Spiritual Growth: Faith and Faithfulness

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Welcome to week number seven in our series on

spiritual growth. And I have preached many series

about the word that we're going to talk about

today. So it's going to be all I can do to keep

it within a moderate time frame. Because I've

got so much to say. But let's jump right in.

1 Corinthians 2, verse 14 says this, The natural

1 Corinthians 2:14

man does not receive the things of the Spirit

of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor

can he know them, because they are spiritually

discerned. Going to chapter 3, verses 1 through

3. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as

spiritual people, but as to carnal, as to babes

in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid

food, for until now you were not able to receive

it. And even now you are still not able. For

you are still carnal. For where there are envy,

strife, and divisions among you, are you not

carnal? And behaving like mere men. We could

go back and pick up that word from chapter 2

and say natural men. Natural men. So here we

see that there are three types of people in these

verses. And these three categories represent

everyone who's alive in the world today. The

first type of person is a natural person. Everybody

say natural. Everybody say natural this time.

Natural. I try to keep you focused and keep you

engaged by getting you to repeat things. The

natural person. This is a person who's not born

again. They're without Christ. They don't have

the Holy Spirit living inside of them, so they

have no direction other than their flesh or their

soul. So they live by whatever feels good or

whatever seems right in their own eyes. That's

the only thing they have. And then we have a

carnal person. Everyone say carnal. A carnal

person is a Christian, but they're still living

like a natural person. They've come into a relationship

with Christ, but you know what? They don't feed

on the Word of God. They don't acknowledge the

Holy Spirit living inside of them. They don't

walk in the Spirit, yield to the Spirit like

we're supposed to. So they wind up living like

a natural person. Can't really see a difference.

Has anyone ever met someone who goes to church

all the time, but they still act like everybody

who don't? Everybody say carnal. That's a good

description. Good description. Then there are

spiritual people. A spiritual person is a Christian

who is led by the Spirit of God through the Word

of God. They're growing. Everybody say growing.

Now they haven't arrived. Because none of us

have. We're all in the process. We're all in

the process. Some of us are at different stages

in the process. But we're all in the process.

So it's not like a super spiritual person that

always gets everything right and does everything

right. No, but at least they're working towards

that and wanting to be that. A spiritual person.

They're wanting Christ to make a difference in

their life. Not just by carving out a little

bit of time on Sunday morning. But in their everyday

life. At work, at school, at home. Christ makes

a difference. So where does this spiritual growth

take place? Where does it take place? 1 Thessalonians

5 .23 tells us something about ourselves. The

Bible says, Now may the peace of God make you

holy. Everybody say, set apart. May the God of

peace make you holy in every way. And may your

whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless

until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Everybody

say spirit. Everybody say soul. Everybody say

body. So we are three part beings. Now, in our

minds, we would say, well, if I'm a spiritual

person, then it's my spirit that has to grow.

Well, when you come to Christ, your spirit is

made alive unto God. You see, we are a spirit.

We have a soul and we live in a body. But when

we come to Christ, the Bible teaches us that

our spirit is complete, that our spirit becomes

righteous because we put on the righteousness

of God in Christ Jesus. Everything that Jesus

has done for us and made available to us, it

is ours. It belongs to us because we are a spirit

created in the image of God. And when our spirit

comes alive to God at salvation, when we are

born again, when our spirit becomes alive unto

God, we're complete. But, we have a soul to deal

with. Our soul is our mind, our will, and our

emotion. Our soul is our thought life. Our soul

is our desires. Our soul is our feelings. How

many of you know that when you came to Christ,

all of those just didn't become holy and set

apart immediately? Now your spirit did, but your

soul is going to have to take some work. Hello?

A lot of work. Regular work. As long as we live

in the earth, right? I mean, my thought life

didn't just get holy all of a sudden when I came

to Christ. My desires didn't change immediately.

