Got fruit

This is the final entry in our Summer Sermon Series: "Got fruit". it was preached on Sunday, August 21st at Maple ridge Wesleyan Church. Enjoy.
There will not be a sermon post next week, as I am on vacation. See you soon,

            We have spent the last three months looking at the visible character traits that are to be found in our lives, if we profess to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

            As we’ve pondered and studied these traits, there is one major theme that has become evident: these qualities are only produced in the lives of those individuals who are surrendered to Jesus Christ.

            The Bible says: “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22, NLT2)

            What God is looking for in His people is obedience, and if we are committed to Him; He will produce in us the qualities that He wants to come out of our life.

            The Bible says: “…the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control….” (Gal. 5:22-23a, NLT2)

            These nine fruit are to be found growing in and coming out of our life; but have you ever considered why?

            Why have we spent 9 Sunday Summer Sermons examining the qualities

that are to be found in the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ?

            Certainty it’s not for a lack of preaching material! 

            No! We’ve spent the last 3 months looking at the fruit that God wants to grow in our lives because our lives do not belong to us.

            The Bible says: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Cor. 6:19-20, NIV)

            In Galatians, Paul wrote: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20, NIV) 

            We’ve spent the last 3 months looking at the fruit that is to be found growing in our life, because our life doesn’t belong to us.

            “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.” (Romans 6:14, NLT2) Our life now belongs to our new Master, the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Because we belong to Jesus, He wants to grow in our lives qualities that are good; character traits that will prove that we belong to Him.

ILLUSTRATION- I love baseball. Specifically, I love to watch baseball. I could sit and watch a baseball game for hours.

This generally does not happen, for one reason or another, but the fact still remains that I love baseball.

            While there’s much about baseball that I don’t understand, there is at least one thing I do understand: members of the same team wear the same uniform.

            It would be very confusing if members of the Toronto Blue Jays walked out on the field wearing New York Yankees uniforms.

            It would be pandemonium if the NYY walked out on to their home field wearing Toronto Blue Jays uniforms.

            To eliminate all guess work, members of the same team wear the same uniform.

            If we profess to be disciples of Jesus Christ, we will: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance…” (Luke 3:8a, NIV)

            If we belong to Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God will produce in us the Fruit of the Spirit; the character traits that were evident in the life of Jesus Christ.

            The Bible says: “This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:5b-6, NIV)

            I trust that the Lord has been working on your heart and in your life over these last several weeks. You can take heart in knowing that God’s not finished with you yet!

            Speaking of not being finished, we still have one more fruit to examine. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit wants to produce in us the fruit of the Spirit called Self-Control.

ILLUSTRATION- As some of you may know, Thursday’s are my sermon days. I try to guard them as close as I can. I try not to schedule anything else on those days, to ensure that I have the proper time to work on my messages.

            What you don’t know was that this past Thursday, tickets came on sale for Third Day, my all-time favourite Christian Rock band. 

            I left instructions with my wife to log into my account and purchase the tickets for me; but about the time that I was supposed to be working on a message, I found myself checking to see what seats I could potentially get, if I was getting the tickets myself.

            When I realized that I could get excellent seats, I texted my wife and told her that the online sale had begun.

            She promptly returned my text by saying: “Getting to it… trust me”

            Well, needless to say, that wasn’t what I wanted to hear!

I wanted to hear that she was on top of things, doing her best to ensure that she was getting me better seats than what I could get, and to sit back, relax and write my sermon…

            For the next half hour, I sat in my office, unable to focus on anything but Third Day tickets, and I was getting, dare I say it, somewhat impatient.

            I wanted to pick up the phone and ask her what was going on… but because I was “working on” a message, I prayed for self-control.

            When the phone finally rang, it was my wife expressing her concern, and slight frustration that she couldn’t get things to work… (so I ended up getting the tickets myself…)

            I share that with you today to remind you that I am not there yet… I haven’t reached the point in my life that I can honestly say I’ve made it... I am in constant need of the Holy Spirit and all that He longs to bring. 

