Please find a seat, grab a hymnal, and open up that hymnal to song number 68.
We begin our Sunday evening service by singing a song number 68. Remembering in heaven again that song number 68.
Sing it like you're singing God first.
Should I ever begin, remember the glory, the pain, and the loss of the shame and the loss.
Well, we know each other sing a rhyme for you.
It's conferencing and I laugh at the cross.
Sing it out now.
Jesus won't take my breath, so I fell for heaven for good.
Lord, will I keep my breathing in and out?
For years, on the motions, I've recovered treasure.
Some things aren't that hard, others may clearly smile.
I'd smile in redemption, I'd tell you so that you'd be with me.
I'd smile day or night.
Jesus won't take my breath, so I fell for heaven.
Lord, will I keep my breathing in and out?
Should I, in the glory, remember the one who walked by my side, but is lost and outside?
If I'd never begged him to trust in the Savior in heaven, I'd sit down and run.
Jesus won't take my ransom, will I count for heaven?
Lord, will I keep my breathing in and out?
Oh, may he spread the message the Word he has given, never mind the Lord's grace.
No possessions can break, but oh, for the Savior brings souls into heaven, and your new return is here.
Sing it out now.
Jesus won't take my ransom, will I count for heaven?
Oh, Lord, will I keep my breathing in and out?
Amen.
Good singing for that, Hymnals.
Every Father, take this as a day, Lord God.
Thank you very much for being here.
We bless your name and your service, and we apologize very much.
Amen.
Thank you.
Right, would you please turn your hymnals to song number three?
The song number three, Jesus came to all of you, and that song number three.
I hear the Savior singing, my strength in peace, Lord.
The King is my children, my King, my Lord.
Jesus reigned all to Gentile.
Sin had left a prison strain.
He washed away my soul.
For now in He I cry, I cry, I know.
He can change the life of stars, and now the Lord is coming.
Jesus came to all of you, all to Gentile.
Sin had left a prison strain.
He washed away my soul.
For now in He I cry, I cry, I know.
He washed away my soul, and now the Lord is coming.
Jesus came to all of you, all to Gentile.
Sin had left a prison strain.
He washed away my soul.
For now in He I cry, I cry, I know.
He can change the life of stars, and now the Lord is coming.
Jesus came to all of you, all to Gentile.
Sin had left a prison strain.
He washed away my soul.
I had it with the cable this morning, a hard line,
but I should probably just wrap that around my neck and call it quits,
but anyway, that's a story for another day.
So again, we had the pies this morning after service
in lieu of the donuts for the birthdays,
and there are a few birthdays this month,
including Moi and my daughter, Julie,
and of course, brother Andrew over here to my right,
if you don't know him.
So he's going to be celebrating on the 25th, okay?
Yeah, we had that, and then we'll have,
the good news is we still have two more pies left to eat, right,
because I bought six, and then you all brought dessert anyway, okay?
So I'm trying to play it off like I didn't know this was going to happen,
like I'm caught off guard.
Oh, man, we got to eat pie on Sunday again.
Man, what a, so hopefully you guys can stick around after service
and help me with that, help all of us with that,
and there's also some shrimp cocktail to enjoy as well.
So shrimp and pumpkin pie, you know, it's a winning combination, right?
It's like peanut butter and jelly, it's mac and cheese,
it's Kool-Aid and sugar, pumpkin pie and shrimp, why not, right?
So anyway, we'll try to get all that polished off
if you want to stick around after the service tonight.
But speaking of which, let's hurry up and get there, huh?
Let's go ahead and count up the soul winning going back to Friday,
if there's anything to count from Friday.
I know we went out Saturday and didn't have anything,
anything outside the group from Saturday,
and anything for the group today?
One today, praise the Lord.
All right, we'll go ahead and sing another song
before we get into the preaching tonight.
All right, please turn your hymnals to song number 113.
Let's sing that song, number 113.
Song number 113.
Wonderful piece, sing it, that song number 113.
It's the first verse far away, and that's my spirit tonight.
There's also a melody, so we end the song,
celestial and trans in C, C, D, and F.
Oh, my soul, I can hear my momma's arms making wings on her.
Far away, in the depths of my spirit of life,
grows a melody sweeter with song.
In celestial dark strings, we run and see singing water.
Walk my soul like I live, living on.
Peace, peace, one and all peace,
coming down from the Father above.
Sleep on my spirit forever, my friend,
in the fabulous rhythms of love.
What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace,
where redeeming love are all but my soul.
With so secure a little power,
remind me of the way I live.
Behold, peace, peace, one and all,
coming down from the Father above.
Wherever I pray, in the fabulous rhythms of love.
Bless me tonight in this wonderful peace.
Bless me sweetly in Jesus' control.
For I'll catch the long danger of my head, my name,
and His glorious blood in my soul.
Peace, peace, one and all peace,
coming down from the Father above.
Sleep on from my spirit forever, my friend,
in the fabulous rhythms of love.
There'll be things when I rise to pass in the earthlies,
where the honor of peace shall speak.
Like a train, the stars will show, and some will sing.
In their head will lead me, but shall we sing it out.
Peace, peace, one and all peace,
coming down from the Father above.
Sleep on from my spirit forever, my friend,
in the fabulous rhythms of love.
Oh, so are you here without a verbal rest,
watching down the rough pathways of time.
Hey, Jesus, your friend, under the shadows,
no more will you accept the sweet peace
that's above the vision of truth.
Peace, peace, one and all peace,
coming down from the Father above.
Sleep on from my spirit forever, my friend,
in the fabulous rhythms of love.
You better be singing at this time.
The offering plate will go around.
As the offering plate goes around,
please grab your Bible and turn your Bibles to Luke 16.
And follow along with Brother Gabriel
as he reads through us from Luke chapter number 16.
Luke chapter 16, verse 1 of the Bible.
And he said also unto his disciples,
there was a certain rich man, a kind of steward,
and he was saying unto him that he had wasted his goods.
And he called him and said unto him,
how is it that I hear this of thee,
given it counted thy stewardship,
that thou mayest be no longer a steward?
