10/25/2026
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GOD’S CHARACTERISTICS--FAITHFULNESS
Hallmark has a card that describes the faithfulness of our time. It says, "I can’t promise you forever, but I can promise you today." That’s about as deep a commitment as some people are willing to make.
Contrast that to God’s faithfulness,
Psalm 100:5
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Every time we see a rainbow, we are reminded of God’s faithfulness through all generations. He keeps His promises. Faithfulness is one of the characteristics of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control.
Against such things there is no law.
These characteristics will be in us when we are filled with God, the Holy Spirit. Today, we will examine faithfulness. If we looked in the dictionary, we would find a technical definition that says,
"To follow through with a commitment regardless of difficulty."
If a husband says, "I really love my wife," and then he goes out and has an affair with another woman, you may call him a liar. You may call him a cheat. But most of all, you may say, "He is unfaithful." Because that is what he is! And no matter how strong his arguments may be, no matter how loudly he proclaims his love for his wife, you will not believe him because his unfaithfulness negates his proclamations of love.
And if someone says, "I really love the Lord," and then is unfaithful, it’s hard to believe that he really loves the Lord. Because, faithfulness and true love always go together.
Proverbs 20:6
Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?
Contrast that to what the Bible says about God’s faithfulness.
Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
Psalm 33:4
For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.
Psalm 111:7-9
The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.
They are established for ever and ever, enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever—holy and awesome is his name.
Therefore, we can trust God to fulfill His Word and prophecy throughout all time.
Isaiah 25:1
O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago.
Let’s look at some demonstrations of faithfulness in the Bible.
Hebrews 11:1-2
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
This is what the ancients were commended for.
The heroes of faith catalogued in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews were not people who vaguely trusted that "somehow everything will work out right." They were heroes who died for being faithful (acting on their faith). They were not faithful to a principle or a creed, but faithful to a Person, Who is faithful to His promises.
To be faithful in every circumstance, even in face of death or torture, means that we have only one loyalty, and that is to our Lord Jesus Christ. Are we willing to suffer faithfully, knowing our Father has ordained the trial, and it is for His purpose? Perhaps that question is too remote at this time to answer faithfully.
So, let’s ask ourselves:
“Do we believe that God engineers our circumstances, bringing us each day into contact with the people we meet?
"Are we faithful enough to Him to know that all we encounter every day is absolutely under His dominance and rule?”
If we allow His Spirit to work in us, then God’s faithfulness will be real and evident in our lives. The more we yield to the Holy Spirit, the less fickle---the less vulnerable to discouragement and temptation---we’ll become. Others will find in us reliability, trustworthiness, staying power through both good and bad, and faithfulness that the world doesn’t exhibit.
There are the people in this church who have been here many years. They have seen larger congregations, more activity, a full-time minister, and more Sunday School classes. They were here through the good times and they were here through the hard times. They were here praying when it wasn’t easy to pray.
There must have been times they were tempted to quit, tempted to say, "I’m sorry, I want to go somewhere else. I don’t want to struggle here." But God does not call us to be successful according to world’s standards; He calls us to be faithful. Listen to our reward:
Matthew 25:21
His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant!
"You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.
"Enter into the joy of your master!"
To develop faithfulness, we need to realize that an apple tree doesn’t stand out in the middle of an orchard saying, "Now how do I develop apples?"
John 15:5
Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.
"If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
As Spirit-filled Christians, we are a branch attached to the vine, who is Jesus Christ. We produce fruit because we are attached to the Vine. We don’t have to sit around and think about it and analyze it. We should just focus on the Vine, Jesus Christ, and do what He says. However, there are certain things that we need to be aware of.
First, we need to realize that temptations will come. Just as surely as Jesus was tempted by Satan to be unfaithful, we will be tempted to be unfaithful---in our marriage, in our relationship with the Lord, and in the church. Expect it and resist Satan and his temptations by the power of the Name of Jesus Christ and His Spirit living in you.
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.
And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.
But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
2 Thessalonians 3:3
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
Second, we need to ask for the Holy Spirit’s power and develop regular, spiritual habits (prayer, reading, worship). This world is not a Christian world. And we’re being pressured on every side to develop negative habits, tempting us to be unfaithful in church attendance, to be unfaithful in prayer, and unfaithful in studying the Word of God.
But if we’ll do what Jesus did, and say, "Get thee behind me, Satan," and ask for grace to serve God faithfully, God is faithful to give us grace to stand. He will make us consistent, trustworthy, and faithful. By God’s grace, these spiritual habits become our character. And when Satan tempts us, we will not give in to the temptation because God, the Holy Spirit, has produced His fruit and character of faithfulness in us.
1 Corinthians 1:8-9
He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Finally, faith must be tested, because it can only be turned into faithfulness through conflict. Some of these tests come as affliction. Even if we fail a test, God loves us and does not disown us. He is faithful to let us retake the test until we become faithful. So, when we fail a test, we need to run to Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:11-13
The saying is trustworthy, for:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The key to developing faithfulness is faith in Jesus. Follow Him obediently and all you come up against will develop your faithfulness.
Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. It is a life of faith, not of intellect and reason, but a life of knowing Who we are following. There is continual testing in the life of the faithful, and the last great test is death. Then, too, we will be given grace to pass the test faithfully.
The same was true of the Apostle Paul. He experienced all kinds of persecution, all kinds of discouragement, all kinds of temptations. Yet he didn’t give up. He remained faithful to Jesus Christ. Then came that glorious day when Paul wrote these words to Timothy,
2 Timothy 4:6-8
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
If we have been born from above of the Spirit of God, there is a deep craving in our hearts to be faithful to Jesus Christ. So, how do we receive faith?
Romans 10:17
So then faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Have we listened? Do we believe what we have heard? Faith begins by hearing the Word of Christ. Faith grows by obeying what we have heard during the tests of life. The eventual result of faithfulness to God’s Spirit and Word is God’s purpose for us—a likeness to Jesus.
Colossians 1:27
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
“Christ in you”! Do you hear that?
If we are born of the Spirit of God, we do hear it; we hear it more eagerly, more passionately, more longingly than anything else that can be told. This is what God wants for us. We are invited and we are commanded by God to believe that we can be made one with Jesus as He is one with the Father, so that His love, His joy, His peace, His patience, His kindness, His goodness, and His faithfulness are in us!
What do you desire more than anything else on earth? If we are born again of the Spirit of God, our one desire is a hunger and thirst after nothing other than Jesus Christ and His righteousness, His character, and He will satisfy that desire.
If you’re here this morning outside of Jesus, and you don’t know Him as your Lord and Savior, I want you to know that Jesus was faithful to the will of the Father. He went all the way to the cross and gave His life so that you and I might have the promise of everlasting life.
Today, His salvation is available to you. You can begin your journey with Him by believing Jesus is the Son of God who atoned for your sin on the cross, repenting of your sin and self-determination, and confessing your faith in Jesus through baptism. Then you will be born again of the Holy Spirit, who will make you faithful.
Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. He is faithful. And when you’re knocked down, you’ll find His strong arm there to help you get back on your feet again.