I also share that with you today as a reminder that sometimes we all lack a little thing called “self-control”.

ILLUSTRATION- Fire, water and wind are all immeasurably useful when under control and within their boundaries of service.

But any of these things out of control do vast damage and bring needless

suffering. (Caldwell, 1976, 70)

            When we act in a certain way, or when we speak a harsh word, we are out of control and we can cause damage to those around us.

            You see, self-control is not “…just getting hold of one’s self or sitting on one’s passions by sheer determination.

            “It is a Fruit of the Spirit which grows by surrendering to Christ and committing our way to the Holy Spirit” (ibid)

            Exercising self-control is not something that we can do on our own. We cannot sit in a room full of temptation and say: “I won’t give in, I won’t give in…”

            What will happen is we will end up doing the very thing that we said we wouldn’t do because by nature, we lack self-control.

ILLUSTRATION- A little boy told his class at school that all of his goldfish had died during the night.

            When asked why, he replied that some water softener had gotten into their water and they had all been softened to death.

            Many of us have been softened to death by: carelessness, ease, indifference, or just plain laziness---by a lack of self-control. (Caldwell, 1976, 72)

            The Bible says: "Everything is permissible"-- but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"-- but not everything is constructive.” (1Co

10:23, NIV)

            We live in a world today where it seems, that there are no wrongs. Even if something was “wrong” if you have enough money—or a really good lawyer, you can be exonerated… “Everything is permissible.”

            “But not everything is beneficial”

            For the disciple of Jesus Christ, there are to be some things that we should avoid. While the list is in no way complete, we are to avoid things like: gossiping, slander, not speaking truthfully, being rude….

            The Bible says: “The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires.

These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

¹⁸ But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.” (Gal. 5:17-18, NLT2)

We are to exercise self-control because some of things have the power to hinder our walk with the Lord.

            “It was customary in Paul’s day to compare the Christian experience with athletes—to be a real athlete means to deny one’s self everything that would

possibly decrease one’s best performance.”

            “It also means to actively pursue everything which will increase ones best skills… the secret is that the same spirit of determination and discipline asserted by the athlete must be devoted to Christ.” (Ibid)

            Paul said: “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!

²⁵ All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.

²⁶ So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. ²⁷ I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should.”

(1 Cor. 9:24-27a, NLT2)

            Paul said that becoming all that God wanted Him to become involved hard work. It takes time and effort to develop the Fruit of the Spirit, in particular the Fruit of Self-control.

            As one author has said: “Self-control comes when God is in control” (Glenn D. Black.) 

            Is God in control of your life? Does He have your all? Are you avoiding certain things- saying, doing and thinking certain things—because they have the potential to be detrimental to your faith?

            While everything is permissible, not everything is beneficial!

            Susanna Wesley, the mother of John Wesley, once told Him: “Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of your body over mind, that thing for you is sin.” (Filed under gal. 5:23 “temperance”)

            The Bible says: “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.” (James 4:17, NIV)

            So what do we do? How can we develop Holy Spirit produced Self-control?

            GRACE!

            The Bible tells us that the grace of God: “…teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age…” (Titus 2:12, NIV)

            As we surrender our lives over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and let His grace teach us and flow through us; we become people who are filled with, and who will exercise, self-control.

            We will do the things that we should do, and avoid doing the things that we shouldn’t do. God’s Grace will teach us how we are to live in this broken world. 

Arnold Lobel wrote a children’s book entitled Frog and Toad Together. In a section of the book called “Cookies” we read the following:

ILLUSTRATION- Toad baked some cookies. “These cookies smell very good”, said Toad. He ate one. “And they taste even better” he said. Toad ran to Frog’s house.

            “Frog, Frog,” cried Toad, “taste these cookies that I have made.”

            Frog ate one of the cookies. “These are the best cookies I have ever eaten!” said Frog.

            Frog and Toad ate many cookies, one after another. “You know, toad,” said Frog with his mouth full, “I think we should stop eating. We will soon be sick.”

