We Can and Must Be Faithful

Revelation 2:10-11

INTRO: Good morning church. This morning turn to the book of Revelation chapter 1 and we will start by reading a few verses to set the groundwork for our lesson.
Revelation 1:9-11, “9. I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11. saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,'' and, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.''”

The Apostle John was instructed by the Lord to write down the things that he saw in a book. He was to send that book to the seven congregations in the area known as Asia. In chapters two and three, the Lord sent a message to each of these churches, and the verses we will read next are from the message that the Lord had John send to the church in Smyrna.
Revelation 2:10-11, “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”
Our lesson for this morning is based on the Lord's instruction in that message… to be faithful. I thought since we are entering a new year it would be a good time for us to remember that we can, and we must, be faithful in 2024. That's the title of our lesson, and we want to emphasize the need for faithfulness. I hope as we go through the lesson, we'll see why faithfulness is such an important matter.

I. The first point we need to make is that faithfulness can be affected by difficult circumstances. The Bible makes this very clear.

A. To illustrate the point, let's consider the message to the church in Smyrna.

1. If we look at the information that was sent to that church, we see that this congregation was facing great tribulation. Although it would end in a relatively short time, it was going to continue for a while.
2. The Lord taught in the parable of the sower that tribulation can cause a believer to stumble and fall. Remember how the sower went forth to sow his seed? And as he did so, the seed fell upon four different types of soil.

a. Then the Lord explained what he meant in that parable. In Matthew 13: 20-21, He explained what happened when the seed was sown on stony ground. As Mark explained a few weeks ago this was where a thin layer of soil covered a rocky area. Matthew 13:20-21. “20. "But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21. "yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.”
b. The Lord is talking about someone who hears the gospel, receives it, and allows the gospel to produce fruit in their life. They become a believer. Then after a while, they face some type of tribulation because of the word of God. The end result is they are offended or they stumble and fall away.

3. The Lord made it very clear in this part of His parable that tribulation can cause a believer to stumble. Keeping in mind what we've already talked about. The church in Smyrna was facing tribulation. What could be the result of that tribulation? It could have caused some of the believers to fall away.
4. What was the Lord's counsel? You be faithful. If you want to receive a crown of life, it's necessary that you remain faithful. Regardless of the tribulation that the church in Smyrna was facing, the Lord called upon that congregation to be faithful unto death, and they would receive a crown of life.

B. We're illustrating the point that faithfulness can be affected by difficult circumstances. I believe the message to the church in Smyrna makes that point very clear. We have seen that same thing in Jesus’ explanation of His parable of the sower. What I would like to do now is look at two of God's greatest servants who were affected by difficult circumstances.

1. If we were to make a short list of great servants of God, I know two men who would be on that list. One would be Elijah, the other would be John the Baptist. There would be others, but I think on a short list of great servants of God, great men of faith, we would include Elijah and John.

a. Let's consider Elijah. Elijah was one of two men who left this earth without going through the dying process. The Bible teaches in 2^nd Kings 2:11 that Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. That would have been a sight to behold, and Elisha was there to see it. The other man who left the earth without going through the dying process of course was Enoch. The Bible teaches that he was transformed, that he should not see death.
b. Elijah went up into heaven by a whirlwind, and that ought to impress us with God’s attitude toward this man.

i. According to Matthew 17, there were two great Old Testament characters that appeared with the Lord when He was transfigured. One was Moses, and the other was Elijah.
ii. Moses represented the law. Elijah represented the prophets. Jesus was transfigured before three of His disciples, Peter, James and John. His countenance was changed, and those men were there to observe and hear God speak from heaven, identify Jesus as His beloved son, and saying, “hear ye, him”.
iii. At one time, God's people were to listen to Moses. At one time, God's people were to listen to the prophets. But now God's people are to listen to His beloved son.

c. When you study the life of Elijah in the book of 1^st Kings, you will see in chapter 18 that he challenged and defeated the prophets of Baal. Elijah challenged those false prophets, and he won a great victory on that day. He showed the children of Israel that Jehovah is the one true God and Baal is not. I think about Elijah out there all by himself against 450 false prophets. But God was with him, and God showed the people He is the one true God.
d. We have said that faithfulness can be affected by difficult circumstances. Let's look at 1^st Kings 19:1f. “1. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.'' 3. And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.” “4. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”

i. Jezebel threatened to take Elijah's life. I suspect we can believe that Jezebel was quite serious when she made that threat. It was not much later when she had Naboth put to death so that her husband Ahab could have his vineyard. She used some underhanded means to have him killed.
ii. Jezebel was a wicked person and she threatened to take Elijah's life. This is the same man who stood up against 450 false prophets. What does he do now? After he learned of Jezebel's threat, he went out into the wilderness, sat down under a tree, and wanted his life to come to an end.

