What Is Faithfulness?

by Robert Waters

Introduction

I. When The Lord Was Talking To His Disciples About The Work That Was Before
Them He Said, "And Ye Shall Be Hated Of All Men For My Names Sake: But He
That Endureth To The End Shall Be Saved" (Mt. 10:22) A. The Lord made a similar statement, which was written by the hand of John, to the
church at Ephesus.
1. He told them, "...Be thou faithful until death...." (Rev. 2:10) 2. We have to deduce from this that if you give up the faith you will not receive
the eternal reward.

B. One cannot ponder on such passages without realizing the importance of faithfulness.

C. You could serve God for 40 years, making thousands of converts, start hundreds of
churches, help the needy as you have opportunity, and visit the fatherless and
widows, but if you give up the faith before you die you will still loose your soul.

II. The Importance Of Faithfulness Is Obvious, But The Question "What Is
Faithfulness", Is One That Has No Cut And Dried Answer.

A. Nevertheless, it is an important question and one that presents a problem for
many brethren.

B. It shall be our endeavor to seek a scriptural answer to this question.

Body
I. First Of All Let Us Discuss What Faithfulness Is Not.

A. "Faithfulness" is not doing what one wants to - taking the easy road.
1. This obviously is not faithfulness.
2. "Faithfulness" involves responsibility, and when we think about responsibility the
term "stewardship" comes to mind.
a. A "steward" is one who has been placed in charge of the goods of another.
b. We belong to God and we are stewards of God, and we are charged to be
found faithful.
1) "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful" (I Cor. 4:2).
2) In the course of our study we intend to look at some specific areas wherein
we, as stewards of God, are duty bound to be faithful.

B. In talking about what faithfulness is not we must take exception to the idea that it
is "sinless perfection".
1. Some brethren actually believe that human beings are capable of living
absolutely sinlessly.
2. Furthermore it is believed that you are in a lost condition if there is any sin in your
life that you didn't come to a knowledge of and confess to God.
a. Thus, "faithfulness" to them, is the actuality of living above sin.
b. If we were able to be perfect, and God expected as much, we would have to
say, "Yes, that is what it is - perfection".
1) Our Lord said, "Be thou faithful until death.."
2) But is "faithfulness" the same as sinless perfection?
3) For our sakes it better not be because Paul said, "For all have sinned
and come..." (Rom. 3:23)
4) If faithfulness is "sinless perfection", living totally above sin, we have no hope.

C. When we talk about faithfulness we would also have to take exception with the
fellow who thinks that it is "church attendance".
1. It is essential that we not forsake the assemblies, but a perfect record of
attendance for a lifetime is no proof of one's faithfulness.
2. Some brethren have come to equate faithfulness with regular attendance - if
someone is regular, he is faithful - if not, he is not faithful.
a. It doesn't seem to matter if a brother is caught up in some sinful habit of which
he will not repent, so long as he attends regularly.
b. Irregular attendance may well be evidence of unfaithfulness, but attendance
is no proof of faithfulness.

II. Now, After Having Talked About Some Things That Faithfulness Is Not,
Let's Talk About What It Is.

A. I know of no passage of scripture that more plainly sets forth the answer to our
question than 1 John 1:7 "For if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one
another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us of all sins." 1. When all the arguments have ceased, and the debates have ended, regardless
of the position on which brethren settle, the passage will still give the plain
and simple answer to our question: "For IF we WALK...."
2. There is general agreement that "walk" refers to one's manner of life, and
that "light" refers to the truth of God's word.
a. But the application and emphasis put upon verse 9, by some, would nullify
the teachings of verse 7. (vs. 9) "If we confess our sins He is faithful and Just to forgive our sins..." b. We must consider the context.
1) John taught that we must confess our sins as opposed to denying
them (read verse 8 and 10).
2) In verse 7, John teaches us how we can know if we are in a saved condition.
3) He says: "If we walk in the light...".
4) He then gave instruction to any who would think they can be in a saved
condition based upon their own sinlessness (vs. 8,10).
5) He says it can't be done.
6) They would not be confessing their sins, furthermore, those that would
think that they were living above sin would therefore be denying their sins.
7) This is why he then pointed out the necessity of our confessing our sins
to God (Vs 9).
8) He was not teaching that we must do something in addition to "walking
in the light" - something which was not included in the phrase.
c. Specific instruction on confessing sin when we become aware of it is
found in Acts 8:22 where both repentance and confession of sin is taught.

