How To Be Counted as Faithful

This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. ² Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2 (NIV)

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’  Matthew 25:21 (CSB)

Note:  I Must Be Ready For God’s DIVINE AUDIT.

All this has been done by God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18 (NCB)

For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 (NLT)

TO BE COUNTED AS FAITHFUL I MUST UNDERSTAND:

1. JESUS IS SUPERIOR TO ANGELS, PROPHETS, MOSES, & US.

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. ² He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. ³ Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴ For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. ⁵ “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. ⁶ But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. Hebrews 3:1-6 (NIV)

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation…¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. Colossians 1:15, 18 (NIV)

2. FAITHFULNESS IS MEASURED BY MY PERSEVERING OBEDIENCE.

…And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. ⁷ So, as the Holy Spirit says:“Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts…Hebrews 3:6b–8a (NIV)

Note:  When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough LISTEN UP.

And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹ So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. Hebrews 3:18-19 (NIV)

We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. Hebrews 3:14 (NIV)

…but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved Matthew 24:13 (NIV)

3. WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO ONE ANOTHER.

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:12-13 (NIV)

Faitfulness Is A COMMUNITY Calling.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 (NIV)

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24 (NIV)

4. SIN HARDENS MY HEART & KILLS MY FAITHFULNESS.

…so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:13b (NIV)

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Ephesians 4:18 (NIV)

5. GOD’S PROMISE OF REST & HIS WARNING REMAIN FOR ME.

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. ² For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Hebrews 4:1-2 (NIV)

Note: Rest Is Found By OBEDIENCE, Not By OBSERVANCE.

There still remains a place of rest, a true Sabbath, for the people of God ¹⁰ because those who enter into salvation’s rest lay down their labors in the same way that God entered into a Sabbath rest from His. ¹¹ So let us move forward to enter this rest, so that none of us fall into the kind of faithless disobedience that prevented them from entering. Hebrews 4:9-11 (VOICE)

“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. Matthew 11:28-29 (NIV)

He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.¹⁶ So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. ¹⁷ For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. Colossians 2:14-15, 16-17 (NLT)

6. IT IS A FIGHT REQUIRING MAX EFFORT TO STAY FAITHFUL.

Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.  Hebrews 4:11 (NIV)

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12 (NIV)

So submit yourselves to the one true God and fight against the devil and his schemes. If you do, he will run away in failure. James 1:7 (VOICE)