            “You are right, said toad. “Let’s eat one last cookie, and then we will stop.” Frog and toad ate one last cookie. There were many cookies left in the bowl.

            “Frog” said Toad, “let’s eat one very last cookie and then we will stop.” Frog and Toad ate one very last cookie. “We must stop eating”, cried Toad as he ate another.

            “Yes” said Frog, reaching for a cookie, “we need will power”

            “What is will power?” asked Toad.

            “Will power is trying hard not to do something that you really want to do.”

            “You mean like trying not to eat all of these cookies” asked Toad.

            “Right,” said Frog. Frog put the cookies in a box.

            “There,” he said. “Now we won’t eat any more cookies.”

            “But we can open the box,” said Toad.

            “That is true,” said Frog. Frog tied some string around the box. “There,” he said. “Now we will not eat any more cookies.”

            “But we can cut the string and open the box,” said Toad.

            “That is true,” said Frog. Frog got a ladder. He put the box up on a high shelf. “There,” said Frog. “Now we will not eat any more cookies”

            “But we can climb the ladder and take the box down from the shelf and cut the string and open the box” said Toad.

            “That is true,” said Frog. Frog climbed the ladder and took the box down from the shelf. He cut the string and opened the box.

Frog took the box outside. He shouted in a large, loud voice, “HEY, BRIDS. HERE ARE COOKIES.”

            Bids came from everywhere. They picked up all the cookies in their beaks and flew away.

            “Now we have no more cookies to eat,” said Toad sadly. “Not even one”

            “Yes,” said Frog, “but we have lots and lots of will power!”

            “You may keep it all, Frog,” said Toad. “I’m going home to bake a cake”

            “Toad’s will power is about as strong as that of some of us! My point is this: what in your life to you need to “feed to the birds?” What do you need to avoid?” (Warren, 2006-208)

            If we want to live self-controlled lives, we must say “yes” to things that are good, and avoid the things that are bad.

            The Bible says: “…make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” (2 Peter 1:5-9, NIV)

Church: God has called us to move forward in faith; to not be stuck in reverse. He wants to grow in our lives good things, and it’s up to us to open our lives to His Holy Spirit.

God wants to work in your life. God wants to transform you into a “…new

creation…”. (2 Cor. 5:17, NIV)

            He wants you to cultivate the traits that He will produce in your life, but you must remain connected to the vine.

Remember, it was Jesus who said: “… apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5b, NIV)

The Bible tells me that God wants to work in your life. The Bible tells me that God wants to produce in your life: “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control….” (Gal.5:22-23a, NIV)

The only question that remains to be answered is: will we let Him produce in us the fruit that He wants grown in our lives?

Will we surrender our life—mind, body, soul and spirit—over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?

Got Fruit #8

The following post is the 8th Sermon in the Got Fruit Summer Sermon Series. I trust you will enjoy reading it. Any comments, please let me know:

            We are slowly coming to the end of our study on the character traits and/or qualities that are to be found growing in the life of the disciple of Jesus Christ.

            These character traits are found in Galatians 5:22-23a: “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control….” (NIV)

            These nine fruit will be found growing in the lives of disciples of Jesus, but they only arrive there by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible says: “…the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in your life…” (Gal. 5:22a, NLT2)

            We are unable, on our own strength, to grow these 9 character traits, we may cultivate them; but we do not grow them.

That job belongs to God’s Holy Spirit, and this will only be possible as we stay connected to the Vine.

            Jesus said: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in

him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5, NIV)

            A little bit further down in the same chapter Jesus reminded us that: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-- fruit that will last.” (John 15:16a, NIV)

            It’s only as we stay connected to the vine that the Holy Spirit will fill us, or produce in us, the Fruit of the Spirit.

            We cannot pick and choose which fruit we would like to have, while leaving the others out. We cannot have love without joy, peace without patience, kindness without goodness.

            All nine fruit will be grown in our lives by the power of God’s Holy Spirit, gradually.