B. God is the Judge and we can't always tell for sure who is faithful and who is
not, but we can rest assured that if we "walk in the light" we are faithful - we
have fellowship with God as Christ's blood keeps us continually cleansed of all sin.

C. I had a written discussion with fellow, and the proposition was:
"The Scriptures teach that a person can become a Christian and 'walk in the light'
all the days of his life without falling from the grace of God, even though he never
reaches the point that he does not sin".
1. It wasn't a fair proposition for the fellow because he had to actually deny what
1 John 1:7 plainly says.
2. He had to also deny the teachings in 2 Pet. 1:5-10 (read)
a. Since doing the things of which the apostle spoke does not include sinless
perfection, (and he said you'll never fall if you do these things) anyone who
denies the proposition has to deny the teachings of the passage.
b. Regardless of the fact that we are not going to live sinlessly we will never
fall so long as we "walk in the light".

III. Now That We Have Narrowed It Down As To What Faithfulness Is, Let's
Talk About Some Things That Are Involved In The Child Of God Being
Faithful, Or Walking In The Light.

A. If someone said, "Put your finger on the one word that best describes what is
involved in being faithful", (and I had to select one word) I would have to say
that "diligence" is that word.
1. Webster: "Characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic application and
effort: Painstaking; syn. Busy".
2. (Passages that teach diligence: Heb. 11:6; Phi. 3:13; 2 Pet. 3:14; 1:5; Prov. 4:23).
a. Paul used the phrase, "I press toward the mark" (Phi. 3:13).
b. One who runs in a race is one who presses toward the mark.
1) He is diligent, as opposed to slothful or lazy, in his effort or fight to win.
2) But "diligence" is by no means all that is involved....
3. Let me try to define it or describe it in four words: (1) Diligence; (2) Honesty;
(3) Love; and (4) Knowledge".
a. Someone might say, "These are broad terms and they ought to cover it".
b. I want to make a couple of statements here about these words.
1) These words may or may not cover it, (unless the terms that we call,
"The Christian Graces", in 2 Pet. 1:5-10, are included in them) but we'd
have to say that it is possible to have any three of these and yet not be faithful.
2) So, what we are saying is it definitely takes them all.
3) One more thing: God is the Judge and only He knows exactly how much of
each of these four things (above) one needs to have.
i. A lesson could be given on each of these four subjects, but of course
time will not permit.

B. In a few minutes I wish to talk about some specific things that are involved in
faithfulness.
1. As we do this I want each of us to look at our "Spiritual Thermometer" (for
illustration picture a thermometer) and let each of us examine ourselves as to
whether we are faithful.
2. But first, Why Are We Doing This? What Does This Have to Do with Answering
the Question "What Is Faithfulness?"
a. "Diligence" is an important word - a key word, when discussing our question,
and if we are diligent in carrying out a command of God, we will be able to say
that we are faithful on that point.
b. Contrarywise, the Lord used the term "Lukewarm" to describe half-heartedness
on the part of brethren (Rev. 3:15-16 -READ)
1) He didn't paint a pretty picture of those he considers to be lukewarm?
2) Did you ever taste of coffee that was just room temperature?
a) You wanted to just spew ....
b) So the Lord gives an illustration on the matter of "what is faithfulness?"
and he emphasizes the importance of being HOT, or Diligent, as opposed
to being cold or "lukewarm".

C. Things Involved In Faithfulness: Attendance at worship services, Benevolence,
Giving, Forgiving Others, Honesty, Love, Knowledge, Repentance, Teaching,
Patience, Temperate, Virtue, Godliness, Faith, Perseverance, Brotherly kindness,
Earnest in prayer.