Then the steward said within himself, what shall I do?
For my lord taketh away from me in his stewardship.
I cannot do it, for then I am ashamed.
I am revolved into it, that when I am put out of the stewardship,
there he received me into their houses.
So he called every one of his lords dead as unto him.
He said unto the first, how much oest thou to my lord?
And he said, an hundred meters of oil.
And he said unto him, take thy bill,
and sit down quickly, or I kiss thee.
And he said to another, how much oest thou?
And he said, an hundred meters of wheat.
And he said unto him, take thy bill, and write forth sports.
And the lord commanded the unjust steward,
if he had done it wisely, that the children of this world,
and their generation, the wisemen, and the children of life,
and I say unto them, make to yourselves a friend
of the man of unrighteousness, that when he fail,
he may receive you with everlasting avocation.
He that is faithful now is his lead, is faithful also in much.
And he that is unjust in leap, is unjust also in much.
If therefore he had not been faithful,
and he had right to commandment, who will commit to your trust,
the true ridger?
If he had not been faithful, and now which is another man,
he shall give you that which is your own.
No servant can serve two masters,
for either he will hate the one, or love the other,
or else he will hold to you, and despise you,
and cannot serve God and man.
And the Pharisees also, the Republicans,
heard all these things, and they did right in them.
And he said unto them, be of day which justify yourselves
before men, for God knoweth your heart.
For that which is highly esteemed among men,
is abomination to the sight of God.
The law and the prophets were until John.
Since that time, the kingdom of God is preached,
and every man is pressed into it.
And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass,
that for one tittle the law should fail.
Whosoever putteth away his wife, marrieth another,
comitteth adultery.
Whosoever marryeth her, that is put away from her husband,
comitteth adultery.
There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple,
with fine linen, to spare something to be every day.
And there was a certain beggar, a new Lazarus,
which was laid up in a gate full of swords.
And his irons and his feathers crumpled and fell down
at the rich man's caper.
Moreover, the dog came to lift the sword.
And it came to pass that the beggar died,
and was carried by angels to Abraham's bosom.
The rich man also was buried, and in hell,
when he looked up his eyes, he looked forward
to see if Abraham was far off, or Lazarus, or his bosom.
And he cried, and he said, Father Abraham, have mercy.
He said, Lazarus, as we may dip the tip of his fingers
in water, to cool my tongue, for I am poor man
in this flame.
But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou, in my life,
hath received us thy good to me.
And like life, Lazarus is evil to me.
But now he is comforted, and thou is poor man.
And beside all that, it is quick to clean us, and you,
there is a great gulf fit, so that day we could pass
and hence, and you, and I, and if you may pass us,
thou wouldst come to next death.
And he said, I pray to you, Father, that thou wouldst
ascend into my father's house, for I have five brothers.
They may testify unto him, lest they also come into this
place before me.
Abraham saith unto him, if they have Moses in the process,
let them hear them.
He said, Nay, Father, Abraham, but if one went unto them
to the dead, they will repent.
And he said unto him, if they hear not Moses in the process,
neither will they be persuaded, so one Moses was dead.
But, Omen, would you pray for us?
Thank you, Father, for your teaching service,
that teaching service that everyone who is here tonight,
would that our pastor in the building of the Holy Spirit
help you teach the Word tonight, and help with this
in my name.
Amen.
So there in Luke chapter 16, of course, we have the
really well-known teaching there about, you know,
God and Mammon and, you know, the parable of the rich man
and the steward who went out and basically, you know,
got his boss underpaid.
If you read the story carefully, he's saying,
how many do you owe?
They say so much.
And he actually tells them, well, write a bill for less
and pay us off, right?
Because he doesn't want to dig.
He doesn't want to go back to work.
You know, hard labor.
He wants to keep his job.
And so what the irony is at the end is that the Lord
commends the unjust steward in verse eight because
he had done wisely, right?
He was unjust, like he didn't do things justly,
but he commended him that he had done these things
for his wisdom, for the children of this world
and their generation, wise and the children of light.
And I say unto you, make yourselves friends of the
mammon of unrighteousness, that when you fail them
they receive you in everlasting habitations.
And, you know, there's a whole lot of teaching there,
but really what I want to focus in on tonight is
beginning there in verse 10 where he kind of
springboards off of that parable and just teaches us
a general principle.
And this is verses that have been on my mind for
several years now.
And it's there in verse 10 it says,
He that is faithful and just in that which is least
is also faithful in much.
He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful
in that also in much.
And he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
And here specifically he says,
If you therefore have not been faithful in the
unrighteous mammon, who will commit unto you the true riches?
This is the verse that's kind of been a theme for me.
And if you have not been faithful in that which is
another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?
And the reason why that particular verse there in
verse 12 has just kind of stuck with me on these last
several years is because up until this,
you know, October, you know, October 2nd,
we were a faithful word Baptist church.
And we were just, I was just recently ordained as pastor.
We just became an independent church, you know,
not much more than two months ago.
And I know I preached a sermon that first Sunday,
that first service as an independent church.
About straight paths and things like that.
But it's kind of been in my mind to preach something kind
of in memoriam, I guess if you want to say,
about faithful word.
Because obviously that's the church that I've been a member
of for many, many years now.
And also you down here have been members of that church
as faithful word Baptist church Tucson.
And it kind of jumped out me recently because when you come
in the foyer, you know,
you walk through and you see that old sign.
And I had mentioned to some of the men about taking that
sign down and putting it in the back.
Because, you know, we're no longer faithful word.
We're not faithful word Baptist church now.
And it's not like I'm trying to hide the fact, right,
that we were faithful word.
We're not ashamed of that,
of being associated with faithful word Baptist church
or pastor Anderson.
But, you know, you do want to have the sense of,
you know,
that distinction between our church and their church and
the fact that we're moving on,
that this is a new chapter in our church's history.
And we are our own thing now.
We're an independent church because you want people to take
a sense of pride and responsibility about their church.
Okay. And they, and you want to take,
have people be faithful to this church, right?
Because this is the church that you've been a member of.
