, because their conqueror was broken on a cross. They were looking for the raging lion of Judah. They received the gentle Lamb of God. In contrast to the leadership of the rulers of the nations, Jesus says in verse 26, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.

Whoever wants to be first must be your slave. And then he sums up his whole life in one poignant sentence there in verse 28. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give, to pour out his life, a ransom for many.

Jesus’ Compassion for the Weak and Broken

Now then look at what happens next. Verses 29 to 34, we didn't read them, but you can glance at them. Jesus is leaving Jericho with his disciples, and a large crowd is following. Two blind men are sitting by the roadside, and they shout out, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us.

And the crowd rebuke them. The crowd tell them to be quiet. You can imagine, I'm sure, what the crowd felt, and probably what they said to these blind men. Don't you know who this is? It's Jesus, the rabbi.

It's possible that one or two even understood that he was the Messiah. Do you honestly think he will have time for you? Maybe, possibly, they felt he would be a bit embarrassed, a bit upset by the sight of two blind beggars in his path.

At present I'm reading a book, it's called The Kennedy Clan. It's the real life dynasty, if you like. The Kennedy dynasty, the Kennedy family in the USA. Father Joe Kennedy was an immigrant into the USA from Ireland.

He was the father of Jack, who became the president, of Edward, and of Bobby Kennedy. And he made it to the top in America. He made it to the top by threat, by muscle, some would even say by tyranny. Many don't realize that in the brilliant Kennedy family there was a seriously mentally retarded daughter.

She was called Rosemary. Listen to how the author of this book describes the attitude of Joe Kennedy and the family to Rosemary. In a family committed to an ethos of winning, winning, winning, having Rosemary around had always been an anguishing problem.

The sweet, shy, affectionate girl who looked a bit like a mother couldn't stand commotion or violence of any kind and was from her earliest years a spectator rather than a participant in sport. And if you know the Kennedy family, that was a terrible thing, not to be a participant going for the tape in whatever sport they were involved in.

For years, Joe and Rose were so ashamed of having this hopelessly incompetent child in their midst that they never told anyone about her condition. The exponents of the win-at-all-cost philosophy could not bear the idea of having a perpetual loser in their midst.

That's the attitude of the rulers of the nations. Win at all costs. Throw your weight around. And there's very, very little place for the bruised, for the broken in that kind of philosophy. And here's Jesus.

Here's Jesus. Just leaving Jericho. And he stops. Stops in his tracks for two blind beggars. While the leaders in the world have little time for weakness, the Apostle Paul, who at one time himself couldn't understand why God had allowed weaknesses in his life, learned to glory in those weaknesses.

He learned to thank God and to praise God for weakness in his life. I'm sure most of you know 2 Corinthians 12 and verse 9 off by heart. But God said to me, writes Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore, says Paul, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest upon me. Then he adds, when I am weak, then am I strong. This whole section from 2 Corinthians 11 verse 1 to the end of chapter 12 is very interesting in relation to our subject this evening.

And if you don't mind, please turn to those two chapters for a moment. We won't read them all, but I want to try and give you the general drift of the teaching in those two chapters of 2 Corinthians. It's obvious as you read the chapters that Paul was under severe attack from those whom he rather amusingly refers to as the super apostles.

He does that in chapter 11 and verse 5, and again in chapter 12 and verse 11. Obviously the earliest versions of Superman, the super apostles who opposed the apostle Paul in the community at Corinth. Now it would appear these opponents were a party of Judaizing teachers.

And they may well have had a strong charismatic leader. He probably claimed a special relationship with Jesus. People argue that from verse 13 of chapter 11. Whether that's true or not, one thing is certain about them.

Verse 18 tells us, they boasted in the way the world does. In other words, they boasted of things like that. Their descent, their family descent, their position, their rank, their reputation. That was what was important to these super apostles.

What was happening in Corinth was this. The Corinthians were comparing the super apostles, and maybe their leader, particularly, with the apostle Paul. And Paul wasn't coming out very well in this comparison.

They boasted, they oozed confidence in their lives and in their leadership. Do you remember how Paul came to Corinth? Well, 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 3 tells us, I came to you, says Paul, in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

Then they compared the sense of presence, the rhetoric of this super apostle, again with the apostle Paul. Look at what they said about Paul, chapter 10 and verse 10. In person, he is unimpressive, and his speaking amounts to nothing.

Paul had said earlier, in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 4, my message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom. He says here in chapter 11 and verse 6, I might not be a trained speaker. This doesn't quite sound like super saint, somehow, does it?

