“The Fruit Of
The Spirit Is Faithfulness” Genesis
22:1-18 July 9, 06
SI: This summer studying the fruit of the Spirit in
Galatians 5.
“Fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace . . .”
The fruit of faithfulness
We’re going to read the story of Abraham’s
sacrifice of son Isaac.
Besides the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the
most powerful story in Bible.
INTRO: There was an elderly man in our church in
He
once came up in a conversation I was having
with someone who had known him for many
years.
“I
admire Jack. He’s a man of
integrity. Let me tell you a story
that will give you an idea of the kind of
man he is.”
He
proceeded to tell me of how when Jack was a young man up north,
truckload of product had been stolen from
business he was working for.
Even
though a number of extenuating circumstances, Jack was not to blame—
he said that he was responsible, this had
happened under his watch.
Worked for years to pay back every dollar to
the business.
You
might call that integrity, as the person did who told me the story.
But you could just as well call it
faithfulness.
Faithfulness
is keeping your promises (stated or unstated),
it’s reliability, it’s trustworthiness, it’s
follow-through.
Faithfulness
means that you don’t necessarily follow your instincts, or emotions,
It means you don’t always claim your rights.
It’s loyalty and obedience to God in daily
decisions and over the long haul.
In
book of Revelation Jesus Christ says to the persecuted church:
“Be faithful unto death and I will give you
the crown of life.”
He means be faithful to Me to the very end
of your life.
Also means, faithfulness to Me sometimes
leads to death.
Faithfulness
can be one of the most difficult and costly fruit of the Spirit.
Now
let’s think about faithfulness and Genesis 22.
I hope you have noticed by now in our study
of the fruit of the Spirit,
each fruit is an attribute of God
Himself.
Bible
speaks of God’s love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness.
Theologians
divide God’s attributes into two categories:
His incommunicable attributes and His communicable
attributes.
Incommunicable
attributes are those that set God apart as God.
eternity, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence. True of God alone.
Communicable
attributes are those that God passes along to his people.
A “communicable disease” is one that you can
catch.
You catch it by being around a person with
it.
God’s
communicable attributes are those we “catch” from Him.
When you become a Christian, drawn into
union with Christ,
His nature rubs off on you. More around him, more catch His attributes.
So
a large part of cultivating the fruit of the Spirit is asking what is God’s
love like?
What is God’s goodness like? What is His faithfulness like?
How do I draw close to Him so that I catch
it?
This
story in Genesis 22 is so helpful because in it we see both
what God’s faithfulness looks like and
what it looks like in the life of one of His
people—in this case Abraham.
We
also see how powerful and costly faithfulness is.
This
might not seem to be a practical passage for the study of faithfulness
There are so many other good passages in
Scripture that focus on things like
being a faithful spouse, keeping promises
made to children, faithful employee.
But
it gives us a big picture of God’s faithfulness to us
and then the resulting fruit of faithfulness
in our lives.
Study
this famous story under two headings:
1. God’s faithfulness to you
2. Your faithfulness to God or The fruit of
faithfulness.
What I want to do with each of these points.
Examine in general—things Scripture says
about each.
Then look at the story of Abraham and Isaac.
Make some application.
MP#1 God’s Faithfulness To You
Let’s
consider God’s faithfulness to you.
A huge theme in the Bible. Look up words faithful/faithfulness in
concordance.
Used numerous times, most of the time to
describe God.
In
the Old Testament there is a family of Hebrew words that
communicate God’s faithfulness with many
nuances—
reliability, commitment, firmness,
steadiness, promise-keeping, trustworthiness.
The
word “Amen” is in that family of words.
When end a prayer with “Amen” you mean “So
be it” or “Let this be done.”
Statement that God is faithful to hear and
answer prayers.
The
Scripture presents God’s faithfulness as something that He has woven
into the fabric of His creation.
Just
like God’s goodness which looked at last week.
The goodness of all things whether a good
meal, good person from God.
Same with faithfulness—everything reliable,
trustworthy is from Him.
Every day you see God’s faithfulness if you
will just open your eyes.
Why
is there a day and a night that comes with regularity? Why are there seasons?
Why does the earth orbit the sun, not get
sucked in, flung out into space?
As
the old hymn says, paraphrasing Genesis 8:
Summer and winter, and springtime and
harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy
great faithfulness, mercy and love.
People
talk about the laws of nature (fine to use that terminology).
But what are the laws of nature?
According to Scripture, regular habits of a
faithful God, promised to sustain
So we see God’s faithfulness to His
creation.
In
spite of sinfulness of mankind, also see God’s faithfulness in the human race.
If there was no faithfulness, would be utter
chaos, race would cease to exist.
But
event though there is lots of unfaithfulness—
God has graciously poured out His
faithfulness in a general way on all mankind.