So I thought about, Hey, well,
you should probably take that sign down to that end,
you know, to kind of symbolically moving on.
But as I, you know,
and I came in here Saturday and as I walked through the door
after soul winning, I caught that thought came to mind.
I got to take that sign down.
And then I looked at it and I said, you know,
it's such a good sign.
And it doesn't say FWBC.
It doesn't, it doesn't indicate that it's faithful word.
It just, you know, has the, the, the,
the quote from Titus one, right?
Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught.
I said, I'm gonna leave it up.
Cause it's, you know, it's,
it's not necessarily advertising somebody else's church.
You know,
it's got our Tucson map in the background and it's just a good verse about
faithfulness.
And I want to preach tonight about the topic of faithfulness just kind of,
you know, as a,
as kind of a tip of the hat perhaps or whatever you want to call it to
faithful word.
Cause we are grateful to having been a part of that church for so many years
and just something it's been in my heart.
There's actually been a verse in Proverbs as well.
That's kind of been running through my mind and I thought I kind of just use
that and tie it all together tonight. So with that in mind, again,
let's look at verse 12. He says there,
if you have not been faithful in that which is another man's who shall give you
that which is your own. That's how it's kind of been applied for myself.
You know, we wanted to become an independent Baptist church.
I wanted to go from being a deacon to a pastor.
Well, you know, the Bible says that the deacons let the deacons also be proved,
right? Let them first also be proved having been found faithful, right?
Using the office of a deacon well, right?
And purchasing themselves a good degree and great boldness in the faith,
which is Christ Jesus. You know, deacons, you know,
that's kind of can be a testing ground sometimes for somebody who might go into
the pastorate. Not all deacons have to become pastors.
Deacons can just stay deacons. There's nothing wrong with that.
Deacons are something you need in a church.
It's important office that needs to be filled.
But often, you know, deacons can go on biblically and become pastors.
Not that you have to be a deacon before you become a pastor,
but that was my situation. That's the position, as you all know,
that I was in for those six years of being deacon.
And I did feel like, you know, it was kind of a proving ground.
And I don't feel like, you know, I got ordained, you know,
having just passed that test. You know,
Pastor Anderson had said many times in years leading up to my ordination
that he was ready to ordain me when it made, you know,
if I wanted to do it tomorrow, that's fine, but just on his counsel,
his advice, we just decided to keep me employed there as the deacon, right?
But the reason why this verse stands out is because that was the position that I was in.
I had to be faithful in that which is another man's, right?
Before we could be given that, before I could be given that which was my own,
my own church, you know, I often thought, hey,
if I want my own church someday, I need to be faithful in another man's church.
Okay? And I kind of want to preach about that subject,
about being faithful to church, right?
If we want to see our church grow and continue to do great things,
and I trust that's the case with everyone here, you know,
that's going to require faithfulness on the part of the members that are already here.
We need to have people that are faithful to this church,
those that have already been coming,
that are already members of this church to remain faithful to this church,
maybe even step up their faithfulness in some areas,
if we want our church to get to the next level
and to continue to see it grow and to continue to see it thrive.
And continue to see the work of God done here in Tucson, Arizona.
Now, if you would, go over to Proverbs chapter number 20.
Proverbs chapter number 20, I'm going to look through a few Proverbs this evening,
and we'll be back in the book of Luke a little bit later.
If you want to keep something in the neighborhood there,
we'll be back in Luke 19 a little bit later.
But the Bible says that, you know, we have to be faithful in that which is another man's
before we are given that which is our own.
And, you know, I, of course, have been applying this to myself as an individual,
and, you know, I, of course, have been applying this to myself as an individual over the years,
but we could apply this collectively to a church body.
You know, if we want to have that which is our own,
you know, we've had to be faithful in that which is another man's.
And we've done that.
You know, that's something that I know this church and the people here are faithful people,
that we have loyal people, faithful people, but we need to continue to be faithful.
Faithfulness is important, okay?
Faithfulness matters.
Faithfulness is not something to take lightly.
Faithfulness is something that matters.
It's not something where it's just like, well, you know, that's for some people and not for me.
No, faithfulness is an important thing.
Faithfulness matters.
As I just read in Luke, you know, he could not have his own.
He's saying if you can't be faithful in another man's,
then you're not going to receive that which is your own.
You know, that tells me that faithfulness is important, that faithfulness matters, okay?
Look there in Proverbs chapter 20, it says in verse 6,
most men will proclaim every one his own goodness, right?
Most people are quick to tell you how great they are, how wonderful they are,
but the Bible says, but a faithful man who can find.
So the Bible is showing us here that faithfulness is important and that faithfulness is rare.
That's one of the things that makes faithfulness so important
because there's not a lot of it out there today.
It's not something that you find in abundance.
Isn't that what he's kind of saying there by asking that question?
But a faithful man who can find?
Why does faithfulness matter?
Faithfulness matters because the faithful fail from among the children of men,
as it says in Psalm chapter number 12.
The godly man ceaseth the faithful fail from among the children of men.
People have this tendency to become unfaithful over time.
They tend to take things for granted.
They tend to stop being a faithful person.
That's why faithfulness matters because it's a hard thing to find faithful people.
Look there at Proverbs 13, go over to Proverbs chapter number 13.
My first point is simply this this morning or this evening.
Faithfulness matters. Faithfulness matters.
And yes, these will be alliterated.
So there's your first M. Faithfulness matters.
It says there in Proverbs chapter 13 verse 17,
A wicked messenger falleth into mischief, but a faithful ambassador is health.
This is something you can apply perhaps to loyalty, being loyal to somebody, having loyalty.
That's another synonym for faithfulness.
You could make that connection there.
A wicked messenger falleth into mischief.
The guy brings a bad message. He's a false witness. He's a wicked messenger.
He's not delivering a faithful message.
He's not being true to the facts.
But it says there, but a faithful ambassador is health.
The faithful man who is hard to find is health.
It's somebody who brings a good message.
It's somebody who speaks the truth.
If you would, go over to Proverbs chapter 25.