ILLUSTRATION- I would like to think that I am kinder today than I was five years ago. I would like to think I am more patient today than I was this time last year…

            For all the work that God has done in me; I know that I still have a long way to go. I should have a sign that says: “I am a work in progress.”

            It’s like the song of yesteryear: “He's still working on me to make me what

I ought to be.

It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars, The sun and

the earth and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient He must be, He's still working on me.” (Joel Hemphill)

            Unless I surrender my life over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ on a daily basis, I will not be what God intends for me to be: a fully devoted follower of Christ, who is filled with the Fruit of the Spirit. (And neither will you)

            The Bible says: “…the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.” (Is. 30:18, NLT2)

            Before God can fill us with the fruit of the Spirit, we must come to Him. We must receive Him.

Once we come to God, He will begin to fill us with the character traits, such as the 8^th Fruit of the Spirit called “Gentleness.”

Gentleness is the 8^th fruit of the Spirit that will be produced in your life if you profess to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, but; what is it?

What does Gentleness look like? How does Gentleness express itself? 

“Based on the original Greek word used in the New Testament, the word Gentleness (prautēs) literally means “strength under control”

IILLUSTRATION - The word was used to describe a wild stallion that had been

tamed or broken.

The tamed stallion still had as much power and energy as when it was wild, but it could now be controlled and more useful for its master” (Warren, 2006.176)

            This tells me what Gentleness is: “strength under control”, but what I want to know is: “how does gentleness express itself?”

ILLUSTRATION- Gentleness is the Holy Spirit produced quality that demonstrates itself when the telephone rings for the 4^th time and you are trying to have a quiet time and hear from the Lord for the words to a message.

            It’s not getting upset, frustrated or mad; it’s taking a deep breath and trusting in the Lord.

            According to Aristotle, “gentleness is the middle ground between 2 extremes, getting angry without reason and not getting angry at all….”

“Therefore, gentleness is getting angry at the right time, in the right measure for the right reasons.” (Key word Study Bible, GK #4559)

Gentleness is that Holy Spirit produced quality that says: even though you can get mad at someone and retaliate, you resist because you are filled with God’s Holy Spirit.

The Bible says: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

(Philippians 4:5, NIV)

Every person that we come in contact with--believer or not, friend or not--is to see this 8^th fruit of the Spirit flowing from our lives.

Dr. W. E. Caldwell reminds us that gentleness: “…is an attitude toward God which manifests itself also toward one’s fellows. The meek who accept God’s will… are gentle toward other persons.” (Caldwell, 1976, 67)

Paul reminded us in 2 Timothy that: “A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people.

²⁵ Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.” (2 Tim. 2:24-25, NLT2)

While speaking directly to ministers, broadly he’s talking to all of us. Gentleness is treating all people with love and compassion, all the while remembering that it was this same love and compassion that brought us to God:

“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; 10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for

those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he

removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him…” (Psalm 103:8-13, NIV)

Gentleness is showing other people, no matter who they are, the unconditional love and compassion that we have received from Almighty God.

            Gentleness is, as Rick Warren says, “controlling your reactions to other people. It’s choosing your own response to people rather than simply reacting to them.

            And often, we have only a ¼ of a second to react to people in the way that we should.

            The Apostle Paul wrote, "In your anger do not sin"…. and do not give the devil a foothold.” (Eph. 4:26a-27, NIV)

            “That ¼ second is the time when the Holy Spirit can take control. That is when you can give the foothold to the Holy Spirit or you can give it to sin.

            “That one quarter second in your mind can be an opportunity to say “Spirit, I’ve got this impulse right now, how should I act?” (Ortberg, 2010, 208)

            Gentleness is being aware of the ¼ second response time and responding in a way that will diffuse most situations. It will not happen overnight, but it will happen with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

ILLUSTRATION- Richard Dunagin of Denton, Texas, writing in Leadership Journal, said that his children won four free goldfish at the school carnival, necessitating a Saturday morning family outing to find an aquarium.

