“Fruit of the Spirit - Faithfulness”

**INTRODUCTION 

Hello and welcome to “Key to the Kingdom.” My name is Bret McCasland. One of the things we tend to look for in our relationships is a level of faithfulness. We want to have friends who are loyal and faithful. We want our coworkers to be honest and faithful. We want our spouse to be loving and faithful. And that is a word we use quite often. When someone we admire, trust, or want to share life with is not faithful, it oftentimes breaks our heart. Well, as we seek to walk closer with the Lord and seek to be in tune with the Holy Spirit’s leading and direction, living with faithfulness is important. Today, on “Key to the Kingdom,” we will look at some Bible passages and examples of faithfulness and what that looks like in the lives of many people. We will also consider the faithfulness of God and His son, Jesus Christ. And with those examples establish, we will then think about some ways in which we are to live a life of faithfulness. And as we do that, let us also remember faithfulness is one of the nine Fruit of the Spirit we read about in Galatians chapter 5. I invite you now to open your heart and your Bible, as we begin to study from God's Word

**LESSON

In our Bible study today, we will look at another Fruit of the Spirit, which is found in Galatians chapter 5. And as it is with each one of the previous lessons, I hope it will also challenge us and encourage us to be filled up with God's Holy Spirit, and that we put this particular Fruit into practice. I want to begin today by looking at that entire passage of Scripture, there in Galatians chapter 5, as we begin with the reading of verse 19 or 16 and following. <And so I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.> The Apostle Paul, in this passage, identifies nine specific Fruit which make up the Fruit of the Spirit, as we just read in verses 22 and 23. Well, number seven receives our attention today, and that is the Fruit of Faithfulness. In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus told a parable about a certain owner of a vineyard, representing God, who entrusted three of his servants with a certain amount of money; one, two and five different talents. He then went on a journey and when he came back he wanted an accounting of what they did with those funds. Two of the men said, “Well, we took care of that money, we invested it and we did well. And here is a doubling of what you gave to us.” The other man said, “I was afraid. I hid my gift and I did nothing with it. And here it is returned back to you.” Well, that man received his punishment because he did not act wisely with those funds. But the two who did respond well heard these words from the master. He told them, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.” Have you ever thought about the words you want to hear God say to you when you see Him for the first time face to face? I don't know if we give that much thought or not, but my thought is I want to hear God say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I want to prove myself faithful to God in the things and with the responsibilities and the gifts He has entrusted to me. And my guess is, most of people who are God fearing Christians want to hear those very same words when they see the Lord: Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master. As we have seen in previous messages, the Lord has entrusted to us the full measure of His Spirit, the full measure of each of these six gifts we've already looked at; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and goodness. Well, we need to live in accordance with and keep in step with the Spirit of God in those various areas; and that is the teaching, once again, here with the attitude and the life style, the Fruit of Faithfulness. The challenge lies before us to allow these Fruit to become evident in and to be displayed in our lives. The question comes, then, what does it mean to be faithful in the sight of God? Here are some other words that help define the word faithfulness; trustworthy, dependable, honesty, integrity, keeping one's word. Those are descriptive words, which are not done in a person's life just from time to time, but rather they become part of a person's lifestyle. They are practiced over a long period of time. Faithful people don't have to be checked on or to be watched closely or even to be evaluated all the time. Faithful people are those who did a good job last week, and they're going to do a good job again this week. That describes God, doesn't it? He was faithful. He always has been faithful and He always will be. The Lord shows up every day. He can be trusted to do the same things day in and day out. We don't have to wonder about God's presence and His involvement in His world. The Lord always does what is good and right. In other words, God is faithful. David wrote this about God's faithfulness, in Psalm 25 verse 10: <"All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of His covenant."> And then again, and Psalm 36, verse 5: <“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”> When the time had finally come for the Israelites to leave Egyptian captivity, God led them out by the hand of Moses. And as He did that, the Lord knew full well how difficult it would be to keep these people happy. He even called them stubborn and stiff necked. And yet, God chose to lead them out, anyway, because of His great love for them. He put up with their grumbling and complaining. He dealt with them when they asked for meat and were not content to just eat the bread which He sent from heaven. And God faithfully took care of His children, even though they did not seem to appreciate it, and even though they were disobedient and rebellious. In spite of their continual dissatisfaction with the way things were, God finally brought them into the Promised Land. He provided for them in every way. He offered to them good leadership, in the form of kings and prophets. Even after they rebelled against Him and refused to live in obedience to Him, God continued to bless them. God never gave up on His children. He rescued them from their enemies, over and over again. You know, all of those were things that God did on a regular basis, with those people, because He proved Himself to be faithful. Some 800 years later, the Israelites were once again found to be rebellious and disobedient toward God, and the Lord allowed the Babylonians to come in and to destroy the city of Jerusalem. The temple was burned. Many people lost their lives, and it was one of the most tragic, one of the most devastating things that has ever happened. And yet, in the midst of all of that carnage, in the midst of all of that destruction and the loss of life, all the suffering and all the pain, the Prophet Jeremiah came along and he offered these words in Lamentations chapter 3, beginning with verse 22. <Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.”> Jeremiah saw all of the pain and all of the destruction. And anybody else might have said, “Where is God in the midst of all of this? What's going to happen now? How will we ever survive?” And yet Jeremiah saw something in God, perhaps many other people did not. He recognized God's faithfulness, even though things looked terribly bad. He knew that God was working in all of that to bring about something good. And it is from those words there, in Lamentations chapter 3, we find the song "Great is Thy Faithfulness," which was written in the year 1923. You know, no matter what His people did, how bad they acted or how disobedient they were, God never abandoned them. He stayed the course. He never gave up on them. He was trustworthy and dependable. The Apostle Paul recognized God's faithfulness when he wrote out statements like these in 1st Corinthians 1, verse 9: <God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with His son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.