Flesh or Fruit: Faithfulness
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Intro:
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
We are in a series on the Fruit of the Spirit entitled, [Flesh or Fruit]. The subject of today’s message is [Goodness].
I love to preach. It is never an obligation or an annoyance. I love the entire process of preparing a message. It begins with consistent prayer. I do not pray to get a message, I pray to get closer to Jesus.
It is in these times of prayer the Lord will drop ideas into my spirit. For instance, sometime toward the end of the summer, I thought, what does it really mean to be Pentecostal.
I know tongues is a vital part of the equation, but if we speak in tongues and walk in the flesh, there is a problem. So I started to study the Fruit of the Spirit. I prayed through each fruit and asked that the Lord would make them obvious in my life.
Each week in this series, I take a fruit and look how it worked in the life of Jesus. I have enjoyed the entire process from studying the fruit, writing the message, to preaching the message.
However, if there is one part of the process I do not always love is normally, when I preach on a topic, I end up facing it the next week. That is great when I speak about joy, healing, or victory.
But it is a little more difficult when I talk about patience, kindness, or goodness. I talked to three different people this past week about the process of living these out on a daily basis.
For instance, last week I preached on goodness, it is not the absence of bad, but the presence of something good. Can you believe that two times before Monday was over, the Holy Spirit convicted me for doing something that wasn’t necessarily goodness!
I told Bekah, it would be so much easier to preach happy messages where I tell everyone, we are great, God is great, and we can go on living the way we are!
But I am convinced, if we are to do ALL God wants us to do and if we are to have all God wants us to have, we have to live a life that passionately pursues Him, allowing Him to make the necessary changes in us!
Something we must remember about the Fruit of the Spirit is it does not normally show up when everything is perfect. Instead, the fruit becomes obvious when we are stretched, tested, or in difficulties.
The trials of life reveal our fruit! Today, we will focus on faithfulness. Various authors define faithfulness in the following ways: reliable, trustworthy, enduring loyalty, or commitment.
God looks for faithful people:
6 Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man?
Of all the people in scripture, faithfulness is the description given to five Old Testament and eight New Testament saints. Here are some of their names: If you know who they are say AMEN:
Daniel
Hanani
Moses
Samuel
Abraham
Lydia
Timothy
Paul
Tychicus- tick-kick-us
Epaphrus- ehp-uhp-fras
Onesimus- oh-neh-seh-mus
Silvanus-
Antipas
If you are like me, there are about half of them on the list I have to really think about their story and why they were called faithful. The reason is, God’s focus is not on popularity, personality, or power. He wants to know, can I find ANYONE will remain faithful!?
He wants us to be the faithful Christians all the time. One author explained, “The you at church should be the same you at home, at work, while driving, when on the Internet, or when posting on Facebook or Twitter” (David Jeremiah, 142).
How can we be trustworthy, committed, and loyal followers of Christ. We must look to Jesus and see how He displayed faithfulness to the Father, even under the worst of circumstances.
To explain this truth, I want to us to study Jesus’ interactions with His disciples and with the Father right after the Last Supper and just before Judas’s betrayal.
I have three points, [Faithfulness in Praise], [Faithfulness in Prayer], and [Faithfulness in Process].
Let’s begin
1. Faithfulness in Praise
1. Faithfulness in Praise
30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Imagine what is going through Jesus’ head at this point in His life. It is Thursday night, by the end of the next day, He will be crucified on a cross.
He met with His disciples. Judas already agreed to betray Him. They meet for the Passover meal. The disciples had celebrated two Passover meals with Him, but this time He was different.
At Passover, the Jews celebrated God sparing them when the Angel of Death came to Egypt. Each year they would make a sacrifice to commemorate the event.
Jesus knew this Passover would change everything. He will be the Passover Lamb. His blood will be spilled. He will die. How could Jesus stay faithful when He knows what is coming ahead?
How could Jesus stay faithful when He knows what is coming ahead?
He fulfilled the rituals of Passover, one of which was to sing . Scholars agree by the time Jesus left with the disciples to the Mount of Olives, the were singing .
Listen to a few of the verses:
1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
5 I called on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. 6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? 7 The Lord is for me among those who help me; Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me. 8 It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in man.
Psalms 118:5-
21 I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation. 22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalms 118:21-
28 You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You. 29 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
Psalms 118:
The disciples knew this Psalm well, but Jesus was faithful to praise God in singing. Only He knew the distress of what was about to take place, but He was faithful in praise.
He would become the Salvation mentioned in the song. He would do this by becoming the stone which the builders rejected, but He was faithful in praise.
We sing in our church, THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE. To Jesus that meant something different. The day Jesus sang about was not a day of worship in a church. It was the day He would provide salvation for humanity.
He knew it would require His life, yet He was faithful in praise. Why?
Jesus understood the value of praising God. When He praised God, the presence of the Father came and gave the strength He needed to be faithful to His task.
Jesus was committed and loyal to God, because of faithfulness in praise.
2. Faithfulness in Prayer
2. Faithfulness in Prayer
-38
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
Matthew 26:
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.”
After leaving the Upper Room, Jesus and the disciples went to the Mount of Olives to pray. According to , this was a normal spot of prayer.
I find it significant that Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. In order to make oil, olives are taken from the branches. Then they are squeezed, placed under a mat with small wholes, and pressed down, to get all of the oil from the fruit.