We have faithful policemen, faithful
pharmacists, faithful spouses, parents—
that makes human society possible.
God
is faithful to his creation, faithful to the human race as a whole.
But
God’s faithfulness is most vividly seen in His faithfulness to His elect
people.
That brings us to the story in Genesis 22.
“Some time later, the Lord
tested Abraham.”
Told
him to take his son Isaac, his only son, whom he loved—and sacrifice him.
Isaac was not only Abraham and Sarah’s son.
He was the child of promise.
You
remember that Sarah laughed when God said that He would give them a son.
Abraham was 100 and she was 90.
But God was faithful to his promise and
Isaac was born—name means laughter.
All
of God’s promises of future blessing and happiness for Abraham
and for the nations rested on Isaac the
promised child.
Isaac
foreshadowed Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the promised son through whom
blessings come.
Jesus came to bring laughter to world cursed
by sin.
Came to make all things right.
But
then God decided to test Abraham:
Take Isaac, Laughter, son of promise, son
you love,
and sacrifice him as a burnt offering.
Abraham
took Isaac to
At the last moment—the Angel of the Lord
spoke, ram provided as substitute.
“So Abraham called that place The Lord Will
Provide.”
By
calling that place “The Lord Will Provide” Jehovah Jireh,
Abraham making a statement about God’s character
He
was saying: The Lord is a
promise-keeping God.
Will see to it that nothing derails His
promise to save us.
He is trustworthy, He is reliable, He is
faithful. .
God is the giver and keeper of promises.
What
we have in this story is one of the earliest clues in the Bible
that eliminating sin and evil would require
a great sacrifice.
And
God Himself would see to it that it happened
Abraham
could see not see all the details, looking forward by faith.
He knew that God would provide a very
precious sacrifice, human sacrifice.
Knew that God was going to be faithful until
the very end.
What
Abraham saw only dimly, looking forward in faith,
We can see very clearly, we have the whole
story recorded in the New Testament.
Know that the sacrifice was God’s only
beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Know it was God’s will to crush Him. Jesus went faithfully to death.
The
difference between Isaac (foreshadowing) and Jesus Christ (the reality),
For Jesus, there was no ram in the bushes,
He was the substitute for our sins.
If
God was faithful in keeping his most costly promise, you can be sure He
will keep all of His promises to you.
Not a promise in Scripture He will not keep,
absolutely trustworthy.
Practice
among Christians in earlier times (1800s, perhaps earlier) Promise Box.
A small box, like a match box.
As
Christian read the Bible, over years, whenever found a promise:
“My God will supply all your needs according
to his glorious riches in Christ.”
“He who began a good work in you will carry
it on to completion to day of Christ Jesus.”
Or any of the other hundreds
of promises in Bible.
Wrote in tiny letters on a slip of paper, rolled it
up, put in Promise Box.
Then,
in troubled times, would take one out, read that promise.
Some
people criticized—like opening the Bible and pointing.
Not really—an exercise in praising God for
His faithfulness.
Believe
you are so trustworthy, going to collect your promises, rely on them.
All these promises are trustworthy, because
biggest, most costly promise,
You saw to it and provided your Son Jesus
Christ.
Maybe
the reason the church is so weak, we don’t magnify God’s faithfulness.
How many of God’s promises are precious to
you?
How many do you quote to yourself, open
Bible and read over and over?
Do
you often thing of and count on God’s faithfulness to you?
Leads
us to your faithfulness to God or the fruit of faithfulness.
MP#2 Your faithfulness to God or the fruit of
faithfulness
The
fruit of faithfulness is simply when God’s faithfulness to you in Christ,
takes root in your soul and begins to grow
and flourish
in all your relationships,
every one of your responsibilities and
callings,
and every moral decision you make.
It’s
when the Spirit of Christ makes you a reliable, trustworthy,
promise-keeper who always follows through.
Means
that you will find yourself taking God’s faithfulness and
acting on it in the face of world’s wisdom,
and criticisms,
often even acting on God’s faithfulness in
opposition to your own emotions,
your own instincts of self-preservation and
self-gratification.
In
other words, you will find yourself challenging everything that tempts you
to be unfaithful, break your promises.
Motivation
will be—because God has been faithful to me,
Because God has been faithful to me—
I am going to be loyal and obedient to Him
no matter what the cost.
And
even if it is costly, I know God can be trusted.
Let’s
look at Genesis 22 again
Question that always comes to mind when read
this:
How did Abraham feel? Such an American question.
Was he in emotional turmoil?
Picture
Abraham and Isaac walking to
like Andy and Opie walking along together to
the fishing hole.
Was each step closer to the mountain like a
dagger in Abraham’s heart?
He was a man and a father, we know there
were emotions.
But
a more helpful question is: What was
Abraham thinking?
We can answer that question because the
Bible tells us.
There
is a commentary on this story in Hebrews 11.