Now, the Bible says I'm a new creature. Old has

passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

But that's my spirit. Because I dare say, No

one in this room would say, my thought life is

completely holy and righteous. My desires are

all completely holy and righteous. My feelings

and emotions, they're always in check. They never

get out of check at any point. They never go

towards worry and anxiety. They're just always

joy and peace. We have some work, right? That's

where the spiritual growth takes effect. That's

where it happens. Spiritual growth happens when

our spirit, who is now alive unto God, when our

spirit is allowed to dominate, our thought life,

our desires, and our feelings. Should I say that

again? The spiritual growth takes place when

our spirit, who is perfectly united and connected

with Christ and the Holy Spirit, when our spirit

begins to have dominance over our soul. When

we yield. And we yield. And we don't let any

thought that comes into our mind control our

life anymore. We don't let any desire that our

flesh wants or our mind wants, we don't let those

desires take us away from Christ. We stay in

charge. Our spirit stays in charge of our emotions.

Based on what God has said and what God has promised,

our spirit takes charge over our emotions. Has

anybody seen this work just a little bit in your

life? Have you seen it work a little bit? Does

it work? Is there some growth taking place? If

you're spiritual, there's some growth taking

place. If there's no growth taking place and

you are a believer, you're karma. I love every

one of you. That's why I'm trying to help you.

I'm trying to help you. You are a spirit. Don't

let your soul dominate you anymore. Because you're

a spirit made in the image of God. God is spirit

and we are made in His image. The only being

in this earth, the only physical being in this

earth that's made in the image of God is us.

Rise up. Rise up. Spiritual maturity is not measured

by how long you've been a Christian. A couple

of weeks ago, I realized that I've been a Christian

for 51 years. That's a long time. 51 years. But

spiritual maturity is not measured by how long

you've been a Christian. It's not measured by

how often you attend a worship service with other

Christians. It's not determined by how much scripture

you can quote. I'm telling you now, listen. All

these things are good things. Attending worship

services, that's a good thing. We have too many

Lone Ranger Christians in the world today. That

are ineffective and useless for the kingdom of

God because they're not connected. They'll get

to heaven. But they're not accomplishing anything

for the kingdom of God. God does that work through

the church. I'm not talking about just the service.

I'm talking about the called out ones coming

together. rallying around a single purpose and

vision. That's where the kingdom work happens

in this earth. So attending worship services

is a good thing. I want you to attend every week,

and I believe God wants you to attend every week.

But that doesn't make you a spiritual person.

Just attending. I know some people who have attended

church about every week of their entire life,

and they're still some of the meanest people

I've ever met. Some of the most sour people I've

ever met. But not all of them. There's just some

exceptions that are mean and sour, right? It's

not about how much Scripture you can quote. It

doesn't make you spiritual. Again, I know some

people who can quote a lot about verses that

are just mean. I know some preachers that are

just mean. I mean, they done gone to seminary

and everything, and they're just mean. They just

want to beat everybody up and beat everybody

down all the time. And I just don't see that

in the Bible. Don't see it. That's not who God

is. That's not who God is. Jesus tells us in

Luke chapter 6, verses 43 and 44, For a good

Luke 6:43

tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad

tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known

by its own fruit. We are known by the fruit in

our lives. The fruit that is growing. The fruit

that is maturing. The fruit that's being cultivated.

In our lives. That's how we're known. Jesus even

says, I'm the vine, you're the branches. And

if you connect with me in the right way, you're

going to bear much fruit. Jesus said. So spiritual

growth is measured by spiritual fruit. And that

spiritual fruit constantly increasing. And always

being evidenced in our lives. That's a spiritual

person. Who is spiritually growing and winds

up being spiritually mature. Being spiritually

mature, again, doesn't mean that you've arrived.

Because none of us have. Now this series, I'm

going to remind you, it's not about us looking

at our kids. It's not about us looking at our

parents. It's not about us looking at our spouses.

It's not about thinking about people who aren't

here that you wish were here. That happens a

lot in church. Boy, I wish so -and -so was here.

