The Power Of Faithfulness…
You and I are here, privileged to live in the land of the free and the home of the
brave, having heard the gospel which saves, heals and delivers, and we enjoy the
blessings of capitalism, and freedom of religious expression….all because of the
power of faithfulness. Many people refused to give up and quit, they beat the odds,
and remained steadfast in the face of great opposition. So many in a multitude of
significant ways, when it counted the most, they were faithful!
Luke 18:8 “Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall He find faith (pis'-tis) on the earth? One of the definitions of the Greek word “pis’tis” which is originally used here, is constancy of profession and fidelity, which is faithfulness. Which is also listed in Galatians 5 as one of the fruits of the Spirit.
Senator Mark Hatfield tells of touring Calcutta with Mother Teresa where the poor and dying, line up by the hundreds to receive medical attention. Watching Mother Teresa minister to these people, feeding and nursing those left by others to die, Hatfield was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the suffering she and her co-workers faced every day. "How can you bear the load of all the suffering without being crushed by it?" he asked. Mother Teresa replied, "My dear Senator, I am not called to be successful, I am called to be faithful."
So today I want to address the subject of “The Power Of Faithfulness”…
Faithfulness is never achieved and is not the result of how we feel, it is an act of the will! If we live by our feelings we will probably live a life of vacillation and inconsistency! Those who let their feelings and emotions run their lives will always find excuses instead of the privilege of being listed among the faithful!
A pastor was visiting one of the congregation who had not been in church that
Sunday. The man explained that his buddies had come by to invite him to go golfing
and he told his wife who wanted to go to church, that they would flip a coin and if
it came up heads, he would go golfing, and if it came up tails, he would go to
church, and that way God could decide by how the coin landed. The wife spoke up
about that time, and said… ”Pastor, they had to flip that coin 23 times before it
came up heads”!!! (so much for going by feelings)
How many millions, have been freed and brought out from under condemnation
by the concept of salvation by grace, and not by works? How many marriages have
been saved by the words of 1 Corinthians 13, "The Love Chapter?" How many
anxious hearts have been calmed by the peace that passes all understanding, or
the knowledge that God can work good in every situation? God has used those
scriptural concepts for centuries, for millions upon millions of believers. How sad it
is then, that we have used this grace which has freed us, and released us from the
weight of guilt and condemnation as an excuse for unfaithfulness.
(saying, “God will give me grace”)
We like messages about God's faithfulness to us, but His faithfulness is never in doubt, He will be faithful no matter what we do or don’t do. So it is not His faithfulness but ours that might need some work!
We are inspired by those throughout the bible narrative, who refused to quit,
no matter, how they felt. They didn’t quit until the task was done, and then they
went on to the next task….We don’t quit when we are tired, we quit when we are
done, when the assignment God has given us is completed.
A father was carefully explaining the story of Elijah the Prophet confronting the
false prophets of Baal to his children. He explained how Elijah built the altar, and
put wood upon it, how he then cut the steer in pieces and laid it upon the altar.
And then how Elijah commanded the people of God to fill four barrels of water and
pour it over the steer and the altar. He had them do this four times. "Now, said
the dad, "can anyone tell me why the Lord would have Elijah pour water over the
steer and on the altar?" The little girl raised her hand with great confidence and
said. "It was to make the gravy… mommy says you’re not done cooking till the
gravy is done,"
Hebrews 10:23“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for
He is faithful that promised.” God’s not finished yet! The gravy’s not done yet….
When faced with the desolation of Jerusalem because of the nation’s sin, with
it’s walls torn down and the people in captivity…the prophet Jeremiah could
say of the Lord, “Great is Your faithfulness” because He knew that God wasn’t
done yet! Jeremiah knew that the same covenant that promised 900 years earlier,
that there would be accountability for disobedience also promised restoration for
repentance. God’s faithfulness would remain, no matter how unfaithful the people
were .God’s immutable faithfulness, served as an anchor for Jeremiah’s unswerving
faithfulness” You may be standing in the rubble of your plans and dreams, your
marriage, your family, your career, how you thought it would be….but friend you
can still cry out….God is faithful… and because He is, He’s not finished yet!!!
The bible indicates that faithfulness is one of the traits of spiritual maturity.
It is an indication of the image of Christ being reflected in us. Scripture is loaded
with examples of faithfulness throughout its pages. In the Old Testament, there
are Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, David, Daniel and his three
friends and many others. In the New Testament there are the Disciples, Paul,
Timothy and Titus and multitudes of unnamed and unknown martyrs for the faith as
well. But as in all the qualities of maturity, the Lord Jesus is our supreme example
and our incarnate model of faithfulness.
Galatians 2:20 “ I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the
faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”.
Ephesians 3:11 “This was according to the eternal purpose that God has
accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,v12 in whom we have boldness and confident
access to God because of the faithfulness of Christ”.
Faithfulness is like a rubber band, it has no power until it has been stretched.
