| THE NEED FOR FAITHFULNESS Hebrews 10:22-25 11-02-08 Someone said that if our dictionary is revised in a couple of years, that beside the definition for the word, “faithfulness” it would read, …”once a meaningful characteristic of human character, which is now extinct.” The sad thing is, this can be applied to Christians as well as non-believers. Christians on the whole are much more faithful to things taking place in the community than things taking place in the local church. Faithfulness might not be dead yet, but it’s getting pretty sick. The lack of faithfulness is found everywhere we look. Marriages are ended because of a lack of faithfulness. Business partnerships are dissolved and Churches suffer more today than ever because of unfaithfulness of its members. It is true that people will make a point of being in church at certain times, but the strength and faithfulness of any church can be judged by those who are in attendance weekly and the number at the mid-week services. The backbone of any church can be judged by the number at the mid-week services, those who are faithful when things are going well and those who are faithful when things are not so well. The sad thing is that faithfulness and words related to it, words like commitment, loyalty, reliability and integrity are no longer considered as essential and important. Let me say friends, they might not be important to the average person, but these words are still very important to our Blessed Lord. For the true believer, faithfulness is indispensable; it is an absolute necessity. Because without it, we’ll not be pleasing to God. Oh, if only we had the desire to please our Lord instead of ourselves. If only we would seek His will and not our own. The Christian needs to be faithful in many areas, but there is no area that is more important than being faithful to our Lord and to His church. How is one to be faithful to his or her church? First by attending of course. A Christian has a biblical obligation to be faithful to attend. We read in verse 25 that we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, especially as we get closer and closer to the coming of our Lord. The Bible says that near the end of time there will be a falling away. Isn’t it amazing that most believers take this verse so lightly. Oh, there is a great danger in forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. The Bible teaches that believers are to meet together for public worship and fellowship. Someone said, "You don’t just come to church to hear a message, you come to meet with JESUS." Oh, if one comes with the attitude that he’s going to meet with Jesus, he will never be disappointed. In a sense, the Lord’s present is felt when believers meet together that is not felt when they are not assembled together. As we read in Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gather together in my name, there am I." There are a lot of reasons that people stop coming to church. I had a lady to tell me this past week that she wouldn’t be coming any more because the last time she came, only one person spoke to her. It made me sad and still there was nothing I could do or say to change her mind. However, the two main reasons that people stop coming to church are that they fall out of love with Lord and they fall out of love with their brothers and sisters. Someone said you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. Well, you don’t have to live in the water to be a fish. But you know what happens when a fish is out of the water? The same is apt to happen to the Christian who stays away from Church. We know that we all sin and come short of the glory of God. But listen, when one is not attending church it is so much easier for him or her to backslide. Verse 26 says, "For if we sin willfully (that is by choice), intentionally, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. It is one thing to sin unintentionally,and another thing to sin intentionally. And most of the time we know the difference. One cannot live the victorious Christian life with poor church attendance. It is impossible. Just as a fish cannot live outside of water, a believer cannot live a God fearing life, a godly life, without being faithful in attendance. Oh, so often Christians will say that they have a desire to be like Jesus. Listen to these words if you truly have that desire. "And he came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up and as was HIS custom, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day." Our Lord had a long established habit of attending a house of worship. If you love the Lord, you will love the Church. He loved the Church so much he gave His life for it! Faithfulness is one of the fruits of the spirit. In Galatians 5:22 we read, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, FAITHFULNESS, gentleness and self- control. When one is faithful, he or she is demonstrating a characteristic that is common to our Lord. Oh, how faithful God is to us. The Hymn writer was right when he wrote, "GREAT is His faithfulness, Lord unto me." How I wish that when we sang that great hymn that we could do it justice, knowing that we are as faithful to Him as He is to us. But the truth of the matter is, we can’t. How does one develop faithfulness? As we said, it is one of the fruits of the spirits. So in order to become a faithful follower of our Lord it is necessary to allow the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives and to instill within us a desire, a longing to be faithful regardless of the cost. Regardless of the cost. It costs something to be a faithful follower of our Lord, and I’m speaking more about time than finances. One of the hardest things to give anyone is our time and this is what is needed most for the work of the Kingdom. Where would we be today if our Lord did not take time to leave Heaven to come to earth to die for our sins? Where would we be today if someone did not take the time to tell us of God’s love? Where would we be today if others had not been faithful followers of our Lord? And where will the church be tomorrow if we are not faithful today? As we prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Supper, I would ask that you allow the Holy Spirit to truly search your hearts and to help you see where you stand this day with our Lord. If He was to come today, would you have the assurance of having eternal life? Would you have assurance of hearing those words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant?" I believe that one of the things that we will be judged on is our faithfulness to our Blessed Lord and to His Church and thus it is my prayer that each of us will be faithful in serving Him, and in giving Him our best. |
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