Warren W. Wiersbe - Be Diligent. Serving Others as You Walk with the Master

BE DILIGENT

Published by David C. Cook

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All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes,

no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form

without written permission from the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain.) Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; and NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The author has added italics to Scripture quotations for emphasis.

LCCN 2009934567

ISBN 978-1-4347-6631-1

eISBN 978-1-4347-0091-9

1987 Warren W. Wiersbe

First edition of Be Diligent by Warren W. Wiersbe published by Victor Books

in 1987 Warren W. Wiersbe, ISBN 0-89693-356-3

The Team: Karen Lee-Thorp, Amy Kiechlin, Sarah Schultz, Jack Campbell, and Karen Athen

Series Cover Design: John Hamilton Design

Cover Photo: Veer Inc.

Second Edition 2010

To

Gale and Millie Baldridge

longtime friends from seminary days whose ministry exemplifies true servanthood (Hebrews 6:10)

Contents

The Big Idea: An Introduction to Be Diligent by Ken Baugh 9

A Word from the Author 13

1. Gods Servant Is Here! (Mark 1) 17

2. What the Servant Offers You (Mark 2:13:12) 31

3. The Servant, the Crowds, and the Kingdom (Mark 3:134:34) 45

4. The Servant Conquers! (Mark 4:355:43) 59

5. Will Anyone Trust Gods Servant? (Mark 6) 73

6. The Servant-Teacher (Mark 7:18:26) 87

7. The Servants Secrets (Mark 8:279:50) 101

8. The Servants Paradoxes (Mark 10) 117

9. The Servant in Jerusalem (Mark 11:112:44) 131

10. The Servant Unveils the Future (Mark 13) 147

11. The Servant Suffers (Mark 14:115:20) 161

12. The Servant Finishes His Work (Mark 15:2116:20) 177

The Big Idea

An Introduction to Be Diligent by Ken Baugh

The Princess Bride is one of my favorite movies because it exemplifies true love. As the story begins, young Wesley is the servant of a beautiful girl named Buttercup. Of course, Wesley is madly in love with Buttercup and is eager to please her in every way. When she asks him to do mundane tasks with a demanding and condescending tone in her voice he simply responds, as you wish. As the story continues, Wesley wins Buttercups heart with his servant attitude and gentle spirit. I know, thats mush, but theres a lot of action in the movie too: a voyage through the sea of insanity, a death-defying journey through the fire swamp, sword fights between good guys and bad guys, betrayal, kidnapping, torture, even Rodents of Unusual Size. This movies got it all, all the things that make up a good fairy tale. But what I like most about it (in addition to all the action) is the fact that the boy wins the girls heart through loving acts of service.

As a senior pastor, I have often wondered about the best way to win the hearts of people to Christ. Is it through great worship services, solid Bible teaching, relevant programs, or the bold proclamation of the gospel? Of course, all these elements play a role in winning peoples hearts to Christ, but I cant help but wonder if were missing something, because there are lots of churches that provide all these things, yet statistically, church attendance in America is declining, and more and more people are turning to alternate forms of spirituality rather than the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Could it be, at least in part, that people are turning away from Jesus and His church because we as His followers have neglected to develop the one character trait that Jesus modeled for us over and over again? Could it be that the reason people flocked to Jesus was because He personified this all-important character trait? Could it be that this particular trait is the one that really gets peoples attention, because when it is lived out, it is so countercultural that people cant help but notice and attribute its presence to something supernatural?

What is this character trait? Servanthood. I believe that servanthood is the character trait that wins the hearts of people who are looking for a faith that is real. And John Mark, the guy who wrote the gospel of Mark, believed that too. Let me explain.

Throughout Marks gospel, we discover the true character of Jesus Christ as a servant. Where Matthew wrote to a Jewish audience and painted Christ as the long-awaited Messiah who came through Davids line and fulfilled the promises of the Old Testament prophets, Mark wrote to a Roman audience who had little interest in a Jewish Messiah but a lot of interest in the story of this servant named Jesus. There is no genealogy in Marks gospel because a servants lineage is of little consequence. There is no mention of Jesus birth when kings came to worship Him and brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, because kings from afar dont pay homage to servants. In Marks gospel, there is no mention of Jesus noble rights as the King of Kings.

Instead, Marks focus is on the character of this man named Jesus. Mark affirms that Jesus is most certainly the Messiah (Mark 8:29), Gods Son (Mark 1:1011), the one and only God-man, fully human and fully divine, performing miracles that only God could perform. To emphasize Jesus deity, Mark records that Jesus cast out demons (1:2128), healed the sick (1:3234), made the lepers clean (1:4045), made a paralyzed man walk (2:112), calmed a storm at sea (4:3541), brought a young girl back from the dead (5:3543), fed five thousand people with a small amount of food (6:3244), and walked on water (6:4551). But instead of painting a portrait of the Christ as the King, Mark paints a portrait of the Christ as a suffering servant (Mark 8:31) who came to win the hearts and ransom the lives of people through His loving act of service as He gave His life on the cross to pay the price for their sin. In fact, Mark records Jesus own summation of His earthly purpose: For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45 NIV ). Here we see three characteristics of servanthood that Jesus modeled for us and will live out through us as we devote ourselves to His service.

The three characteristics of a servant that draw people to Jesus:

1. A willingness to help others first. Jesus as a servant said, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served (Mark 10:45 NIV ). To be selfless is to look to meet the needs of others before meeting your own. As you read through Marks gospel, watch for evidence of Jesus selfless lifestyle, and identify ways that you can serve others in the same way.

2. A willingness to meet others practical needs. Jesus as a servant came to serve, and He did so by being aware of the practical, everyday needs of the people around Him: their need for food, for comfort, for encouragement and guidance. As God in human flesh, Jesus was able to meet peoples practical needs in miraculous ways that we cannot, but there certainly are things that we can be aware of and respond to. As you read through Marks gospel, look for practical ways that Jesus met peoples everyday needs, and then identify ways that you can serve others in a similar manner.