It is greater than all of our sins. What an amazing Lord. Knowing our destitute state, our rebellious state, our self-centered state, and our desire to please ourselves, the Lord still came with great grace and touched our hearts—these hard hearts.
I do not know if, the older I get, the more I realize how hard my heart was. And I thought I was a pretty good kid. So did my mom, by the way.
But the Lord is in the business of getting through to hard hearts and piercing our hearts. Let us begin with a word of prayer this morning.
Lord, we are so thankful for the great grace of God, for the mercy You have shown to us. Lord, for this Word that You have given to us to instruct us, to bring us into Your heart, to draw us close to Thee, and to open the eyes of our hearts to see truth and reality.
Lord, the world seems only to offer us lies and momentary pleasures. But, Lord, You offer us eternal life—life forever, life that is real, life that is glorious, life that is victorious.
Lord, what a God You are, that You have condescended. My brother shared this morning that You were God; You could not die. But You took on the form of man that You could die in our place. What an amazing God You are.
We only ask this morning, Lord, that You, knowing all of our hearts, would open all of our eyes. We want to see what You have for us this morning as we come before You. We ask Your blessing on this time, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well, what I have to share this morning is on this subject of spiritual responsibility. Now, that is a tough subject—one that is probably avoided a lot. But I can only share with you what has really been on my heart since 1974. I am not necessarily trying to give a teaching on spiritual responsibility.
Sometimes we hear messages that affect us deeply and remain with us for the rest of our lives. In 1974, I heard a couple of messages that affected me deeply and personally at the second conference here in Richmond.
One was from Lance Lambert on the house of God, the bride of Christ, which the sisters have recently shared from Lance’s book. The other speaker that day was Stephen Kong, and he was burdened with this matter of spiritual leadership.
But as he began to speak, I began to think, “I am not sure what our brother is doing. He is speaking on spiritual leadership, and yet he is not telling us how to be leaders, how to direct other people. He is telling us how to be servants, how to take the lowest place.”
Our Lord Jesus said:
“I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.”
—Mark 10:45
He said that the world’s way is to seek position in order to direct others and be at the top, so to speak. That is the way you become responsible. But in the house of God, it is just the opposite. You have to take the lowest place.
And the issue is not position. If you are seeking position, you are not qualified. He said, “The issue is functioning. Functioning.”
Brothers and sisters, these principles that he shared with us were not just for leaders. I discovered they were for all of us. That has been on my heart all these years, and it has affected me deeply: what it means to be a servant in the house of God, and what it means to be spiritually responsible.
It is not a bad thing, brothers and sisters. It is a marvelous thing, being spiritually responsible. But I want to say once again, our brother was so definite in his sharing with us: “Do not seek position. Just function. Just function. Be spiritually responsible.”
Over the years, that has stayed with me more than many other messages. That one stands out in my own heart and mind because it affected me so deeply. I must say, I think it would be Kenny’s testimony too. It affected him deeply.
After those messages, we went to Brother Kong. Remember, we were just a few gathering together in that day, along with our dear older sisters who had given their hearts in prayer for the Lord to raise up something in Richmond. Oh, thank God He answered that prayer.
At that point, we younger brothers—I was twenty-eight, and I think Kenny was twenty—we went to Stephen and said, “Brother, we have purposed in our hearts that we are going to gather together once a week to pray for the assembly.”
The responsibility had been laid upon us, but we did not consider it a duty. It was the grace that had come upon us from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
Now, this morning I need to put out a disclaimer before I go on. That disclaimer is this: I have no one brother or sister in mind when I speak this morning about spiritual responsibility. I am not here to point fingers or even to condemn anyone.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will lift us all to see this matter of spiritual responsibility and will encourage us all, no matter how many years we have been serving the Lord. So, that is my disclaimer.
As much as I have traveled around, and even in our times here in Richmond, I have learned that there is a lot of misunderstanding about spiritual responsibility and serving in the house of God. It is because of this worldly concept that has come in—that it is all about position, when, as a matter of fact, it is all about functioning.
So, what is the nature of spiritual responsibility? We know that in the world we have responsible people, and we thank God for them. I mean, we are glad for responsible people. But spiritual responsibility is of a different nature.