He's health not only to the people he's bringing that message to,
he's not only health to those to whom he is an ambassador,
but he is health also to those that sent him.
We want to remain faithful people.
Just because we've changed the name and we're an independent church,
let's not say, well, we were a faithful word, but let's let faithfulness kind of go by the wayside.
We're all about something else.
We need to remain faithful in the coming years.
Why? Because faithfulness matters.
It matters, one, to the people that are having that message brought to them,
but also to those that sent them.
I'd hate to have to give a report to my sending pastor,
Pastor Anderson, one day that we failed down here.
I'd hate to have to go back and say I stopped being faithful.
I got into sin or disqualified myself or just gave up or thrown the towel
or just lost my zeal or were no longer interested in the things of God that I quit the ministry,
that somehow I ceased being faithful.
That would not be health to him, would it?
That would not be a good message that he'd want to hear.
But if we could just decade after decade say, well, you know, we're faithful there in Tucson.
The church is continuing to go on.
Souls are continuing to be saved.
The Bible is continuing to be preached because of the faithfulness behind the pulpit
and the faithfulness in the pew.
That's a good message.
That's going to be health not only to the people that we reach,
to the people whose lives are changed here, but also to the one that sent us.
That's going to be an encouraging thing.
Because, look, not everybody you send out from a ministry is going to work out.
It's just the nature of the beast.
And people could criticize others for that if they want.
But the fact is, you know, every ministry that's ever tried to do anything great for God has had its failures,
has tried to start churches, ordain people, send them out, and have things fall through.
That's just life.
Why would that be any different in any other ministry?
Why would it be any different at Faithful Word or any other church?
You send out enough people, you try to get enough things done.
There's going to be people who lack faithfulness, people who fail.
And it's not going to be health.
It's not going to be good.
Look at Proverbs 25, verse 13.
As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him,
for he refreshest the soul of his masters.
What is a faithful messenger like?
What is he like?
He's like the cold of snow in the time of harvest.
Now, those of us that have lived in the snow, we're sometimes like, how is this a good thing?
But it's the cold of snow in the time of harvest.
And the harvest is when?
When it's hot.
When it's the summer.
When the sun is out.
When the days are long.
You ever been out there on a hot day and somehow you get a cool breeze?
Probably never here.
It's probably never happened in the desert.
Maybe.
I don't know.
You step out of the heat for a minute into that AC.
You get into that chilly room.
You get into that pickup that's been cooling off.
That's what it's saying here.
When things are hot, when things are hard, when things are difficult, when we are laboring, when we're working,
that faithful messenger shows up and brings the soul of his masters.
To refresh the soul of what?
The one that sent him.
That's what a faithful messenger is like.
And that's what I want to see here decade after decade.
To continue to be a faithful messenger of the gospel.
But also one that would refresh the souls of those that sent us.
To be that testimony of, hey, there's a faithful man.
There's a faithful group of people.
There's a faithful church that's faithful to the word of God to faithful to the work of God down there in Tucson, Arizona.
The faithful might be failing from among men in this city.
The faithful might be failing from among men in this pulpit.
In this church, in that town, in this state.
But hey, in Tucson, Arizona, there's some people that have remained faithful.
That is going to be a refreshment to the soul of the masters.
Those that have sent us.
Those that have established this church just decade after decade.
It'll be something that is a blessing to others.
Not just to the people that we're going to benefit.
Not just the people that are going to benefit from being in this church.
But even to those that have sent us.
They'll be reminded, hey, there's something good going on down there.
And it's going to be an encouragement.
Look at verse 19.
And this is the verse that's been running through my mind.
It says, confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth and a foot out of joint.
Right?
So he's liking it under these physical ailments.
And anyone who's ever experienced this knows that that's a very real thing.
Right?
The broken tooth.
You're not going to forget about the broken tooth.
You break, you chip a tooth off, you're going to, you immediately have to go do something about that.
You're going to be visiting a dentist.
You're going to be making an emergency visit.
You just can't go, whoops, broke a tooth and go about your day.
Right?
That's something that's going to be a perpetual, continual annoyance until you do something about it.
How about a foot out of joint?
You know, the rolled ankle, the sprained ankle.
We all take walking for granted until we can't do it very well.
You know, once you got that, you're constantly limping everywhere you go.
Everyone else notices.
You probably get sick of everybody asking you, what happened?
What'd you do?
What happened?
What'd you do?
Right?
How much longer are you going to be on those crutches?
How much longer until you get that?
Right?
It's an annoying thing.
And you know, those are annoying physical ailments.
But you know what?
That's what confidence in an unfaithful person is like.
And let me tell you something.
When people are unfaithful, it's obnoxious.
When you're trying to put confidence in people to get something done and they fail, they're not faithful, you don't just brush that off.
You take note of it.
You go, man, what in the world?
What happened here?
When people turn on other people, when people stab others in the back, it's not just like, well, you know, that's the way it goes.
No, it's an annoyance.
It's something that's just a perpetual misery sometimes.
It's like a broken tooth.
It's like a foot out of joint.
It doesn't just go away overnight.
It's something that's truly disappointing.
That's what he's saying confidence in an unfaithful man is like.
It's not just something you just kind of brush off and move on.
Look, some things are going to happen.
We're just going to say that's life.
Life goes on.
And we probably forget about it pretty quickly.
But when people in whom you have put confidence let you down and are unfaithful to you, that's something that sticks with you for a while.
That's not something you just get over.
That's something that is like one of these physical ailments.
A broken tooth, a rolled ankle, whatever you want to call it.
This is why faithfulness matters.
It affects other people.
Our faithfulness or lack thereof affects other people.
It affects not just those that are going to benefit from our faithfulness but to those that have sent us.
Those that have put confidence on us to be faithful.
That at one point said we are a faithful person, counted as a faithful person.
If we turn out to not be that, it's going to be a disappointment to them that have counted us thus.
Go over to 1 Corinthians chapter number 4.
First point is this, faithfulness matters.
It matters.
It affects people.
It affects the people that have put confidence in us.
It affects people that are relying on our faithfulness.
Look, the people in this town, whether they realize it or not, are counting on us being faithful.