Remember, the fruit of the Spirit is revealed when we are under pressure. Jesus, being under pressure knowing His life is about to save all of humanity, reveals the fruit of faithfulness.
He was faithful to communicate with God, knowing that God was His only source of strength. Under great distress, He prayed. Knowing what awaited Him, He understood His only lifeline was communication with the Father.
His prayer as they got to the Garden, and His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemen. John
Listen to how His first prayer.
John 17:
1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.
First, Jesus prayed for Himself. From the fall of humanity, throughout the Old Testament, and during His life on earth, everything led to this moment.
Jesus was about to fulfill the plan the Father had for His life. Jesus knew the pain that would accompany the crucifixion. Therefore, He wanted God’s help to be faithful to the end!
John 17:
14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.
Second, Jesus prayed for His disciples. He knew what awaited them. He understood after His death He would ascend to heaven, send the Holy Spirit, and His disciples would go throughout the world and preach the gospel.
He asked that God would help fulfill their assignment. He knew the struggles that awaited them. He knew all of them except John would be martyred.
Therefore, He wanted them to be faithful to the call God had for their lives.
John
20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Of Jesus’s entire prayer, I am most inspired by verses twenty-twenty-six. At that point Jesus turned His attention to those who will believe, which includes us!
At that moment Jesus prayed for every future believer. He prayed that we would draw close to the Father. He wanted us to love the Father so much He was willing to give His life!
Jesus knew everything depended on His choice to be faithful to God’s plan for His life. Therefore, He possessed faithfulness in praise, prayer, and...
3. Faithfulness in Process
3. Faithfulness in Process
39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” 40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” 43 And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
I can remember the first time I ever studied this passage of scripture. I was a teenager and I just started preaching. When I got to this passage the word cup stuck out to me.
What was the cup? The cup of the wrath of God judgment on sin. Jesus was going to have to drink this “cup.” He understood the process of drinking the cup.
But the process did not start with Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s Denial, Pilate’s questions, or the Crowds cry for Barabbas. It didn’t even start with the crown of thorns in His head or the nails in His body.
It didn’t start with His final breath, the tearing of the veil in the temple, or His burial in the tomb.
We can trace the process back to His decision to be faithful, even when it was difficult. Jesus never felt more alone than in this moment.
Notice how Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us Jesus prayed and three times found His disciples asleep. The process of faithfulness was not easy for Him.
Luke 22:
42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Notice what happened as He commited to the process of coming to grips with His immediate future. God sent supernatural help. An angel came and strengthened Jesus.
What happened when the angel came to strengthen Him?
If I were to pray and angelic help came, I might think, “good, now I can have a break. Thank you God for sending this angel, now I do not have to deal with this difficulty!”
Jesus did not do it that way. Instead, He prayed more earnestly. He prayed so much He began to sweat drops of blood. During this time of prayer, the faithfulness of Jesus is on display.
Eventually victory did come for Him. He did rise from the dead. But for their to be a resurrection, there has to be a crucifixion! Jesus committed to be faithful to the process of doing all God wanted Him to do!
Close:
Faithfulness, trustworthy, committed, and enduring loyalty. God looks for faithful people.
Something I the Lord keeps reminding me as we study the Fruit of the Spirit is the fact that they are NOT OPTIONAL! We do not have the choice whether we will walk in the fruit or not.
The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write it very plain:
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
If we decide, I do not want to display the fruit of the Spirit, then we are making the choice to walk in the flesh. When we walk in the flesh, we will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
How can we be faithful?
We have to depend on the Holy Spirit. We have to be faithful in praise, prayer, and the process of becoming who Jesus wants us to become!
I read something this week about convenience and commitment. (from the book Sermon Resource Manual Volume 1, two types of tithers).
When it comes to faithfulness, some have convenient faithfulness while others have committed faithfulness.
Convenient faithfulness:
praises when everything is going great.
prays only in times of crisis, forgetting God when everything is going good.
appreciates the process as long as things go their way.
Committed faithfulness is different.
It praises God no matter what!
21 And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
It commits to prayer every day in everything!
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
And it commits to the process of becoming more like Jesus! Trusting God because He is always faithful.
9 “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
But the biggest difference I see through convenient and committed faithfulness. Committed faithfulness produces:
Victory
Resurrection power
Supernatural miracles
Divine healings
Peace that passes all understanding
Joy unspeakable and full of glory
and a resolve that declares, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!
Faithfulness is a unique process. It is fruit of the Spirit, therefore, we have to depend on His help to become faithful. But, faithfulness is not a checklist, do this, this, and this, and we are faithful.
Faithfulness is a cycle. We start by faithfully praising God and praying in all things. Then God starts the process of making us more faithful.
The more He works in us, the more we will praise and pray. Then the cycle will continue, furthering the process of making us more like Him!
We have to come Him, commit our lives to Him, then DAILY PRAISE HIM and PRAY in all things. Then the process of fulfill His plan for our lives will continue!
Let’s commit to praise God on a daily basis. Praise Him until we are so lost in HIs presence.
Then we are to pray, EVERYDAY. Not just getting through a list, but praying at a specified time then praying without ceasing.
If we do, we will have faithfulness in the process, going through difficulties to victories, from spiritual deaths to supernatural resurrection power.
God help me be faithful to you!