Tells us what was going on in Abraham’s
mind.
He was thinking about God’s faithfulness.
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac
as a sacrifice. He who had received the
promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said
to him, “It will be though Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the
dead and figuratively speaking , he did receive Isaac back from death.
Abraham
was reasoning this way:
God has promised to bless me and nations
through Isaac, only through Isaac.
Now He has commanded me to sacrifice Isaac.
So
how do I reconcile God’s command with promise.
Conclusion
Abraham came to was remarkable.
There can only be one conclusion, God is
planning to raise Isaac from dead.
Actually see this in Genesis 22 itself, says
to servants, “We will return.”
This
conclusion went against the wisdom of the world.
Certainly went against Abraham’s emotions.
But he said:
God is faithful to His promises, so I will be faithful to Him.
Acted in faith, what happened, figuratively
speaking, did receive Isaac back.
Faithfulness
and faith go hand in hand.
You
believe what God says, act on it, knowing that God will be faithful.
You reason it out, and then look for Him to
follow through as He always does.
What
are some of the things that God tells us to do that the world says is foolish?
Just jotted down a few—can make your own
list.
What
about God’s commands concerning marriage?
“Wives submit to your husbands as unto the
Lord.”
Foolish,
sounds like a recipe to become a door mat for a mean man.
Christian
wife reasons that out—Lord is trustworthy.
Going to be faithful and look for Him to
follow through.
What
about His instructions concerning child rearing?
“He who spares the rod, hates his son.”
Foolish,
Can’t teach children not to hit their siblings by hitting them.
Heard that on National Public Radio—expert
in child rearing.
Christian
parent reasons that out—Lord trustworthy, understands little hearts,
Knows what is best for my children. Going to be faithful in discipline.
Let him see to it that it does its work.
What
about all of His instructions about money and stuff?
“It is more blessed to give than to
receive.”
Foolish. Of course you can give enough to make self
feel good. Give a token.
Deep down everyone knows that money buys
happiness.
If you give enough that your lifestyle
suffers, some things can’t buy, not blessed.
Christian
says I’m gives generously, decide on a percentage of income sacrificial
some things not going to be able to buy,
lifestyle going to suffer a little
Let God take care of that.
What
about many teachings on self-perception?
“Let each esteem others better than
yourselves.”
That
is foolishness.
Everyone knows that lack of self-esteem
cause of all our problems.
Try to live like this, won’t get anywhere.
Christian
says, I’m going to try to grow in humility
and judge myself with sober judgment. Let Lord take care of my psyche.
Could
go on and on—Bible says something about every part of life.
Calls us to faithfulness that rests on the
faithfulness of God and
that goes against the world and often
against our own judgment.
One
more issue: What if you have been unfaithful
to Lord in some big area?
You feel weighed down by guilt. I haven’t been faithful. I’m a failure.
1. You are forgiven of your unfaithfulness if
repent in Jesus name.
He
was faithful all the way to the cross so you can be forgiven all sins. Repent.
2. If people have been directly hurt by your
unfaithfulness ask their forgiveness.
3. Remember even the great faithful saints were
unfaithful at times but God
forgave
them. Abraham himself, twice was
unfaithful concerning Sarah.
Also
was unfaithful in trying to secure the promised son through slave Hagar. But God forgave and made Abraham into a
faithful man. Consider David, Peter,
others.
Remember
faithfulness in big things is learned by faithfulness in little things. Seek God’s strength to keep all the little
promises and commitments this week.
These
will build reserves of faithfulness to draw from in times of crisis.
CONC:
Many
of the enduring hymns of the church were written in response
to dramatic experiences with God.
But
the hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”
was not written out of a dramatic
experience.
It was simply the result of the authors
“morning by morning”
realization of God’s faithfulness in his
daily life.
Thomas
Chisholm was born in a log cabin in
Without
the benefit of high school or advanced education,
somehow followed the calling to be school
teacher.
At
age of 16, began teaching in same country school where he received
his elementary education.
After
he became a Christian, he became the editor of “The Pentecostal Herald”
and later ordained as a Methodist minister.
Shortly
before his death, he wrote this:
My
income has never been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier
years which has followed me on until now. But I must not fail to record here the
unfailing faithfulness of a covenant keeping God and that He has given me many
wonderful displays of His providing care which have filled me with astonishing
gratefulness.
Thomas
Chisholm learned faithfulness by leaning on a faithful God.
What is the Lord’s judgment of his years
teaching in country school?
What is the Lord’s judgment about his years
as Methodist minister in
What is the Lord’s judgment about that
famous hymn?
No
doubt the words we all long to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
You have been faithful to death, here is the
crown of life.
Grow
in faithfulness. Lean on God for all
things.
Be
loyal to Him, obey Him. He is a faithful
God, to Abraham, Chisholm, and you.