Abraham's life is examined to illustrate the qualities of a servant's heart, particularly in the context of employment and relationships. The sermon highlights Jacob's twenty-year service to Laban, detailing his commitment to fulfilling his agreements, working diligently even under adverse conditions, and maintaining integrity despite his employer's deceit. The core lesson is that a servant's heart, characterized by humility, gratitude, and satisfaction, leads to God's blessing and eventual control in one's circumstances. Ultimately, Jacob's twenty years of faithful service prepared him to become Israel, demonstrating the transformative power of serving others with integrity.
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I knew it was going to come, but I don't think he really thinks we've worked them all out. We're living the same split level. And they usually get back before we do. They're a little older. And their door is shut. I haven't tested to find out if it's locked yet. But we do appreciate Dan and Martha. We're helpful in my wife's emotional problems. In those days she needed a lot of help. She's not here.
And you wouldn't tell her, would you? Yes, you would. I know Eddie Schwartzwood. Chuck Swindoll has written a number of books. And one secular bookstore somehow bought and stopped his book called Improving Your Service. Guess where they put it? In a sports section. And one Christian... came into the bookstore and saw this book over there and went to the proprietor to the store and said, you know, that really isn't what that book's about and told her what the book was about.
And she says, well, that's all right. We're selling quite a few of them. And I don't know if Roy has got that book for sale up at the bookstore or not. But I imagine he would have it in the right section under golf. But I like to talk about the servant's heart this morning. So if you turn to Genesis chapter twenty eight and we're back to Jacob. Before we give, you know, some of these people just a totally bad rap.
Jacob is one of those that we have a tendency of not seeing much good in his life. There's some good in this man in a number of areas. And I think he can teach us something about how to behave in a relationship. How to behave in this situation in relationship to an employer. Twenty years. He worked for Laban. Now, I was listening the other day to one of Jack Benny's old programs from nineteen fifty-three. And the program went on that he was given an inheritance by a rich aunt that died.
Five thousand dollars. And this attorney came and he had the five thousand dollar check and, you know, Jack Benny loves money. And they say, are you the Jack Benny who was born in Waukegan, Illinois? Oh, yes. Are you the Jack Benny who began playing a musical instrument when you were in fourth grade? Yes. What instrument was that? The violin. Right. And went through all these different questions and said, well, you're obviously the man we're looking for. Oh, by the way, when were you born? How old are you? Thirty-nine. Oh, that doesn't fit.
Because the Jack Benny I'm Looking For was born in eighteen ninety-four and he's fifty-nine. Are you that man? And Jack Benny thought about it, said, No, sir, I'm not that man. And all of his friends are sitting around, How could you do that? And the guy left him, Jack Benny's so happy and all the rest. And they said, Jack, how could you do it? He says, I always know a bargain when I see it. And they said, What bargain was that? Where can you buy twenty years for five thousand dollars? Which has absolutely nothing to do with Jacob and Laban. You're in Genesis twenty-eight.
Let me quote just a couple verses before that. Deuteronomy chapter eight verse eighteen. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth the power to get wealth. Proverbs chapter eight, verse twenty and twenty-one. I, in reference to wisdom, lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment, that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures. Ah, looking forward to this message, aren't you? How to get wealth, how to inherit substance, and be filled with treasures.
Well, let's put these, of course, in terms of the eternal values that we as believers in Lord Jesus Christ, not the kind that moths and rust and thieves can take care of, but the kind that are of eternal value and consequence. But here, Jacob is involved in an employment situation, but let's go back. It's very important to see this confrontation again with God at Bethel. Now, again, there's a reconfirmation of the Abrahamic covenant with Jacob. and verses thirteen through fifteen. And then we see his covenant, his vow in verse twenty. If God will be with me, just as he's looking for the presence of the Lord in his life, if he will keep me in this way that I go, he's looking for God's safety, his protection.
