Complete Faithfulness
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October 27, 2008 |
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 "Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10).
When given a duty after one has accepted Jesus Christ, he bears fruit just as a variety of grains and crops bear fruit in an autumn field. Each fruit borne must become ripe to be harvested; by the same token, when one is given a duty he must make every effort to faithfully carry it out and bear the finest fruit.
As God has promised us, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life," when we are faithful to the point of death we will be awarded crowns of life. On top of that, when we are faithful in all God's household, we will receive the crowns of gold and the crowns of righteousness.
How, then, can we become God's workers completely faithful to our God-given duties amidst an earnest hope for heaven?
1.Love for God must be in our hearts.
"Be[ing] faithful until death" refers to spiritually killing oneself daily and obeying the will of the Lord. In other words, it is to obey and live by God's commandments and calls for a kind of devotion that does not spare one's life in order to accomplish God's kingdom. As Jesus tells us in John 14:15, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments," it is not at all burdensome to keep His commandments.
However, "be[ing] faithful until death" requires one to forgo his will, personal satisfactions, and a comfortable life. At times, he will not be able to rest or eat but instead fast, pray, and mourn bitterly for other souls. He must toil for God's kingdom and be subject to unjust affliction and persecution. It is not an easy path but it can be trodden in gladness in one's love for God.
More than anyone else, Paul the Apostle toiled and became subject to persecution while spreading the Gospel. Still, as he confessed in Colossians 1:24, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions," Paul rejoiced even when he suffered for the sake of other souls. Despite any kind of threats, Paul did not fear or step back and died a martyr's death. Furthermore, as we read in 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love," as ones loves God, he does not fear anything.
As Senior Pastor, there had been many occasions on which I had come close to giving up my life but in my love for the One who had given me overflowing grace and blessings, I could overcome them all.
An individual with a duty from God has tasted the grace of God who has given him salvation and a hope for heaven, the grace of the Lord who has rid him of the affliction of disease and the burdens of life, and the grace of the Holy Spirit who has comforted him and filled his heart with joy. On top of that, God has led him in these last days to learn the Providence of the cultivation of mankind and prepare himself as a bride with the kind of faith that is always awake. God has thus clearly shown him the way to New Jerusalem, the best of all heavenly dwelling places and even given him a duty to be faithful to Him. As much as the individual fathoms this love in his heart and his heart is replete with that love, he can be faithful.
If he finds it difficult to keep God's commandments and to be faithful to Him, this is most likely because his heart lacks love for God. Therefore, remembering always the grace we have received without a price, each of us must love God not with the fleshly love that can change and sway according to our interests but with the spiritual love, and become a faithful worker who does not think of even afflictions as afflictions.
2.Sincerity must be in our hearts.
When one receives a God-given duty, he initially confesses, "I am thankful merely for the salvation I have received. Thank You for giving me such a precious duty. In love for God and in love for others, I vow to be faithful." With the passing of time and according to varying circumstances, however, we often see how one's heart and confession change.
For instance, when others do not recognize or take notice of his work even after having toiled, he becomes disappointed and grows weary. When he sees others advancing ahead of him in similar situations or finds shortcomings as a worker, he becomes discouraged. Even though he is to carry out each and every task only with "Yes" and "Amen," he finds himself taking a step back when he comes across tasks that will not benefit him. Instead, he is zealous only in tasks from which he can reap benefits.
Should he continue his ways, he will end up falling through the cracks while carrying out God's duties. Unable to man the post to which he has been assigned, he may claim his faithfulness but as he is unable to bear fruit, he becomes disheartened. At times, he regrets having received his God-given duty in the first place and even wishes to relinquish his duty. This is because his faithfulness had not stemmed from a sincere heart; he had sought to seek and receive others' recognition through the duty and to satisfy his own needs.
Had his love for God been sincere, that individual's heart would not have changed from the time when he first received the duty. He ought to rejoice and be grateful for having become God's worker. Even when he is not recompensed or rewarded and is instead subject to unjust affliction and placed in lowly places, he ought to be grateful. Just as we find in "The Parable of Unworthy Slaves" in Luke 17, he will merely consider all such afflictions and mistreatments as "part of the job." Even at times when he finds his own shortcomings, he does not become discouraged but humbly seeks God's strength and this is possible because he acknowledges from the depths of his heart that he amounts to nothing on his own.
While carrying out the God-given duty, one may at times discover a heart to sway according to his interests but he must not become disheartened or allow his passion for God to grow cold. An image of a true worker of God must reflect the desire to cast off such thoughts and transform himself. When he strives every day to have the confession he had given to God on the day he was given the divine duty realized, he will become a spiritual worker faster and more easily. The fragrance of his heart will become beautiful day after day and bear abundant fruit. Pure gold is purified by fire; by making opportunities of every trial he faces, he must strive to create a heart which itself is the truth.
3.Heartfelt prayer is required.
Creating a heart replete with love for God and sincerity requires heartfelt prayer. If one's life in Christ pertained only to listening to and knowing God's Word, it is worthless. If one still lacks love for God and sincerity in his heart, that means heartfelt prayer is still lacking in him.
No matter how often and how much he has listened to God's Word and has received grace from it, it is difficult to live by the Word without heartfelt prayer. Therefore, each time he listens to the Word, the worker must earnestly call out to God in prayer, vowing faithfulness to become a spiritual worker. As he stores up heartfelt prayer, his love for God will grow and become more intimate. This is because, as much as he transforms his heart into a spiritual one by accomplishing the Word through prayer, God's love will be that much closer to his heart.
Furthermore, when the worker prays to God from the depths of his heart, he can go forth to God with a sincere heart in which there are no lies. He will be able to acknowledge his shortcomings and openly commit them to God. Only then will God pour upon him the grace and strength to be transformed. He will be able to love God not only when he is filled with the Holy Spirit but also when he feels and finds shortcomings within him.
The strength to carry out a God-given duty stems not from worldly talents or wealth; it comes from grace and strength poured upon an individual and when the worker stores up heartfelt prayer day after day, he accomplishes a heart filled with love and sincerity, and will end up coming forth as a worker of great strength. Uttering "I lack strength to carry out my duty" without heartfelt prayer merely constitutes an excuse.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in 1 Timothy 1:12, Paul the Apostle confesses, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service." The Lord has given each of us a divine duty and we can only be thankful as He strengthens us.
Through your complete faithfulness, may each of you confess in tears on the Day of Judgment, "Thank You for giving me a precious duty and allowing me to come to a beautiful and glorious place," in the name of Our Lord I bless!
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