> And then again in 1st Corinthians 10, verse 13: <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.> Going back to the story about Moses, we know that he was a faithful man. God, Himself, even said this about Moses, His servant, in Numbers 12 and verse 6: “My servant is faithful in all My house.” We know well his story. Moses was faithful to feed the people when they wandered through the wilderness. He was faithful to the task God assigned to him, even though his family criticized him. He remained faithful to God when those ten spies, when looking at the Promised Land, came back with a negative report and said, “We can't do this.” Moses was faithful, as he dealt with the grumbling and the complaining of the Israelites as they made that journey. Moses even remained faithful when he received death threats from some of his very own people. In one crisis after another, as Moses was leading the people by the hand of God, he proved himself to be faithful. In Hebrews chapter 3, the author writes this about Moses: <Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our Apostle and High Priest. He was faithful to the One who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.> Once again, Moses proved himself to be faithful to God and faithful in the task God had assigned to him. What about that familiar story of Job? We've heard it before, haven't we? According to verse 1 of chapter 1, <There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.> Here was a man who had everything he could possibly want or imagine. He was the wealthiest man in all of the East. He had seven sons and three daughters. He had 11,000 head of livestock. Life was good for Job and he was living large, as we might say today. But yet, one day in the midst of all of that, God allowed Satan to take away everything that meant anything to him. Job had nothing left. It was all gone. And he sat down on the ash heap and he cursed the day he was born. Job lived with continual pain and misery and sadness; and he wondered, where had he gone wrong. And then, to top it all off, his wife said, “Why don't you just curse God and die?” No, he didn't do that. We found in the very last part of chapter 1, these words, in verse 22: <In all of this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.> The stability of Job's life, in the midst of all that pain and suffering, stands in contrast to the attitude and the lifestyle of many people in the world today. Some might experience things that are similar to Job. Their lives are devastated. They experience loss of great proportion. And so, they abandon God. They walk away. They believe God has given up on them, so they're going to give up on God; and they refuse to remain faithful. Well, Job was grounded in his walk with the Lord. He placed his confidence in God, and he knew that God wasn't going anywhere; and therefore, neither was he. He then said these words, in Job 23 verse 10, <“The Lord knows the way with me; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”> You know, there are few people today whom I believe could say the very same thing. No matter what God does to me, no matter what happens to me, what happens to my loved ones, my career, my family, or anything else in this world, I will be a person of faithfulness. That is basically what Job said. That's the way he lived. He was faithful to God, even in the midst of all of the questions he had. I think about God's own son, Jesus Christ. He was faithful to His Father in every way. He lived with commitment and perseverance. He was full of integrity, honesty, and He was trustworthy. In the longest recorded prayer Jesus offered to His Father, we find these words, in John 17, verse 4: <“Father, I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do…”> Jesus could say, with His head held high and confidently, I've done what You called on Me to do. I have proved myself faithful in every way. And then I think about the Apostle Paul. He too followed the example of those whom I have just mentioned. He was trustworthy. He was accountable. He was faithful in every aspect of his life. For example, the Christians in the city of Corinth gave him some money to take back to Jerusalem and to help the poor people there. He followed through. He delivered those funds to those who were in need. He proved himself to be a good steward and a faithful steward. We find this said in that regard, in 2nd Corinthians chapter 8: <We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.> Yes, Paul made every effort to be accountable for every dollar that was given to him to do the work of the Lord. He did not take advantage of people. He was faithful. He respected the people's generosity. He did what was right, not only in their eyes, but most importantly, he did what was right in the sight of God. Let me pause here and ask the question, can others say the same thing about us? If we have been entrusted with certain financial responsibilities, can other people trust us with certain jobs or tasks, or other things that might be a little bit tempting to do something differently than what we're supposed to do? There are two similar Psalms in the Old Testament that describe what faithfulness looks like in the lives of those who belong to the Lord. In both of them, questions are asked, but then the psalmist answers those questions. Let's look at the first one, Psalm number 15. <Lord, who may dwell in Your sacred tent? Who may live on Your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; 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; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.> The psalmist asks and answers the question. And all of that seems to suggest, this is what a faithful person looks like. This is the kind of life he or she lives. Here's that other psalm, number 24: <Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.> Once again, those are examples of what it means to be faithful in the sight of the Lord. Throughout the Bible we find many teachings and many examples of what faithfulness is to look like in those who live by and keep in step with the Holy Spirit of God. What do we do with all of those examples? How do we allow them to apply to our lives? At the heart of being faithful in every aspect of our life, I believe, is an attitude of sacrifice. We sacrifice our own interest, desires and will in order to accomplish the wills and the desires of God. At the heart of that is an example that is set for us to follow by a man named Jesus. When He could have come down from the cross, He stayed on it. When He could have called 10,000 angels to deliver Him, He persevered. Jesus was faithful until the very end – when at last He said, “It is finished.” Yes, in every way, Jesus proved Himself to be faithful. Well, here is what that same attitude and life of sacrifice might look like for us today; when challenging times come our way, we don't give up; when difficult people enter into our life, we don't run away; when the way ahead seems to be unclear, we stay the course; when others live a life of a unfaithfulness, we choose to live faithfully. We don't have to wonder what we're going to do when certain situations arise because we have already made the decision and we are practicing a life of faithfulness. I love the words of 1st Corinthians 4, verse 1. <How should one regard us, the servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God? Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.> For all of the examples that we have looked at today, from God's Word, we recognize that it is all about living a life of faithfulness in the sight of God. So here's the question with which we end today: How will I demonstrate the Fruit of Faithfulness as I live by the Holy Spirit of God, this week?

