Deut 7:9 “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.”
Faithfulness is a continuous, unrelenting devotion to a faithful God.
• Our faithfulness is anchored upon a faithful God. Our life is built upon the trustworthiness of God. Without that, there can be no basis for faithfulness.
• We cannot be faithful to someone that is fickle and disloyal. There will be no ground for faith and faithfulness.
We can be faithful today because we know of a God who is absolutely faithful.
• His faithfulness is the reason we can be faithful today.
(1) REST IN GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
God is fully dependable. God is fully trustworthy. That must be a conviction.
• You cannot possibly be faithful to someone I distrust. If I allow unbelief or doubt to take root in my heart, faith in God will diminish and so goes faithfulness.
• Feed on God’s Word and build up your faith. Look at God’s works and remind yourself of His goodness.
Faithfulness of God is greatly celebrated in the Bible, especially the Psalms.
• Ps 145:13 “The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.”
• Ps 57:10 “For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
• Ps 100:5 “For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
Heb 6:17-19 “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
• His PURPOSE is sure. God’s will does not change; it need not because it’s perfect. If He needs to make corrections to His plan, then He cannot be all-wise and all-knowing.
• His PROMISE (oath) is sure. When He speaks, it is eternal. “You can have MY WORD!” He says.
• God’s PURPOSE and PROMISE, God’s WILL and WORD will not change.
You see the extend God goes to, to assure us of His faithfulness.
• I am now on a reading plan going through the OT in 2-years, and I came to Jeremiah 31 the other day, and I’m captivated by the way God assures His people:
• Jer 31:35-37 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD."I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 …"For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
35 This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar - the LORD Almighty is his name: 36 "Only if these decrees vanish from my sight," declares the LORD, "will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me."
37 This is what the LORD says: "Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done," declares the LORD.”
God highlights the impossibility of His plan ever-changing. God cannot go back on His Word!
• 1 Thess 5:24 “The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.”
• What we have is an eternal security. We can be faithful because God is faithful!
We are called to be just like Him - faithful.
(2) VALUE FAITHFULNESS, NOT RESULTS
This is how God spells success. Faithfulness is what God is looking for.
• A successful Christian is actually a faithful Christian, because success is not based on results but on faithfulness.
• Results are the gracious works of God. Faithfulness is what we can offer Him.
Jesus emphasized this in the Parable of the Talents in Matt 25. The context is very enlightening:
• Matt 24A – He starts to talk about the Signs of the End of the Age.
• Matt 24B – The Day and Hour of His return is unknown. 24:45-46 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.”
• Matt 25A – the Parable of the Ten Virgins – be prepared. He will surely come back. He said so. You can trust His Word. REST IN HIS FAITHFULNESS
• Matt 25B – the Parable of the Talents – in the meantime, put to good use what God has entrusted you. When He comes back you will hear this “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'” (Matt 25:21)
• Matt 25C – about the Sheep and the Goats (we talked about 2 weeks ago) – He identifies us by our kind deeds because that how true faith is being shown.
It is very clear from the Scriptures that God is looking for faithful men.
God told NOAH to build an ark according to detailed specifications, and it took Noah more than 100 years to build that ark on completely dry land.
• It takes faith in God and faithfulness to God. Noah has never seen rain and there were no signs of it coming, for a long time. People mocked him, but rain did come.
• When the Bible mentioned MOSES in Heb 3:5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future.”
JEREMIAH prophesied and preached to the same people for about 40 years.
• Very few people listened to him but he continued to do what God had told him to do and say what God had told him to say.
• In our modern time, we can easily conclude that he was failure. But success in the world’s view may not be the same success as defined by the Scripture.
God wants our faithfulness, not our success.
• We are not responsible for the results; we are responsible for our faithfulness.
• Paul tells Timothy: “what you have heard from me… entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim 2:2 ESV)
• We’re not called to be successful; we’re called to be faithful. Can God depend on you?
To be faithful to God is to do the thing that God wants you to do, and does it well.
To be unfaithful, is to do your own thing, and keep doing your own things.
