Intro: What is the proper response to the manger which was the doorway for God to be with us? What is the proper response to the cross where God suffered for us? What is the proper response to the ascension where Jesus intercedes for us? What is the proper response to the gift of the Holy Spirit which is God living in us?
Faithfulness is the proper response to all of God’s gracious giving. God has one requirement that will help us fulfill all others, faithfulness. If we are faithful to the commands of Jesus we will be thankful, pray without ceasing, gather together and encourage one another. If we are faithful to abide in Jesus His love will continually flow in our hearts and we will have compassion, mercy, forgiveness. This is Christmas lived out. The spirit of Christmas is not found in malls with mobs of people racing for bargains. Mother Teresa is the Spirit of Christmas, getting gifts for widows and orphans, visiting someone alone in the nursing home, Jesus living in and through us is the Spirit of Christmas.
Faithfulness is loves habit. To be faithful is to be full of faith even if it is faith the size of a grain of mustard seed. Faithfulness cannot be strangled by suffering, crushed by hard circumstances, controlled by selfish desires, frustrated by unmet expectations. Faithfulness has Jesus as it object, obedience as its joy, and eternity as its goal. When we are faithful we should thank God and praise Him because it is what he requires.
I) Faithfulness is obedience to God
1 Corinthians 4:2 “It is required of stewards to be faithful”
The word required in the Greek here literally means demand back. God demands back from Paul the breath He gave him in faithfulness. It can be seen in Luke 12:20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?”
Faithful is translated from the same word as faith in Hebrews 11 “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. So it is only in abiding in Jesus Christ that we can meet this requirement. This demand of God is met when we depend on Jesus. Faith is the underwater spring and faithfulness is the above water geyser.
It is simply God’s requirement to be a steward. Anyone and everyone who claims to be a born again Christian should be faithful. Jesus again said if you love me keep my commandments. God demands faithfulness from His stewards. It is not so exciting to talk about faithfulness, why? Anyone and everyone who lives by faith should be able to be faithful. It is adventurous to be a missionary on a foreign field, exciting to be inspirational and instrumental in revival as a traveling evangelist, satisfying to be a well known television minister. But to be faithful means to live in faith in the mundane and monotony of daily life. Some once said that many
Christians are hypodermic saints, living for shots of religious excitement instead of daily, mundane, normal growth through feeding on the word of God, controlled by the Spirit of God, obedient to the Son of God.
The context of this passage in 1 Corinthians is someone called to proclaim the gospel. So you have to ask the question, am I called to be a steward? The resounding answer of Paul and Peter would be Yes!! The question is answered in 1 Peter 4.
II) Faithfulness is investment in the body of believers – 1 Peter 4:10, Ephesians 4,
First you have to ask am I a steward? According to 1 Peter 4:10 yes you are! The Holy Spirit has gifted each one. Each what? Each believer that has the Holy Spirit living in them is gifted and is a steward of the grace of God in their life. Grace in the Greek is Charis it is translated gift, giving, and grace. So we are stewards of God’s gift, giving, and character.
To make it absolutely clear Peter says, “based on the gift each one has received.”
Each one is hekastos, means each, every one, of any number separately. It means every single one and so each one of a totality in a distributive sense. Peter is teaching us a very important truth each and every believer has received at least one gift from the Spirit of God.
He also says that we are to use these gifts as “good manangers (stewards) of the varied grace of God. So we are all stewards of the grace of God. The buck does not stop with the paid staff, or the deacons, but God demands of each of us that we steward God’s grace.
Peter is basically telling us it is not ok to be a fan of Jesus. We are called to be followers. Followers get into the game of life by using their gifts as stewards, managers, we are not our own we were bought with a price. We don’t sit in the stands or stand on the sideline telling the coach what to do or yelling at the bad calls of the refs. We get up and support the work of others. So we glorify God when we get involved and invested in the body of Christ using the gifts the Spirit graces us with.
An elderly preacher was rebuked by one of his deacons one Sunday morning before the service. "Pastor," said the man, "something must be wrong with your preaching and your work. There's been only one person added to the church in a whole year, and he's just a boy." The minister listened, his eyes moistening and his thin hand trembling. "I feel it all," he replied, "but God knows I've tried to do my duty." On that day the minister's heart was heavy as he stood before his flock. As he finished the message, he felt a strong inclination to resign. After everyone else had left, that one boy came to him and asked, "Do you think if I worked hard for an education, I could become a preacher--perhaps a missionary?" Again tears welled up in the minister's eyes. "Ah, this heals the ache I feel," he said. "Robert, I see the Divine hand now. May God bless you, my boy. Yes, I think you will become a preacher." Many years later an aged missionary returned to London from Africa. His name was spoken with reverence. Nobles invited him to their homes. He had added many souls to the church of Jesus Christ, reaching even some of Africa's most savage chiefs. His name was Robert Moffat, the same Robert who years before had spoken to the pastor that Sunday morning in the old Scottish kirk. Lord, help us to be faithful. Then give us the grace to leave the results to you.
Sometimes faithfulness doesn’t present immediate results. However faithfulness is not just required of pastors, deacons, directors. It is the demand of God on each one that has the gift of His grace to faithfully invest in the lives of the church body and the mission God gives it.
Someone once said “The light of the truth is looked at but not walked in!” What will always be the problem of believers? To not only be hearers of the word but also doers. Those that hear God’s word and do not obey are foolish and blind. Where there is no obedience to the truth of God there is spiritual blindness and eventually spiritual weakness
Ephesians 4 says the gifts are given to build up the body, Hebrews 10:24, 25 says we are to stir up or encourage one another to love and good deeds. Philippians 2 tells us to look to the concerns of others.
Romans 12:6 (note) And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly
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Spiritual gifts are special capacities bestowed on believers to equip them to minister supernaturally to others, especially to each other. Consequently, if those gifts are not being used, or not being used rightly, the body of Christ cannot be the corporate manifestation of its Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the work of God is hindered.
III) Faithfulness is initiated by the Holy Spirit.
The greatest ability in the Kingdom is not personality. It is dependability that comes from availability to the living and working presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We say someone has charisma if they have a powerful public persona. Paul’s public appearance was not very charismatic. He was said to have weighty letters but weak personality.
Charisma in the Bible is not a strong or pleasing personality. Charisma is a special term for God’s grace gifts. These gifts focus attention on how we are supposed to function within the body of Christ. God has given each believer a special endowment of the Spirit so that he or she can make a distinctive contribution to individuals and to the community of faith. Living together united by bonds of love as each of us is used by God to enrich our brothers and sisters so that we stimulate them to grow in Christian maturity.
The Holy Spirit imparts and empowers faithfulness. Who does the faithfulness belong to?
A) Who is the faithfulness directed to
1) Faithfulness to God (as stewards of the varied grace of God)
2) Faithfulness to covenants
3) Faithfulness to community of faith
How do we practice the faithfulness? 2 Timothy 2:22 gives an understanding of what is involved in staying faithful. The first portion of this verse tells us to flee. Joseph fled the temptation. He fled the desire, decision and deed.
B) How do we practice faithfulness
1) Flee unrighteousness – (Specific examples – Joseph, Daniel, My own rules)
2) Follow righteousness -- Pursue means to follow after hard go after with the desire of obtaining. It is in the present imperative in the Greek which calls us to make the pursuit of right behavior, decision, desire, deeds a lifetime habitual practice.
“Righteousness” is right-ness. It is integrity, truthfulness, fairness, and justice. It is right character toward God and right action toward men. (Specific ways in marriage, church life, work life)
Right attitude, action, and character is what God is looking for in faithful stewards.