It is in the soil of testing and struggle, that the roots of faithfulness grow deeper.
It is there that we cling more tightly and dig down deeper into His word.
There is a biblical principle which says, give and it shall be given unto you, full
Measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Let’s apply this to the
subject of faithfulness…. We all want faithfulness from others: from our spouses,
colleagues, children and friends. Faithfulness has to do with trust, consistancy,
fidelity and loyalty. We want the folks putting a new roof on our house to be
trustworthy and also the mechanic analyzing what’s wrong with our car. We
expect labels on merchandise to be what they say… We entrust our mail to the
faithfulness of the postal service.
We want faithfulness in others. And we want it from products, institutions,
companies, and businesses.But as we are faithful ourselves, God’s word says we will
set in motion, and release faithfulness in these areas all around us. Our
faithfulness sets wheels in motion which will bring back to us, a full measure,
pressed down and running over!!!
With his wife’s birthday approaching, Tom went to the department store to get
his wife a little gift. How about some perfume?" he asked the cosmetics clerk. She
showed him a bottle that was $90.00. "That's a bit too much," said Tom, so she
returned with a smaller bottle for $50.00. "That's still a lot," Tom whined.
"I'd like to see something cheap.", So, the clerk handed him a mirror So he could
see something cheap!!
Faithfulness on all levels requires forgiveness. People, churches, our jobs, our
neighbors, our local, state, and national government, and businesses we deal with,
are flawed. People make mistakes. Organizations make mistakes. People are carnal,
This world is flawed and broken. People disappoint us. Organizations disappoint us.
But we have three choices: 1. Get even with those who have disappointed us and
wronged us, or 2.descend into the hell of our own disappointment (which means
getting bitter and cynical), or 3. forgive, and continue to serve and be faithful.
Your parents were flawed, Your spouse is flawed. They made mistakes, they
disappointed you….but Faithfulness requires forgiveness.
We are given a mandate for how we are to live, in Revelation 2:10 “Fear none of
those things which you shall suffer… behold, you will be tried; and you shall have
tribulation, but be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life”.
The Lord commended both the man who was given five talents and doubled it, and the man who was given two talents and doubled them, with the same words… ”Well done, good and faithful servant”….because it wasn’t about the amount, it was about faithfulness! When we are faithful, God takes care of filling in the amount.
There are 7 areas that God will use to evaluate our faithfulness, which we
should all be very interested in….
1.He wants to know if we have the right values.. This is about knowing what is important and what is not, what do I do now and what can wait, am I investing or wasting my time, energy and money?
Proverbs 28:20 says, “A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one that is only eager to get rich will suffer the consequences.” Many have had to come to the place that they ask the question… “Do I own my stuff or does my stuff own me”?
Scripture is clear that we are to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you”.
2. Do you truly care about the circumstances and success of others around you?
We can become self-absorbed, so that everything is about my needs, my ambitions,
my desires, my goals, my hurts, my values, my profit, my benefit. The seagulls in
the movie “Finding Nemo” were always flying around yelling “Mine, mine, mine, mine”
But God desires that we be OTHERS-MINDED.
Jesus said in Mathew 22:37 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart,and with all your soul, and with all your mind.v38 This is the first and great
commandment. v39 And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself”. (Just
like you love yourself..)
A famous antique collector was walking through a city he was visiting when he
noticed a mangy cat lapping milk from a saucer on the floor of a store. He did a
double take when he saw what the cat was drinking from. He knew that the saucer
was extremely old, it was one of a kind, and very valuable, so he walked casually
into the store and offered to buy the cat for five dollars.The store owner replied,
"I'm sorry, but the cat isn't for sale." The collector said,"Please, I need a hungry
cat around the house to catch mice. I'll pay you thirty dollars for that cat." And
the owner said "Sold," and handed over the cat.
The collector, very casually, continued, "Hey, for the thirty bucks I wonder
if you could throw in that old saucer. The cat's used to it and it'll save me from
having to get a dish." To which the owner replied, "Sorry buddy, but that's my
best drawing card. So far this week I've sold twenty-three cats."(some folks are
always trying to take advantage of everyone)
3.Does what you say you believe, match the way you live? Or in other words,
do you have integrity? When God evaluates your faithfulness, he won’t be looking
at many things we may think are important, but he will be examining the way in
which we lived our lives where unbelievers were looking and interacting with us.
Living lives of faithfulness to the Lord is like taking a $l0,000 bill and laying it
on the table—and saying 'Here's my life, Lord. I'm giving it all.'And then he sends
us to the bank and has us cash in the $l0,000 for singles. And then go through life
giving a dollar of our life here and five dollars of our life there. Usually giving our
life to Christ isn't all that glorious. It's done in all those little acts of love and
service, one dollar at at time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it's
harder to live the Christian life little by little, faithfully over the long haul." May
we not hear Him say to us, “You are weighed in the balances and found wanting” in
this area.
