Fruitful Living - Faith/ Faithfulness

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Tonight.. we are going to investigate another characteristic of the fruit -  Faithfulness but first let’s talk about Faith.

Faith – many of us struggle to have more of it. We think at times: If only I had enough faith my prayers would be answered.

Have you ever considered the relationship between faith and faithfulness? Faith is not an action; it is a response. If we strive to have faith, we may be miserably disappointed. But if we learn to trust HIS faithfulness, we will take leaps of faith. 

So let’s dig in to what faithfulness means:

1. Adhering firmly and devotedly, as to a person, cause, or idea; loyal.

3. Having or being full of faith.

4. Worthy of trust or belief; reliable.

5. Consistent with truth: a faithful reproduction of the portrait.

The faithful: 2. The steadfast adherents of a faith or cause

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faithful·ly adv. faithful·ness n.

Synonyms: faithful, loyal, true, constant, fast¹, steadfast, staunch¹

 Faithful and loyal both suggest undeviating attachment,
 loyalty that is not easily deflected
Steadfast strongly implies fixed, unswerving loyalty: a steadfast ally.
Staunch even more strongly suggests unshakable attachment or allegiance

WOW – consider these words and definitions as it relates to God’s faithfulness toward us… look over them again… God is ____________ toward us!!!

Ps 145:13b says  “ The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.^[a]

The Greek word for faithfulness means ‘firm persuasion, conviction, belief in the truth, reality’. It carries the idea of giving someone credit. Think about it: you focus your deepest faithfulness on those things that are most ‘real’ to you. Make sense? So in a nutshell, faithfulness is believing the reality of a sovereign God. It goes beyond believing ‘in’ Him to believing ‘on’ Him.. what’s the difference? Believing Him the day-to-day stuff of life – in our work, in our homes, relationships, finances, in the crisis – Do we believe who He is and what He says?

There is a very important truth to be discovered: The degree of our faithfulness is the direct result of our regard for God’s faithfulness. 

To quote Beth Moore in Living Beyond Yourself: Faithfulness is resting in His certainty, being persuaded by His honesty, trusting in His reality, being won over by His veracity (Conformity to fact or truth; accuracy)..being sure that He is sure and believing He is worth believing. 

Ex 34:6  “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

What does it mean that He is abounding in love and faithfulness?

Hebrew word translated as abounding means abundant, exceedingly full, great. It refers to both quantity and quality! So… the faithfulness we are discovering in God is not applied to His children in modest portions…it is exceedingly abundant above all we ask or think (Eph 3:20).

As we spend time in our groups tonight… we will consider God’s faithfulness being played out in the word as we read through Ps 33:4, Ps 111:7-8, Ps 145:13

God tells us He is faithful based on three major characteristics: 1) He is certain, 2) His Word is truth, 3) He & the Word are enduring…  His Word exists, it is truth, it will last forever.  God could not be faithful without certainty..He must be dependable. He could not be faithful without truth…because He must be trustworthy. God could not be faithful without endurance… for He must persist.

We find the culmination of God’s faithfulness in Jesus Christ – God’s guarantee for each of us.  2 Cor 1:18-22 “ ¹⁸ But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas^[a] and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” ²⁰ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. ²¹ Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, ²² set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Now… let’s move into the faithfulness of God’s people/ us. Heb 11:1-39 gives us an amazing list of some of the historically faithful of God’s people – heroes of the faith. – Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Rahab, Gideon, David, Samson, Samuel, the women, prophets and others…. Each were honored by God for having believed what they could not see… Let’s read Heb 11:1-6 ¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for.

 ³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
 ⁴ By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
 ⁵ By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”^[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

What is the definition of faith here? And what are the promises?

And without faith.. it is impossible to ‘please’ God.  God created us to bring Him pleasure.. ever read the book “Glorify God and Enjoy Him Forever”? – excellent read that speaks to this topic very well. Are you still searching about how to please God? Searching for your calling? Bottom line is: our calling is to please and glorify God!  Period! Wake up every morning and say ‘yes, Lord’.. and then live through the day discovering each thing He asks of us to bring Him pleasure and glory.