It doesn't quite sound like the modern view of the Christian leader in his leotard and with his weights. You know the modern view of the man who's got it all together. He's eloquent, he's prosperous, he's trained down to the nth degree, he's obviously a spiritual giant.

It's a bit of a different picture here in 2 Corinthians 11 and 12. And let me tell you something about Paul. Do you know, he had a thorn in the flesh? Can you imagine that? He calls it a messenger of Satan.

And even though he prayed that it might be taken away, it wasn't. He remained with him, the messenger of Satan. I mean, why didn't he name deliverance and claim deliverance? What was wrong with this apostle?

In fact, Paul came to boast in these weaknesses. He came to utterly delight in them. We've seen that in chapter 12 of 2 Corinthians verses 9 and 10. So while these false teachers boasted about their background, their reputation, their eloquence and so on, he boasted in his weakness.

Because he saw a divine purpose in these weaknesses. Look at verse 7 of chapter 12. To keep me from becoming conceited. Because of the surpassingly great revelations God gave to him, there was given me a thorn in my flesh.

To keep me from becoming conceited. Pride, conceit, pretentiousness will rob you of spiritual power. It will disqualify you from Christian leadership. C .T. Studd wrote, God can do little with those who either love their lives or their reputations.

Thomas Adams wrote, Pride thrust proud Nebuchadnezzar out of men's society, proud Saul out of his kingdom, proud Adam out of paradise, proud Haman out of court, and proud Lucifer out of heaven. Pride will disqualify me, it will disqualify you from Christian leadership.

Humility, Pride, and the Purifying Work of God

You know I've been reading the story recently of youth with a mission. It's contained in a book, I don't know whether we've got it, Is That Really You Lord? And our brothers and sisters, and we're very close to many of them, our brothers and sisters in that mission had a very harrowing, a very humiliating experience a number of years ago now.

They were convinced that God wanted them to buy a ship. It was called the Maori, and it was birthed in New Zealand. In the New Zealand press, all the newspapers took up the story. One national daily had as its front page headline on one occasion, Youth say God will give them the ship.

One night they received a telephone call from a British businessman who gave them the down payment for the purchase of the Maori. But as time passed, they just couldn't pay the remainder. And eventually they lost both the ship and the deposit of $72 ,000.

In this very, very honest book, Lauren Cunningham, the founder of YWAM, tells of a meeting with his leaders when it became obvious the ship project was falling through. And I just want to read to you one paragraph from the book.

Every day we came into the bare, austere meeting room expecting the heavy feeling of guilt to lift. But every day we found new areas which needed purifying. A painful awareness of God's awful holiness coursed through the room.

We began to sense great corporate shortcomings. And the big one was pride. To our horror, we saw that we'd begun to think that youth with a mission was God's favorite tool. We had learned more about faith than others.

We saw a glimpse into our hearts, and it was disgusting. Lauren speaks at that time of death in YWAM. Death of reputation. Death of name. Before resurrection could come. From that harrowing and yet cleansing and purifying experience, God has taken YWAM forward at an incredible pace around the world.

They learned there, as many have done over the years, that when you are weak, then you are strong. They learned the basic spiritual principle that there has to be death if there is to be real life and power.

The Cross, Suffering, and Resurrection Power

So Paul writes in Philippians 3 verse 10,. I want to know Christ, and I'm sure you do, the power of his resurrection, and I'm sure you do, the fellowship of his sufferings. Do you? I want to become like him in the way in which he died.

Do you? You want to know power in readership, the resurrection power of Christ, but do you want to know the fellowship of Calvary? Do you want to know the cross in your life? Do you want to be like Jesus in the way in which he died?

How did he die? Pouring out his life, beaten, broken, bruised upon a Roman cross. In that tremendous chapter on Christian ministry, 2 Corinthians 4, Paul writes in verse 10,. We are always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our bodies.

For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal bodies. Are you willing tonight to carry around in your body the death of Jesus, so that the life and the power of Jesus may be manifest in you and through you?

What does it mean? What does that mean? For Paul, of course, it was very true to the facts, true to reality for him. He must have almost daily experienced something of the feelings that come to a man in a death cell.

Never, never could Paul really be sure that he would be alive the next day. To live for Jesus' sake involved the readiness to suffer physically and mentally for the sake of Christ. It meant being hated for his sake.