They need us.
They might not even know it.
They might never acknowledge it.
They might not even understand that.
But whether they know it or not, you know, those that have been blinded by the devil,
those that have been blinded and are wandering in darkness, whether they know it or not,
they're stumbling in darkness and know not at which they stumble, they're wandering in the darkness.
They rely on us to bring them the light of the gospel.
Nobody else is going to do it.
I mean, maybe there's other churches around here that are doing it.
I don't know.
I trust that's the case.
But, you know, there's probably people that only we're going to reach.
And whether they realize it or not, they're counting on us.
And we need to reach those people.
I'll say this, you know, this church relies on its members.
I mean, that just should be as plain as the nose of your face.
You know, if you're not faithful to this church, if everyone just stopped being faithful,
we don't have a church anymore.
I mean, think about it.
You know?
And then it's like, well, what's the point?
What are we doing here?
And I'm not worried about that happening.
I think our church is going strong.
I think our churches continue to grow and thrive as it has been.
There will always be setbacks.
There will always be people coming and going for different reasons.
But the church relies on people just being faithful to their church.
There's people counting on us.
That's why faithfulness matters, folks.
The next aspect of faithfulness I want to point out here is that we need faithful ministers.
Faithful ministers, right?
You know, faithfulness is something that matters, but it's also something that we as ministers must have in our lives.
If we're going to minister for Christ the way that we ought to, we have to be faithful.
We have to be faithful to the things of God.
It can't just be this side gig, right?
It can't just be something that's not really a priority.
If we're going to be the ministers that we ought to be for Christ, we must be faithful.
Are you there in 1 Corinthians 4?
Look at verse 1.
Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Now, this is the apostle Paul speaking.
He's saying, count us as the ministers of Christ, as the stewards of God.
You know, a steward is, as it said in Luke 16, somebody who is looking over that which is another man's.
They're a steward of something that belongs to somebody else.
We are the stewards of the gospel of Christ.
We are the stewards for God here on earth.
We are ambassadors for Christ, as the Bible says.
He's saying, hey, look, count us.
So account us as the ministers of Christ, as the stewards of the mysteries of God.
Look at verse 2.
Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.
If we're going to be the stewards of the mysteries of Christ, if we're going to be the stewards and the ministers of Christ that we ought to be,
then it is required of us to be faithful.
You cannot account yourself as a steward if you're not faithful.
You know, at that point, you're an unfaithful steward.
You're going to be kicked out of your stewardship, right?
You're no longer going to be able to do that.
Go over to 1 Corinthians.
Well, actually, just look down to verse 17.
It says, for this cause, I have said unto you, to Mothias, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord.
And you'll see, this is how Paul describes ministers in the Bible.
He says, account us as stewards of God, and that we are faithful, for it is required of stewards to be faithful.
And then he mentions Timotheus here, his beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.
If you would, go to Ephesians chapter number 6.
Ephesians chapter number 6.
Paul himself is one who said that, in 1 Timothy chapter 1, he said, I thank God, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, right, for that he counted me faithful, putting me in the ministry.
Why was Paul able to be used the way in which he was used? Because of his faithfulness.
Faithfulness matters. Why? Because you have to be faithful if you want to be the minister that you ought to be.
Look, I understand we're not all going to be pastors, we're not all going to be deacons, we're not all going to be evangelists, we're not all going to be involved in the ministry to the degree of some other people.
But we're all called to be ministers of Christ. We're all called to be stewards of the mysteries of God.
We're all called to preach the gospel, to instruct our own families, our own children in the word of God, to go out and reach the community, to go and preach the gospel to every creature.
That makes you a minister. That's part of a ministry. And when you're part of a church like this, that's what we do. We go out and we minister. We have to be faithful.
And Paul was able to do what he did because he was counted faithful. That's why God put him in the ministry.
And I don't know that God could have, I don't know, maybe only Paul, perhaps Paul was the only one at that time that maybe had that certain level of faithfulness to God.
That God knew, well, I can use Paul because he'll be faithful. And because of that, because of the degree of his faithfulness, look how mightily Paul was used.
I mean, Paul was used, I don't think it's a stretch to say Paul was used more than any other man to, to promulgate the gospel, to bring the gospel to the world.
I mean, we all are indebted to some degree to the apostle Paul. I mean, he's just writing the New Testament. He's being so mightily used of God.
But then we read about everything that he went through, right? All the suffering that he endured, all the persecutions, the afflictions, everything that he went through for the cause of Christ.
Why did he go through that? Because he's faithful. That's why God used him. Well, I know he'll, he's willing to endure.
I know he'll be faithful in the face of beatings, faithful in the face of, you know, tribulation and anguish and imprisonment and shipwreck and everything else that he went through.
Of being thrown to the beast, of being stoned to death. He's going to be faithful in all these things.
That's why I'll use him more than anybody else. Because of his faithfulness. Faithfulness matters.
Because if you want to be a minister, you have to be a faithful minister.
And, you know, so many people today, it's just like the lightest little affliction comes along and they're out. They're done.
The pastor just gets, you know, preaches a sermon just, you know, that's a little too harsh, a little too close to home, a little too gnarly. I'm done.
And that's it. You know what that is? It's a lack of faithfulness. That's what that is.
Look, if we're going to be faithful, you know, we're going to stand the test when we are trying.
We're going to make things right. We're going to get things straightened out. That's what it means to be faithful.
That's what you've got to have if you're going to be a minister. We need to be faithful ministers.
Look at Ephesians chapter 6 verse 21.
And Paul can say, hey, he'll tell you what's up with me. He'll tell you everything that's been going on.
He'll tell you about my affairs. He'll tell you how I do. He'll make sure that you make known unto you all things.
You know, all your questions will be answered. And Paul can say that with confidence about Tychicus. Why?
Because he was a faithful minister. Because he was somebody that was not, you know, he could put confidence in him because he was a faithful man.
He goes on and says, verse 8, whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that you might know your estate and comfort your hearts
with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here.