In fact, it is impossible to be spiritually responsible unless you have been born again. You must have the life of Christ, because the very nature of the life of Christ is to be spiritually responsible.
You remember our Lord Jesus when He came to about the age of twelve. He began to sense deeply in His heart His relationship with His Father and began to understand more of Who He was and what His mission was.
When they went to Jerusalem that year to offer offerings in the temple, and His parents started returning with the large group of family, they missed their son, Jesus. So they went back to find Him. Where did they find Him? We all know the story.
He was in the temple, talking with the teachers, learning and teaching. When they questioned Him—“What are You doing? Why have You done this?”—He said:
“How is it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house?”
—Luke 2:49
That is the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, even at such a young age. And yet He returned with His parents. The Word of God says He had to learn obedience. As God, He never had to obey anyone, so He had to learn it.
He went back with His parents and submitted to them. He continued to grow in favor with the family and friends around Him. He took up a trade. His father’s trade was passed on to Him: He became a carpenter. He worked with His hands. He was a hardworking man, brothers and sisters.
And we labor. We all labor in various activities in the home and in our workplaces. That is what our Lord Jesus did. We realize, because Joseph is no longer mentioned, that most likely he passed away when Jesus was very young.
Jesus, having learned the trade, began to take up responsibility for His mother and His brothers and sisters in the family. Very responsible. He continued to do that until age thirty, when most likely most of them had moved out on their own and no longer needed Him to be over them.
So our Lord Jesus was faithful all of His life. Then we know the day came when He went out and was publicly baptized.
We know that baptism spoke of His burial, death, and resurrection. In other words, He was publicly declaring, “I am committed to be the Lamb of God. I will take up the responsibility to become the Lamb of God for the whole world,” to take up that tremendous spiritual responsibility.
You remember our Lord Jesus, even on the cross. In all that deep agony, with all the forces of hell pressing upon Him, He looked at His mother and directed John to take care of her. He needed to know that she would be taken care of. He was responsible.
Think about the thief on the cross. Of the two thieves who hung beside Him, by the grace of God, one of their eyes was opened somehow to see that this One hanging there was really the Lord—his Lord.
He cried out to Jesus:
“Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom.”
—Luke 23:42
Think of that. You would think that the Lord would be in such agony and turmoil that He would not even have heard this man speaking to Him. But He responded:
“Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.”
—Luke 23:43
Such a responsible life. Brothers and sisters, I want to reiterate: the life that you received when you were born again is a responsible life. It is a life that has to be responsible. It has no choice, because it is the very life of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In other words, that nature resides in you as well. It is our responsibility to respond to that nature.
He was so responsible with His disciples. For those three and a half years as they traveled, He saw that they were fed and clothed. He taught them diligently, by word as well as by example. He taught His disciples faithfully, and He took care of them.
The last time, as He approached Jerusalem, He knew it was going to be His last time. In fact, He had shared with His disciples that He was going to be brought before the Pharisees and crucified, but that He would rise again.
But they could not conceive of that. All they could think was, “He is going to Jerusalem to become king.” In fact, the whole nation thought that, because as He entered Jerusalem they lined the way with palm branches, saying, “Hosanna! Blessed be the Lord, the King.” They were ready to anoint Him king. They did not understand.
Our Lord was concerned. Remember, He also shared with His disciples, “I am going away, but I am not going to leave you alone. I am going to send you the Holy Spirit. Not only will He be with you; He will be in you.”
That is our comfort, brothers and sisters. We need to really consider the Holy Spirit. He is our leader from within. He represents the Lord Jesus in you. He is our Comforter, our Teacher, and the One looking after our spiritual growth.
He watches over us just as the Lord Jesus watched over His disciples.
During that time, our Lord shared some parables with them to help them. He knew He was going away for a while and that He was going to come back. The disciples had not yet grasped this.
So He shared three parables in particular having to do with spiritual responsibility. He wanted them to know what to do while He was away—what they should be about from His ascension to His return.
The first is the parable of the mina—some Bibles translate it as the parable of the pounds—the parable of the talents, and the parable concerning the faithful servant. We are going to touch on these. I am not sure I will get to all three today. We will just have to see.
So let us begin with the parable of the mina, found in Luke 19:11-27. I am going to read the whole parable.