Thirdly, if God will give me bread to eat, looking for provision, and if He will give me raiment to put on, He's looking for clothing, and fifthly, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, and He's looking for peace and the return of His family. Now, these five-ifs, and again, like we said yesterday, that is not the best prayer that He's praying toward God. It is, you know, somewhat of an... you know, a challenge. You do this, God, then I will respond. That's not the way that creatures should respond to the Creator. To one who is saved should respond to one who does the saving. To one who is just, you know, a speck of dust respond to one who is the omnipresent, sovereign God of the universe.
That is not the kind of prayer. That is the best kind of prayer to pray. Then he says, Then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house. And then notice the third thing. And of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. One brief comment to the side. There is a lot of discussion about tithing today, whether believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are to tithe. And of course, the tithe is a tenth. And one of the arguments that goes against tithing is that tithing was something that happened under the law.
Well, just an exegetical note here, Jacob predates Moses, doesn't it? Jacob is tithing far before Moses was ever born and was given the law by God. tithing was a practice of the believers before the law. Just an interesting comment, which may or may not have anything to do with this still. But anyway, let's go to Jacob in his relationship now in verses in chapters twenty nine through thirty one with Laban. And he rides up at Heron where Laban lives, and he is going to enter into an employment contract. Now I guess I'm very glad that we live in the twentieth century.
I didn't have to get into an employment contract or a dowry or anything like that. All I had to do was stealer to get my life. But Jacob comes and he's an honorable man and he enters into an employment contract with his future father-in-law. And Laban said unto Jacob, verse fifteen, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for naught? Tell me, what shall thy wages be? And so they come up with an agreement that he's going to work seven years for this beautiful and well-favored. And you might want to do a word study on those two words sometimes.
He paid a rich compliment to Rachel. But he didn't exactly uncomplement Leah either. is not saying that Rachel was beautiful and Leah was a dog. By no means is that what he's saying there. Rachel was just the one that hit his eye and says, And he liked her. So he entered into an appointment contract. And then good old Laban did his thing, and you know the story, until we get down to verse twenty-seven. And after Jacob said, Wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? And Laban says, Well, we've got to do it that way.
And he says, fulfill her week, and we will give this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And, of course, he was doing this because Jacob was a valuable servant to him. So now we're up to fourteen years. Now, chapter thirty, verse twenty-eight. And here, he's worked the fourteen years for Rachel and Leah. And now... He says, verse twenty-eight, he says, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle is with me, for as little which thou hast, and all the rest. And so now he goes on, and he's going to serve for another six years that he's going to serve Laban.
So he enters into an employment contract. Now, I think most of you understand a little bit about an employment contract. Some jobs don't require the signing of an employment contract per se. But there is an agreement between the employer and the employee as to what that employee is going to do and how the employer is going to remunerate the employee for his services. Now I assume that all of you who are working at jobs one way or another have entered into that employment contract except for you housewives. You agreed to be wife, mother, and all the other things that come with marriage, but there's not much in the way of remuneration.
And I don't think many of your husbands make enough money to pay you the salary that you earn by being a housewife in a home, being a keeper at home. I don't think there's enough money in the world to pay women. And I am insulted when people come up and ask my wife if she works. Aren't you? I mean, if she wants a break, she can go out and get a job in the work world. But what she's doing at home is just phenomenal. I'm basically a lazy individual, so she does more than her share. So here there's an employment contract, and this employment contract from time to time may be renegotiated. You may get more remuneration from your employer.
You may get more responsibilities, because you have to agree to taking on more responsibilities. Of course, they usually don't give you much choice. If you want this job, you'll agree to do more. And, of course, usually in our workaholic-type world, what they do is they bribe you into it. They will give you overtime. We'll give you this, that, or the other thing, so that you'll work more hours. But anyway, there's an employment contract between Jacob and Laban. But how do they approach it? If you read chapters twenty-nine, thirty, and thirty-one, you'll find that twelve times a key word is used. And that key word, you'll see it in verse fifteen. He says here, Should thou therefore serve me for naught? Verse eighteen. I will serve thee.
