Carry out the Stewardship of the Grace of God in Singleness and Sincerity of God

As enjoyers of God in Christ as grace, we are entrusted with the stewardship of the grace of God for us to speak words of grace in singleness and sincerity of God for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ. Amen!

How we thank and praise the Lord that today He is the Spirit with our spirit to be our empowering grace!

The Lord is with our spirit – grace is with us. Grace is with us to empower us and enable us to minister the healthy teaching of God’s eternal economy.

We can speak such healthy words of grace because God was incarnated and went through human living, death, and resurrection to become the life-giving Spirit with our spirit!

Now we believers in Christ are joined to the Lord as one spirit. Hallelujah!

We all can testify that, in our daily living, we can sense that the Lord is with our spirit; we can sense that the Lord as grace is with our spirit to supply us and nourish us, even to empower us in our daily life.

He is not just a power or a force; Christ is grace to us for our enjoyment, and there’s a circulation of the Triune God in us to transport, transmit, and dispense all that God is into our being for our enjoyment.

If we enjoy this circulation of the Triune God in us, we can have a proper church life, for the church life depends on this circulation of the Divine Trinity within us.

Grace is the wonderful Christ being everything to us, giving everything to us, and doing everything on our behalf for our enjoyment.

The Christian life should not be a deliberate life, a life according to certain principles and rules to which we adhere mindlessly or in agreement, depending on our disposition.

The Christian life is a spontaneous life, for the grace of the Lord is with our spirit to empower us to spontaneously and effortlessly live Christ.

The wonderful Christ who lives in us wants to supply us with everything we need, give us all that is necessary, and do everything for us so that we may live Christ and minister the words of grace to others. Amen!

On the other hand, besides enjoying the Lord as grace, we need to guard the good deposit which is in us, the good deposit of the Lord’s healthy words, through the Holy Spirit who indwells us.

Hallelujah, the Holy Spirit indwells us, and He keeps us – but we need to cooperate by exercising our spirit!

We need to hold a pattern of the healthy words, being nourished with the words of the faith, and be filled with the healthy teaching of God’s eternal economy.

If we do this, we will overflow with these healthy words to others, speaking the healthy words of God and Christ to others for their edification and growth in life.

Just as the Lord Jesus grew in the grace of God and manifested God’s grace, being the embodiment of grace and speaking words of grace, so we need to do today.

We have the Stewardship of the Grace of God to Minister the Words of Grace to give Grace to those who Hear

On the one hand, we believers in Christ enjoy Christ as grace, and we exercise our spirit so that we may partake of the riches of Christ as grace with our spirit.

On the other hand, as we enjoy the grace of the Lord with our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22), we are entrusted with a stewardship.

We have the stewardship of the grace of God, which is given to us for others (Eph. 3:2).

Our God is not stagnant; He is always moving, flowing, and reaching out. He moved from eternity into time and He moved in man, and He reached out to us to move in us and flow in us.

By receiving the Lord initially at the time of our regeneration, we started to enjoy the grace of God.

The enjoyment of the grace of God grants us the stewardship of the grace of God, which is given to us for others.

As we experience the grace of God in the economy of God, we have and carry out the stewardship of the grace of God entrusted by Him.

What is the stewardship of the grace of God?

It is the dispensing of the riches of Christ as the grace of God into His chosen people for the producing and building up of the church.

This is what the apostles did.

They did not just preach the gospel but even more, they announced the riches of Christ as the gospel, and they dispensed the riches of Christ as grace into others for their salvation and for the producing and building up of the church.

Not only the apostles are stewards of the grace of God; we also as believers in Christ enjoying the grace of Christ are entrusted with the stewardship of the grace of God.

We may not go to a different country to preach the gospel and establish churches, but where the Lord has placed us we can speak words for building up and thus give grace to those who hear (Eph. 4:29).

Amen, may the Lord save us from speaking corrupt words; may we speak words of grace, words that are good for building up, according to the need.

May our speaking give grace to those who hear.

Sometimes we say something and then we realize that it is not a word that builds up but rather, it corrupts, it criticizes, or it is simply an idle word.

We need to never speak words that tear down others or brings death to them.

Rather, we need to exercise to speak grace to them.

To speak words of grace and carry out our stewardship of the grace of God, we need to first be filled with grace and empowered by grace.

Then, we will simply overflow with grace toward others.

Each one of us, as he has received a gift, may we minister it among ourselves as good stewards of the varied grace of God (1 Pet. 4:10).

As we spend time with the Lord, contact Him in spirit, and enjoy Him in His word, we receive gifts from Him; we receive Himself as the greatest gift in many ways, and the varied grace of God becomes our portion.

