Matthew 25:14-29, 1 Corinthians 4:1-2
Apart from the fact that God is love, one of God’s key characters is His faithfulness. God is faithful to us meaning that He does what He promises and He is reliable and dependable. You can totally rely on God because He is faithful.
1 THESS 5:24 ‘Faithful is he who has called you who will also do it’. That is why I believe that because God has called you and because He is faithful you will receive answer to that great desire in your heart and that need in the name of Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:13 ‘If we are faithless, He remains faithful for He cannot deny Himself.
God always delivers on His promises. He promised Abraham and Sarah a child in their old age and it came to pass.
HEB 11:11 ‘By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised’
Receive strength and grace today to bring forth that child, that dream, that vision in the name of Jesus.
Because of God’s faithfulness, Sarah though past the age of child bearing bore a son.
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.
1 Cor 10:13 ‘No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who 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.
Even when it comes to temptation, God is faithful. He does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear. He even makes a way of escape for us so that we don’t fall.
In truth, all of God’s creation depends on His faithfulness. Because of His faithfulness, He has put some natural laws in place and that is why everything functions the way they do. If God decides not to be faithful and refuses to allow sun to shine or rain to fall, all plants will be dead.
Faithfulness is not just a character of God but God demands that we are faithful.
1 Cor 4:1 – 2 ‘Let a man consider us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful’.
Apostle Paul is saying here that we are considered as servants of Christ and stewards of mysteries of God. God has entrusted us with His mysteries but we must be faithful.
A good servant does what His master says. He is there to please his master.
Rev 2:10b ‘Be thou faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. It means that in order to receive the crown of life, we all have to be faithful. You will not miss your crown in Jesus name.
This shows that our entire life is a test of our faithfulness or stewardship. Pass the test of faithfulness or stewardship and you will be promoted.
Jesus spoke a parable that the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country and then called his servants and to one he gave 5 talents and another he gave two talents and to the last one he gave one talent.
The master divided the talents among the servants according to their abilities. No one received more than he can handle. If one fails in their assignment it is not because they were overwhelmed but because of laziness or being disobedient towards the master.
The talents represent our gifts, our time and our resources. God expects that we invest them wisely until He returns. We are responsible to use well what God has given us.
The issue is not how much we have but how well we use what He has given us.
After a long time the master came back and he called his servants and the one that was given 5 talents have doubled it up and it is now ten talents and the one with two now had four but the one with one just went and buried it and did nothing with his talent.
The master then said to the one with five talents vs 21 ‘Well done thou good and faithful servant, you were faithful over a few things, I will make you a ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of the Lord.
It is interesting because the master said the same thing to the one with the 2 talent vs 23 ‘Well done thou good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you a ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.
This shows that it is not the size or quantity of the result we have but our being faithful to what the Lord has committed into our hands.
The third servant just went to bury the talent he was given, he decided to play it safe and called his master a hard man. Read vs 26 – 29.
Everyone does not have the same opportunities. Nor do we all have the same abilities. But we all have something.
May the Lord find us faithful when He returns? In the story the master is the Lord Jesus himself and the servants are us.
What does it mean to be faithful?
It means to be steadfast or consistent in allegiance or affection. A faithful person does not waver. They are always there. You can count on them.
Firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty. You keep your promises and do your duties well.
It means to be loyal. PROV 17:17 ‘A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity’. A faithful person is a loyal person.
It means to be dependable and trustworthy. A faithful person can be relied upon. Are you dependable and trustworthy?
Willingness to carry through on all God’s commands to the end. It’s not just to do things half way but to be there till the end. That is why faithfulness is not proven overnight but it is demonstrated over time. That is why our motive has to be right. Motive is the reason why we do what we do.
Faithfulness is doing what God has told you to do with the resources He has given you.
Faithfulness is one the fruits of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit works on our heart and on our mind to reveal how much better it is when we do what God would do or say what God would say. By practice over time we develop characteristics, we routinely behave as God would behave. Not because we should, or must, but because we choose to, we prefer to, because it is in our character to do so.
PROV 20:6 ‘Many a man claim unfailing love but a faithful man, who can find. It means that faithfulness is not a very common character trait. It is rare.
Faithfulness is not an option we choose. God expects us to be faithful to Him, and He seeks men and women who will live so as to consistently carry out His will.
“And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind…”–1 Sam 2:35
Biblical characters that was faithful
Gen 5:24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. He must have been loyal, reliable, feared God, obeyed God.
Jesus Christ is the supreme example of faithfulness. He always did God’s will and spoke God’s words. He had only one desire, which was to do God’s will –Luke 22:42
Jesus’ obedience did not come naturally. This we are told in the Book of Hebrews. Even for Jesus, faithfulness was something to learn. “Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered…”– HEB. 5:8
We, too, can learn faithfulness. “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?”–Luke 16:10-12
As we grow more faithful in one area of our life, that faithfulness can carry over into other areas.
Faithfulness toward God begins with faithfulness toward family, faithfulness on our job, and faithfulness in financial dealings. We can’t wait to show our faithfulness until someone trusts us with something big. We must be faithful now with whatever has already been entrusted to us.
Let us not be too quick to say or promise anything. God judges us when we make promises: will we do the thing that we have said? “…draw near to listen [in the house of God] rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; … Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God…When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it, for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.”–ECCL. 5:1,2,4,5 NASB
Moses: Please Read Number 12:6 – 8
What does “all God’s house” mean? It means that he obediently did all God asked of him. Moses was characteristically enthusiastic for God…thus quite different from the Israelites with him. They were enthusiastic one day, grumbling the next, and idolatrous soon after. Moses did not allow the people’s attitude to deter his own obedience.
