Faithfulness - Cameron Jungles - 8-25-2013

“Faithfulness” (Eastside Baptist/Sun PM/August 25, 2013)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:22-23, NIV)

1. Faithfulness is defined by God’s dependability and trustworthiness.
a. God is faithful.
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, (Exod. 34:6, NIV)

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 commandments. (Deut. 7:9, NIV)

He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. (Deut. 32:4, NIV)

"Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes--the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly. 34 Our kings, our leaders, our priests and our ancestors did not follow your law; they did not pay attention to your commands or the statutes you warned them to keep. (Neh. 9:32-34, NIV)

For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. (Ps. 33:4, NIV)

5 Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. (Ps. 36:5, NIV)

22 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. (Lam. 3:22-23, NIV)

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Co. 10:13, NIV)

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. (2 Thess. 3:3, NIV)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jn. 1:9, NIV)

8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Co. 1:8-9, NIV)

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. (1 Thess. 5:23-24, NIV)

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil. 1:6, NIV)

b. God is worthy of our faith, because he is faithful.
2. Our faithfulness should be based on our faith in God and modeled after God’s faithful character.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. (2 Pet. 1:5-7, NIV)

a. We should be faithful/dependable in our obedience to Christ and His Word.

This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. (Gen. 6:9, NIV)

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. (Gen. 17:1, NIV)

The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.' 21 "His master replied, '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. 25:20-21, NIV)

Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor's crown. (Rev. 2:10, NIV)

b. We should be faithful/dependable in our relationships with others.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. (Matt. 23:23, NIV)

i. We should be honest in our speech with one another.
ii. We should be dependable in keeping our word and commitments/obligations.
As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so are sluggards to those who send them. (Prov. 10:26, NIV)

iii. We should be loyal to our family, church, and friends.
Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, (1 Tim. 3:2, NIV)

iv. We should be faithful even when it costs us personally.
LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? 2 The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; 3 whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; 4 who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the LORD; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; (Ps. 15:1-4, NIV)

Big Idea: As God’s children, we should be faithful in all our commitments and relationships just as our Heavenly Father is faithful.