It carried with it the liability of being put to death for Jesus. That's what it meant for Paul, carrying in his body the death of Jesus. What does it mean for you? For me, in Britain, in 1986, I suggest that it means as Christians we have accepted a totally new principle of living.

And as Christian leaders we have accepted a totally new principle, a revolutionary principle of leadership. The principle of the world is self-glorification. The principle of the Christian is what? Self-crucifixion.

The principle of the world is exalt yourself and of the world's leaders, flex your muscles, impose yourself on the situation, impose yourself on that person. The principle of the Christian is crucify yourself and of the Christian leader take the servant's position.

It's no longer greatness, it's no longer bigness, it's no longer pomp, it's no longer show. The principle of the cross is death, death to every demand that the flesh makes. The demand for recognition, the demand for approval, the demand for vindication of your leadership, death, death.

The cross cries out. The hymn writer put it like this,. And all through life I see a cross where sons of God yield up their breath. There is no gain except by loss, there is no life except by death. There is no vision but by faith, no glory but in bearing shame, no justice but in taking blame.

And that eternal Savior saith, be emptied now of right and of name. I've labored my first point and I've done so quite deliberately. But if we don't get this revolutionary principle of the New Testament, there's little point in going further.

Power comes from weakness and brokenness. Humility is the human foundation for spiritual power. That power can only flow through an empty, broken vessel. Power through weakness and servanthood. The first principle of power in leadership.

Leading by Personal Example

The second principle, which I want to bring before you and the rest will be much more brief, is power to lead by example. Power by weakness, power through example. Jesus had the most amazing impact on people, didn't he?

The carpenter's son, without special education, without ever writing a pamphlet or making a tape, has, as some writers put it, made more impact on this world than all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned.

He took a band of poor, unschooled, Galilean provincials and he used them to light a revolution of love that continues to burn in the hearts of men and women throughout the world. Here's Jesus, approaching Matthew the tax collector.

Just two words, follow me. Matthew responds by immediately leaving his occupation and becoming a follower of Jesus. And remember that was a government job he had. The government job of the occupying forces.

I wonder what they thought about him walking out on his job. But such was the impact of Jesus that he left everything and followed him. Here's Zacchaeus up a tree, he thinks he's safe from the scrutiny of Jesus, but suddenly he's ordered to come down and Jesus announces, I'm staying at your house, I'm coming for a meal.

And immediately Zacchaeus gets down and off he goes with Jesus to his home. This same Jesus could turn away a mob intent on stoning a woman caught in the act of adultery with just one sentence of rebuke.

What an incredible, incredible impact on people. Now where did it come from? Well we know, it's the power of God, it's the gift of God, it's the presence of God upon the life and ministry of Jesus. Do you know there's one or two simple explanations?

And the first is, it always stands out for me, the reality, the sincerity, the integrity of this man Jesus. Dr. Luke reminds Theophilus at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles of all that Jesus began to do and to teach.

There was always that integrity, there was always that reality about his life. This man wasn't just a talker, great teacher he was, but he lived the principles that he taught. So when John the Baptist sent his disciples to inquire whether Jesus was the Messiah, was he the Christ, Jesus didn't reply with an apologetic.

He didn't go back and say to John the Baptist, look here's my genealogy, here's the apologetic for my Messiahship. This is what he said, go back, tell John what you've heard, what you've seen. Remember the Apostle Paul, he could write to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 17 and this is incredible.

I'm sending Timothy to you, you Corinthians, he's going to remind you of my way of life, he's going to tell you what I live like. And you'll see that it agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

What a statement. Timothy's going to tell you how I live and you know and all the churches know that what I teach is what I live. Do you not think the world, do you not think the church is crying out in our generation for leaders like that?

For leaders who've put down the weights, taken off the fine clothing, for leaders who live a humble life of service. They live what they teach. There is nothing more powerful, nothing more authoritative than the authority of example.

Love as the Foundation of Christian Leadership

Thirdly, power comes through love. Love for God, yes, and love for people. One of the most challenging aspects for me of the life of Jesus is the fact that this busy leader, with none of the modern technology that we enjoy, this busy leader with all the responsibility upon his shoulders for those 33 years and particularly for those last 3 years, always had time for individuals.

For individuals that the rest of society had discarded, thrown them on the scrap heap. Jesus somehow found time for them. Do you remember Legion? Society had just, you know, chained him in a cemetery.

He was uncontrollable. Maybe they took him a meager meal once a day. Jesus was attracted to that man like iron filings to a magnet. Do you remember the woman at the well in Sychar? Humanly speaking, an insignificant woman, yet she got time from Jesus, attention.

