COMMITTED TO FAITHFULNESS

Introduction

Illustration: Sunday School teacher quit after criticism

Text: Joshua 24:14-15 ““Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.””

COMMITTED TO FAITHFULNESS

three ways to demonstrate faithfulness

Faithfulness is demonstrated in Fidelity-

verse 14 put away the Gods that your Fathers knew...

faithful to a person, cause, or belief

#1 commandment- no other Gods before me

God of mammon- wealth, money, riches, and property

Matthew 6:24 ““No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

It doesn’t matter if your poor or rich you can still be a servant of the God of money

What we need is a single hearted devotion to God when it comes to finances

consider Tithing

God of this world –

2 Timothy 4:10 “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.”

A New Commentary on Holy Scripture: Including the Apocrypha Historical Situation

Business rather than fear seems to have been the motive for his desertion

The God of this world promises comfort, relaxation, and ease.

Rather than get married and be faithful, we sleep around

Rather than work out our marriages, we would rather get a divorce

Rather than repenting of our sins, we continue on the same destructive course

Mark 4:19 “but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”

My Favorite Illustrations True and Lasting Values

I have lived long enough to be convinced that the value of spiritual matters far outweighs the value of material things. From youth through the middle years of life, the temptation is to place emphasis on material values: making money, having what money will buy, and enjoying physical things. Those who become addicted to this life-style may find themselves trapped in it even through life’s declining years. Whether or not they admit it, they will find they have settled for an empty and lesser goal. The true and lasting values are spiritual in nature.

Faithfulness is demonstrated in Obedience-

verse 23 his voice we will obey

Faithful - Accuracy in the details, exactness

Ex: Faithful rendition of a song or Preachers can be faithful to the text

Do we obey what God says, or do we make up our own versions of Gods word?

John 14:15 ““If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

jesus saying not my will but yours be done

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Medieval Church Not What We Have Read but What We Have Done

On the day of judgment, surely, we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done; not how well we have spoken but how well we have lived.

Matthew 25:21-23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans Faith Weakens When Obedience Falters

When obedience falters, faith weakens. How can there be great faith, where there is little faithfulness?

~William Gurnall

Faithfulness demonstrated in Spiritual Rigidity-

verse 15 as for me and my house we will serve the Lord

Rigid- unable to bend or adapt

mental rigidity

Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

are you convinced in Christ Jesus as saviour?

James 1:8 “he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Chapter 1

literally, “double-souled,” the one soul directed towards God, the other to something else.

Ex: Jellyfish no backbone and are tossed to and fro by the waves

Closing:

Faithfulness comes by realizing what God has done- For it is the lord God who….