The first several they found were too expensive, but then he spotted a used one right in the middle of the aisle:

A discarded ten-gallon tank complete with gravel and filter. It was (only) five dollars.

“Of course, it was nasty dirty, but the savings made the two hours of cleanup a breeze.”

Those four new fish looked great in their new home, at least for the first day. But by Sunday one had died. Too bad, but three remained.

Monday morning revealed a second casualty, and by Monday night a third goldfish had gone belly up.

“We called in an expert, a member of our church who had a 30-gallon tank. It didn’t take him long to discover the problem: I had washed the tank with soap, an absolute no-no.

My uninformed efforts had destroyed the very lives I was trying to protect.

“Sometimes in our zeal to clean up our own lives or the lives of others, we

unfortunately use “killer soaps”—condemnation, criticism, nagging, fits of temper.

We think we’re doing right, but our harsh, self-righteous treatment is more than they can bear.” ⁽NCBSIQ. pg. 338-339)

The Bible says: “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.

10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.” (James 3:9-10, NIV)

            James was reminding us to be careful of what we say, for sometimes we can use words that do more damage than good to the very people that we are trying to reach.

            This is why it’s so important for us to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit called Gentleness.

For its gentle words, we are told, that will help people find faith in Jesus, again, or for the first time:

            “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” (Gal. 6:1, NIV)

            We are to respond to all people in a gentle way, so I wonder this morning,

how do we respond to people? How do we treat people? Are we gentle with them, or are we harsh with them?

This includes the people that you know, and the people that you don’t know—especially the clerk at Tim Horton’s.

            While it’s true that this last batch of fruit deal with the relationship that we are to have with ourselves, this fruit expresses itself in our relationships to others, so if we do not have Holy Spirit produced gentleness growing in our lives, we will not be able to deal with all people in the way that we should.

            Are you using “killer soap words” when you should be using gentle words? Are you showing compassion and love to all people?

            The Good News is that if you aren’t responding to people in the way that you should, you can ask God to fill you with Holy Spirit produced gentleness; you can start cultivating gentleness in how you respond to people, one ¼ second at a time.

            “Let it be clearly understood: meekness is not weakness, but strength. It is strength held under control; power kept in reserve”

            “Remember that steam does the most work when it makes the least noise, some of us need less noise and more poise” (Glenn D. Black, article on FoS. Filed Under Gal 5:22-23)

            Jesus said: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

(Matthew 5:5, NIV)

            Jesus reminded us that meek people, gentle people, will inherit the earth.

Not the loud, the boisterous, the ones with the most money, or the best toys, but the meek will inherit all of God’s blessings.

Jesus said: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV)

            What is Gentleness? How does Gentleness express itself?  Gentleness is Jesus. 

Got Fruit #7

The following Post is my message from Sunday, August. 7 at MRWC. This is number 7 in a 9 part summer series, enjoy.

            We are well over the half way mark in our series examining the visible character traits that will be produced in the lives of Disciples of Jesus Christ.

            To date, we have examined the first 6 of these character traits. We have also broken them down into 3 groups of three.

The first batch of fruit, (love, joy and peace) deal primarily with our relationship before God.

The second batch of fruit, (patience, kindness and goodness) deal primarily with our relationship toward others; and the last batch of fruit (faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) deal with the relationship that we are to have with ourselves.

As you know, our text is taken from Galatians 5:22-23a: “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.” (NIV)

These 9 character traits will be grown in your life, but only by the power of the Holy Spirit. We may cultivate these fruit; but we don’t grow them.

The Bible reminds us that: “…the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives…” (Gal. 5:22a, NLT2)

It’s: “…Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.” (Zech. 4:6, NIV) All nine of these qualities will be grown in our life by the Holy Spirit of God.

He may use situations and people to grow these fruit in our lives, and we must be open to His work.

This morning, we are going to examine the 7^th Fruit of the Spirit:  “Faithfulness”, not “faith” as translated by the King James Version, but Faithfulness.