So he's sending both of these guys, Onesimus and Tychicus, and he says of both of these men that are going to know their affairs and explain all these things,
that they're both what? Faithful. Faithful. We need to be faithful people.
Faithfulness is such an important trait to have.
In this life. I mean, it's the bedrock of marriage, you know. When you say you're going to keep yourself under your spouse until death do you part,
that's a vow that you're going to remain faithful to that person.
Without that, you know, marriages fall apart. Homes are broken. You know, that's how, you can see why faithfulness matters.
Well, you know what? It matters in your marriage. It matters in the church as ministers, as preachers of the gospel. How about this?
You know, it matters even in the workplace. It matters, you don't want to succeed on the job, you know, be somebody that your boss can put confidence in.
Be somebody that says, well, you know, so-and-so said he's going to do, I told so-and-so to do this. I know I don't have to follow up on him because he's faithful.
I know when I tell so-and-so that he's going to do X, Y, and Z, that it's done. It's as good as done.
I call him on the phone. I write out the instructions. I send the email and say, hey, make sure you take care of this.
I have such confidence in their faithfulness that it's like it's done already. You can't say that about a lot of people in the workplace even.
I mean, you get in some organizations, some companies in some places, just the level and competence is so frustrating.
Why? Because people aren't faithful in their jobs. They're not fulfilling their duties.
So, you know, that's the practical application of the sermon, right? You want to succeed at work? Be somebody that your boss can have confidence in.
You know, I could set them up, walk away, and know the job is done, that it's going to be finished, that if they say they're going to do something, they're going to do it.
I should have had you go to Luke, chapter 19, Luke chapter number 19.
So it's a real simple message this morning, this evening. It's not some deep doctrinal sermon.
But, you know, it's an important sermon. It's an important concept. Why? Because faithfulness matters.
If we're going to accomplish anything in the coming years, if we're going to be able to be that encouragement to those that have set us up, those that have sent us out here, those that have established this church,
we're going to have to be faithful and remain faithful.
Look at Luke 19, verse 11.
And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
He said, therefore, a certain nobleman went into a far country to see for himself a kingdom and to return.
And he called his ten servants and delivered to them ten pounds and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
But his citizens hated him and sent him a message after him saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
Of course, this is a great parable about Israel and the Lord.
And it came to pass when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him to whom he had given the money that he might know how every man had gained by trading.
He wants to see how faithful were you in the commission that I gave you? How faithful were you in the ten pounds that I gave you?
How faithful were you to perform the instructions? Did you occupy? Did you do what I told you while I was gone?
While I was away? While I was not watching over you?
We don't want to be the type of people to have somebody just have to stand over us and watch everything we do.
That's part of being faithful. People can just trust us to get the job done.
Then he came to the first verse 16 saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
That's a pretty good way to return. You give one, you get ten back? That's some gain right there.
I mean that guy is a shining star. That's the employee of the month.
And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant.
Now notice this, because thou hast been faithful in what? Very little. Very little.
That's what he said. He said, I gave you a pound and you've been faithful in little.
Have thou authority over ten cities.
He gave him a pound, you know, whatever that is.
It's not just something on a scale apparently.
And he gets ten. It reminds me of my diet lately. Someone gives me a pound, I get ten.
But you know, he says that's very, it's just a pound, right? It's like here, here's a pound.
Now he's saying here's ten cities. Oh, you got ten pounds back? We'll have ten cities.
And of course, you know, this is prophetic of the millennial reign of Christ.
I believe that's what he's speaking about. When Christ returns and we all give an account for the things which we have done in this life,
that's going to determine the degree, you know, the level of our reward in heaven.
And the Bible says that we shall rule and reign with Christ, right?
And meaning that Christ will, I believe, put certain individuals over certain cities.
Because the millennium, you know, there's going to be people living on earth, you know.
It's not, you know, the end is when it's delivered up unto the Father, right?
Before that, you had the thousand year reign of Christ.
And the Bible teaches that we will rule and reign with him, meaning that we will be over, you know, we'll be, you know, in his cabinet as it were, right?
We're seeing that right now. Trump's picking out all of his, you know, this director, that director, this person, that person.
It's kind of a similar concept. When Christ comes to return on earth, when he returns to earth to rule and reign for a thousand years,
he's going to say, all right, let's get everybody lined up and let's dole out some rewards.
And certain people are going to be given authority. Why? Because they've been faithful. But what have they been faithful in? Very little.
Very little. In comparison to what they're receiving.
Okay? It's, you know, the pound is important, right?
But it's little in comparison to the ten cities, the authority to which is now being given to him.
And there's this great principle that's being taught here.
And we know the rest of the story. Another, the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
He said, likewise, to him be thou over five cities.
Another came, saying, Lord, here is thy pound, which I have kept and laid up in a napkin.
For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man. Thou takest up that that thou layest down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
And he said unto him, out of thine own mouth I will judge thee, thou wicked servant, thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow.
You knew this is how I am. You knew this is what was going to happen.
You knew this is the natural progression of things, that I was going to come back and everyone's going to give an account.
Wherefore, verse 23, then gave us not thy money into the bank, that I might at my coming have required mine own with usury.
He said, well, that doesn't make any sense. If you know that this is the case, why didn't you do something with what I gave you? Right?
That's what he's saying.
And the temptation there is to say, well, the guy was faithful. It's not like he spent the pound.
But he's not faithful. He doesn't get to be told. He's not told he was faithful and very little.
Well, you kept the pound, so I guess you were faithful. No, he's called a wicked servant because he didn't do anything with what was given him.
That's unfaithfulness according to this parable, right?
It's the guys that are doing something that are being called, and Matthew, good and faithful servants that are told, enter in thou into the joy of thy Lord.
And it's the guy that had the pound but did nothing with it. He's not faithful.
And some people might read that parable and say, well, why isn't he faithful? I mean, he gave back what was his. It's not like he stole it.
The unfaithfulness is that he didn't do anything with it. He was entrusted with something. He was given something.
And he was supposed to do something with what he was given. That's what was expected by his Lord.
It's the same way with us. God has entrusted us with the gospel.
