FAITH AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF THE SPIRIT!

Galatians 5:16-26

INTRODUCTION: As we inspect the fruit of the Spirit in our lives we may find some of those facets are mature and strong while other of the facets of the fruit of the Spirit were immature and weak! These nine facets of the Spirit describe the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is love, joy, peace and patient as well as the other facets of the fruit of the Spirit. The more we work at maturing those nine facets of the Holy Spirit the more like our Lord Jesus we will be. If we want the fruit of the Spirit to mature in us we must learn to abide in our Lord Jesus Christ: John 15:1-5. Today we will look at the seventh facet of the Holy Spirit: faithfulness!

I. WHAT IS FAITH?

Galatians 5:22-23: Faith is born out of belief! When we believe with all our hearts what our Lord has promised He will do! Hebrews 10:22-25. We give to the work of our Lord because we trust in His promises: 2 Corinthians 9:6-11. The reason we are faithful to worship our Lord we because we believe His Word: Revelations 4:11. Faith is born out of our belief! Our faith speaks of our loyalty, trust and dependability. When you stand one day before your Lord Jesus will you hear Him say to you “Well done, thou good and faithful servant?” John 15:15; John 1:12-13: So today if you are born again you are a son or daughter of God! Faith, the Bible says comes from hearing the Word of God! Romans 10:17.

II. WHY SHOULD YOU DESIRE TO BE A PERSON OF FAITH?

Why should we desire to be faithful? We should desire to be faithful because our Lord is faithful. Ephesians 2:8-10. Lamentations 3:22-23; 1 Corinthians 10:11-13. Our God is faithful to keep us saved: 1 Corinthians 1:8-9. God is faithful to forgive our sins: 1 John 1:9. God is faithful to strengthen us: 2 Thessalonians 3:3; Psalm 36:5. God is even faithful to us when we are not faithful to Him: 2 Timothy 2:13; 1 Timothy 1:12.

III. WHERE DOES GOD EXPECT HIS CHLDREN TO WALK BY FAITH?

God expects His children to walk by faith in our family relationships, that is where faith begins. If we are not faithful in our families we won’t be faithful anywhere else. Malachi 2:15-16. Children are to be faithful and obedient to their parents: Ephesians 6:1-3. Fathers are to be faithful to their children: Ephesians 6:4. Employees are to be faithful to their employers: Ephesians 6:5-8. We are called to be faithful to our friends: Proverbs 17:17; Proverbs 27:9-10. We need to be faithful to our local church: Hebrews 10:25. We need to learn to be faithful with our finances: Luke 16:10-11; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2. We need to be faithful to the race our Lord has called us to run: 2 Timothy 4:7; Revelation 2:10; 1 Corinthians 4:1-2. We must be faithful in abiding in our Lord Jesus Christ: John 15:4-5; 8.