Seven years. Verse twenty. And Jacob served seven years for Rachel. Verse twenty-five. Did not I serve with thee for Rachel. Verse twenty-seven. We will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me. Verse thirty. And he served with him yet seven other years. Chapter thirty. Verse twenty-six. Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served thee. Again, let me go for thou knowest my service, which I have done. Verse twenty-nine. Thou knowest how I have served thee. Chapter thirty-one, verse six. Ye know that with all my power I have served your fathers.
And verse forty-one of that same chapter. And we read here. Thus have I been twenty years in thy house. I have served thee. Fourteen years for thy two daughters and six years for thy cattle. And I was changed my wages ten times. And by the way, those changes were not upward. Here, the characteristic of Jacob's relationship with Laban was characterized by this word serve. Serve. Now, I would like to suggest that that word is not just in the employment relationship, but it does include the employment relationship that we have in our various levels of work.
It might include those of you who are self-employed. You end up serving the public, don't you? Or those of you who are employees, you serve your boss. And that means even if you are a union employee working for a contractor or some other individual, that your relationship is described as being one of service. Or a husband in relationship to his wife could be described in relationship to her as serving her. Or a wife in relationship to her husband. Or parents to their children. Or children to their parents. Or believers to one another in the body of Christ. And all the relationships of life. can be described by this word service.
And here is a man. Another man has defined this, that the servant's heart is becoming excited about making someone else successful. Now, I'd like you to take a look at this servant's heart and how it's demonstrated in the life of Jacob. The first thing you see in chapter twenty-nine, verse fifteen, is that when he agrees with his employer, that's what he works for. If you get a job working for an employer and he decides that he's going to pay you minimum wage and you agree to work for it, okay, three dollars and whatever it is, sixty-five cents an hour, that minimum wage, something like that, and you agree with your boss a week for work for three dollars and sixty-five cents an hour, does that give you the right to say, well now really, three sixty-five doesn't worth forty hours work, it's worth about twenty-five hours work.
So the other fifteen, I'll kind of not work too hard. I'll kind of take it easy. Because I'm only getting minimum wage. Now, we can have an attitude like that, couldn't we? But Jacob agreed with Laban. He says, this is what I'm going to do for seven years. And of course, when he had that kind of attitude, notice verse twenty. And they seemed unto him but a few days, for they loved he had to her. When you approach working with the right attitude, that it's amazing how it doesn't become a burden, it doesn't become a chore. You know, down in Dallas, one of the, back when Dallas Seminary was cheap, it's not cheap anymore, but I was working and I couldn't have a job working for a marketing company. And the marketing company, first thing they did, they sent me out interviewing people about how they like beer.
And I did the first survey. And how do you like the flavor of the bubblies? Oh, and I just, sent it back. It was a good job making about ten dollars an hour and it's good money for a seminary student, but I just can't do this. I mean, maybe the next one might be all right. So I went down to labor pool. Labor pool, like manpower. It's right next to a flop house in downtown Dallas. A flop house is where the bums sleep off the night before and they roll out of this place about six o'clock in the morning to get a job so they make ten bucks so that they can, and that's what it was, for eight dollars worth, ten dollars we earned. And so I got down there this morning and they asked all these people, would you like a job at Foremost Dairy?
And all of them apparently had tried that job at Foremost Dairy. I didn't know enough to turn it down. So I went out to Foremost Dairy for this job and it was back in this unheat, unair-conditioned room with all the old milk bottles that had come in there. Still got the old milk in the milk bottles and it sunk to high heaven. It was about a hundred and ten degrees outside and a hundred and forty inside there. And I said, well, what do I do? And he said, you take this hook and you do this. And so for eight hours, I did that. And the guy came back out after the end of eight hours. And I cleaned out the whole room and he took a look at it. He says, what? You still here? He didn't expect me to still be there. And I didn't know. You know, he says, well, everybody else is hung your hook. He says, well, you come back tomorrow. I said, sure, ten dollars.
So I went back down to manpower that labor pool that day, got my ten dollars, went back out the next day to the same thing. I didn't know enough not to do that. And the end of that day, he offered me a job full time with foremost dairy, working in the ice cream freezer. Twenty below zero. Oh, was that a refreshing break? So when you take a job, you work for the terms that you agree with, and you put in your forty hours whatever it is that you agree to. That's what Jacob did. Second thing, when you work for your employer, it should be something that is profitable to your employer.