2. Years after Elijah, John the Baptist came, and according to Luke 1:17, it was “… in the spirit and the power of Elijah… ” Isaiah had prophesied about the coming of John and Malachi did as well. Malachi concluded his book by calling upon the children of Israel to look for the coming of Elijah. That prophecy was concerning John.

a. John was the Lord's forerunner, and he did his work well. Jesus commended John in Matthew 11:11, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist;…” That's quite a high endorsement, wouldn't you say? That was the Lord's assessment of John.
b. I would like to make this interesting observation. John did not go to the cities where the people lived to preach. He preached out in the wilderness. The people left the comforts of the cities to go out to hear him. When they went to hear him in the wilderness, they were not disappointed. John told it like it is. Many people turned from their evil ways and were looking forward to the coming of Christ.
c. Let's back up to Matthew 11:2-3. John was in prison. He was facing difficult circumstances and he sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus a question. Matthew 11:2-3 “And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?''”

i. Whenever I think of that question that John asked, it makes me sad. This is the same man that the Lord highly endorsed. This is the same man who preached his heart out, in the wilderness and led many people to God.  Now he was facing some difficult circumstances. He was in prison, not as a thief or a robber or a murderer. He had told Herod he had no right to his wife. Consequently, he was put in prison and eventually he was beheaded. Those difficult circumstances affected the faith of John.

ii. The Lord responded to those two disciples of John in Matthew 11:4-6, “… "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: "The blind receive their sight and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.''” In other words, the Lord said, you go and tell him about what I'm doing. Those actions prove that Jesus is the son of God.

iii. Yes, He is the one who was to come and no, there's no need to be looking for someone else. John, you've just got to hold on… and he did.

C. Thinking about the church in Smyrna, about Elijah, and about John, these illustrate how faithfulness can be affected by difficult circumstances.
D. We hope that would not be the case for us, but I think we've already seen that 2024 is going to have its share of challenges. We must not allow these challenges to affect our faithfulness to the Lord. Yes, we all have concerns.

1. We are concerned about the effects that RSV, COVID and Flu are having on people and congregations.
We are concerned about social unrest, and the divisions we see developing.
We are concerned about the political climate, both here and abroad.
We are concerned about wars and strife in many places.
We are concerned about the breakdown of social order, focus on self over others, growth of hatred and discrimination in all its forms.
2. Difficult circumstances can affect the faithfulness of God's children, but, we can be faithful to God, and we must be faithful to God this year, regardless of the challenges that we might face.

II. We do need to ask the question, exactly what is faithfulness? Jesus said something in Matthew 24 that helps explain exactly what faithfulness is. Let's turn to Matthew 24:42 and read a few verses, Jesus said, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.” Then at verse 44f “"Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him. "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? "Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.”

A. These words Jesus presented are to help us be prepared for His return. He said, be ready. He went on to say that in such an hour as you think not, the son of man will come. In other words, we do not know when the Lord is coming back. We know he's coming back, but we don't know when. The Lord calls upon His followers to be ready, to be prepared. He even said, “watch”.
B. A man put his servant in charge of taking care of his household. That would include taking care of his fellow servants. If that servant was faithful, he would fulfill his responsibilities to his master, and then his master would bless him abundantly. While the master was away the servant would be free to decide if he would fulfill his responsibilities or not. If he was faithful, a faithful servant, he would do what his master instructed him to do. As Rob reminded us our decisions have consequences.
C. From a practical perspective then, faithfulness is fulfilling our responsibilities to the Lord until He returns. I've heard many definitions of faithfulness over the years, but I think that's just about as practical a definition as we can possibly find. Faithfulness is fulfilling our responsibilities to the Lord until he returns.

III. Now, there are things revealed to us in the Bible that will help us to be faithful. Let's consider some of them.

A. First, we need to keep in mind that God is faithful. The other day in preparing the lesson, I took my concordance out and looked up the word faithful. It's found many times in the Bible. Many of those passages that mention faithfulness are describing or declaring the faithfulness of God.

1. 1^st Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” That's plain and to the point, isn't it? God is faithful.
2. Next 1^st Corinthians 10:13. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” The middle part of this verse very clearly states that God is faithful.
3. Let's also look at Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” By the way, this statement is made just before chapter eleven, the great faith chapter of the Bible. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.” That's an admonition given to Christians. We're being told to be faithful… and what should motivate us to be faithful? The verse says, “... for He who promised is faithful.” We see how God's faithfulness should affect our faithfulness.
4. We don't have to question whether God is faithful because the Bible declares repeatedly that He is faithful. When God says something, we can count on it. The Bible also says that God cannot lie. If He could lie, then He couldn't be faithful. Our God is faithful, and He cannot lie. Keeping God's faithfulness in mind will help us to be faithful.
5. The difficult circumstances people face can cause them to take their focus off God. When we lose that focus, we lose track of the fact that God is faithful. We always need to keep in mind that regardless of circumstances that we're facing, God is faithful.

B. Second, this is something else that we need to keep in mind that will help us to be faithful—Christ is faithful. Let's look at Hebrews chapter 3. Christ has already been compared to the angels, showing that He is superior. Jesus is God's spokesman today. There have been occasions when God delivered messages through the angels. The writer of Hebrews went to great lengths to show that Jesus is far superior to the angels. Moses at one time was God's spokesman, but Jesus is far superior to Moses.