“And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was immediately to appear.
“He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
“And he called ten servants of his, and gave them ten pounds, and said unto them, Trade ye herewith till I come.
“But his citizens hated him, and sent an ambassage after him, saying, We will not that this man reign over us.
“And it came to pass, when he was come back again, having received the kingdom, that he commanded these servants, unto whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading.
“And the first came before him, saying, Lord, thy pound hath made ten pounds more.
“And he said unto him, Well done, thou good servant: because thou wast found faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
“And the second came, saying, Thy pound, Lord, hath made five pounds.
“And he said unto him also, And be thou also over five cities.
“And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I kept laid up in a napkin: for I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
“He saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I am an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow; then wherefore gavest thou not my money into the bank, and I at my coming should have required it with interest?
“And he said unto them that stood by, Take away from him the pound, and give it unto him that hath the ten pounds.
“I say unto you, that unto every one that hath shall be given; but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away from him.”
—Luke 19:11-26
Well, here is the nobleman. He informs his servants that he is going away to receive a kingdom. Of course, the Lord in this parable is the nobleman. He is speaking of Himself, saying, “I am going away. I am going to receive the kingdom of the heavens from the Father, but I will return.”
He does not say how long He will be gone, but He is very definite that He will return. So He informs the bondmen what He expects of them and what they should be doing while He is gone.
He gives each one a mina, which apparently was about three months’ wages. Now, this is important: it was not given to them for their own possession, for their own purposes, or for their own pleasure.
They were instructed to trade with it, to do business with it, to use it, to gain. He expected it to increase.
They were not owners of this mina; they were stewards. Brothers and sisters, we are not owners; we are stewards. He gave an equal amount to each one. He did not give more to the one who gained ten. They each had an equal amount.
When the nobleman returned, he held them accountable. He called them forth and held them accountable. The one who gained ten minas was told that he would be rewarded with authority over ten cities in the kingdom.
The second one had gained five, and he said, “Good and faithful servant. You will have authority over five cities in my kingdom.” What is the Lord saying? You must be responsible with what I give you. I expect increase with what I give you.
So that raises the question: what does the mina represent in this parable? It represents the grace of God. It represents the life of Christ that has been given to you.
Brothers and sisters, we are to be responsible with that life He has given to us. He expects it to grow and mature. He expects it to bring forth fruit and create more.
His life comes to us as grace and truth, brothers and sisters. He expects these to increase. So what am I saying here? Grace itself—the grace that we have received—implies responsibility.
In other words, there should be a response to the grace that we receive. We should be actively taking up that grace, not for our own gain, but for the Lord’s gain and for His purpose.
I cannot think of a better example of this than our brother’s sharing this morning from Acts 9:6.
Saul had been responsible for throwing many Christians into prison. He was dedicated to crushing Christianity. He even saw that Stephen was martyred, or killed. He had no mercy, and he was most hated.
But you know what? The grace of God met Saul on the Damascus road. Amazing grace. Why would the Lord even consider a man like this? Because He is a God of grace and love. And He was going to use Saul greatly.
What was Saul’s response on the Damascus road? “Who art thou, Lord?” “I am Jesus.” What were his next words? “Lord.”
In other words, “You are my Lord. I yield to Thee. I bow down to Thee. I submit to Thee. You are my Lord.” That is what he was saying.
What was his very next word? “Lord, what would You have me to do?” Responsibility.
He knew he needed to be responsible to this One Who was his Lord and the One Who had met him in such grace. Paul had received salvation, but Paul knew there was more: “Lord, what would You have me to do?”
Grace implies responsibility. We often think of grace as ours, for us to enjoy—and I think we should enjoy it. We think grace is free, and in a sense it is. It is freely given. Brothers and sisters, Paul certainly did not deserve it, and neither did we.
Grace came to us with no requirements whatsoever. We think we can just take its benefits—His salvation, His deliverance, His daily blessings—but that we do not have anything to do. No, that is not true. That is a lie of the enemy.
We are stewards of grace, not owners. We do not have full rights over it. We are just stewards, and we are called to increase that grace in our lives.
We must allow grace to work. The more grace we have, the more we have experienced of the life of Christ. The more we experience His life in circumstances, trials, tribulations, and daily life, the more grace we will receive. He expects it to grow.
