September 18, 2005am     The Spiritual Fruit of Faithfulness         Galatians 5:16-26

By Ronald E. George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church

What is Faithfulness?  From the Lexicon Greek: pistis {pis'-tis} - faith, assurance, believe, belief,  them that believe, fidelity;

1) conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and

holy fervour born of faith and joined with it   1a) relating to God

1a1) the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ   1b) relating to Christ

1b1) a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God  

2) fidelity, faithfulness   2a) the character of one who can be relied on

         We have nothing to do with how much ability we've got, or how little, but with what we do with what we have. The man with great talent is apt to be puffed up, and the man with little [talent] to belittle the little. Poor fools! God gives it, much or little. "Our part is to be faithful," doing the level best with every bit and scrap. And we will be if Jesus' spirit controls. -- S.D. Gordon in The Bent-Knee Time. Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 6.

What is the faithfulness that we are called to be as described in the fruit of the Spirit?

Scripture Text:  Gal. 5:16  So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  17  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.  18  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19  The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

1.  Faithfulness to God’s Call and God’s Word. That is faithfulness to be who we are supposed to be.  Luke 12:42 (NIV) The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns.    We are called to be a Spiritual Fruit bearing Christian.  We must carry on when the world, body, mind, and soul say stop.  We must be faithful to be who God has called us to be.  We must faithfully live for Him because we choose to give ourselves to Him.  We continue to choose to give ourselves to Him relentlessly and persistently.    We are called to live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  We are called to not do what you want to do, but to do what the Spirit of the Lord leads us to do.  We are called to be led by the Spirit.  Follow the leading of the Lord.  We are called to crucify the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  We are called to keep in step with the Spirit.  We are called to not be conceited, provoking and envying each other.    

     A friend of mine described a colleague as great at running the "ninety-five-yard dash."  That is a distinction I can do without.  Lacking the last five yards makes the first ninety-five pointless.  -- Max DePree, Leadership Is an Art. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 3.

2.  Faithfulness to Pray and work together. 

Hebrews 10:23 (NIV) Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

3.  Faithfulness to increase our Witness/Mission Outreach:  Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

CREW is just one of the ways we have been given by God the opportunity to reach out in missions to our community. The students come to the CREW meetings in the school because there is someone there who is there for them.  Over the last 6 years literally hundreds of our students in our town’s schools have heard the Good News through this ministry.   Why should we give our money to mission ministries through our church?   Why should we tell others about Jesus and share with the Good news?  We should do it because it was commanded by the Lord in Matthew 28:19-20.  We should continue to reach out to our community because we should and we can.  If we neglect to reach out to our local community, then we have neglected the first area we are commanded to go to.  We should reach out because we care for the people who need to hear and know the gospel so that they may be saved from a devil’s hell.  We are His witnesses in Jerusalem (local area), Judea (surrounding communities), Samaria (further out into the world), and to the ends of the earth.   This is why we are here and this is why our mission statement reads:  “Our mission is to live our lives everyday, so that others can see Christ living in us.    If people can see Christ living in us then they have the chance to believe and be saved.  This is why we are here.  If we will be faithful to the Lord’s command to reach out then we can improve in our ministry.  We would seek the Lord continually and believe in Him and His power to bring about His will in our lives?

5.  Faithfulness to God and one another.  Why?  He is Faithful to you!

1The 5:23 (NIV) May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

  Fred Craddock, in an address to ministers, caught the practical implications of consecration. "To give my life for Christ appears glorious," he said. "To pour myself out for others ... to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom--I'll do it. I'm ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory.

   "We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table--'Here's my life, Lord. I'm giving it all.'

   "But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid's troubles instead of saying, 'Get lost.' Go to a committee meeting. Give up a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home.

   "Usually giving our life to Christ isn't glorious. It's done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in  a flash of glory; it's harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul."  -- Darryl Bell, Maple Grove, Minnesota. Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 4.

P. C. For Plough Corn

A young man presented himself to the presiding elder of the Methodist Church and said he desired to become a preacher. On being questioned by his ecclesiastical superior, he replied that the night before he had seen in the sky, written in large characters of gold, the letters P. C.—“Preach Christ.” As the presiding elder knew the young man well as a person, very excitable, and otherwise utterly unfitted for the work of the ministry, he said to him, “But, my young brother, you are mistaken. P. C. does not mean, in your case, Preach Christ. It means Plough Corn. It will be your calling, and you will be doing God’s will most truly if you continue to help your father on the farm. —Ethelbert Talbot^[1]