APPLICATIONS:
(1) DISCOVER what God wants you to do
I say DISCOVER because God has a calling on your life. You need to discover it.
• People do not think about it. We don’t usually care about what God wants; we are concern only about what we want.
• Paul says in Eph 4:1b “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”
To be faithful, we need to invest what God has entrusted to us.
• So seek God. Listen to His voice. Start serving. Be involved in ministry.
• It’s a journey of discovering God’s design for your life, the passions, the interests, the gifts, the opportunities that He has given you.
• Rick Warren says God has given each of us unique S.H.A.P.E. for His purpose – Spiritual Gift, Heart (passion), Abilities, Personality (interests) and Experience.
We are not called to do everything. If you try to do everything, chances are you’re going to miss doing the particular something that God wants you to do.
• Jesus Himself did not attempt to do everything possible. He was mindful of focusing on the specific work that the Father has called Him to.
• If we are distracted and sidetracked into doing 101 things and missed out on that which God wants from us, then we are being unfaithful.
What is the thing that God wants me to do? - is a question we’ve to ask constantly.
• Don’t drift through life and realized, at the end of the day, that you’ve missed out on many opportunities that God has given you, to serve Him and do His work.
(2) Be faithful in LITTLE things
Faithfulness in little things is a BIG thing to God.
• We are to be faithful to the gifts and opportunities God gives us.
We tend to think of living the Christian life as giving to God once and for all. I attended a revival meeting and dedicated my whole life to God. It doesn’t work that way. It is more of a continuous, a daily doing of God’s will, little by little.
It is like taking a $1000 bill and laying it on the altar – “Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.” But God sent us to the bank and get it exchanged into 10-cent coins.
We go through life serving Him, putting out 10 cent here and a 20 cent there. We see a sick person and pay him a visit. We give a cup of water to an old man in a nursing home. We listen to a neighbour’s troubles instead of saying, “I’m busy.”
That’s giving of our life to God – done in little acts of love, a coin at a time. It is easy to have a flash in the pan dedication, sudden burst of energy and enthusiasm. It is harder to live the Christian life, little by little, over the long haul.
There was a doctor who had practiced medicine in a small town for many years. On his retirement, the town decided to give a banquet in his honour.
Something special was arranged. After the meal, an older man in the back of the room got up and walked up to the head table carrying a single red rose. He stood before the beloved doctor and placed the rose in an empty vase sitting on the table in front of him. The man said, "Doc, your first year here, I was one of the first babies you delivered in this town," and he went back to his seat.
Then, someone else got up with another red rose and also placed it in the empty vase and said, "Doc, I understand it wasn't an easy birth, but you brought me into the world the second year you were here."
Then, another came forward with another rose and said that she was one of those who faced complications at birth during his third year.
And one by one, all kinds of people took turns bringing up a red rose to place in that vase, one for a baby he had delivered in each year while serving that community. And they kept doing that until there were 50 roses in that vase.
God is looking for the 50-roses man in His ministry. This is what He rewards.
• “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness.” (Matt 25:21)
• God rewards, not success, but faithfulness. What we need to ask is, not how successful you are, but how faithful you are?
PRAYER:
Thank you, dear Lord, for being a faithful God. Even when we are faithless, You will remain faithful (2 Tim 2:13). You keep your promises. You are always true to yourself, to your nature, and to us.
May we be faithful to You Lord, because you’ve been faithful to us. Let us stay true to your Word and to your calling. Enable us to stay righteous and pure. Grow us into good disciples who will follow you, no matter what. That obedience and submission to you will characterize our lives.
Let us understand clearly our mission to preach the Good News. Open our eyes to the reality of sin and the plight of the lost. Keep us focused on our calling, that we may faithfully proclaim your Word and do the work of Your kingdom. Keep us steadfast. Let us not drift away or back down from our calling until we see you again.
And when we do struggle or feel discouraged, Lord, remind us that You are there with us, beside us. For you are ever faithful to us. Great is your faithfulness.
Help us, every one of us here, finish the race marked out for us, and let us finish it well. This we pray in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