Why does it take faith to walk with God (Enoch)? Do you ever grow weary of riding the roller coaster of faith?  Every one of us has and maybe does currently determine our faith by one of two things: 1) we base our faith on what God does or… 2) we base our faith on who God is!  Which are you doing currently?

The first lives by the unspoken motto – I believe God as longs as He does what I ask. My faith is building on how often and how well God answers prayers – totally dependent upon results that are fueled by sight. Hmmm.. doesn’t quite sound like faith at all does it?   The second is a steadfast walk with God for the relationship – the pleasure of His company and understanding the pleasure we bring to Him. Prioritizing who God is will help us more accurately interpret what He does – we can trust His heart.

One final important part of faithfulness is ‘faith in action’. One of the definitions helps us discover that from the Hebrew word we find the basic meaning of ‘believing God’. However, true faith always takes action. It is all about appropriating what God in Christ has for us which always results in transformation of character and way of life. In other words, our faith always shows outwardly.

Often we look at the word faith and use the word trust interchangeably…  I think we can have faith and not trust.  How?  We can believe/ have faith.. even in many things… (EXAMPLES)       and of course, we have faith in God.  The difference is: trust makes it personal. We have faith that gets personalized.. that’s trust.

The other evidence is not only in the change in character that happens when we appropriate that faith (trust) but also shows outwardly in our deeds/ works…

James 2:18 ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

John 14:12
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Finally.. let’s consider the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18….

What part is faith in the armor?  The shield talked about in Biblical times was a plank of wood – 4 ft x 2-1.5 ft ..picture that then picture it being overlaid with linen and leather which were usually treated with a substance that extinguishes flaming arrows.

In reality, the shield was the part that covered all the other pieces of equipment in battle.

God designed our faith to be that same kind of protector. When we are convinced that God is believable and we respond to Him in faith practically nothing can get through to us. But when our faith diminishes, our shield begins to drop and we are vulnerable to the enemy.

Satan will stop at nothing to get us to lower our shield. He works very hard at stacking up tangible evidence in opposition to God’s assurances. He delights in getting us to doubt and believe lies (note re: next class). He studies our weaknesses and then aims where we’re vulnerable. One of his priorities is to keep us from really believing God… for salvation (ever doubt that?), and also for completion.

Two tactics he will use is 1) fear – we are not talking about appropriate types of fear here but fear that is destructive. Where great faith lives, destructive fear cannot survive. Satan will take advantage of every human fear we have – fear of disappointment, humiliation, fear of rejection and the list goes on and on…  We must cling to Timothy 1:7 “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind” KJV..  NIV says timidity, self-discipline…

So how do we win the battle?  The pitiful powers of the world and Satan have nothing compared to the armies in heaven fighting on our behalf! Fear cripples faith.. BUT..just as quickly, our faith cripples fear!  YES!  Whether fear or faith prevail depends solely upon the commander we are saluting.  Who are you saluting?

God is faithful whether or not we believe Him.. He will do what He promised… we can trust Him – trust His faithfulness and allow Him to cultivate faithfulness in us through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

GROUP WORK

FRUITFUL LIVING – FRUIT: FAITHFULNESS

1.    How does God want you to respond to what you heard this evening?

2.    Consider God’s faithfulness being played out in these verses – Discuss.  

   Ps 33:4 For the word of the LORD is right and true;
   he is faithful in all he does. – In what areas is God’s faithfulness?

   Ps 111:7-8 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
   all his precepts are trustworthy.
⁸ They are established for ever and ever,
   enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.: In what area of your life do you most need God’s trustworthiness right now?

   Ps 145:13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
   and your dominion endures through all generations.
   The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises
   and faithful in all he does.^[a] : Which phrase in this verse means the most to you at this time in your life?

3.    Are you appropriating faith making it personal (trusting)?  How? 

4.    Discuss steps you can take to increase this character of the fruit faithfulness in your life based upon this lesson.