“But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself and serve me, till I have eaten; and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink?

“Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.

“So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.”-Luke 17:7-10.

(Article 1 of 2)

These verses show that it is in the Lord’s service we are to look for the rewards of faith, the special manifestations of divine favor, in the removal of obstacles and difficulties found to be in the way of our progress in his service by cultivating Christian character in ourselves and others, and in ministering generally to the furtherance of the divine plan. We may not expect these rewards of divine favor except as we prosecute the service. When they are received we are not to regard them as evidences that we have done any more than it was our duty to do. As servants of God we owe Him the full measure of our ability; hence we may not feel that we have merited or earned the great blessings of heavenly inheritance and joint-heirship with Christ. We have merely done our duty; but God, with exceeding riches of grace has prepared, for those who lovingly serve Him, rewards far beyond what they could have asked or hoped for. We can do no works of supererogation [more than duty requires]; even at our best our service is marred by many imperfections, and could never find acceptance with God except as supplemented by the perfect and finished work of Christ.

R 1967:6 (1896)

(Article 2 of 2)

Some amongst the followers of Christ, naturally progressive, are sometimes too aggressive, self-conceited. Becoming his disciples does not change these traits instantly. The old things pass away gradually, and the new take their place. A lesson for all of his disciples to remember, but especially forcefully to the classes mentioned, is taught in this study. They must remember that the work of God’s grace, of which they are subjects, is his favor toward them; and that their obedience to  his commands is primarily for their correction and development, and a future life of blessing. They should remember that even their service for the Lord is a privilege-that God is not profited by their services.

We are all unprofitable servants in the sense that God could just as easily  do without  us, indeed, could more easily do His work otherwise than through us.  He could use as His   messengers the angels or the various providence of life. None of us is indispensable to His work and to His glory. Quite to the contrary the opportunity for entering into the Lord’s vineyard and laboring therein is chiefly for our own advantage. The  service  brings us certain joys  which we could not otherwise have. It brings us certain experiences necessary to our development and qualification for higher services beyond the veil.

As the Apostle declares, “By grace (divine favor) are ye saved through faith.” To some extent the faith is a matter of our own development. However, the Apostle hastens to add that the faith is not of ourselves, that even it is the gift of God-we have not the opportunity of glorying even in our faith. What have we that we have not received of the Lord?  The elemental faith was based upon certain knowledge that God’s providence brought to us, and possibly we were prepared for even that by a favorable parentage.

R 5446:5 (1914)