Because they really need this. So just go ahead

and say, I need this. I need this. It's not about

someone who's not here. God knew that they weren't

going to be here. God knew that you were going

to be here. So this is obviously for you. Hallelujah.

Self -examination. We're all a work in progress.

Galatians 5, 22. We hadn't made it to 23 yet.

In six weeks. In week number seven, we're still

in verse 22. The fruit of the Spirit is love,

joy, peace, patience, patience, patience, kindness,

goodness. Faithfulness. How many of you have

had a doorway in your house and as the kids grew,

you marked their heights on the doorway and might

write down the year and write their name? Well,

if you want to be growing spiritually, I want

you to think about how is your love walk? Not

with just the easy people to love. With everybody.

How's your love walk? How is your joy? What's

your level of joy that you experience every day?

Because that's kingdom right there. Joy is. How's

your level of peace? Not just when everything's

smooth sailing. Not when everything's going your

way. To have joy and peace and to walk in love

shows that we are spiritually mature. If we lose

our joy and lose our peace at the drop of anything

that happens, guess what? We live in a fallen

world and stuff is going to happen to all of

us. On a regular daily basis, there are things

that are going to happen that are going to give

you and me an opportunity. To lose our joy and

lose our peace every day. Every five minutes

or less when you're driving on 27 or I -4. You

have an opportunity to lose your peace and lose

your joy and not walk in love. Hello? What about

patience? How patient are you? That's going to

let you know how spiritually mature you are,

is how much patience you have, how kind you are.

Do people look at you as a kind person or a mean

person? What about goodness? Are things going

on in your life where other people say, well,

I wouldn't think a Christian should say that,

or I wouldn't think a Christian should do that.

Those things shouldn't be in our lives. And today,

we're going to talk about faithfulness. Everybody

say faithfulness. Faithfulness. Now, if you need

to catch up on those other ones, all you have

to do is go to our podcast and listen to all

of them. It'd be the easiest way to get it. Now,

faithfulness, that Koine Greek word that's translated

faithfulness is the word pistis. This is a definition.

It's not just faithfulness like last week. Right?

We looked up goodness and it just said goodness.

And then it gave us some examples. But this word

is faith, belief, trust, assurance, confidence,

and fidelity. That's what the word is. It's not

just fidelity, which we would translate as faithfulness.

It's not just that word. It includes faith. We

talk about faith a lot here at Elation Church.

Because without faith, it's impossible to please

God. Faith is persuasion. It's a moral conviction

of a religious truth. It's reliance upon Christ

and its constancy in our profession or our confession.

Faithfulness is the consistency part. Consistency

in your faith, in your persuasion, in your conviction

of religious truth. Consistency in your reliance

upon Christ. Consistency in your confession,

profession, in your words. Consistent. Consistent

in faith. That's what faithfulness is. And you

might say, well, the Bible says faithfulness.

No, the Bible says faith. Everybody knows the

Bible was not written in English, right? The

New Testament was written in Koine Greek. The

word is faith. But it includes faithfulness.

So we're going to talk about both. The Bible

says in 2 Corinthians 5, 7, we walk by faith,

just like we sang in our song, we walk by faith,

not by sight. We walk by faith, not by sight.

So we don't live our lives based on what we see.

We don't always react. Based on what we see.

Because how many of us have the opportunity to

react in a way that is not spiritual based on

what we see? We react, we're quick to react in

a way that doesn't honor God or please God. If

we just live on what we see, what we think or

we feel, we could just put those along with us.

We walk by faith. And not by sight. Galatians

3 .11 says this, No one is justified by the law

in the sight of God. That's evident. For the

just, those who are justified, just as if they

never sinned before God, the just shall live

by faith. The just shall live by faith. Hebrews

11 .6 It is impossible to please God without

faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe

that God exists and that He rewards those who

sincerely seek Him. Got to believe those things.