Then, when we speak to others, we minister this gift, for we have the stewardship of the grace of God entrusted to us.

We all are stewards of the varied grace of God, and we need to not keep the grace just for ourselves but also share it with others.

May the church life be filled with much speaking of words of grace!

May all the saints treasure up God’s words of grace in their heart (Psa. 119:11) so that they would have an abundance of the good treasure of their heart and speak words of grace to the saints!

The more we treasure up the words of grace in our heart, the more we are filled with the Lord as grace, the more we will have the good treasure of our heart, and our heart will simply speak of this abundance (Matt. 12:34-35).

Out of the abundance of the good treasure of our heart, our mouth speaks the good things of God’s economy.

Amen, may we be such ones.

May we as Christians treasure up God’s words of grace in our hearts, be filled with the words of grace, and speak out of the abundance of the good treasure of our heart the words of grace for building up.

Whenever we meet with others, we should have something in our living to minister to others.

On the practical side, we labour by working with our hands to take care of our needs and also have something to share with others.

On the spiritual side, we should labour on God’s word, enjoy God’s words of grace, and carry out our stewardship of the grace of God by speaking the words of grace to others for their building up.

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your sweet and rich words of grace. We want to enjoy You and partake of Your riches as we come to Your word day by day. Fill us with Your word. We want to treasure up the words of grace so that we may be filled with these words and overflow by ministering grace to others. Amen, Lord, may no corrupt word proceed out of our mouth but only that which is good for building up. May our speaking be out of the abundance of the good treasure in our heart to give grace to those who hear. Oh Lord, we give ourselves to You. We give You our time and we open our inner being to You. Fill us with Yourself. Fill us with the words of grace. We want to treasure up God’s words of grace in our heart so that we may carry out our stewardship of the grace of God by speaking words of grace! Amen, Lord, may there be an abundance of the good treasure in our heart out of which the mouth would speak the good things of God’s eternal economy! Oh, what a wonderful stewardship of the grace of God we were entrusted with!

Conducting Ourselves in Singleness and Sincerity of God, in the Grace of God, toward Others

In 1 Cor. 1:12 Paul says that the boasting of the apostles is that, in the testimony of their conscience, they can testify that they conducted themselves in singleness and sincerity of God, in the grace of God, before the world and toward the saints.

This phrase, in singleness and sincerity of God, is quite unique and very important.

We need to conduct ourselves in such a virtue, that is, by the grace of God. Our God is wise and almighty; at the same time, He is single, simple, and sincere.

By this we mean that He is doing all things in singleness and simplicity, even sincerity, not in a complicated or complicating way.

The more we contact the Lord the more we realize how pure and single He is.

When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He wasn’t complicated or complicating; rather, He was single and simple in all He did.

Sometimes when we speak to certain brothers, however, we realize that they are so complicated and full of complications. Oh, Lord.

When the Lord Jesus said yes, He meant yes, with no grey area; when He said no, He meant no.

When God is happy with us, He is happy in a simple and single way, and when He is unhappy with us, we can clearly feel it.

Because God is single and simple in this way, He is bountiful toward us.

Just imagine what would happen if God were complicated in His relationship with us, and so He would analyze, reward us based on our performance, and judge us based on our condition.

If God would look at us from head to toe and consider what we are inwardly and outwardly, we would be obliterated.

But God is single and generous, so He blesses us. Paul experienced God in this aspect.

The way he behaved in the world and even more abundantly toward the saints was in singleness and sincerity of God.

He did not behave in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, in singleness and sincerity of God.

Paul carried out the stewardship of the grace of God not in a complicated or impure way but in singleness and sincerity of God.

We need to come to the Lord and deal with our conscience.

The leading part of our spirit is our conscience; our conscience justifies or condemns us in our relationship with God and with man.

Especially in these days of the degradation of the church, we need to have a good conscience, a conscience void of offense before God and man (Acts 24:16).

Our conscience needs to be pure and clean, having no spot or condemnation; we need to have a pure conscience before God and before man (1 Tim. 1:3, 5; 3:9).

For us to conduct ourselves in the singleness of God, the simplicity of God, means that we do not base our confidence on ourselves or on our natural ability to work out a solution to our difficult situation.

We may be quite smart, resourceful, and skilful, and we may have the means to do this or that.

We may be wealthy, have a high position, and we may be quite political, knowing how to navigate through all the difficulties.

This is not being in the singleness and sincerity of God. If we rely on our natural being, skills, and ability to go through difficult situations, we will not conduct ourselves in the sincerity of God. Oh, Lord!

