The Best Service
W. Birch. Revelation 7:1-8 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth… I. WE OUGHT TO BE THE ACTIVE SERVANTS OF OUR GOD. It is necessary for us to pray, and if we pray aright, it will make us active in going about doing good. Do not let us enter into the business of life solely an our own account; let us be servants in all we do on God's account. How earnestly most business men seek opportunities of doing anything and everything to increase their trade and make it prosperous. Why do not we as Christians be equally earnest in attracting people to our churches and chapels? We may be co-workers with God. Your holy, charitable life and manners may melt the opposition of men who hate goodness and truth. II. Then let us further be CONSISTENT servants of our God. The world watches us, waiting to see whether we are true or not. Don't be pious in singing hymns, and impious in something else. Be consistent. If you have faults, don't rest until you get rid of them. Grow daily in grace, piety, and religion, like healthy plants, which grow in beauty day by day. III. Be a FREE servant of our God. Don't let any bad habits make you their prisoner. It is said that habit is second nature; and man is a bundle of habits. You know that when you walk across a field for the first time you make scarcely any impression on the grass. But if you go several times a day for a year you will make a beaten path. So one sin may not do you much injury, but it is the beginning of many. One drop of water from yonder hill soon dries up, but if it be followed by fresh drops every moment, by and by it scoops out a way through the hardest rocks, and becomes a rapid, gurgling stream, which dashes from stone to stone until it reaches the broad river. So these bad habits grow upon us and enslave us. "Blessed is he that overcometh." The Lord God has promised that if any one ask Him, He will send His Holy Spirit into that man's heart, and deliver him from all his bad habits. IV. Be God's servants, showing forth the BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. Young man, you may not possess a titled name, but you may make yourself the embodiment of honour. You may not possess great wealth, but you may be known as one of the upright of the earth. When a beautiful woman dies, nobody mourns her; but when a woman who is beautiful in soul passes away, angels welcome her to glory and good men weep for her. Be beautiful in life. (W. Birch.) Parallel Verses KJV: And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. WEB: After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.