Now, if we're supposed to live by faith and walk

by faith, and we can only please God through

faith, then we need to know what it is. We need

to know what it is. So what is faith? It's a

strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a

religion. Now that's what most people think that

faith is. That's the Merriam -Webster definition

of faith. It's kind of like, are you a person

of faith? So it's just a real general term. Do

you have a strong belief in God or in the doctrines

of a religion? People call that faith. Merriam

-Webster calls that faith. Webster also calls

faith complete trust or confidence in someone

or something. When you surrendered your weight

to the chair that you're in, you believed that

it would hold you up. You had faith that it would

hold you up. I've sat in some chairs before that

I had faith it would hold me up, but they didn't.

Not just because I'm fat, but because they were

those plastic stackable ones and over time they

get brittle. and you sit in them, and pop, there

goes the leg, and I'm on the floor. Gen and I

sat at a pastor's house in a tree swing, and

not a tree swing, a porch swing that was attached

by a chain, and we were swinging. Boom! Right

after my first back surgery, boom, there I went.

I had faith that it would hold me up, but it

wouldn't. I've had faith in people that was misplaced

because they let me down. So faith is complete

trust or confidence in someone or something.

We just have to make sure that our faith is in

the right someone who will never let us down.

Hebrews 11 .1, this is the Bible definition of

faith. We looked at Webster's definition. Here's

the Bible definition. Now, faith is the substance

of things hoped for. Everybody say confident

expectation. That's what the word hope means

in the Bible. It's not hope, so hope. That Greek

word means a confident expectation that you can

anticipate with pleasure. You're so confident

you can be happy about it. Faith is the substance

of things hoped for, the evidence of things not

seen. Now, I did a little bit of study and I

looked at word helps online and took the phrases

from that to give us an easier understanding.

Faith is standing. In confident expectation of

a guaranteed agreement. How many of you know

if God said it, it's guaranteed? So faith is

standing in confident expectation of a guaranteed

agreement with an inner conviction before seeing

the deed fulfilled. And then the Bible goes on

and talks about... People like Abraham. He's

75 years old. God says, I'm going to make you

the father of nations. He didn't have a child.

For 25 years, he believed God. Stood in faith.

There's probably a little wavering along the

way, but he's human. There's some little things

that we can pick out in his life and say, well,

he was kind of wavering a little bit. Well, bless

your heart, you're probably going to waver a

little bit too. But he stood in confident expectation

that God was going to keep his word because he

had a guaranteed agreement from God that he was

going to be the father of nations. He didn't

know how it was going to happen and the longer

it took, he's like, my body's dead, my wife's,

Old, not going to have a baby. Wavered a little

bit. But God came back and said, no, no more

wavering because I'm going to change your name.

Now everybody's going to say that you're going

to be the father of many nations and you're going

to have to tell everybody that's who you are

because I changed your name. And that was even

a year before. The promise was fulfilled. Hello?

So faith is standing in confident expectation

of a guaranteed agreement with an inner conviction

before seeing the deed fulfilled. Faith is being

completely confident in God's faithfulness. Look

to the person beside you and tell them, God's

faithful. We've got to be completely confident

of His faithfulness. Now, it's recorded in the

Gospels that Jesus was amazed on two occasions.

Only two times it's recorded. Two times. And

both times that he was amazed, he was amazed

over people's faith. I mean, think about it.

For God to say, wow. Look to the person beside

you and tell them, listen fast. Listen fast.

The first one is because of lack of faith. In

Mark 6, verses 4 through 6, Jesus told them,

Mark 6:4–6

a prophet is honored everywhere except in his

own hometown and among his own relatives and

his own family. And because of their unbelief,

everybody say the people of Nazareth, because

of their unbelief, Jesus, who is all God and

all man at the same time, The Bible is filled

with so many miracles that He did while He was

here, and all of them aren't even recorded, just

the ones that we need to know to understand.

He did way more than the Bible records. It says,

because of their unbelief, Jesus couldn't do

any mighty miracles among them except to place

His hands on a few sick people and heal them.

This tells us that Jesus wanted to do a lot more

for the people of Nazareth. But it says He couldn't.