We've been blessed with the opportunity to go out and preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to a lost world.
And if we don't do anything with it, this is the boat that we're going to be in.
What did you do with what I gave you? Nothing. You're unfaithful.
It's as simple as that.
And they say, you know, take from him the pound and give it unto him that hath 10 pounds. And they said unto him, Lord, he hath 10 pounds.
For I say unto you, every one of you that shall be given from him that hath not and even that which he hath shall be taken away from him.
You're not going to get anything if you don't do something with what you've been given.
He that has been faithful in least is faithful also in that which is much, as we read in Luke chapter 16. Right?
That's the same principle here. You weren't faithful in the little thing. Why would I give you anything bigger than that?
And again, you know, there's the broad and very important and very real spiritual application of Christ's return in the millennial reign.
But let's just bring it down home here real quick and bring it into the here and now.
That's another principle if you want to succeed at work. Be faithful in that which is least.
Well, I'll be faithful once they start giving me more responsibilities and paying me more. That's not how it works.
You know, I'll start doing these little things when I can start, when they give me opportunity to do these big things.
You'll never do the big things. They'll look at you and say, well, he can't show up on time. He cuts corners. He jumps out. He gets out of work.
You know, you have to tell him the same thing repeatedly. He stands around with his hands in his pocket, you know, whatever it is.
How do I know all these things, right? I may or may not have heard them over the years, right? Or seen it in others.
Those are the people that don't succeed. Those are the first people that get let go. They just go, all right, give us your company card back and go find another job.
You know, turn in your uniform. Take from that which he hath and give it to him which hath not, right?
Take back the pound. Take back which is given him. Take back that which has been trusted. He's unfaithful. He's not doing anything with it.
Well, I'll be more faithful when I'm given more responsibility. I'll be more faithful when they pay me more.
I'll start working. I'll start being worth more when they start paying me more.
People have literally said this. It's like, what world are you living in?
You know, when they start handing out raises, it's like, well, who do we think will start working hard once we pay them more?
You think that's how it goes? You think that's how employers determine who gets a raise and who doesn't? Who gets the bonus around Christmas and who doesn't?
Well, if we give him the bonus, I think in the new year, he's really going to take it up a notch.
That's not how it works. They're going, well, who do we not want to lose? Who do we want to keep? Who's valuable to this company?
Who do we want to incentivize to stay with us, to be faithful to us?
Well, let's give it to the guy that's of value, the guy that's already doing the work, the guy that's already going above and beyond, the guy that's already doing everything that's expected of him and more.
If you're faithful in that which is least, you're faithful in that which is much.
And I want to end in my last point is that we need to be faithful because faithfulness matters.
It matters that we have to be faithful ministers and we have to be faithful members.
Obviously, as a pastor, faithfulness, that's something required.
But it's also something that's required in church members too.
And in fact, several times in the Scriptures, you see Paul addressing churches as faithful people, right?
In particular, and I'll just read to you, if you want to go over to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.
Paul, when he writes under the Ephesians in his greeting in verse 1, says,
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
And this is something I've noticed. In Ephesians, I don't know that he's necessarily making a distinction,
but I'm going to go ahead and make the distinction.
He says, the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
Now look, they're one and the same. It's the same group of people.
They're all the Ephesians, the church in Ephesus.
But it's just interesting to me that he describes them in two different ways, right?
The saints, people that are saved, look, you believe on the Lord, you're saved.
You're a saint. That's what it takes to be a saint.
You don't have to perform a miracle. This isn't the Catholic Church.
You know, the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.
It's just, I don't know that Paul meant to do that. I think maybe he's being redundant here.
But to me, I'm just thinking, well, is there a difference between someone who's saint and somebody who's faithful?
And the truth is, whether Paul meant it or not, the answer is yes, in my opinion.
Look, there's people that are saints. There's people that are saved.
There's people that are going to go to heaven no matter what that are not faithful.
They're not faithful.
He does it again in Colossians chapter 1.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God and to Mothius our brother,
to the saints and faithful brethren.
The same people, I know that's not what Paul, his original intention,
I'm not trying to put words in his mouth, although I kind of am.
But it's just interesting there's a distinction there. Saints and faithful.
Maybe there's some saints there that aren't faithful.
I didn't write this letter to them because they're not faithful.
They won't be there to hear it.
I'm writing to the faithful brethren because they're the ones that are actually going to be faithful,
that are actually going to be there to hear what I'm saying in the Christ Jesus which are at Colossae.
Paul acknowledges the fact that there's people that are faithful in churches.
Faithfulness to churches is important on the part of the members.
It's important on the part of the minister. We'd all agree with that.
If I got unfaithful in some way, we'd all say, you're done. And rightly so.
And rightly so.
But you know what? That cuts both ways.
It's just as important that members are faithful.
It's something that Paul is acknowledging, hey, the faithful brethren.
The faithful in Christ Jesus that are at Colossae, that are at Ephesus.
And let's not forget in closing the faithfulness of the master, which is the Lord.
Faithfulness matters.
We need to have faithful ministers. We need to have faithful members.
But lastly, let's not forget the faithfulness of God.
Because look, you know, you preach sermons like this, and sometimes I'm afraid that it just comes across.
It's like people, they want me to be, they want me, they think that I want them to be faithful to me.
Right? Or that they just be faithful to this church. And I'm not going to lie. I'll tell you right now.
When you're a small church, everybody members. Or matters, excuse me.
Everybody, every member matters. Yeah, there you go.
You know, I heard someone say this recently, hey, you know, when our church was small,
and when you're a pastor starting out and you're a small church, you just want bodies in the pews.
And I kind of thought, well, you know, not me.
But then I did some soul searching and I was like, yeah, that's true.
Like, if you have a pulse, that's all, you know, if you just have a pulse, please be here.
Like, you matter. Even if you're never going to do anything else, like, just showing up matters so much.
And I know I've preached this so many times over the years.
But it just seems like it's something that people just need to start getting over in their lives and move on.
And just like, and there's always going to be people that continually have to be reminded of this.
And I apologize to people that have this down, having to hear this again.
