Speaker: Sis. Nelia Cosio , Elder , Elim Community - Hongkong

" Faithfulness "

Faithfulness is something serious that is required from a relationship. For instance, it is a vow between husband and wife to be faithful to each other in marriage. It is like a glue that binds marriage, family, community and church together. Without faithfulness, these institutions will fall apart.

The Bible Concordance has defined faithfulness as being trustful, believing, sure, and true. In the Old Testament, it is associated with trustworthiness having fidelity, having stability, and being firm, fitted correctly, fixed, and steadfast.

A person who is faithful is no doubt a person who is true and genuine.

Jesus Is Faithful

Jesus is described as “the faithful witness.” (Revelation 1:5). A faithful Christian will start to be like Jesus.

Jesus is also called “ Faithful and True.” (Revelation 19:11). Faithfulness and being true cannot be separated. These are qualities attributed to Jesus.

Truth is another name of Jesus. He said to Thomas “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6).

Jesus is called “the Word of God.” (Revelation 19:13). The Word of God is the Ancient Word – the Bible. Knowing the Bible by reading it or listening to teachers of the Word is not enough to be faithful. What is essential is to live the Word of God!

Object of Faithfulness

Faithfulness requires an object to show such faithfulness. It is hard to tell that one is faithful if there is no object of that faithfulness. In marriage, the object of faithfulness is the spouse. In a community, the members are asked to be faithful to the elders, to the leaders, and to the visions of the flock.

For Christians, their object of faithfulness is Jesus Christ, the Word of God. They cannot be faithful if they do not know to whom they are faithful. They are called to be faithful to the Lord of the flock – Jesus Christ!

How To Be Faithful

We are called, chosen, and faithful followers of Christ. “They will fight with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called, chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14).

God called us. “I have called you by name: you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1).

God chose us. “It was not you who chose me but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain….” (John 15:16). God chose us for a purpose. “In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will.” (Ephesians 1:11).

As God called and chose us, we must be faithful until the end. We must be firm in our relationship with the Lord. We must be aware of his presence in the Eucharist, in our hearts, in other people, in our surroundings, everywhere – God is omnipresent.

We must acknowledge that there is God who is the object of our faithful relationship. We must maintain our covenant relationship, an unbreakable promise, with the Lord.

We must also consider ourselves as part of the Church, the Bride of Christ who is the Groom. Christ will fetch us on his second coming. There shall be union at the end of time. We, who constitute the Church as the Bride, are expected to be faithful to Christ, the Groom, until his second coming.

Jesus will come to us in two ways: On our physical death when we see Jesus face to face, and on his second coming on the Final Judgment.

Let us have faith in order to become faithful. “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1).

As we believe and have faith that Christ has lived about 2,000 years ago and that He died for our redemption, let us have faith and believe that Christ will come again. Now is the time to make a decision to remain faithful to Jesus until our last breath of life.

Let our actions match the faith that we are professing. We must be ready always to obey the Word of God. Let the Word change our hearts and way of life. Let us preach, evangelize, and win souls for Christ.

Let us choose to be a faithful servant: prudent, wise, far-sighted, and at work even if the Master is delayed or absent. (Matthew 24:45-47). Let us not be like the wicked servant. (Matthew 24:48-49).

Faithfulness and Its Responsibilities

•  Faithfulness is prompt obedience right away – not later. We must have a sense of urgency to complete the task even if there is plenty of time. Complacency is a sign of unfaithfulness.

•  Faithfulness means we are trustworthy. We are trusted even in small matters. (Luke 16:10).

•  Faithfulness is being aware that we are serving the Lord instead of ourselves or other men.

•  Faithfulness is being accountable for our actions. (Hebrews 4:13).

•  Faithfulness requires excellence. (Lord's Flock Core Value No. 9). “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” (Luke 12:48).

•  Faithfulness requires evangelization with the Word of God. (LF Core Value No. 2). The Word of God must be preached despite inconveniences to us.

•  Faithfulness should not involve compromise – another word of sin.

Exhortation for Faithfulness

•  Let us remain faithful until our Master returns. Let us be ready to face Jesus by doing his will, and not ours. Let us never compromise .

•  Let us not be satisfied by being wood or clay vessel s for the Lord. Let us be silver or gold vessels . (2 Timothy 2:20-21) – doing everything faithfully until our last breath.

•  Let us make sure the value of the Word of God is imparted in us . It is a gift from the Lord and we are responsible for what we do with this gift.

•  “ S o turn from youthful desires and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, along with those who call on the Lord with purity of hearts .” (2 Timothy 2:22).

•  Let us flee from things that go against faith. Let us support with faith the vision of building the Heritage Worship Center . It is a responsibility given to The Lord's Flock.

•  Let us not sin against love. No grumbling. No back-talking. No lying. Let us put a guard in our mouth.

•  Let us not sin against peace. Let us not be a cause of division. Let us work for unity.

•  Let us not sin against purity of heart. Desire nothing for ourselves but desire the goodness of others. Let us also support other ministries. Let us help in “gluing”: together the different ministries in our community. Let us be selfless instead of selfish.

•  Let us resolve issues that obstruct our service to God . Let us join faith walks. Let us be faithful with our tithes and offerings. Let us eliminate sins that keep us from becoming faithful to God. Remember that hidden and compromise sins bring us trouble. Small sins pile up and take us long to confess them. Faithful people do not let sins go unchallenged. Faithful people confess their sins and return to faithfulness in God.