He couldn't. I believe God wants to do a lot

more for me and for you than we're experiencing

right now. But we're not seeing it because of

a lack of faith. He was amazed at their unbelief,

the Bible says. Everybody say, wow. Jesus is

like, I have so much for you because of your

unbelief. Can't do it. Can't help you. The second

time he said wow over someone's faith was because

of great faith. Everybody say great faith. Luke

Luke 7:1–10

7, verses 1 through 10. When Jesus had finished

saying all this to the people, he returned to

Capernaum. At that time, the highly valued slave

of a Roman officer was sick and near death. When

the officer heard about Jesus, he heard about

Jesus. Oh, Jesus is helping a lot of people.

Jesus is healing a lot of people. When he heard

about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish leaders

to ask him to come and heal his slave. So they

earnestly begged Jesus to come help the man.

If anyone deserves your help, he does, they said.

For he loves the Jewish people. And even built

a synagogue for us. So Jesus went with them.

But just before they arrived at the house, the

officer sent some friends to say, listen, Lord,

don't trouble yourself by coming to my home.

I'm not worthy of such an honor. I'm not even

worthy to come and meet you. Listen to the message

that he sent to Jesus. Just say the word from

where you are, and my servant will be healed.

Jesus, just say the word. You don't have to come.

You don't have to lay hands on him. You don't

have to do anything but say the word. And then

he says, I know this because I'm a man under

the authority of my superior officers and I have

authority over my soldiers. I only need to say

go and they go. Or come and they come. And if

I say to my slaves, do this, they do it. When

Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Everybody say,

wow. I mean, the first time he said wow, I was

like, wow. This time he said, wow. Turning to

the crowd that was following him, he said, I

tell you. I haven't seen faith like this in all

of Israel. And when the officer's friends returned

to his house, they found the slave completely

healed. Completely. Because Jesus spoke a word.

And a Roman officer had faith that if Jesus said

it, It's as good as done. It's as good as done.

Guaranteed. Looking back to our definition. Guaranteed.

If Jesus said it, He saw it as guaranteed. So

where does this faith come from? Faith comes

from hearing. It begins with hearing. Hearing

what God has said. Romans 10, 17 says this. So

faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word

of God. So we have to hear what God said. It's

got to come from God for us to have our faith

placed in the right person. Has to come from

God. Is everybody with me? The next step is believing.

After we hear, we have an option. Are we going

to believe? Are we going to really believe? Are

we going to say, God, you said it? That means

it's guaranteed. I believe. Even in the face

of seeing something in the natural realm, in

our earthly realm. that looks like it's in contrast

to what God has said, are we going to go with

what God has said, or are we going to go with

what we see? Faith continues by wholeheartedly

believing and having confidence in what God has

said. 2 Corinthians 5, 7, we've already looked

at this. We walk by faith and not by sight. We

wholeheartedly believe what God has said. And

that's where we walk. That's where we live. In

what God has said. Not saying that what we see

doesn't exist. What we're saying is, there's

a higher truth that's bigger and higher, and

there's supernatural power that is higher than

what I'm seeing right now. The next thing is

speaking. Everybody say speaking. Because when

you wholeheartedly believe it, you begin to speak

in agreement with what God has said. Your words

change. I gave you more than one verse on this

one, just so, you know, just in case you bucked

that a little bit. Got more than one verse. 2

Corinthians 4 .13 Since we have the same spirit

of faith, according to what is written, I believed

and therefore I spoke. This is David talking.

That's where the quote is coming from. It's coming

from Psalms. I believed and therefore I spoke.

When David was facing Goliath, he believed that

God was with him. He believed that God was going

to give him victory. Even though he looked up

and saw a giant whose head would hit that basketball

rim, or at least the net. He was nine feet tall,

plus. Even though he's a young kid and he looks

at that, he says, hey. I come at you in the name

of the Lord and God's going to give you unto

my hand. He believed it and he said it. Before

he received it. Before the deed was done. He

said it. And then he put in this psalm to God

that winds up being the inspired word of God

for us. He says, I believed and therefore I spoke.