I contend that as Jesus was talking to that woman, he wasn't looking at the passing camels. He wasn't looking at who was coming next to draw water. This man with all his responsibility, I contend, was concentrating his whole attention and his whole love and his whole ministry at that moment upon that one woman, whom you and I, certainly I, would probably have passed by.

Do you remember him on the cross? Agony! Pain! Yet this man has time for people. Woman, woman, Mary, my mother, behold, look, your son. Son, behold, your mother, today you shall be with me in paradise.

Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing. Attention for people. God hasn't given you a love for people, then don't move into leadership. If God hasn't given you a love and time for people whom others may discard, then you haven't begun the servant road.

You're not ready, you're not ready to move in to Christian leadership. I'd love to take time with you to trace through the life of Peter, but we haven't got that time. Can you imagine why Peter followed Jesus?

Sure you can. Here's this man, failure after failure or so it would seem, jumping out of the boat, you know, marching across the waves, sinking. Have you ever put yourself in the feet of Jesus at that point?

It'd be rather exciting, wouldn't it, if his feet were on the water. Have you ever put yourself in his feet, in his place? What would you have done? What would you have done with this sinking man who jumped out of the boat again so impetuous?

I'll tell you what I would have done. I'm sure you're much better than me, but this is what I would have done. I would have let him sink twice. And the third time, I'd have grabbed him and saved him. And I'd have had a very spiritual reason.

Peter, this has got to stop. Impetuosity, jumping out of boats, it's got to stop. Cutting off ears at the wrong time. It's wrong, it's wrong. You have a lesson to learn. But what do we read? What do we read?

Immediately, immediately, he reached out his hand. And he lifted that drowning man from the waves. Do you wonder why Peter followed Jesus? There's no question why, is there? The third great principle is the principle of love.

A Balanced and Whole Christian Life

Love for people. Fourthly, the principle of a biblically balanced lifestyle. Biblically balanced lifestyle. I've been talking about death, I've been talking about servanthood. I don't want you to go away thinking that all leaders dress in black and none of them have leotards.

You know, I don't want you to think that the life of the Christian leader is such an intolerable burden. That's not the story at all. The man who has died can really live. The man who's always worrying about his reputation.

What do people think of me? He can never really live, he can never really serve. Never. Because in every situation of life, the man, the woman who hasn't accepted himself is always looking for something for himself.

He can never give, because he's always wanting something for self. But the person who's accepted themselves as God has made them, rejoicing in the personality that God has given them, those people can really live.

They can live a balanced, peaceful life. Peace with themselves. Peace with God. Jesus must have been the most interesting person the world has ever known. I think the poet Swinburne was never further from the truth when he described Jesus as the pale Galilean.

And he said the world has grown grey from his breath. What nonsense. Jesus brought colour, energy, life to his surroundings. He was such a creative person. He motivated people to action, using illustrations, parables of such imagination to drive home the great truths he was seeking to teach.

Who could help but be motivated by the parable of the unforgiving servant? Who could help but be intrigued and excited and challenged by the sower and the seed, the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price, and so on?

You know one great danger in leadership, probably in idealistic young people getting into leadership, is that you become far too narrow. You get a kind of tunnel vision in your life and your leadership.

You're committed to your objectives and they're taking all your time and all your energy and you've got no time to live. No time to be what God wants you to be. I was shocked out of my shoes at our field leaders' meetings in OM.

That's where all our leaders from various fields come together once a year. I was really shocked last September when one or two came up to me and said, Brother, it's marvellous, isn't it? OM is my life.

OM is my life. I said, What? They said, OM is my life, my first waking thought, my last waking thought at night. Isn't it marvellous? That's not my experience. I love OM. I really do. I love being involved.

But that's not my life. My life is much, much broader, much more wider, much more wide than this movement, OM. I've been asking a lot of OM leaders. I've been carrying out a little survey this past week in Austria.

What are your hobbies? It's exciting down there. One raises rabbits, big rabbits. And he actually exports them from Austria to the USA. Rabbits. And he's actually paid his way through a university master's course through the profits of rabbit selling.

Now that's creativity. That's imagination. I hope you never become a boring Christian leader. Always talking about the work. Always talking about your objectives, your goals, your movement, your church.

Truth as the Source of Leadership Authority

There's more to life than that. Jesus was the most interesting, creative, balanced person this world has ever experienced. Finally, the fifth or whatever it is, the sixth principle of power to lead is power through truth.

