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Faithful Stewardship

It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:2)

I believe that the greatest virtue in the eyes of God is faithfulness; it embraces everything. Faithfulness is after God's own heart. Take a passing glance at this steward Paul the Apostle. "Demas forsook me..."; (2 Tim. 4:10); "...all that are in Asia turned away from me..." (2 Tim. 1:15). Look at him when everything which would inspire to faithfulness is breaking down. He is left practically alone. He has more enemies than ever. And now the tragedy, the pathos is that so many of his enemies are those to whom he has been most used. While there were enemies without it was not so difficult, but now the very people for whom he has spent himself have become his enemies. But there is no thought, no hint, no suggestion of giving up. His word is, "...faithful unto death...." This steward was faithful. You cannot say that, when he died, the situation outwardly testified to tremendous success. It did not look like that at all. Paul's life was not vindicated up to the hilt. No! He died largely a lonely man, but faithful, "...it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." But what enrichment of others may follow from the meeting of that requirement, costly as it is. Paul is not dead! I only hope that Paul knows of all that has sprung from his ministry, all that his ministry means to us. The Lord has met us through His servant, and we never, never get to the depths or anywhere near the bottom of the fullness of Christ that has come through Paul. We shall go on, and, if we live twice or three times the length of our present life, we shall still be making discoveries of what we owe to Paul's faithfulness as a steward. That has been going on century after century.

That is faithful stewardship, and although the steward may be called away from his earthly stewardship, the stewardship goes on. Faithfulness is always rewarded beyond our wildest dreams. May the Lord maintain us in faithfulness, even though that faithfulness may sometimes involve us in an appearance of utter failure. The Lord make us good stewards.

In Your name they rejoice all day long, and in Your righteousness they are exalted.

In the Lord I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him. In the Lord all the descendants of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory. § Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

The righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe …To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! § Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.

Ps. 89:16;  Isa. 45:24,25;  Ps. 32:11;  Rom. 3:21,22;   Rom. 3:26;  Phil. 4:4;  1 Peter 1:8

Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty … Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.

The Lord is … great in power. § If God is for us, who can be against us? § Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us … and He will deliver us. § My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. § He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory. § Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all … Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You.

Matt. 6:13;  Ps. 93:1,2;  Nah. 1:3;  Rom. 8:31;  Dan. 3:17;  John 10:29;  1 John 4:4;  Ps. 115:1;  1 Chron. 29:11,  1 Chron 13:14

Subdued Servant

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds" (2 Cor. 10:4).

The true servant is finally subdued, but not stultified; prepared but not deprived of individuality. All that is rendered inoperative is the old man - and thank God for that!

"When we are finally prepared, our Lord says: When I died, you died. When I went to the Cross I not only took your sins, but I took you. I not only took you as a sinner, but I took you as being all that you are by nature; your good as well as your bad; your abilities as well as your disabilities; yes, every resource of yours. I took you as a worker, a preacher, and organizer. My Cross means that not even for Me can you be or do anything out from yourself; but if there is to be anything at all it must be out from Me, and that means a life of absolute dependence and faith.'" -T. A-S.

"How little does one know of the antagonism of our nature to the will of the Father, who thinks that service can be undertaken without that self-renunciation which can only be learned by experiential knowledge of the superiority of His ways and counsels! We never surrender what we value until we find a better, and man is so full of himself and his own will that until he finds out the sovereignty of his Father's will he can be neither an obedient nor a suitable servant.

"And this is usually learned through varied and painful processes. The disciplined servant always finds a way to do his work however difficult it may appear. The greater the difficulties the greater must be the evidence that our resources are of a different order and character from those arrayed against us, and this will be found true in very small matters as well as in great ones."

"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5).

The Incomparable Christ

The Mystery of Godliness