Notice verse twenty-seven. Laban chapter thirty. And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in my eyes, Terry. He says, listen, Jacob, if you like me still, Stay here, would you, because I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for thy sake. How many of your bosses could say that? How many of your boss could say, hey, listen, would you stay here, please, because I found out that because you're working for me, God is enriching me. God has blessed me. God, in that word, blessed there again, it's that word. God made me happy. And from Laban's term, I think that's got to be monetary.
I'm richer now. And that's the idea that you get that Laban didn't have much before. Jacob came along and now he's got a bunch. God has blessed me because of you. And what an attitude that Jacob must have demonstrated before Laban. Now, chapter thirty, verse thirty-one. In working for Laban, he didn't seek easy money. And Laban says to him, What shall I give thee? What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything. If thou will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock. How many of you turned down a bonus from your boss?
A Christmas bonus. I'm not saying you should, by the way. But Jacob's motivation was not going out and trying to find the easiest money possible. Now, I can remember somebody who invited us over to their house. And for dinner, we thought it was. And then he took us down. He says, would you like to see my basement? Sure. We went down to his basement, and there just happened to be two chairs sitting in front of this chalkboard. And he says, oh, can we tell you something that we are involved in? Oh. And first thing, he took us this roll of pictures. Here was a preacher in this church, and he sold our product.
And he went direct. And now he owns an airplane and a Cadillac, and he doesn't need any money from the church. And here's somebody else. They take vacations in the Bahamas every year. And this, and this. Please have a seat. And if you do this, that, and the other thing, you will be on easy street for the rest of your life. You won't have to work anymore. And that was not the attitude that Jacob had. He wasn't looking for something for nothing. He wasn't looking for the least amount of work possible. Getting by with the least amount of effort expended. Fourthly, chapter thirty, verse thirty-three.
So shall my righteousness answer for me, Jacob says, in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face. Everyone that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. He worked in such a way that no one could accuse him of doing anything wrong. Now, it's been kind of interesting at our chapel that every once in a while, I keep seeing these little pins showing up saying, U.S. government. I'm the pin. That means the property of U.S. government. And the last time I checked, our building is not owned by the U.S.
government. nor is anybody on salary in our chapel from the U.S. government. And I am amazed at how many U.S. government pens have showed up at our assembly. Now, we have a number of our people work for McDonnell Douglas, which is a defense contractor, and they get their pens from the U.S. government. And I have not been courageous enough to go around finding out who is permanently borrowing U.S. government pens. even though everybody else is doing it. Or, well, we took twenty minutes our coffee break because everybody else does it. On payday we take an hour and a half for lunch because everybody else does it.
Or the boss really doesn't care, and that's not true, is it? The boss really does care, but he probably just doesn't want to make a stink over it because he knew he probably wouldn't win. Or I put in some overtime and I've got this coming to me. He worked in such a way that nobody could accuse him of wrongdoing. Chapter thirty-one, verse six, Jacob says to Laban, Ye know that with all my power, I have served your father. This is Jacob saying it to his wife when he's having trouble with Laban. With all his power, he served. No quotas.
We got bricklayers. unionized in the city of St. Louis, they only have to lay a certain number of bricks per day. And I know some bricklayers who worked back before there was a bricklayer's union in St. Louis. And he, just one particular man, could lay in an eight-hour day four to five times as many bricks as they're required to lay now. And I want to tell you, when they get up to whatever that brick is, they don't weigh one more brick than they have to. And, of course, with their contract, they get a number of beers for free.
That's supposed to be provided by the contractor and things like that. But they've got a quota. This is all we're going to do. No more. There's no shirking, no slowdowns, no strikes as far as Jacob is concerned, that he served with all his might. Now, he had a good employer, didn't he? He served in spite of the fact that he had a wicked, selfish employer who deceived his employee. How many of you have an employer who is deliberately trying to deceive you? Even non-Christian bosses don't tend to do that, do they? I've known a lot of non-Christian bosses who are very honorable individuals. This boss was a guy who changed his wages.