It is given equally to all of us. All of us have received equally the grace of God. He did not give more grace to one person than to another. It was given equally to all, and all are responsible to utilize that grace, to see that it increases in our lives.
Now, you may struggle with this a bit, but believe me, it is true. You have received just as much grace as Paul did on the Damascus road. You may not have had the same experience as Paul, but you received the life of God—the same amount as the apostle did.
I think the apostle says that in 1 Corinthians 15:10:
“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not found vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
—1 Corinthians 15:10
In other words, “I am what I am today because of God’s grace in me.” His grace to him was not without effect. Grace in him was fruitful. Grace had an impact on him, and there was growth.
Let me reread that: “His grace which was bestowed upon me was not found vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all.” Now, was Paul bragging? He said, “I worked harder than all these other disciples.”
And we remember what Paul went through, do we not? Shipwrecked, stoned, beaten. The Judaizers followed him from place to place, trying to tear down what Paul was sharing. He was continually afflicted.
Not only that, brothers and sisters, but apparently he got malaria on his travels—at least, most people think so—because his eyesight was beginning to fail. And he was in prison, of all things.
What was the Lord’s word to Paul when he asked, “Lord, this thing is greatly affecting me. It is affecting my ministry. Lord, would You take it away?” The Lord said, “Paul, you are going to learn that My grace is sufficient. You will carry on your ministry because My grace is sufficient.”
Grace. Paul was not bragging when he said he worked harder than all of them. He explains it: “It was not me. It was not my self-determination, but it was the grace of God that was with me.”
Brothers and sisters, Paul learned to utilize grace in his life. He learned the value of grace and how to operate in his life by the grace of God. Much, much was done in his life.
Grace should be increased. The reward for the first two bondmen was that they would have authority over cities in the kingdom to come—one over ten, and the other over five.
At the judgment seat of Christ, which I think we are all familiar with, the Lord is going to hold us accountable for the grace He has given to us. He is going to want to see that there was an increase of that grace in our lives. Grace upon grace.
I think a good example was the Israelites when they went into the promised land. Jim has been sharing on that. The Lord said, “It is yours. I have given it to you. But you are not going to possess it all at once. It is going to be possessed little by little.”
In other words, it is yours, but your possession of it will be step by step—grace upon grace. You will go in, you will have some battles, and you will overcome. Your grace in you will increase, and you will go on and possess the land. That is the way we possess the fullness of Christ.
Well, spiritual responsibility, brothers and sisters, means that if you have received the grace of God—which all in this room, I believe, have—you are responsible to see that that grace is growing.
That brings us to the third bondman. The other two bondmen were readily responsible. They were faithful servants. They saw to it that there was increase, and the Lord rewarded and commended them.
They expected that there should be increase. John 1:16 verifies this:
“For of his fulness we all received, and grace for grace.”
—John 1:16
It does not just say grace; it says grace upon grace. Grace continues to grow and increase. Grace is something that can be increased.
But, brothers and sisters, if we hold back, if we do not follow the anointing and make Jesus Lord of our lives, as we shared this morning—if we draw back—we will atrophy spiritually. When your muscles grow weak from inactivity, that is atrophy. You will spiritually do that.
You are drawing away from the very thing that brings you spiritual life. Not only will it affect you personally, but it will affect the whole body of Christ. The Lord is very clear: we are all joints, and we should be supplying life and grace to other brothers and sisters.
It is not just for you. Grace is not just for you; it is so that you can supply others. So, brothers and sisters, my encouragement is: do not draw back. Do not take a vacation. I am not talking about a physical vacation. I am talking about a spiritual vacation.
The third bondman did not grow his mina. He was not responsible. He said he put it in a napkin, or a towel.
I like what Stephen said once about this. He said, “If that servant had been doing what he was supposed to do, he would have needed the towel to wipe the sweat off his brow.” I thought that was very good.
I asked Stephen one time, in the matter of ministering the Word, “Brother Stephen, what about preparation in ministry? I know there is something of the anointing. I know there is a need to have a burden in your heart, not just teaching, but a burden about it in your heart.”