May we experience what grace is in our daily life, especially in our difficulties, by relying not on our natural life but on the Lord as grace.

To conduct ourselves in the sincerity of God is to be in the grace of God.

We cannot and should not exercise our smartness and cleverness to go around situations, deal with difficulties, and solve problems.

We need to rely on the grace of God and put our trust in the God of resurrection.

Our confidence is not in the wisdom of man but in the grace of God.

This should be the testimony of our conscience, that we conduct ourselves in the singleness and sincerity of God.

Grace is God for our enjoyment, and we need to continually receive this grace, even grace upon grace, for our experience of resurrection in our sufferings (John 1:16; 1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 12:9; Rom. 5:17).

The more we enjoy God as grace and carry out our stewardship of the grace of God, the more we become simple persons, less complicated; we simply minister Christ as grace to others and we rely on the grace of God.

The grace of the Lord Jesus must be with each one of us in every aspect of our daily life because we are saints.

This grace consummates in the New Jerusalem as the consummation of God’s good pleasure in joining and mingling Himself with man for His glorious enlargement and eternal expression (Rev. 22:21).

One of the last verses of the New Testament and the whole Bible says, The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen!

Grace will do it. Grace will take us through. Grace is with us.

Our life is a life of enjoying Christ as grace, relying on Him as grace, and ministering Him as grace to others by speaking words of grace.

Grace will take us all the way into the New Jerusalem and will accomplish the mingling of God and man.

Lord Jesus, we want to conduct ourselves in singleness and sincerity of God. We don’t want to behave and do things in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God. Save us from relying on our natural being, our natural strength, or on the skills that we have in our natural man. Oh Lord, may we rely on You and trust in Your grace, not basing our confidence on ourselves. We do not trust in our human ability to work out a solution to our difficult situation. Our trust is in Your grace. We need more of Your grace. We want to continually receive the grace of God, even receive grace upon grace! We want to enjoy this grace for our experience of resurrection in our sufferings. Oh Lord, Your grace is sufficient for us. We want to be single and pure in heart, having a good conscience, to enjoy Your grace and minister the words of grace to others. May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with each one of us in every aspect of our daily life! Amen, may Your grace bring us all the way to the New Jerusalem to accomplish God’s desire to mingle Himself with us to obtain His glorious enlargement and eternal expression! The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints! Amen!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, Life-study of 2 Corinthians, 2nd ed., pp. 12-13, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Being a Vessel unto Honor, a Fully Equipped Man of God, by being Empowered in the Grace which is in Christ Jesus to Fully Accomplish our Ministry in the Unique Ministry of God’s Economy (2024 April ITERO), week 7, The Lord Being with Our Spirit to Be Our Empowering Grace, Enabling Us to Minister the Healthy Teaching of God’s Eternal Economy, Speaking with Healthy Words of the Grace of Life for the Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – 7 Ways to Gain Christ as Your Enjoyment Every Day, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – A Song of Consecration to Practice, via, Living to Him.
  – The stewardship of the grace of God, article by James Fite via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The Ministry Produced through Revelation and Suffering, Part One: Revelation (1), From chapter five of The Ministers in the Lord’s Recovery – Genuine Ministers of the New Covenant, via, Shepherding Words.
  – The apostles’ stewardship of God’s grace, a portion from, Living In and With the Divine Trinity, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
  – How Can We Be Strengthened in Our Faith? More via, Bibles for America blog.
  – God’s purpose – His plan, a portion from, The Basic Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, Chapter 1.
  – God’s Economy for His Eternal Purpose, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The stewardship of God, a portion from, Life-Study of Colossians, Chapter 11.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – It is this grace—Christ as our inward strength— / Which with His all-sufficiency doth fill; / It is this grace which in our spirit is, / There energizing, working out God’s will. / This grace, which is the living Christ Himself, / Is what we need and must experience; / Lord, may we know this grace and by it live, / Thyself increasingly as grace to sense. (Hymns #497 stanzas 4-5)
  – So shall we not delight to give / Ourselves in every way, / And let the Lord dispense Himself / Into us more each day; / The grace that we receive each day, / Though hidden oft, and small, / Is God Himself wrought into us, / That day to shine o’er all. (Hymns #1321 stanza 6)
  – Ever true and pure and single / To the Lord our heart must be, / Poor in spirit, ever seeking / God to contact constantly. / Keep our heart, Lord, in love’s freshness, / And our spirit strengthen more, / That in newness of the spirit / We may touch Thee o’er and o’er. (Hymns #743 stanzas 6-7)