Sermon Tone Analysis

When I say the word, “faithful” what comes to mind?

Who are some people that you would describe as reliable?

Illustration of Dad on 5th grade yearbook day.

What are some areas that you struggle to be reliable?

Well, in our lives there are people who aren’t faithful to us.

They aren’t there when you need them and that let’s us down.

If we really look at our lives and ask ourselves, “Where am I unfaithful in my life?” we will be sure to find that there are areas where we ourselves struggle to be what we expect from others and as we do that, we should be driven to be more commited, reliable and trustworthy to the people in our lives and responsibilities we have been given.

I want us to leave here encouraged to be faithful people.

But what is our motivation?

Where do we find our purpose?

Well, as we study this topic today and find it’s application to our lives.

I can find no greater Biblical motivation for us than that...

1.

I Know God’s Faithfulness Personally

His Faithfulness to Israel

Throughout the Old Testament there is reference after reference to God’s faithfulness to His covenant people.

He reminds them time and time again that He is with them.

In Exodus 34:6-7 we read,

and in Joshua 1:9 we read,

Years ago my Papa gave me the first Bible he got when the Lord saved him.

After he died I spent a lot of time reading it, looking at note after note of him writing of God’s faithfulness to him in his life and it greatly encouraged my faith and comforted me along my walk with Christ.

As you and I read the Old Testament, our hearts should be encouraged the same way.

These are our forefathers and we can read of God’s faithfulness to them and say, “Wow, if God could be there for them as messed up as they were and if He provided for them as frail as they were, then I must know He will be faithful to me.

So, when you’re facing battles, and you’re terrified of the armies marching toward you.

You can be like Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:21 where there is an enemy army of 3 different nations coming to fight him.

He sends out his choir first to trumpet the praises of their faithful God.

This faithfulness is not just an emotion but a sense of love and loyalty that inspires merciful and compassionate behavior toward another and what could be more compassionate than what Paul tells us in Romans 5:8

Christ’s Faithfulness to the Father

His Faithfulness to Us

2. I Know God Uses Faithfulness Powerfully

Here in Galatia there is a bit of an issue.

Apparently when Paul was with them they really loved on him and made him feel really special, but since this issue with the false teachers has come in they haven’t been faithful in their friendship to him.

He tells us about this in Galatians 4:13-20

Here we read that these guys have changed their tone towards Paul and within Paul’s heart he is deeply mourning their situation and is praying for them to come to repentance that they may grow in Christlikeness because all of this legalism and divisiveness isn’t Christ-like!

You know Jesus dealth with people who felt like majoring on minors was a godly thing?

In Matthew 23:23 we read,

These guys have taken the command to tithe on ten percent so seriously that they are tithing a tenth of everything and the Lord brings out that while they’ve been focuing on these little things that they themselves created, they’ve missed the majors!

They aren’t living with God-honoring hearts!

And I wonder if that’s true of us.

Are we majoring on minors in our Christian life?

You know, I grew up in a culture like that, where we couldn’t be brothers unless we were twins.

But that isn’t the heart of the gospel.

We are to be people who are enraptured in God’s grace and faithfulness to us and because of that we are to be full of justice, mercy and faith!

And this brings us to our last point.

My Faith Should Inform My Works and My Works Should Adorn My Faith

Here in Titus 2, Paul is showing how even bond-servants can have lives that majorly impact people for the Gospel.

That word adorn is interesting.

It has to do with the lifting up or exposing of a jewel.

And that is what our faithfulness does for the Gospel.

But what does that look like?

Let’s consider Jonathan and David in the Old Testament where we read, 1 Samuel 18:1

These were reliable friends

Conclusion

In 2 Timothy 4:10 Paul dealt with an unfaithful friend as he wrote 2 Timothy 4:10

But here in Galatians we are reminded to live in light of God’s faithfulness to us and in return to show that faithfulness to others in our lives.