**VIDEO CLIP

As you can see from the sign, this is a war memorial. It's a place where we remember those people who have fought and died for the country in which we live. It's a nice, quiet, serene place where people come to reflect and to honor those who have fallen, to honor those who have given their lives so that we can enjoy a life of freedom. And it is important to do that from time to time; to remember the sacrifice people made, how they were faithful to the call to serve their country. In a similar fashion, we too are called to live faithful lives, as disciples of Jesus Christ. That is one of the Fruit that is given to us when we become a child of God. We are called upon to live faithful lives. And we demonstrate that faithfulness in a variety of ways. We are faithful to our families. We are faithful to our jobs. We are faithful to the various responsibilities which have been entrusted to us. And obviously we are faithful to the Lord; and that is important, because hopefully we look forward to the day when He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master.” To live a faithful life in the sight of God is to be the goal for every believer, for every follower of Jesus Christ. We have been given that gift of faithfulness. I would encourage you today to think about the various people, and jobs, responsibilities that have been entrusted to you, and make it a special effort to live a life of faithfulness in whatever area to which God has called you.

**CONCLUSION 

Thank you for tuning in to today's Bible study on “Key to the Kingdom.” I hope this message from God's Word encouraged you in regards to living a life of faithfulness. This lesson, along with several others about the Fruit of the Spirit, can be found on our website; keytothekingdom.com. If you would like to view or to listen to them again, they are available at no charge and without any kind of obligation. Additional Bible studies and resources are there as well, and please feel free to look at the one-minute and two-minute videos. They offer an inspirational thought as you seek to live daily for the Lord. A free app can be also downloaded onto smart-phones. It will allow you to have quick access to this mass media ministry. I hope you will find the app or the videos, the Bible studies, all to be a spiritual blessing. It is a pleasure to share these weekly broadcasts, and we are thankful you join us for them. Please tune in again next week as we continue to study the Bible on “Key to the Kingdom.”