And then Paul. reiterates that in the New Testament.

He says, look, we also believe and therefore

speak. So we have to have our words in agreement

with what God has said. Romans 10, 8 through

10. Give you more than one verse here. The Word

is near you in your mouth and in your heart.

See, we have to believe in our heart. But it's

more than just believing in our heart. It's got

to move to our mouth. Some of you are thinking

way too hard. I can tell it on your face. The

word is near you. What is that word? It says

right here, that is the word of faith which we

preach. The word is near you in your mouth and

in your heart. It's got to be in your mouth too,

not just your heart. Romans 10, 8 through 10,

verse 9, listen. If you confess with your mouth

the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that

God has raised him from the dead, you will be

saved. Confess with your mouth, believe with

your heart, and to walk by faith, You know what?

We're saved by grace through faith. That's how

we come into a relationship with Christ. But

that's not where it ends. Faith does not end

at salvation. And faith works the same way. Works

the same way. It's God who has declared it. It's

God who has said it. It's His Word. His promise.

But we receive it by faith. That's how we take

hold of it. That's how we took hold of salvation.

Hello? So it works the same. Confessing with

our mouth and believing in our heart. For with

the heart one believes unto righteousness. And

with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.

So we believe and we speak. And then, speaking

is part of acting, but there has to be some kind

of action. Some kind of corresponding action.

that is directed by God and directed by the Spirit,

a corresponding action. Faith acts in agreement

with what God has said. The Bible says in James

2 .26, faith without works is dead. Faith without

a corresponding action is a faith that doesn't

produce. It's a dead faith. It's not going to

produce or accomplish anything. It's not going

to receive anything. It has to be a corresponding

action. How many of you know the man Charles

Blondin? I hadn't talked about him in a while.

I've talked about him before. That was his stage

name or his performer name was Charles Blondin.

His real name was Jean -Francois Gravelet. That's

four years of French. That's as good as I get.

He lived from 1824 to 1897. He was a French tightrope

walker and acrobat. He had an affinity for Niagara

Falls. So on multiple occasions, he put a tightrope.

Has anybody ever been to Niagara Falls? It's

pictures do not do it justice. Just going to

say. If you haven't been to Niagara Falls, but

you've been to the Grand Canyon, I say it in

the same sense of the phrase, pictures do not

do it justice. Okay? He put a tightrope. You

know. Not like right on the falls, that would

be stupid because it would be wet all the time.

Because it's just wet. If you've been there,

it's wet. But he put it where you could see the

falls, right? And back then it was just newspapers,

and so here's some actual copies of old newspapers,

some pictures. Put a big tightrope across the

Niagara River, right there at the falls, and

he would walk across the tightrope. One time

he even took a table and a chair and got out

there and set that on the tightrope and sat down.

Acted like he was eating on this tightrope. I

mean, it's a long way down. One time he even

got somebody to get on his back. That was a brave

person, right? To get on the back of Charles

Blondin. And go across the tightrope. But one

day. Everybody say one day. One day. He brought

a wheelbarrow. I don't have a picture of a wheelbarrow.

But one day he brought a wheelbarrow. And he

got on the tightrope. And he pushed the wheelbarrow

all the way across Niagara River. Turned around

and came back. And then when he got back to where

hundreds of people had gathered. Maybe thousands.

He said, how many of you think that I can put

a person in this wheelbarrow and push it across

this tightrope, go all the way across Niagara

River and come back? How many of you think I

can? Boy, the crowd just cheered. We believe.

We believe you can do it, Charles. We've seen

you do all this amazing stuff. We believe that

you can do it. They were just cheering him. He's

like, do you really believe? I mean, he worked

them up. Do you really believe I can push somebody

in this wheelbarrow across? Yes, we believe.

And then he said this. Who wants to volunteer

to get in a wheelbarrow? Crickets. Well, I believe

you can do it, but I'm not getting in a wheelbarrow.