He said, “Jerry, ministry of the Word is five percent inspiration and ninety-five percent perspiration.” In other words, you have this burden, and it causes you to dig into the Word of God. It causes you to seek the Word of God, and He begins to put things in your heart.
I think that is true of most of us who minister the Word, including some other brothers who have begun to minister the Word. It comes out of that anointing within, but it takes sweat as well. I was always encouraged by our brother in that.
So he said that the servant should have been using the towel to wipe the sweat from his brow.
I think it is a real warning to all of us, and we should take heed to God’s warning. When the Lord held that servant accountable, what did He say to him?
He did not say, “Well, you failed this time, but that is okay. I know you were weak. I know you were tired. I know you did not feel like you were up to the job.” He did not do that. He called him a wicked servant. Wicked. Wicked.
Now, brothers and sisters, when we face the Lord, we certainly do not want to hear those words. We want to hear, “Good and faithful servant,” not “wicked servant.” That is a serious indictment.
I think the Lord puts that in such an emphatic and serious way because He wants us to know that we cannot waste the grace of God given to us. We cannot just set it in a corner in our lives and say, “Well, I will take it up occasionally,” or, “When I feel like it.”
No. He was guilty, brothers and sisters, of thinking the grace was his—that he was the owner, not the steward. He was guilty of thinking it was just to make him feel good and not for the supply of life to others. He took it as if he owned it.
I can see I am only going to get through one today. He wanted to enjoy it, but he did not want the responsibility.
You know, when we are very young children, we do not have much responsibility. Our parents take care of us. They feed us and clothe us. They encourage us: “Get up, get dressed, get your clothes on,” and all that.
That is okay when we are children. Then we become teenagers, and we begin to sense, “I need to be independent. I can be responsible.” They want to be allowed to do the things they decide to do, but they do not want to be held accountable when there is an issue or a problem.
That is normal. We all went through that. In other words, we want to enjoy doing what we want to do, but not be responsible for the consequences. Is that a better way to say it?
Does that not continue into adulthood? I think we find ourselves as adults doing the same thing. I am not sure we ever totally outgrow it. But certainly, as we mature, we become more and more responsible, do we not?
I think this subject of spiritual responsibility is sometimes misunderstood. People think we receive grace, it is free, it is for us, and if you talk about being responsible, you are putting people back under the law.
That is a misconception among the family of God. Any time you talk about responsibility, people say you are putting them under law. Brothers and sisters, that is the furthest thing from the truth.
God expects us to be spiritually responsible with the grace we receive. He has given you that grace for that very purpose. It is not coming under law. It is responding to the grace that God has given you.
Praise God, when we respond to His grace, He gives us more, and our lives increase.
So He makes it very clear in this parable that not to be responsible, He considers wickedness.
I think there are some who receive the Lord Jesus as their Savior, as our brother said, and they stop there. They do not grow. They do not go on. They may attend a few Sundays, maybe at Easter time or Christmas time, but that is about it.
They do not go anywhere. They do not use any of the grace of God in their lives. There is no spiritual exercise of that grace. They are still bondmen, but they are irresponsible bondmen.
Then there are others, I think, who start out well in the life of the assembly. They may become offended. There are probably very few of us who have not been offended by a brother or sister at some point in our lives.
But they become offended, and so they draw back. They do not drop out totally, but they do draw back. Brothers and sisters, can I say this much to you as one who has been offended and who has offended others? We cannot draw back. We have to resolve it in the grace of God.
The grace of God has to move upon us. I have often said to those who are offended: really go to the Lord first and see why it offends you. Is there something down there that the Lord is trying to get at, if you are offended?
And if you have offended someone, you cannot just put it off. You need to say, “I am so sorry,” and mean this out of your heart, not out of your head.
You know, I hear politicians doing that all the time: “Yeah, I was wrong. I made a mistake.” They do not sin; they make mistakes.
Brothers and sisters, in the life of the assembly there are tough times sometimes. There are difficult interactions with brothers and sisters because we are family. We are not just people who come at ten on Sunday and leave with no interaction with each other. We are interacting all the time. Thank the Lord, we are family, and we should be.
But sometimes there are interactions that are unhealthy. As a result, we tend to draw back and even drop out. Brothers and sisters, that is not taking the grace of God and moving on.