But, you know, maybe, and probably the people that need to hear it the most are the ones that aren't here, right?
But it matters to just showing up in this church, especially right now.
If you want to start being unfaithful to church and skipping out on services, can you do it when we're running 100?
Can you at least wait until we get, you know, into like, you know, 80, 90 people, you know, where I kind of don't notice?
Because I'll be perfectly honest, when you're not here, I notice.
I wonder, where is someone? Where do they go? Why haven't they been here in several weeks?
It's like, because it matters. It matters, especially when we're in a young church that's trying to get off the ground.
And, you know, it's like we want to start bringing visitors in, but sometimes, like, do I want to bring them in and just show them how many people don't show up?
Well, there's plenty of room. Tell us something great about your church. Why should we come sit here?
There's lots of room. People come, you know, I talk to other pastors, how many are you running?
Well, I'm sure if everybody showed up, I'd have between 40 and 50, but we average 30.
And I get it, it's just the way church goes, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't notice and it didn't matter and it didn't affect me in some way.
Okay? It does. But what I started out saying is this. Please don't think that I'm preaching this just because I want you to be faithful to me.
You need to be faithful to the master, which is Christ. You know, faithfulness matters. Ministers have to be faithful. Members need to be faithful.
And we should be faithful because, as it says there in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 24, faithful is he that calleth you.
I mean, think about how faithful God is to us. In spite of ourselves. In spite of all the times we sin, all the times we just go against God's will.
All the times we just let him down over and over again. All the times we fail to fulfill our responsibilities. Fail to do those things which are commanded of us.
He remains faithful. The faithfulness of God cannot be matched. So be faithful to him which calleth you. Because he is faithful, which is called you.
Faithful is he that has promised. Go to Psalms 31 and I'll be done. Promise. Psalms 31.
The Bible says in Lamentations, chapter 3, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassion fails not.
If God was the merciful, compassionate God that he is, none of us would be here. His wrath would have been poured out long ago, whether we realize that or not.
But, you know, God is merciful. God is compassionate. And you know what else God is? Faithful.
He says it's of his mercies we're not consumed. His compassion is not. They are new every morning. What's new every morning?
His mercy is compassion. It's new every morning. Oh man, I've been letting God down day after day after day, week after week, month after month.
Well, guess what? Tomorrow morning, God's going to still be faithful. His mercy is still there. His compassion is still there.
Tomorrow is another day we can start all over. If you haven't read your Bible in months, if you haven't read your Bible in weeks, if you haven't prayed, if you haven't been in church, whatever it is, if you've been letting God out in whatever way it is, tomorrow morning you can start all over.
Because they are new every morning. And then it says this, great is thy faithfulness.
I mean, that's what Jeremiah, the author of Lamentations, is saying. He's contemplating God and saying, look, it's of the Lord's mercies we're not consumed because his compassion's failing.
Because God is merciful and he is compassionate and because that mercy and compassion is new every morning, it leads me to the conclusion, God, that great is thy faithfulness.
Why should we be faithful to the cause of Christ? Why should we be faithful to the church that God has established here?
Why should we be faithful to the work of God because great is his faithfulness?
And lastly, if you look at Psalms 31, faithfulness does not go unrewarded. I mean, we saw that in the parable.
Lord, you know, I took the pound and have gotten ten pounds. Lord, I took the pound and got five pounds. Be thou over ten cities, be thou over five cities. Well done, thou good and what? Faithful servant.
There's a reward. Look at verse 23. Oh, love the Lord, all ye his saints. The Lord preserveth the faithful.
You will be faithful to the ones you love. Right? Love the Lord. The Lord preserveth the faithful.
We're faithful to the ones that we love. So if people aren't faithful to God, what does that say about their love of God?
It says, you know, they might love God, but how much? You know, it can be probably be measured to some degree by how faithful you are to him.
And he goes on and says, and he plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. You know, the faithful person is the one that loves God and does something for God.
That's what faithfulness looks like. And we've had a pretty good track record. We've been doing pretty good the last six years, and we've just recently moved in, you know, become our own independent church.
You know, we're no longer faithful word or straight past Baptist Church. I know this isn't news to you, right? But I'm just saying, look, we've been faithful.
We've gotten this far. If we're going to continue it and see continue to see God work, we have to remain faithful.
And we'll remain faithful when we do what? When we love God. If you're having a hard time being faithful, you might want to examine, you know, how you feel about God.
What your relationship with him is. If you're not faithful to his word, if you're not faithful to any of the, you know, to being in church, serving it, you might just it might just be that's like it.
Well, you know, it's the preacher. It might actually be you. It might actually be your heart and your relationship with God that's the problem.
Look, maybe it is the preacher. I get that. You wouldn't be the first people said, I don't like that guy. I'm going to another church. And by all means, with my blessing, go.
I know I'm not for everybody. Because everybody ain't here. I get that. And honestly, if it came down to somebody, you know, being hit and miss at this church or faithful to another one because of me, I'd say go be faithful in another church.
I mean that with all my it's more important to me that people are serving God wherever they can. Okay, but I'm just saying tonight, you know, maybe I'm not the problem. Maybe it's not me.
Maybe it's a lack of love. Maybe it's an unwillingness to do something for God that is the cause of a lack of faithfulness.
Let's go ahead and close in a word of prayer. Dear Lord, again, thank you for your faithfulness towards us, Lord, that you have saved us, Lord, and that we are eternally saved and that there is a reward coming to us that will do the work.
Lord, I pray to help us to be found faithful and, Lord, that we would just take this thing called the Christian life seriously. We ask in Christ's name. Amen.
All right, we'll go ahead and sing one more song before we are dismissed.
Rock of angels, pray for me. Let me hide myself with thee. Let the water deck the water.
The same things we do that cause us. While I draw with sweet prayer, when my eyes shall close to death, when I rise to birth alone, give me all the open blood.
Rock of angels, pray for me. Let me hide myself with thee.
Rock of angels, pray for me. Let the water deck the water.
Rock of angels, pray for me.
Rock of angels, pray for me. Let the water deck the water.
Let the water deck the water.