Finally, his promoter got in the wheelbarrow.

And he pushed his promoter across and back. Everyone

believed he could. But no one was willing to

get in the wheelbarrow. No. I want you to get

this. Faith is getting in the wheelbarrow. With

Jesus pushing it, right? No matter what you see,

no matter what you think, no matter what you

feel, faith is getting in that wheelbarrow. Having

total trust and confidence in what God has said.

So you're just like, it's already guaranteed

because God said it, so I will have no fear.

I will have no hesitation. Following what God

has said. Doing what God has said. Believing

that He is faithful and He's going to keep His

word. Now, faithfulness is staying in the wheelbarrow.

Because sometimes we can get a little motivated

and we can hop in the wheelbarrow, but then we

want to jump out. When we see something, we're

like, no, mm -mm. It'd be like being in Charles

Blondin's wheelbarrow and then all of a sudden

a big thunderstorm come up. Well, that changes

everything now. When somebody on the other side

grabs a tightrope and starts shaking it. Nope,

not getting in it now. Faithfulness is staying

in the wheelbarrow. No matter what you see. Because

you have confidence in God. in what God has said.

See, the world struggles with faithfulness. People

are quick to quit. I can't tell you already now

how many people, I mean, I can count it on both

hands and both feet, how many people have came

to our church and said, boy, we've been praying

for a church and looking for a church, and this

is it. We found it. I can't tell you how many

people said, we found it. And then I've never

seen them again. They didn't even come back the

second week. It's easy to get emotional and jump

in, but people are quick to quit. Commitments

change quickly. Attention shifts quickly. Faithfulness

is a fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit produces

faithfulness. And that is the ability to remain

steady over time. Remain steady. Anyone can be

passionate temporarily. Anybody can get excited

in the moment. Anybody can start something emotionally.

But spiritually mature believers remain faithful

over time. You know why faithfulness is a fruit

of the Spirit? Because God is faithful. And the

fruit of the Spirit is the perfect character

of God. It reveals perfect character of God.

Lamentations. You might have to rub the pages

together to find that one in your Bible. Lamentations

Lamentations 3:22

3, verses 22 and 23. The faithful love of the

Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great

is His faithfulness. Great is His faithfulness.

He's not fickle. He's faithful. Great is His

faithfulness. His mercies begin afresh. each

morning, every morning, His love and His mercy

never ceases, never ends. God is faithful. God

always does what He says He will do. Always.

Always. God's faithfulness does not depend on

people's responses. Whether His faithfulness

is evident in your life depends on your faith.

That's what He said, right? He said, I want to

do more than just lay hands on a few sick people,

but I couldn't because of your unbelief. But

He is faithful. He is faithful. He will always

keep His promises. But some of His promises are

attached to I'll do this for you if you will

do this. But God's going to keep His end of the

deal. Always. Jesus was faithful to the end.

He didn't run from His calling when it got tough.

He knew what was going to happen the night that

He was betrayed when He was beaten and whipped

and nailed to the cross. He knew all that was

going to happen. And just the intensity of that

moment. I mean, He's sweating blood. The capillaries

under his skin are bursting. Not just from the

physical pain, but from the spiritual heaviness

of the sins of humanity being placed on him.

