Principles of Acceptable Service & Giving In The New Testament Church (Part 4)

Posted on August 29, 2022

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Principles of Acceptable Service & Giving In The New Testament Church (Part 4)

Continuing from our last post.

“II. There is much to dwell upon in the first clause, but I must now turn to my second point. Acceptable service must be rendered to God IN THE POWER OF DIVINE GRACE. What saith the apostle? “Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably.”

Note then that acceptable service to God is not offered in the power of nature, not even of nature at its best, when we call it good nature and philanthropy; but in the service of God everything must be the fruit of grace. You are to serve the Lord, not in the strength of your own wit or experience, or talent, but in the energy of the new life which God has given you, and in the power of the grace which is continually bestowed upon you moment by moment as you seek it of the Lord. “Let us have grace,” says the apostle. I know sometimes you say, and say truly, “What a poor creature I am, how can I serve God? I have not this and that gift.” Just so, do not attempt to serve him in the power of gift. Ask for grace, and then worship him in the power of grace. It is wonderful how grace can make use of very slender gifts, and turn them to abundant account. It is great grace that greatly honours God; and great grace is always to be had by the least among us. You may never be an orator but you may have great grace. You may never be an organiser and take the lead among your fellow Christians, but you may have much grace. You may never attain to ample wealth so as to be able to distribute largely of your substance to the poor, but you may have great grace. Therefore, let us have grace that we may serve God acceptably.

I should like to take these words out of their connection, and hang it up for our motto as a church, LET US HAVE GRACE. Be this our prayer— whatever else we do not have, Lord, let us have grace. If this or that means of usefulness shall be denied us, yet let us have grace, grace in our hearts, grace in our speech, grace in our lives, grace in our every breath. A true Christian should be like Aaron who had the holy oil not only on his head, but upon the skirts of his garments. Even in our little things, in our kitchen life, in our parlour life something of the holy oil should be upon us. Abundance of grace is our need. Now, dear friends, have you been trying to serve God in the power of grace, or in the power of nature? Look ye well to it. Only grace can God accept; can he accept your labour? In the margin of our Testaments— I mean those of the authorized version, which will never be parted with for the so-called revised version—  in the margin of the authorized version we read, “Let us hold fast.” That is another motto I would like to give to this church, “LET US HOLD FAST GRACE. To find grace is an act, to have grace is a state; to hold it fast is to make the act perpetual and the state continual. ‘‘Let us hold fast grace.” There is such a thing as serving God and losing grace while you are so doing. You may become like Martha worried about your serving, and you may be cross with Mary because she does not work as you do, but preserves her heavenly communion. It is easy to have so much to do for Jesus that you lose him amid your cares. It is possible to be busy here and there, and to miss the essence of service by not holding fast grace. O to dip our foot in oil, so that every step shall have unction with it, and in every movement we shall hold fast grace.

Now you may look at the new version if you like, and in the margin you will find another reading which is allowable though it has no great certainty about it. There we read— “Let us have thankfulness.” That grand word charis or “grace,” may be rendered “thankfulness,” and it is in a thankful spirit that we should serve God. You have received a kingdom, therefore serve God in the spirit of gratitude. Do everything because you feel you must do it since such an infinite amount of love has been lavished upon you. No one suggested to the holy woman in the gospels to break her alabaster box over Jesus’ head; it was her own thought and her own deed. Nobody even encouraged her to do it: some rather looked askance upon her as she poured out the precious perfume, but she did it all for Jesus; she loved much, for much had been forgiven her. This is the true spirit of service. God keep us always filled with it! Let us have grace! Let us hold fast grace! And in the power of these three sentences we shall be helped to “serve God acceptably, with reverence, and godly fear.”

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