How many times? Ten times. Ding, ding. Ding, ding. How long would you stay at a job when they reduced your wages? What kind of working conditions did he provide? Look at chapter thirty-one, verse forty. Thus I was, in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes. That sounds like poor in dangerous working conditions. OSHA should be out on that one. Jacob, chapter thirty-one, verse thirty-eight.
The twenty years I have been with thee, thy youth and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of the flock have I not eaten. That which was torn of these I brought not unto thee. I bear the loss of it. of my hand if thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. He says, when I was working for you and things didn't work out right, I took the brunt of it. And when sheep were born and you didn't know about it, I gave an accounting for it. He was completely trustworthy. Chapter thirty-one, verse thirty-nine, again, down through verse forty-two, here was a man who didn't have any personal rights. He didn't have the good working conditions.
His wages got changed ten times. Forty-two, except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had been with me. Surely thou hast sent me away now empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked thee yesterday night. Here was a guy who was willing to let the whole matter rest with God. He didn't take matters into his own hands. He didn't go over and talk to any other people and say, hey, listen, we've got to do something about this. He sacrifices personal life. There's no worker demands, no collective bargaining, no grudges, no stewards, no wildcap strikes, nothing like that. He sacrificed all this. And he worked under adverse working conditions, as we see here again in verse forty of chapter thirty one.
And in all this, this was a fantastic employee. How did his employer respond? His employer responds and says in chapter thirty verse twenty seven, you are valuable to me. A man who approaches his job as a servant's heart will become valuable. In fact, that's the way you can control a situation. Instead of expecting to be served, you serve. And you know what happens when you serve? You end up in control. What did Joseph do when he ended up in Potiphar's house? He served. And what happened? He was in charge. Got thrown in jail. What did he do? He served. What happened? He ended up being in charge.
He served Pharaoh. What did he do? He ended up being in charge. A person with a servant's heart is amazing, the power and control that you'll have in a situation when you just approach it with a servant's heart. And even then, here's a guy, an employer who beguiled, deceived, decreased his wages. He tried to hurt Jacob. He afflicted Jacob and all these different kinds. Laban is an illustration of about the worst kind of employer that you could have. And yet through all this, you know what happens? The blessing of God was upon Jacob. The Lord's blessing was upon him. We see that in chapter thirty, verse twenty-seven. The God has blessed me because of thee. God increased Jacob's substance like he prayed for back in chapter twenty-eight.
That the presence of God was with him in chapter thirty-one, verse three and five. God protected him in chapter thirty-one, verse seven. God vindicated him. God was the one who defended his cause, chapter thirty-one, verse nine. And he was promoted later on after this service. He was at Bethel before. He served for twenty years. And now he's at Peniel. And now he's ready to become Israel. How did he get ready to become Israel? By twenty years of serving. And he had flocks and children. Here was a man who learned how to serve. And the end result in Jacob's life. Notice what happened in his life because he served. Just these four things very quickly. Chapter thirty-two, verse ten.
I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercy. Here was a man who learned by a servant part humility. Chapter thirty-two, verse ten again, you see there here that he learned gratitude and of all the truth which thou showed unto thy servant. He is a humble man. He is a grateful man. He is a man who's learned to be satisfied. Chapter thirty-three, verse eleven. Oh, isn't this a phenomenal statement? Take, I pray these. He saw I said this. My blessing that is brought to me because God has dealt graciously with me because I have enough.
You bosses, you ever had an employee say that to you? Don't raise my salary. I have enough. There's a guy who works for the federal government up in Chicago. He's making forty thousand dollars a year and they want to raise his salary. He says, I don't need a raise in salary. He ended up losing his job. They couldn't understand it. I mean, what's wrong with you? Everybody in your category is going up. I don't need him anymore. We're already taking away from the text. I don't need him. There's a man who learned to be satisfied. And he is a man who learned to give his tithe back to the Lord.