1. Hebrews 3:1-2, “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house.” To his credit, Moses was faithful, but was Moses perfect? No, he wasn't. You will all remember that on one occasion God told him to speak to the rock, and he struck the rock instead. Jesus never violated the will of His father. He came to do the will of the father, and He was faithful in all ways.
2. Much in the book of Hebrews has to do with the Lord's priesthood, showing that Jesus is the great priest. He's superior to the priests in the Old Testament. He's our merciful and faithful high priest.

C. Third, we need to keep in mind, as Christians we have the responsibility of being faithful. We've already touched on that several times, but let's be just a little bit more direct.

1. Look at 1^st Corinthians 4:2, “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” A steward is someone who's given the responsibility of taking care of someone else's possessions. The Lord has given us our blessings, and we are responsible for being faithful in using those blessings.
2. A steward has one main requirement and that is to be found faithful. There are many passages in the Bible that teach us to be faithful. This is one that I believe is very clear and to the point… “it is required”

D. The fourth thing that we need to keep in mind is that the Lord will bless His faithful followers.

1. Going back to Matthew and the parables. Looking at the Lord's parable of the talents in chapter 25, consider the way two of the servants used what they were given.
2. These were stewards of what their master had entrusted to their care. Remember how the master divided up his goods among his servants before he took a long trip?
3. They would be responsible for how they used his goods. When he came back, he reckoned with all of them. One man received five talents. Another man was given two talents. Another man was given one talent. In verse 15 we read, “to each according to his own ability”.

a. Each man was blessed according to his individual ability. Now a talent was a unit of measurement for weighing precious metals, usually gold and silver. It was a weight - not a monetary value. One can see that the master bestowed the weight of blessings and hence responsibility, based on his understanding of the ability of the servant to handle it.
b. We're talking about two of those servants and we should note that these were not like the virgins who WAITED for the Lord’s appearing… these servants were EMPLOYED until his return.

4. Matthew 25:20f, “20. "So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, `Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' 21. "His lord said to him, `Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.' 22. "He also who had received two talents came and said, `Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.' 23. "His lord said to him, `Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'” The Lord will bless His faithful followers when He returns.
5. Remember what Revelation 2:10 says, “… be faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life”…eternal life. In the opening verses of Revelation, Christians are described as kings and priests. When we think of a king, we think of someone wearing a crown, don’t we? What's the crown that will be given to the Lord's faithful followers? It's a crown of life.
6. In Revelation 14:13 we don't find the word faithful, but the concept is certainly there. “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write: `Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' '' "Yes,'' says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.''” That's a description of faithfulness, dying in the Lord.

a. Heaven is described as a place of eternal rest. Now is the time to work. The time to rest will be later.
b. John helps us to understand the beauty of heaven in the book of Revelation. Much of what is written is figurative, but what's written ought to cause us to appreciate the beauty and the splendor of heaven. It's a place of rest.

CONCLUSION: Let us keep these things in mind and that will help us to be faithful. God is faithful. Christ is faithful. Christians must be faithful, and the Lord will bless His faithful followers.

We've already seen that this year is going to have its challenges. If what we are concerned about takes place that's going to affect us. Regardless of the challenges that we might face, we can be faithful in 2024. We can, because the Lord instructed us to be faithful, and He's not going to require us to do anything that we cannot do. When He tells us to be faithful, it's within our power to be faithful.

Not only can we be faithful, but we must be faithful. Oh, how we long to hear those words from our blessed Lord. Well done, good and faithful servant. Did you notice that the five- talent man and the two-talent man were not told that they were perfect? They were told that they were faithful.

We have likely all heard this in some form. People say; “I don't believe I can be good enough because I'm not perfect”—talking about being a Christian. The Bible does teach us to be perfect, but except in the sense of being complete in the sight of God,

We're to grow up and mature in His service. When it talks about perfection, it’s talking about a state of completion or maturity. We know of only one individual who was perfect, and He was nailed to a cross because of our imperfections. We don't have to be perfect to be faithful. While the Lord does not require us to be sinless, (we all err), He does require us to be faithful.

God requires faithfulness, He does not require perfection. We're required to do our level best to live above sin… but we give into temptation at times, and we do sin. Thankfully, the Lord has made it possible for us to seek forgiveness.

When Christians repent and ask for forgiveness, God will give it to us graciously. I'm thankful that God requires faithfulness and not perfection.

Regardless of the challenges that might come our way, we can and we must be faithful to God in 2024. We've made this observation several times this morning. It should go without saying that if we strive to be faithful in 2024, guess what we'll strive to do in 2025? Assuming we are indeed blessed to see that year, it'll become a way of life for us.

Remember, difficult circumstances can affect faithfulness. God has given us the information that will help us to overcome.
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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

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Reference Sermon by: Raymond Sieg