PRAY

            There are two words that resonated with me as I was preparing my sermon this week. These two words describe someone who is filled with the Fruit of the Spirit of faithfulness. These two words describe what Faithfulness is all about.

The two words are “Trustworthiness” and “Reliability”.

If we understand that this 3^rd grouping of fruit deals primarily with our relationship with self; then we can come to understand that the Apostle Paul was telling us: “if you are filled with the Holy Spirit of God, you will be trustworthy and reliable.”

You see Church, the people who claim to be Christ followers are to be among the most trustworthy and reliable people in our world today.

But unfortunately, this is often the exception, not the rule.

What often happens—not always, but often—is that people who claim to be followers of Jesus are among the shadiest people in the world, especially in their dealings with other people.

But Paul reminds us that those who claim to be followers of the God Most High are to be, first of all, Trustworthy.

ILLUSTRATION- My wife trusts me, but it wasn’t always that way. I had to earn her trust over a period of time. Once I had her trust, I lost it.

            She trusted me to be faithful to her, but unfortunately, while we were dating, I was unfaithful to her. When she found out about my unfaithfulness, her trust in me hit an all-time low.

            It took years to gain her trust back—even to this day, we still have trust issues. I have been trying to earn her trust back, one day at a time.

            I do so by being open and honest in every area of my life; publically and privately. There is no area of my life that is ``off limits” to her.

She has access to all my passwords, and can check anything that she wants too at any time of the day, and often does.

I vowed to gain her trust back, and every action that I can take to earn that trust back, I am willing to do.

You might say: “Preach, that’s your spouse, you’re supposed to do that.”

Yes, that’s true, but it’s also a command from Jesus to be faithful in all areas of life.

In Luke 16, Jesus said: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke 16:10-12, NIV)

The verse that really jumps off the page to me is verse 10: “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” (Luke 16:10, NLT2)

Being faithful in the “little things” of life will mean that I will eventually be trusted with “bigger things” of life.

But, if I am dishonest with the “little things” of life, how can I (you) be trusted with the “bigger things” in life?

The obvious answer is: YOU CAN’T!!

You see, faithfulness begins by being trustworthy in the small things of life, and if we are trustworthy in the small things, this will lead to being trustworthy in the big things.

            This life-principle of Jesus plays out in everyday life. If we can be trusted with the small things, we can be trusted with the big things.

Part of being faithful is being trustworthy; it’s asking ourselves: “am I going to do what I said I would do?”

It is considering the vows that we make to God and to other people, and asking if we are truly able to keep those vows.

The Bible says: “It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it.” (Ecc. 5:5 NLT2)

So, a question for all of us to consider this morning is this: are we doing what we said we would do? Are we trustworthy?

Rick Warren reminds us that if we are trustworthy, “we won’t have to convince people that we are…” they will see it in our life.

“Over time, our track record will speak for itself. Others will feel confident that they can count on you…” (Warren, 2006, 162)

We won’t have to advertise that we are trustworthy, for our actions will speak louder than words. If we are faithful in the small things, we can be trusted

in the big things.

If we want Holy Spirit produced faithfulness to be grown in our lives, we must work on becoming trustworthy, one “little thing” at a time.

The second word that describes faithfulness is “Reliable.”

It’s interesting to me that the things, or qualities, that we look for the most in others; are often the very same qualities that we are lacking. 

“We want the paper carrier to be reliable so that we can read the newspaper at our accustomed time with our usual cup of coffee.”

“We want the mail carrier to be faithful; when I mail a letter, I depend on the mail service to deliver it.”

“I want the food at my favourite restaurant to be consistent from week to week…” (Warren, 2006, 159)

We look for reliability in other people, but we need to start by looking for it in us. We must ask ourselves: are we reliable?

ILLUSTRATION- The most famous geyser in America is Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming. It is not the biggest geyser in America, nor is it the most powerful.

What makes the geyser famous is its faithfulness! It runs like clockwork…. People appreciate dependability, even in a geyser.” (ibid)

            Are you reliable? Can you be counted on?