He was an imperfect man like us, and he, too, made his notable mistakes. Yet, he consistently did God’s will the best he could.
You will recall that to others God often spoke in dreams and visions, but He did not do so to Moses. God spoke clearly to him, and He cites Moses’ faithfulness as his reason for doing so. You and I can learn from that. If we obey, if we are faithful, that behaviour enables us to hear God’s voice more clearly. When our heavenly Father speaks, He expects and deserves obedience.
Abraham
Nearly every action in Abraham’s life showed how faithful he was to God. He left his country and countrymen never to return. He believed the promise of a son though such a birth was naturally impossible. Rom 4:18 – 21. He cast out a son, Ishmael when Sarah and God commanded it Gen 21:9 -14. He was even willing to offer his the son Isaac out of obedience to God when God demanded it (HEB 11:17 – 19. Because of his faithfulness, he enjoyed the blessings of God.
Daniel. Read Daniel 6:1 – 5
Daniel was faithful to God, but he had reasons of personal safety to disobey or “deny” God. He had been snatched from home, moved as a prisoner to Babylon, and enrolled in school in the king’s court.
Daniel refused to defile himself with the king’s delicacies. They told him not to pray and he still chose to obey God rather than ma. They threw him into the lions den and the Lord shut the mouth of the Lions.
God honored and exalted him for that faithfulness. He was so faithful in his assignments From Daniel we learn that God honors faithfulness even in the most ungodly surroundings.
Joseph
Joseph obeyed God even when faithfulness brought him difficulties. He was sold as a slave while carrying out his father’s orders (Gen. 37:13-29). He was thrown into prison because he was faithful to his master, Potiphar (Gen. 39:1-20). Joseph was always faithful to God, and in due time he was set down at the right hand of Pharaoh, ruler of Egypt.
Joshua
(Joshua 24.15) − Joshua was faithful to the very end. For example, he did not give in to group pressure (Num 13.1 – 14.10). Not once did his faith waver—from the slavery in Egypt to exploring the land of Canaan; from serving for 40 years as Moses’ aide to taking the people through the river; from the conquest to the covenant renewals. Joshua relied on God entirely.
This should be our approach to life as we face God’s enemies around us. Joshua was a great leader because he was a man with ‘backbone’. He was ‘faith full’—full of faith and one on whom others could rely.
In what ways do we demonstrate faithfulness?
1.By first of all being faithful to God
Have you made up your mind that no matter what happens you will remain faithful to the end and never give up on God?
Luke 10:27 ‘And you shall love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Satan will do everything to make you quit serving God and we have to remember that that it is those who endure to the end or are faithful to the end that will be saved. Matt 24:13
I’ve seen people quit serving God because of unmet needs; they say that if God can’t give me a wife or a husband, or job why I have to serve Him.
Ask yourself, can Satan do anything to make you quit serving God? Our true character is demonstrated when the pressure is on.
If God does not give you what you want, will you still serve Him? He can see our heart you know.
We have to realize that God does not need us to be who He is but we need Him to be who we are.
That is why our motive for serving God is very important. Why are you serving God? We must make sure we are serving Him for the right motive because He knows what is in your heart anyway. Our motive for serving Him should be because He is the almighty God and without Him life makes no sense.
If we serve Him only because of His blessings, we will not be faithful when the pressure is on.
A lot of times, people have stopped serving God because of the pleasure of sin. Sex, drugs, boyfriend and girlfriends. Bible says sin is pleasurable for a season but the end of it is destruction.
2. Be faithful in prayer
Prayer is the life blood of a believer. If you are not praying, you will not have spiritual strength. We are encouraged to be faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12(NIV) Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Bible says we should pray without ceasing. Pray always. How is your prayer life today?
I will like to encourage you to come for Wednesday’s prayer meetings and last Friday of the month prayers.
3.Be faithful in attending church
Heb 10:25
Church is a place we gather to meet with Jesus. 2 Thessalonians 2:1
Believers are encouraged to be faithful in church attendance. Jesus our master faithfully attended church services. Likewise, we must aspire to do the same.
Luke 4:16, John 6:58 – 58, Luke 13:10
Have a fervent passion of being faithful in church attendance. Don’t only go to church when you feel like it.
There is always a blessing for when you attend church. Psalm 84:1 – 4. Sometimes it is spiritual but because you don’t see it with your physical eyes, you don’t know.
When people stop missing church regularly it is a sign that they are falling out of love with God or they have backslidden.
They start to drift away from God. It’s automatic. HEB 2:1
They will begin to have doubts of things you were sure about. I’ve seen this happen to people. HEB 3:12 – 13
4. Be faithful in giving.
PROV 3:9 ‘Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the first fruits of all your increase;
5. Be faithful in your relationships
Be faithful to your relationships. Husbands, wives’, brothers and sisters.
1 Peter 4:8 ‘And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sin’
Benefits of being faithful?
Promotion in God’s kingdom requires faithfulness. PROV 28:20 ‘A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished’
Faithfulness is a pre-requisite for blessing and that is why the enemy will always challenge your faithfulness.
I’ve never seen anyone who serves God faithfully and is not blessed.
It is a key requirement of our heavenly reward. Rev 2:10b ‘Be thou faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life.
God preserves the faithful. Psalm 31:23 ‘Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints For the LORD preserves the faithful, And fully repays the proud person’
Protection for evil one. Psalm 97:10(NIV) Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Deliverance from death. When God told Isaiah to go and tell king Hezekiah that he should put his house in order and was going to die, He said to God ‘Remember, LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. God then added 15 more years to his life. Isa 38:3 (NIV)
Conclusion
God demands that as His children we are faithful. Make a decision to be a faithful person today because God blesses faithfulness.
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