Power through truth. Jesus was absolutely committed to truth. The truth of God. Mark tells us that's where it all began as Jesus entered the wilderness or entered into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.

And throughout his ministry, he never ceased to proclaim the truth of God. Whenever people came to him, he faced them with the truth of God. It didn't matter whether it was the rich young ruler. It didn't matter whether it was the woman taking adultery.

The truth of God was what they faced. Even the approaches of Satan were faced with those words. It's written. It's written. This is the truth of God facing that temptation. Truth motivates, doesn't it?

When you're listening to a man who can really handle the truth of God, it's highly motivating, isn't it? When you're sitting down, one-to-one counseling with a person who knows the word of God and can bring the word of God into your situation, it's tremendously motivating, isn't it?

To be faced, not with human ideas, but with the living truth of God. And truth wrapped in the kind of enthusiasm and creativity which you see in Jesus. Well, it's just incredible. It was the same with Paul in 2 Timothy 3 and verse 10.

He's challenging Timothy to follow his example in leadership. And he reminds him about that example. He said, Timothy, you know all about my teaching. He was writing in a day of doctrinal extremism. Not much change, does it, in the Christian church.

He really had to warn them to avoid endless myths and genealogies. Have you met them in the 20th century? Endless myths and genealogies which promote controversy rather than the work of God. But in this day of instability, Timothy had found someone whose teaching was consistent and clear.

And I believe he was greatly motivated by it. And so Paul says, the elder, the spiritual leader, must be able to teach. Titus he writes, Titus 1 and verse 9, the elder must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine.

I went to the leadership conference in Scotland. First time we've had it in Scotland, first time this year. We had about six to eight hundred young people present. We thought we'd take some pressure off this conference if we had a Scottish conference.

And in fact we find we're absolutely full here and we're now absolutely full in Scotland. We're trying an Irish conference this year as well. It's great to see you, by the way. Great. But you know, I came away from that conference absolutely motivated in my leadership.

Because the Reverend Eric Alexander, who was our guest speaker, I only heard one of his sessions. But he took the opening chapters of Exodus and he just expounded the truth of God on the subject of leadership.

And I sat there and my life, my ministry was fed. And I was encouraged because the truth of God was facing me. You know, there in Vienna, where I've been this past week, the team, two years ago, when I last had a long time with them, were really, really down.

Actually the work was falling apart. There are five leaders and two of them had come to me talking about leaving the work. Two years later, I don't think there are many more motivated teams in Operation Mobilization.

What happened? Well, two Bible teachers came to Vienna, Dr. David Gooding and John Lennox. I don't think they did very much preaching as such. But they showed these men how to get into the Word of God themselves in a new way.

And every one of them, if they were to come onto this platform tonight, would tell you that it has transformed their lives. They're being fed, they're being motivated daily with the living Word of God.

A Call to Cross-Shaped, Servant Leadership

Now, many other spiritual qualities which lead to power in leadership could have been mentioned. But I think that's enough with which to begin our conference. You want to know power? You want to know authority in your leadership?

Don't go the way of the world tyranny, might, muscle. Go the way of the cross, brokenness, servanthood. Live the life! Not just the words, not just the activity on the pulpit, not just the personality at the front.

Live the life! Ask God to give you a Calvary love for His people. Get into the Word through which God is known, His will and His ways are understood. Let me end with a quotation from John Stott. The authority by which the Christian leader leads is not power, but love.

Not force, but example. Not coercion, but reasoned persuasion. Leaders have power, but power is safe only in the hands of those who humble themselves to serve. Are you in a position where God can give you His power to lead?

Maybe it would be too dangerous. The authority by which the Christian leader leads is safe only in the hands of those who have humbled themselves to serve. Let's just spend a few moments in quietness in God's presence and then I'll pray.

Prayer for Humility, Truth, and Servanthood

Just let God take maybe one or two things which you've heard this evening which were particularly for you and write them on your mind, on your heart. Remember when the Word of God is sown, the bird Satan comes along and seeks to take the seed before it can enter our minds, our hearts, our lives.

Let's defend ourselves against that this evening. Just take a few moments and ask God to write His Word into our minds, into our hearts. Father, we know there's a great danger in 1986 to be moulded by the patterns of this world.

We see so much on the television, in the newspapers, the magazines of a power, of a leadership which is so unbiblical we can't even recognize it as we read Your Word. We pray You'll deliver us from being moulded in that way and grant us, Lord, that which may be against the natural man, it may be against the flesh.