“You may be talented, educated, and creative, but if you are not dependable, your talents are not worth much. Someone has said: “the greatest ability is dependability” (IBID)

            If you want to be trusted with the “bigger things” of life; you must be dependable in the “little things” of life.

            The Bible says: “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.” (Prov. 3:3-4, NIV)

            If we want to be known as people who are faithful; we must cultivate an attitude of trustworthiness and dependability.

·      We must do what we say; when we say that we will do it.

·      We must be faithful in the big things of life, as well as in the small things of life;

·      We must be faithful, because our Lord Jesus Christ is faithful.

ILLUSTRATION- Author and speaker Chuck Colson writes of being invited to preach at tough old San Quentin Prison, an opportunity he greatly anticipated and carefully planned for.

Three hundred of the 2,200 inmates had agreed to come to the chapel to hear him speak.

But just days before his arrival, officials uncovered a hidden cache of weapons, and the prison was immediately locked down with inmates confined to their cells.

When Colson arrived at the prison chapel, he was saddened to find that only a handful of men were able to be present, and they were mostly Christians.

His spirits wilted, for he had so hoped to preach the gospel to the unsaved.

Struggling with a lack of enthusiasm, he thought: “Maybe I’ll just give a short devotional, ten minutes or so. I can’t really preach my heart out to this crowd.”

But spotting a video camera in the far end of the room, he said to himself, “Maybe this is being recorded for the chapel library. Maybe I’d better give it my all.”

He felt convicted for basing his morale and mood on the outer circumstances rather than the inner impulse of the Spirit, and so he preached with great fervor, as though a thousand inmates were listening.

Later he mentioned to the prison chaplain how disappointed he had been

to have missed sharing the gospel with the three hundred men who had originally signed up to attend.

“Didn’t you know?” asked the chaplain. “Because of the lockdown, the administration agreed to videotape your sermon.

They’ll be showing it to all the inmates on closed-circuit television in the morning tomorrow and again in the afternoon.”

In fact, the sermon was aired not just twice, but nearly a dozen times over the following weeks. Because of the lockdown, not just three hundred but all 2,200 prisoners heard the gospel.

Colson said that he learned three lessons from the incident:

Number one: Mother Teresa was right. God calls us to faithfulness, not to success.

Number two: When our goal is to change society, we often fail. When it is simple obedience to God, He blesses our efforts more than we can envision.

And number 3: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9, NIV) (Charles Colson, “A Way of Escape at San Quentin,” Christianity Today, 72)

Friends, what God is looking to grow in His people is faithfulness; a faithfulness that demonstrates itself by being trustworthy and reliable.

Dr. W. E. Caldwell reminds us that: “Christians are not called to be famous or successful, but faithful” (Caldwell, 1976, 65)

So I would like for all of to look deep into our hearts and carefully consider the following:

1.     Am I trustworthy?

2.     Am I reliable?

3.     Can I be counted on, to do the right thing, even when no one is looking?

You see friend, God wants to grow faithfulness in our lives.

The Good News is if we aren’t quite there yet; if we are not as trustworthy as we should be; if we are not as reliable as we could be; we can ask God to fill us with His Spirit and grow in us the fruit of the Spirit of faithfulness, and He will do so, one small decision at a time.

Jesus said: “You have heard that it was said to our people long ago, 'Don't break your promises, but keep the promises you make to the Lord.'

³⁴ But I tell you, never swear an oath. Don't swear an oath using the name of heaven, because heaven is God's throne.

³⁵ Don't swear an oath using the name of the earth, because the earth belongs to God. Don't swear an oath using the name of Jerusalem, because that

is the city of the great King.

³⁶ Don't even swear by your own head, because you cannot make one hair on your head become white or black.

³⁷ Say only yes if you mean yes, and no if you mean no. If you say more than yes or no, it is from the Evil One.” (Matthew 5:33-37, NCV)

            With God’s help; we can be a people who are trustworthy and reliable and we can do so with a simple “Yes”, or “No”.