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Faithfulness

Feb 27
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Faith to pray: the story of Hannah

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I had the opportunity to speak this past weekend at the Upper West Manhattan church of Christ’s “Five Guys Lectures,” and it allowed me to speak about something I need help with as much as anyone: prayer.

The topic was “Faith to Pray,” and we talked about Hannah’s prayer to God for a son, which resulted in Israel’s last and maybe greatest judge, Samuel. In Samuel, we see foreshadows and prophesies that point us toward the coming anointed king David, and ultimately Jesus Christ.

There are four takeaways that I spoke about – and there are plenty more as you study the story in 1 Samuel 1-2.

  • Pray like a servant and not a customer

  • Pray like it’s your only option

  • Pray like I’m praying to a good God

  • Pray like I’m praying to my own personal high priest

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Feb 03
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Knowing Jesus Lesson 13: Jesus got discouraged

Knowing Jesus: Jesus got discouraged

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In the sixth chapter of John, the apostles describes what I think was a turning point in the work of Jesus on this earth. He was possibly at his height of popularity, working in around the Sea of Galilee, having just demonstrated his power in amazing fashion, feeding 5,000 men with only five loaves and two fish. Including women and children, that must have made the crowd well in excess of 10,000 people.

The crowds were so enamored with Jesus, his teaching and his power that they were ready to crown him king — whether he wanted it or not. Jesus further impresses his disciples by walking through stormy waters out to their boat.

And then, the difficulty of teaching spiritual things to materially minded people came crashing down.

So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” — John 6:24-31

When “miraculous” isn’t good enough

Can you imagine doing a sign of that magnitude, only to be told “that’s not enough?” The people believed in Jesus enough to follow him around, listen to his speeches and eat the food that he had provided. But when it came to truly embracing him as the Messiah, it must have seemed like nothing was ever good enough.

After a heated exchange with some of the people, even some of his disciples began to question Jesus. “This is a hard saying,” they said. “Who can listen to it?”

That statement didn’t come from the Jews who had followed him from town to town after being fed. That was his disciples — people who had chosen to follow Jesus and actively work in his ministry. Jesus observed that some of them still didn’t believe, after all they’d seen. And they turned and left.

One can only imagine the tone in Jesus face as he turned to his disciples, and asked, “Do you want to go away as well?”

For all his faults, Peter had just the right response: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

I can only imagine how much Jesus needed to hear that.

Jesus dealt with daily discouragement

The reality of Jesus’ mission must have weighed on him heavily. he is described in Isaiah prophetically as “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” Jesus was the messenger trying to get 12 men to focus on spiritual matters and a deeper understanding of the kingdom of Heaven, only to constantly be dragged back into arguments about “who will be the greatest,” or “why didn’t we bring any bread with us?”

How disheartening must it have been to face your most difficult trial, praying in anguish in the middle of the night for the strength to do what needs to be done. Then to return and find your closest friends sleeping.

Maybe they were simply exhausted. Maybe after all the times you had warned them about your upcoming betrayal and death, they still didn’t really share the same urgency.

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” — Mat 26:36-41

When you’re trying to warn a close friend about a danger in their life, and they just don’t see it no matter how clearly and kindly you communicate, at some point, isn’t it tempting to simply stop trying? Or when you’re talking to a friend about something that’s causing you real pain and sorrow, and the friend just shrugs and says “it’ll all work out,” how does that affect us? How many times must Jesus have been tempted to throw his hands up in the air and say “that’s enough?”

And yet he didn’t.

Why didn’t Jesus give in and give up?

Jesus made a remarkable statement to Peter before his betrayal:

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” — Luke 22:31-32

Jesus knew that Peter was going to fail, despite all his protests. But that didn’t matter; what mattered was how Peter would respond to that failure, and Jesus believed it would ultimately make him stronger and drive him to be a great servant of God.

How did Jesus overcome discouragement? Ultimately, he had faith in the men he chose. He knew the disciples weren’t perfect, but he also saw what they could be, and he never game up a real hope for them to realize that potential. Jesus overcame discouragement through faith in his disciples.

If Jesus could overcome, so can we!

As we read the gospel accounts, we continually see Jesus’ example of patience in the face of continued disappointments, and we see the determination he had to continue to love and encourage those around him, even when it didn’t seem like it was working. And we have confidence that he shows that same patience with you and me, even when we don’t always get it right in our own lives (Hebrews 10:22-23).

