Faithfulness
Notes
Transcript
Telos:
30 Charm can be misleading, and beauty is vain and so quickly fades, but this virtuous woman lives in the wonder, awe, and fear of the Lord. She will be praised throughout eternity.
Information
The word “faithful” means “steadfast in affection or allegiance, firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty.”
Key Aspects of Biblical Faithfulness:
Attribute of God: God is inherently faithful, upholding his covenants and loving his children even when they are unfaithful.
Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness is a virtue developed in believers by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22), resulting in consistent, righteous living.
Trustworthiness and Reliability: Being faithful means being loyal and dependable in every relationship, including those with God and others.
Perseverance: It involves sticking to commitments and responsibilities, even during difficult circumstances or when facing temptation.
Inspiration
The Story of Ruth and Naomi
1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
5 Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.
12 Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons,
13 would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!”
15 And she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.”
16 But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God.
20 But she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people whom you did not know before.
12 The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”
11 And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman.
12 May your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring which the Lord will give you from this young woman.”
14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel!
15 And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”
16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him.
17 Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Revelation
The faithfulness of Ruth, converted Naomi back to her faith
Application
Will your faithfulness outlast your difficulties?
Will your faithfulness outlast your difficulties?
Transformation
Is the price, worth enduring the problem?
If it is, rejoice in the wait.
10 For God, the Faithful One, is not unfair. How can he forget the work you have done for him? He remembers the love you demonstrate as you continually serve his beloved ones for the glory of his name.
Monica, the mother of Augustine.
By all accounts, she was a godly woman, a faithful mother, and an example for us to follow, whether or not we are a mom. Here’s her story:
Augustine was born into a family of respectable Roman citizens and received many advantages, not the least of which was a fine education. While his father, Patricius, was a pagan with a violent temper, his mother, Monica, was a Christian of godly virtue. She suffered deeply through his violence and adultery, but endured with faith and patience. She turned her attention to her three children and committed herself to motherhood. One biographer says, “As soon as he could speak, she taught him to lisp a prayer. As soon as he could understand, she taught him, in language suited to his childish sense, the great truths of the Christian Faith.” She was his first teacher, his first instructor in Scripture and sound doctrine.
Of the three children, Augustine caused Monica the most grief. From a young age, he was rebellious and rejected both the faith and the ethics of his mother. For a time he even gave himself to hedonism, pursuing carnal pleasure. When he was 19, he began a relationship with a young Carthaginian woman whom his parents considered far below his station and who soon bore him a son. Though his parents continued to disapprove of his relationship, he remained with his lover for 15 years.
Monica responded to her son’s rebellion with prayer—earnest, pleading, tear-filled prayer and fasting. One bishop who knew of Monica’s prayers comforted her by saying, “It is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish.” She prayed for Augustine and also remained close to him, accompanying him when he moved. When Patricius died, she gave herself to the service of the church, visiting the sick and mothering the orphan. Meanwhile, she continued to plead with her son to come to Christ.
In his early 30s as a professor in Milan, Augustine began to wonder if Christianity could be both true and satisfying. He wondered if it offered a solution for his raging carnal desires. One day, while sitting in a garden, he heard a child chanting, “take up and read.” He took it as a command and found the nearest text at hand, Paul’s letter to the Romans. Immediately he read, “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:13-14). He was forever transformed and was baptized the following Easter. Monica was there to witness the momentous event and to rejoice at the answer to so many prayers. She would die just months later, comforted by the knowledge that both her son and her husband had heard the gospel from her lips and come to Christ.
Now a Christian, Augustine gave himself to preaching and writing, eventually penning voluminous works, including his Confessions and City of God, both of which are commonly read today. Few Christians have made a deeper and longer-lasting impact on the faith. And he, of all men, knew of the great debt of gratitude he owed to his mother.
When Augustine penned his biographical Confessions, he paid tribute to her. He told how shortly after his conversion he read the Psalms for the first time and how she read them with him. He asked her for help understanding them, for “she was walking steadily in the path in which I was as yet feeling my way.” She was the one “now gone from my sight, who for years had wept over me, that I might live in [God’s] sight.” A biographical account aptly tells of her impact: “She died a happy woman for she had seen her prayers answered, and both her husband and her son had become believers. Augustine was only 33 at the time of his mother’s death, and many years of service to Christ and his church lay before him. In later years Augustine could look back on his life and recognize the importance of his mother’s perseverance in prayer to his own salvation and ministry.” Though he could run, he could never outrun his mother’s prayers.
