The LORD's Day, June 8, 2008

A Faithful Man

Proverbs 28. 1-20
A faithful man will be richly blessed

The Word of God has a lot to say about being a faithful man, not so much in amount as in depth. It is interesting how so often we look at quantitative things to the exclusion of depth. There are a few verses which specifically speak about the faithful man but each one carries with it a depth of character and meaning.

The first thing we are told about a faithful man is found a few chapters back and that is:

1. A Faithful Man is hard to find. Proverbs 20.6

Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find?

It is not in word only.

Many a man claims to have un failing love. I have had many people tell me they love me. Most of them are nowhere to be found today. Words are cheap. Unless they are backed up by action they are meaningless.

I have some pretty outrageous promises made to me in my ministry. When I was young I used to fall for these things. I used to tell people about them. As I have grown in the LORD I have learned to test the spirits. I have learned that time will tell if what is being promised is true or not. I have learned that Jesus never lets me down. He never fails.

So be careful when you hear promises. Wait. Time will tell if they are true or not. We are being told here that the percentages are against such claims.

It is more in life that a faithful man comes through.

What is a faithful man?
*Firmness, fidelity, steadfastness, steadiness
He stands firmly on Christ.
He is dependable, not given to empty promises.
*faithfulness, trustworthy
You can entrust things to him and they will get done.

A faithful man...
* person who show himself faithful in the transaction of business, the execution of commands, or the discharge of official duties. A faithful man pays his bills on time, including his tithe and offerings, he carries out what has been given to him to do by his superiors. He submits to authority. Give him a job to do and it is as good as done- just a matter of time. Time proves faithfulness. A faithful man can be relied on.
A faithful man is
* one who keeps the faith
He knows the Word of God and lives by it. I Timothy 3.9 One of God's qualification, He had Paul write, for a deacon in the church: They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. Hold=To have a firm grip, to be married

* in the NT one who trusts in God's promises
A faithful man has faith. He trusts God and what the LORD has said.

* one who is convinced that Jesus has been raised from the dead
This is vital. This is the cornerstone of our faith. Christmas and Easter are not just holidays- Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection is so central. This is doctrine that unites us as believers. You cannot be a follower of Christ without believing this first.

You may find someone who is fairly reliable who is not a Christian, but the word faithful is wrapped up in the knowledge and trust of God’s Word.

* one who has become convinced that Jesus is the Messiah and author of salvation
A faithful man trusts in the LORD as his Savior. He knows Acts 4.12 personally, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

believing, confiding, trusting

2. A Faithful Man will be richly blessed

Blessed= prosperity
This is prosperity of the soul first. A faithful man is going to be richly blessed in his soul. There will be all the rest of the fruit of God’s Spirit in his life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.

The faithful man will be full of spiritual riches. He will be generous but never boastful in sharing them with others.

How about financial prosperity? Well a faithful man is going to give to God. He will tithe his income and give offerings. There is this promise: Malachi 3.10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
There are material blessings that come to those who are faithful. The spiritual blessings are greater. Not everyone is going to be rich but God will bless you if you are faithful and you are being faithful for the praise and glory of God and not to become rich.

a gift, present

treaty of peace Psalm 37.37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future for the man of peace.

3. A Faithful Man is able to pass spiritual truths onto others.
Paul wrote to Timothy (II Tim 2.2) And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Most of what I learned about the LORD came through my Sunday School teachers and my parents. Kids today still need that It is interesting how great a role the dad plays. I sent my parents an anniversary card this week with a picture I had redone of their wedding day. It was in the Nazarene Church in Springfield Gardens, Queens. I was born 2 years later and that was my first church. My mom taught Sunday school there and my dad as well. She had the little kids, my dad the teens. Through this fall and everything good has come, a number of his students, one a pastor now, have written and encouraged them. They are just normal Christians who love Jesus and have been very faithful to pass on spiritual truths. I know my dad passed them onto me, by the way he lived and the words he taught in the home and at church in the teen Sunday School Class.

I was blessed with godly pastors in my youth. They were men who took me under their wing and encouraged me in the faith. One of the youth directors I had just retired. He said with tears at his retirement how he remembered praying with me and encouraging me. He passed on spiritual truths to me- he was a faithful man.

In Bible College I had three professors, two of which are in heaven and one who is our LINKS Missionary this year, who were models of godliness and faithfulness.

I am in great debt today, but so are you. You have been given God’s Word- entrusted with it! It is our responsibility to pass it on to others. What are you doing with your entrustment these days? Too many are being unfaithful.

The gospel is passed this way. We share with one person and then another shares. Do you know we can trace our roots back to the church at Jerusalem- to the disciples?

Be a faithful link in the chain!

A faithful man is hard to find, a rarity. He will be richly blessed. He holds and at the same time passes on the deep truths of the Word of God.


By God’s Grace and for God’s Sake and Those you Love, be a faithful man