D. The things listed here are all important and we need to think about each of them
as we examine ourselves, but time will only allow us to take up a few of these.
Illust. Mercury is the substance that goes up and down in a glass hollow tube as
the temp. changes, and this device is called a thermometer.
1. When it comes to helping those in need where do we rate on our Spiritual
Thermometer?
a. Considering past opportunities to help persons in need and the action, if
any, that you took, how high does the mercury rise?

b. Hot, Lukewarm, or cold.
1) What is faithfulness?
2) Is it down here..... (pointing to lower part of illustrated thermometer)
2. When it comes to the matter of our contributing for the work of the Lord....
(Story about inflation) Illust.
a. Man in Germany saved money all his life. But because of inflation when the
bank sent a statement the stamp cost more than the balance.
b. Brethren, some of us, maybe partly because of inflation, are giving to the Lord
on the Lord's day, little more than the price of a stamp.
1) If you were able to give $5.00 30 years ago, today, in order to be equally
as generous, you would need to give at least 5 times that amount.
2) We allow for inflation for other matters: Car ($300-$500/mo) we hardly made
that much per month 30 years ago; clothes; house; etc.
i. If we didn't pay a great deal more for some of these things we would just
about have to do without.
3. Do we think about our responsibility to give according to our ability?
a. Brethren sometimes reach old age and approach death, sometimes not even
having heirs, and they never think of giving or willing any extra to the Lord.
1) They just continue to give, as long as they can attend services, the same
amount that they have been giving most of their life.
2) Their life savings goes to the state or maybe even some nephew and the
money is quickly spend on worldly matters.
b. And what about when we miss a Sunday, do we make it up the next Sunday, or
do we just let it go?
c. When you look at your record of giving, considering how you have prospered
and compare the O.T. example of giving 10%.
1) How high does the Mercury rise? Here....
2) Where do we rate on our Spiritual Thermometer on this point?
4. We must have a forgiving spirit if we expect to be considered faithful.
a. The Lord said, "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against
any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your
trespasses" (Mk. 11:25) b. Some believe you can't forgive another if he doesn't ask.
1) I used to believe that, but where is it taught in scriptures?
2) Scriptures teach that we are to take certain steps to get a brother to repent
and ask our forgiveness when he trespasses against us, and he is taught to
repent..when he is guilty.
a) But whether a sin has actually been committed is not always clear to
both parties, and to press the matter is not always the wise thing to do.
b) In such cases, there must be the spirit of forgiveness.
c) I'm not discounting your resp. to take steps to rectify differences.
d) Nevertheless, when someone sins against you, you can forgive them
regardless of what he has done to you and regardless of his attitude
about it.
e) If he repents you have no choice... but if he doesn't repent it is YOUR
choice....
c. Now, when we think about our record of dealing with those who have sinned
against us, are we faithful? Where does the Mercury stop?
5. I'm not going to say much about attendance, but it is a problem in almost all church.
a. When it comes to attendance... how do we rate on our spiritual thermometer?
b. Heb. 10:25:
1) Even if we didn't have Heb. 10:25 giving us this command we would have
to ask ourselves: "Do we have proper love for God and souls of man if we
do not attend the services?"
2) Are we putting God first if we just attend when it is convenient?
3) Who are we fooling?
i. Don't fool yourself - to where does the Mercury rise....?

Conclusion
I. We Have Been Trying To Address The Question, "What Is Faithfulness?",
And Hopefully Something Thus Far Has Been Beneficial To You.

A. Parents do not expect a lot from their new born children.
1. But one thing they expect is that the child eat and grow.
a. As the child grows to the point he learns right from wrong parents expects
love, honesty, etc.
b. Mostly parents expect to see "diligence" in developing these things that
constitute maturity.
2. The Hebrew writer said, "As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the
word that you may grow thereby."
a. Surely God deals with his children in much the same way that we do our
children, regarding expectation, punishment, disinheriting, etc.

B. So really there is a lot involved in FAITHFULNESS isn't there?
1. It is not very easy to define...unless we except 1 Jn. 1:7 as a definition.
2. One might say that Faithfulness is doing the very best you can, but then we
don't know what our best is.
a. This brings us back to the word "diligence".
b. We must keep on keeping on.
1) Remember Paul's statement: "I press toward the mark...".
2) and his statement, "I buffet my body daily lest I myself should become
a castaway"

II. What Is Faithfulness?

A. As far as you and I (who are Christians) being able to tell (when we examine
ourselves), diligence on our part to reach perfection (in the sense of spiritual
maturity) is what faithfulness is.

B. It's "keeping on keeping on", walking in the light, enduring the trials of life one
at a time until death.

III. Now, Are You Faithful?

A. If your life abruptly came to an end and you suddenly found yourself before
the Almighty Judge, after having rated yourself as you looked at the things
involved in faithfulness, would you expect God to rate you any different?

B. Maybe it is time for some serious thinking about your life - maybe it is
necessary that you make a change, a rededication of your life to God.

Return to Total Health