His ultimate patience in the face of his audience’s inability to understand or accept his teachings, his willingness to continue correcting his disciples who continued displaying spiritual immaturity right up until the night he was arrested – those are the ways in which we see how Jesus is patient with us every day when we stumble.

Does that motivate us to keep trying? It should!

So how do we overcome discouragement in our own lives and service to God? We do it by placing faith in one who is faithful – the one who anticipated us long before we ever came into this life, by saying “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

He is the Faithful Witness (Revelation 1:5). And he believed enough in us to die for us. Let’s not let discouragement keep us from the work he has given us to accomplish.

Apr 09
0

Growing up in the Lord’s church, I would always hear people use the phrase “faithful” to describe other Christians. Typically, it had to do with their spiritual health, although in many cases I suspect it was based on whether we saw them at worship every week.

“He’s a faithful Christian. She’s faithful to God.” Or sometimes, “This is a faithful church.”

So I think sometimes we tend to define “faithful” in the Bible as one who is full of faith; someone who is devoted to God. And there’s a sense in which that’s indirectly true. But that definition doesn’t quite work when we note that the word is applied to God or to Christ some 15 times in the New Testament. Clearly this isn’t about “faith” as we typically use the word.

It’s really defined the way we’d use the word outside the confines of religion: God is trustworthy. God is dependable. God will do what He says He will do.

Understanding the faithfulness of God

The scriptures emphasize the faithfulness of God over and over, particularly to people who were undergoing difficulties, reminding them that they can depend on God, even when things don’t seem to be going God’s way at the time.

  • God is faithful to guard us against the adversary as we do His work, II Thes. 3:3, I Peter 4:19
  • He is faithful to forgive our sins when we walk in the light and confess when we do sin, I John 1:4-9
  • He is faithful to deliver on His promises, Heb. 11:11
  • He is faithful to deliver us from death into salvation, Heb. 10:23

That’s an important concept to remember when we read a verse like II Tim. 2:13. In context, it reads:

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful —
for he cannot deny himself. (2Ti 2:8-13)

Notice that God’s faithfulness doesn’t depend on anything other than His own character. God will always perform what He has proposed to do, regardless of what man may or may not do on his end. Many will take this to say that even if someone turns away from God, God will not allow that person to be lost. But notice that being faithful doesn’t have to correspond to something or someone else – in other words, this passage doesn’t say God is faithful to man. It says He is faithful to Himself. To His own nature.

God is who God is, and He will not change in that regard. “He cannot deny Himself.” And he will deny us if we deny Him, because that’s exactly what He has said He will do. (Mtt. 10:33)

This passage does not teach that God will save who He has decided to save whether that person wants to be saved or not, or whether they have done what God has required or displayed the proper faith. God’s promises about our salvation are conditional, and always have been (Matt. 7:21, I Peter 3:10-12, Mark 16:16).

If we deny Him, He will also deny us

Paul addresses this in Romans 3 when he discusses the idea of the Jews falling short of God’s righteousness. God had promised to make them a great nation and to bless them and protect them from enemies surrounding them. But they were continually carried away into captivity. Why? Not because God had forgotten or broken His promise. “Does their faithfulness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true and every man a liar” (Rom. 3:3-4)

The Hebrew writer makes this point:

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.(Heb 3:12 – 4:1)

It is the faithfulness of God that teaches us that He requires us to be faithful to Him. His promise is no different than it has been from the beginning. “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people (Jer. 7:23).” If God wasn’t faithful, then none of these examples would be meaningful at all. God would do whatever He wanted, whenever He wanted, with no consistency or predictability, and no way for man to know what is expected of him!

How God’s faithfulness saves me

Have you ever been frustrated in a relationship or a job or a project where it seems like the rules are always changing? Isn’t it helpful to have an agreement in place that says “this is what is expected. This is what you should do, and this is what you will receive if you complete the task.”

God has done that for us – if we place our faith in Him and do what He tells us to do, then He has promised to forgive our sins and grant us a place in His heavenly kingdom. And the best part is that God tells us that He knows we won’t do this perfectly. We just have to keep trying.

“Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). And we know it’s true, because the Faithful Witness said it.

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