THE ORANGE OF FAITHFULNESS
Are you getting tired of fruit? I hope not, because our "fruit salad" is only 2/3 finished. We’ve considered the INNER FRUIT: Love, Joy and Peace. We’ve studied the OUTWARD FRUIT: Patience, Kindness and Goodness. But we have yet to dissect the UPWARD FRUIT - those Christ-like qualities which most particularly have to do with our relationship with God - our faithfulness to God, our meekness before God and our self-control by the power of the Spirit of God.
When I was in Bible College, a tractor trailer load of Tropicana Orange Juice was dropped off at the cafeteria every week. I wondered how a low-cost Bible College could afford so much expensive O.J. One morning in chapel, I found out how an older Italian man in broken English, gave his testimony. He said he had come to the US from Italy in the 20’s as a young teenager, with nothing but the clothes on his back. A Christian couple befriended him and through their love he came to know Christ as his Savior and Lord. One Sunday in church, he prayed: "Lord, if you give me an idea for a business, I will be faithful to give a portion of everything I make back to Your work." That very morning, the idea of "Fresh squeezed orange juice" popped into his head - and the rest is history: Anthony Rossi founded the "Tropicana Co" and has been faithful to give God - not 10% of his income, as many faithful believers do, but 50% of his income, for the past 60 years! He also gave truckloads of FREE O.J. to Christian colleges throughout the country!
So, when I think of "oranges," I think of faithfulness - God’s great faithfulness to His children and the importance of our being faithful, both to Him and to one another.
Orange you glad God is so faithful? Orange you blessed when other people are faithful to you? Then let’s study the "orange of faithfulness" and learn how to squeeze the most sweetness out of this fruit, in our own lives!
I. WHAT IS FAITHFULNESS?
Actually the word for "faithfulness" is the same word translated faith. It is our faith in the faithfulness of God that enables us to be faithful to Him and to one another.
Hebrew:
emunah = "steadfastness or stability"
Greek:
pistis = reliability or dependability
Def: Faithfulness is "the Christ-like quality of dependability - stability in our relationship with God and reliability in our relationship with others."
The greatest example of faithfulness is God Himself:
In 1 Pt. 4:19 God is called the "faithful Creator" - i.e. we can see God’s faithfulness in the order and constancy of nature.
Ps. 119:138 "Thy testimonies are very faithful." i.e. God always keeps His Word and His promises.
1 Cor. 1:9 "God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son." i.e. God is faithful in calling His own to salvation.
1 Cor. 10:13 "...God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tested above that you are able, but will with the testing also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it." i.e. God is faithful in preserving and protecting His children.
And again in 2 Thess. 3:3 "The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and keep you from evil."
2 Tim. 2:13 "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, He cannot deny Himself." i.e. even when we fail God, He will not fail us!
1 John 1:9 shows God’s faithfulness in forgiveness!
One Scripture summarizes it all:
Lam. 3:22+23 "Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not, they are new every morning-great is Thy faithfulness."
(SING: "Great Is Thy Faithfulness")
The faithfulness of God on earth is our Lord Jesus Christ:
Heb. 2:17 "That He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God." Jesus is faithful, praying for us!
Heb. 3:1+2 "Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession -Christ Jesus was faithful to Him who appointed Him." Jesus was faithful in doing the Father’s will!
Rev. 1:5 "From Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness." Jesus was faithful in proclaiming God’s message!
Rev. 19:11 "He that sat upon the white horse was called Faithful and True."
Jesus will be faithful in judging evil and rewarding faith! Jesus is faithfulness personified!
So, the more we see how faithful God is to us, how He never lets us down, how He is always reliable, steadfast, constant and dependable - the more we will desire to be faithful to Him and to one another!
II. HOW IS FAITHFULNESS EXPRESSED?
A. Faithfulness to God (or stability in our relationship with God)
In Luke 16:10 Jesus said, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much."
Several examples:
1. Faithfulness in reading God’s Word every day
2. Faithfulness in public worship
3. Faithfulness in witness and service
4. Faithfulness in obedience and giving
5. Faithfulness even in suffering
Rev. 2:10 "Be thou faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life."
B. Faithfulness to Others (or reliability in our relationship with others)
Prov. 28:20 "A faithful man shall abound with blessings." Several examples:
-1. Faithfulness in Employment
1 Cor. 4:2 "It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful."
-2. Faithfulness in Friendship
-3. Faithfulness in Marriage
-4. Faithfulness in Speaking the Truth
Prov. 14:5 "A faithful witness will not lie."
-5. Faithfulness in the Little Things
Mt. 25:21 "Well done, thou good and faithful servant - you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things - enter into the joy of your Lord."
*Think about it: In what areas of life do you and I need to be more faithful, more stable, more reliable, more dependable? I’m sure all of us want to hear those words of affirmation: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
III. HOW CAN WE BECOME MORE FAITHFUL?
(or-How is faithfulness developed?)
A. By meditating on the faithfulness of God toward us.
B. By starting small - example - A commitment to read the Bible and pray fifteen minutes a day. (Or striving to be on time for work each day, or setting aside God’s portion of our pay check first each week, or seeking to be truthful, even in the minor details etc.)
C. By depending on God’s Holy Spirit to be faithful through us.
I Thess. 5:24 "The very God of peace sanctify you completely - faithful is He that called you, who also will do it."
D. By remembering the rewards awaiting the faithful:
-"A place of authority in Christ’s Kingdom" (Mt. 25:21)
-A Crown of Life (Rev. 2:10)
Illus: An American tourist traveling in Southeast Asia stopped to take a picture of an old man out in the field with an old wooden plough attached to his son. When he reached the next village, he mentioned the incident to the local missionary, saying how bad he felt for the poverty of the family.
But the missionary explained that they were one of the original believing families in the village, and faithful members of the church. When the congregation recently gathered funds for little building, the family had no money, so they gave their only possession - their ox. The son was willing to pull the plow, because Jesus said, ’No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.’" (Luke 9:62)
What have we promised God, that we are no longer faithful in doing? What commitment have we made to others, that we have not been faithful in keeping?
Concl: Listen to the voice of God’s Spirit this morning: In what areas is He saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant, keep on keeping on!" In what other areas is He saying, "Get back in the habit"; "Start a new pattern"; "Be dependable in this, be stable in your relationship with God, be reliable in your relationship with others." "Let Me be faithful through you." "Take up your plough, don’t look back; Let Me produce the orange of faithfulness in you." Be another Anthony Rossi; be another son in the field willingly pulling the plough! May our daily prayer be: "Lord, squeeze me to the limits of myself, that I may release the sweetness of Your faithfulness!"
~Pastor Jim Westervelt www.LovingGrace.net
~gracefellowship3@earthlink.net