I think the third example I want to share is this: sometimes we accept the Lord and begin to follow Him. We meet with the brothers and sisters, we are enthusiastic, and we are going on in the Lord. But all of a sudden we begin to see, “Boy, I have taken on more than I can handle. Boy, I am unfit for this.”
“I look at myself, and I am just not meeting even my own expectations. I feel unfit.” Then we quietly try to withdraw. Just quietly withdraw.
Now Peter did this. Our dear brother Peter offers many great examples to us. Remember, when the Lord met Peter, he was fishing. He dropped his net and immediately followed the Lord. So did Andrew, James, and John. They followed the Lord immediately. They were so captivated by Him.
They followed Him for a while. Then, on their circuit, they came back one day to Capernaum, and that was Peter’s hometown. All of a sudden Peter decided, “I am going fishing.” He got the disciples to go with him. He was going fishing.
Why? Why did that come to Peter? Remember the story? Peter is in the boat; they are fishing. The Lord comes up on the shore: “You fellows caught anything?” “No. We have been fishing all night and have not caught a thing.”
“Well, put your net on the other side of the boat.” They did, and of course the net filled up with fish. Immediately Peter said, “It is the Lord.”
You know what his words were to the Lord?
“Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
—Luke 5:8
In other words, he had followed the Lord long enough to begin to see that in himself he could not make it. He was a sinful man. The closer you get to the Lord, the more sinful you realize you are.
He said, “I just cannot go on in that condition.” But he also said, “Lord, depart from me.” What was he really saying in his heart? Did he really want the Lord to depart from him? I do not think so.
I think Peter was crying out to the Lord, “Lord, I need You. I really do. I am not up to this, but I need You, Lord.”
Have you discovered that yet? In trying to follow the Lord in your everyday life, in serving the brothers and sisters, particularly in building the house of God and being a spiritual priesthood, have you discovered that you are not worthy?
I think we all do. The tendency is to pull back, to draw back, just to retreat. The Lord says, “No. You need to take My grace. It is by grace, not by self-effort. It is My grace. You need to learn to operate by My grace.”
Well, those three examples, I hope, might help us. One last thing on this particular parable.
It is interesting that this servant, this third servant—the unfaithful one—said that he feared the master. Now, this is not the good fear.
The Lord says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. That kind of fear is that you do not want to disappoint the Lord. In your heart, you do not want to disappoint Him, and you are fearful that you might. That is okay.
But this is a tormenting fear, brothers and sisters. He feared the master.
Does that not tell us a few things? He was not in close relationship with the master, was he? He feared the master. He knew he was not being responsible. He knew that what he was doing was not right, but it did not change his ways.
He went right on. He kept that mina in a towel. He feared the master. He feared what might happen when the master returned.
Can I say this: where is the love? I think it is obvious that the first two bondmen increased their mina out of love for the master. The master was going away. They were to be stewards of what he had given them, and they wanted to be faithful—not out of duty, but because they loved this master.
They could not wait until he came back and set up his kingdom. These two—it was love.
Last Friday night, when we were sharing, we happened to be in 1 Corinthians 13. I think most of you have gotten there. It is that chapter on love.
What you discover is that all the gifts we are given—and we will probably talk about those next time—and all the grace of God given to you, must be shared out of love. It must be in love.
The Lord says you can give your body in service if you want to, but if there is no love there, if it is not out of love, then it means nothing.
Brothers and sisters, the real motive for spiritual responsibility is our love of the Master, our love of the Lord Jesus. Do not draw back. Move on with the Lord.
Lord, we just come today. We come to You because, Lord, You are so wonderful. You made us. Your grace has met us, Lord.
You have extended Your grace to us not only for salvation, but for life itself—for living this life. You have extended Your grace to us so that there might be fruitfulness.
Lord, there have been times, I confess before my brothers and sisters, when I have drawn back—times when I have been offended, times when I discovered that I was not worthy.
But I want to say to You today, Lord, You are worthy. You are the One Who is worthy. It is the grace of God. I am what I am by the grace of God.
It was not me, Lord, but it was Your grace working in me. So, Lord, may You renew our hearts in this matter of grace, in this matter of being spiritually responsible.
Lord, we want to please You. Lord, we want to hear those words: “Good and faithful servant.” We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.