4.Do you honor your promises to God and to others? God keeps a record of the
promises we have made…
Matthew 12:36 “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak,
they shall give account for it in the day of reckoning”.The Greek word for Idle, is
“ar-gos”, which means useless, or worthless.This word includes promises and vows
we make and never fulfill or follow through on them.
Nahum 1:15…”perform your vows, and the wicked shall no more overrun you.He
shall be completely cut off”.(have you made promises to God or man, that you have
not honored? It may be blocking your blessing or allowing the enemy an entrance.
5. Have you used and developed the gifts He has given to you? God has made a
huge investment in your life and mine and he is looking to see if we are using it.
1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each should use whatever spiritual gift he has received to
serve others faithfully, administering God’s grace in its various forms.” If you don’t
use and develop your gifts, you are stunting the growth of the body of Christ. We
can get so focused on what we wish we had, that we don’t use what we do have!
Faithfulness is measured by what we do with what we do have.
6.Have we been obedient to God? Sometimes we want a word from God,when we
haven’t been obedient to what He has been telling us. Peter said no to God 3 times
when God let down the sheet from heaven with unclean animals in it, but then he
said yes, and the rest is history…
Do what you have already been given to do, and then the heavens will open for
you and you will hear His clear voice. God says to His people in
*…Isaiah 30:16 “But you said, No to Me…” But God goes on to say in verse 19 “He
will be very gracious unto you at the voice of your cry. And when He shall hear it,
He will answer you. Then in verse 21 He says “And your ears shall hear a word
behind you, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when you turn to the right hand,
and when you turn to the left”. Obedience is another word for faithfulness.
Disobedience disqualifies us from coming to the next level of what God has for
us. The blessings of God can be blocked from flowing to us by our disobedience.
An exasperated mother, whose son kept running in and out of the house and
slamming the door, was getting very upset at him and yelled, Billy, either come in
or stay out… Billy was always getting into mischief, and always disobedient, and his
mom asked him, one day, “Billy, how do you expect to ever get into heaven?"
Billy thought it over and said, "Well, I'll just run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the door until Jesus says, 'For heaven's sake, Billy, come in or stay out.' And then I'll go in!" (Obedience is another word for faithfulness)!
7. Do you keep it, or do you pass it on? None of us would be here today if there hadn’t been faithful men and women in the last 2,000 years of the Church. We’re here today because some faithful men and women took the time to write down the Scriptures, and others preserved the Scriptures, and others translated the Scriptures, and others preached and taught the word to us. We’re here because of the testimony of faithful people.
Those who have faithfulness as a character trait, don't use people to build their authority, they use their authority to build up people. If God teaches you a spiritual truth and you’re learning a spiritual truth, it’s your duty to pass it on to others. Matthew 10:8 “Freely you have received, freely give”.
A Children’s church director was trying to teach her class the difference between right and wrong. All right children, she said, I want to give you an example," she said. "If I were to get into a man's pocket and take his billfold with all his money, what would I be?" Little Johnny raises his hand, and with a confident smile, he blurts out, "Teacher, You would be his wife!"
Luke 16:10-11 “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and
whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not
been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?”
Faithfulness is not about settling for less… or that’s just the way things are….
Faithfulness is about Sowing and expecting to reap the harvest….The great good
news is that God isn’t finished with us yet! He who has begun a good work in us will
be faithful to complete it. He who has begun the work of faithfulness in us, will
complete it and that means He won’t let us stay as we are but He will keep chipping
away at us until we are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
If you feel like you’ve been sitting on the bench just watching the game, learn
the lesson God has for you and then get back in the game.
Faithfulness is about always growing and learning. Child of God, a better day is
coming for the people of God. What is incomplete will be made complete. What is
unfinished will be finished. What is lacking will be made full. What is partial will be
made whole. What is less than enough will be far more than adequate. What is
broken will be fixed. What is hurt will be healed. What is weak will be made
strong. What is temporary will be made solid and secure. God has promised to do it
and He cannot lie.
God has begun a good work in your life! Do you feel incomplete and unfinished?
Fear not, child of God. He will complete his work which He has begun in you, just
be faithful.
Better days are coming. He has given us the keys to the Kingdom, Days of
victory and days of rejoicing are not far away. Your present situation will yield to
the power of God’s faithfulness in your life. Whatever it is that you have to do,
God will equip you to do it. No matter how difficult, God has already started
arming you for battle, because that’s the kind of God he is. He never, never, never
calls you to any task without giving you what you need to get the job done.
God saying “I have made a down payment on your victory… I have secured it by
my signature in redemption’s blood. I have provided the substance you need and the
resources by the offering of my own body… I have given you a foretaste of my
overcoming power, as I have risen up, you also shall rise above that which would
hold you down and keep you from the blessing which I have laid up in store for you…
Let the weak say “I am strong”, let the sick say, “I am well”, Let the weary say
“I am refreshed”, Let those who have lack say, “He supplies all my needs, out of
His riches in glory”….TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS FAITHFUL!!!
