The Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness Galatians 5:22, Lamentations 3:21-23, Matthew 25:21 August 9, 2015 Pastor Vic Willis 1 We were talking in Staff Meeting this week and the question came up, What does Faithfulness mean? Since it contains the word Faith it sounds like a strictly religious word. But faithfulness can be found anywhere: The sun is faithful to rise every morning and to set every night. The tide is faithful to come in and to go out. The government is faithful to tax and spend, and then tax and spend some more. So faithfulness is not exclusive to people of faith, but there is one thing that is more faithful than all of these other things put together, and that is God. Lamentations 3:21-23 says, This I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Try as we might, we will never extinguish God s faithfulness. God will never fail in holding us secure in God s Grace. He loves us too much to let us go! He s unfailingly faithful to us and he wants us to grow in our faithfulness to him and to each other. Wise King Solomon asked a great question in Prov. 20:6, Many claim to have unfailing love, but who can find a faithful person? Since God is so
faithful, God expects his people to live in faithfulness, too. 2 Jesus told a parable that illustrates the spiritual fruit of faithfulness. It is found in Matt. 25. We call it the parable of the talents, and it tells us much about God and His desire, even His demand, for faithfulness. "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability, and immediately he went on a journey." (Matt. 25:14-15) Now talents here refer to a measure of money. A talent was equivalent to about 6,000 denarii (or 20 years pay) and one denarius was equal to one day's wage of a common laborer. Certainly it does deal with money management, but it deals with more than just money management. These talents represent responsibilities. Now notice that everyone was given at least one talent. That tells us that every servant was also a steward. The Bible says in 1 Cor. 4:2, "Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful." Now we are all stewards, and we are all to be faithful in our stewardship. The word stewardship simply means management. We are owners of nothing; we are managers of everything. Not everyone is born with equal ability. But everyone is born with an equal
responsibility to take every opportunity to use the ability you have for the glory 3 of God. Verse 16 or Matt 25 "Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with him." (vv. 16-19) God has invested in us. God wants us to respond by using our talents for an increase in his kingdom, Do you realize that practically every area of our lives involves the opportunity to be faithful in using our abilities for the glory of God? Let me just share with you some areas in which God expects us to be faithful. We are to be faithful in our work. Eccl. 9:10 says, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might." That means you show up on time. You don't leave early. You give an honest days work for an honest days wage. You don't watch the clock. You do your absolute best. Anything less is to be unfaithful. We are to be faithful with our wealth. Jesus said in Luke 16:11, "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" In other words, Jesus said if you cannot be trusted with earthly riches, you cannot be trusted with eternal riches. How we
steward the money we have has an effect on our soul. 4 We are to be faithful in our worship. Heb. 10:25 says, "Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhort one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." Let me ask all of you a question. Do you apply the same standards of faithfulness to your worship of God that you expect from other areas of your life? If your car starts once every three times, is it reliable? If your newspaper is not delivered every Monday and Thursday, is your deliverer trustworthy? If you don't go to work once or twice a month, are you a loyal employee? If your refrigerator stops working for a day or two every now and then, do you say, "On well, it works most of the time"? If your water heater provides an icy-cold shower every now and then, is it dependable? If you miss a couple of loan payments every year, does the bank say, "Ten out of twelve isn't bad"? If you fail to worship God one or two Sundays a month, would you expect to be called a faithful Christian?
We are to be faithful to our word. Prov. 12:22 says, "Lying lips are an 5 abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight." It is still true that you are no better than your word. Have you ever thought about the fact that your word is the only thing not worth giving unless you keep it? To do otherwise is to be unfaithful. Finally, we are to be faithful in our witness. In Rev. 1:5, Jesus Christ is called "the faithful witness." If we know Christ and the knowledge of God s Love in our lives, to not share that transforming message, is to be, at the very least, unfaithful. "So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, 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.'" (vv.20-23) 6 You see, faithfulness is not a matter of over-the-top success, being recognized by the church leaders, or voted most popular to whatever. It is simply a matter of doing your best with the talents, abilities, and opportunities that God has given to you. Releasing that to God. Trusting Him with the results. Did you know that real faithfulness is seen not in big things; it's seen in small things. It s where God notices it it s when we do the small thing faithfully. In verses 21 and 23 the master says to both of these servants, "you were faithful over a few things." What's wrong with a lot of people is that they think the small things don t matter. They want to get on with the big things. Longfellow once said, "Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambition." I heard about a man who was talking to a big tall strapping giant of a fellow. He said, "If I were as big, tall, and strong as you, I would go out in the woods, find the biggest bear I could find and wrestle him right down to the ground." That man just looked at him and said, "There are plenty of little bears in the woods." Some people say, "If I just had a million dollars all the things I would do for God." The fact is, you'll do the same thing with a million that you would do with a hundred.
Jesus said in Luke 16:10, "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful 7 also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much." I was talking to Debbie the other day, and I asked her if she married me for my looks? She said, "No, I didn't marry you for your looks, I married you for your brains it's the little things that count." You may not think it is very important to be faithful in little things, and you may not think it is very important if you re unfaithful in little things, but notice what happened to the unfaithful servant: "Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.' But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. Therefore you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have 8 abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" (vv.24-30) I don't know about you, but the only thing I really care about is to come to the end of my life and have the Lord Jesus say to me, "Well done, good and faithful servant." I heard about a man who was eating at a restaurant and he was furious when they brought his steak, because it was rare. He said, "Waiter, come over here." The waiter came over, and he said, "Didn't you hear me say 'Well done'?" The waiter said, "Oh, thank you very much sir, I hardly ever get a compliment around here." Well, I tell you there is no higher compliment or greater reward than simply hearing Jesus say, "Well done." We are living in a day when people are trying to get all kinds of academic degrees. There is the Ph.D., the D.D., the M.D., the LL.D. But I think we ought to be looking for the W.D., "Well done, good and faithful servant." More than two hundred and Thirty years ago, when the United States Marine Corps was being formed, much time was given to considering an
appropriate motto. They finally chose the Latin phrase: Semper Fidelis. Semper Fidelis is engraved on the mind of every United States Marine. What does it mean? Always faithful. Now those are two very powerful words, but the most important of the two is the first. Because it explains "how" a marine is to be faithful. A marine is not to be faithful only when it is convenient, only when he feels like it, only when it will make him happy. Semper Fidelis means always faithful-regardless of the cost. We can be Always faithful because our God is Always Faithful. Every day as Christians we experience the faithfulness of God. Let me remind you of how faithful God is to us. When we are touched by sin God is faithful to keep us in His family. 1 Cor. 1:8-9 says that "God will confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ...God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." When we are tempted to sin, God is faithful to provide a way of escape and I want to put this one up on the screen. "No temptation has overtaken you except that which is common to man; but God is faithful, and will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Cor. 10:13) So important to 9
rely on His Faithfulness to protect us. 10 When we get tangled in sin, God is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us. 1 Jn. 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." May our response to God s Grace be Semper Fidelis Always Faithful, in the small things and the large things, with however much God gives us to work, may we use our time, our talent, our treasure and invest it so that His Kingdom may benefit and it is to that faithful servant that Jesus will say, "Well done." Lord, give us eyes to see the large use you make of our small faithful acts. Help us not operate on the standards of the world but of your Kingdom. Help us to develop a love for faithfulness by watching your faithfulness in our lives. Make us more like yourself, we pray, in Jesus Name. AMEN!