This is God. Completely righteous, completely

holy. Becoming your sin and my sin. God took

on sin for us. His faithfulness wasn't based

on circumstances. His faithfulness wasn't based

on everything going well and everything going

easy. He was faithful to the end. Faithful to

the end. Since God is faithful, it makes absolute

perfect sense that He would desire to cultivate

and manifest this same characteristic of faithfulness

in His people, in us. That's why faith and faithfulness

is a fruit of the Spirit. And the goal of spiritual

growth, which is what we're talking about. I

know it might have seemed that we're talking

about something else, but no, we're still talking

about spiritual growth. The goal of spiritual

growth is for you and me to become more like

Jesus. Conformed into His image. Representing

His kingdom in the earth. That's the goal. Faithfulness

is a fruit of the Spirit. I removed these verses

because I knew I was going to be talking about

a whole lot more, but listen. The Bible teaches

us that the Holy Spirit takes the things of God,

takes hold of the things of God, the things that

God has for us, and He declares them, He intensifies

them, He makes them known to us. That's why this

is the fruit of the Spirit, because He's the

one who connects us. He is God who connects us

to the things of God. And also, fruit grows naturally

where a healthy connection exists. I've already

shared this verse, but Jesus said, He's the vine,

we're the branches. If we will abide in Him,

not just visit Him every once in a while, but

abide in Him, live in Him, we're going to bear

much fruit. His fruit is going to be evident

in our lives. Spiritual fruit. So, spiritual

growth is not about more self -dedication. It's

not about you just like... Got to be better.

Got to do better. I got to do this. I got to

just rev up all I can to be more faithful and

have more faith. You're not going to accomplish

it through self -dedication or determination

or effort. You're not going to accomplish it.

But that doesn't mean you can't accomplish it.

That doesn't mean that you can't grow in faith

and faithfulness. And that be more evident in

your life? But here's how it's going to be cultivated.

By abiding more in Christ. We have things that

pull on us all the time. Hello? We have things

just pulling at us. All directions pulling hard.

I'm not telling you that you have to check out

of life to abide in Christ. But you have to acknowledge

Him. You have to acknowledge the indwelling presence

of the Holy Spirit. I believe all of us could

acknowledge the indwelling presence of the Holy

Spirit more than we are right now. Walking in

the Spirit. Yielding to the Spirit's leading.

Sensitive to the still small voice of God in

every moment. I said this before, I'll say it

again. He knows everything about everything anyway.

So why do we need to strike out on our own to

try to do it on our own all the time? We've got

a perfect genius. God is living in us. Hello?

He knows everything about every relationship.

He knows everything about every business dealing.

He knows everything about everything. But yet...

God's not really concerned about my life and

what I'm going through. I just got to figure

it out on my own. No, we need to acknowledge

the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God.

And we need to abide in Christ. Hallelujah. So,

one more time, the measure. Of your spiritual

maturity. The measure of your spiritual growth.

You need to look at the measure of your faith.

Hearing God. Wholeheartedly believing him. As

if what he said is a guarantee. Getting your

words in agreement with what he said. And acting.

Because the Holy Spirit is going to say. Hey,

Dean, I want you to say this. Hey, Dean, I want

you to do this. Hey, Dean, I want you to give

this. And so many times in my life, I mean, I'm

trying, right? I'm not perfect. I don't have

all this down pat. Sometimes, all of a sudden,

I begin to question God. If I say that, they're

not going to receive that, so why even say it?

It's going to be weird if I give them this. It's

going to be weird if I do this. Sometimes we

talk God out of what He's telling us to do. I

know you never have. Because you're way more

spiritually mature than I am. I know you never

have. Listen. The measure of our faith and the

measure of our faithfulness, that's a good measure

of our spiritual maturity. We should be able

to look back and say, you know, I remember, that

time when God told me to say this or do this

and I didn't do it, but you know what? Just the

other day, God spoke to me again and I did what

He asked me to do and here's the result. Because

I didn't talk Him out of it this time. I didn't

try to talk Him out of it this time. God, if

that's what you're leading me to do, then I'm

going to do it. Because so many times what God

has asked me to do wound up not having a whole

lot to do with what God was going to do in my

life. It wasn't a direct result of what I did

compared to what God did for me. And I missed

out on a lot of that. But I don't want to miss

out. I want to keep growing. I want faith and

faithfulness to be evident in my life. I want

faith and faithfulness to be increasing in my

life. Because without faith, it's impossible

to please God. But He's going to help us. He's

going to help us. We're not beaten down in condemnation.

We're just hearing God say, all right, let's

go. Come up. Step up from where you are. Step

up higher. Come up higher. This online worship

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