Defining Faithfulness, Part 2

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Believers have a calling to faithfully center our attention on Christ.

He is our reference point for all of life. While the calling is the same, the faithful stewardship of that calling will look a little different within the unique context in which God has placed us, each investing in the relationships around us. Today, Pastor Rich looks into Hebrews 3, 1-6 to help us better define what it looks like to be faithful as we point others to the Savior. This is the third part of a message titled, Defining Faithfulness.

It was preached on May 13, 2012 at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. So when Mike and Eddie finally invited me over to their house, I was exhilarated. This was my ticket to the big time. I had one problem. Wherever Mike and Eddie were, Earl was not. And wherever Earl was, Mike and Eddie were not. And if I was going to hang out with Mike and Eddie, I could not be seen with Earl. I knew it. So I made a decision.

I went over to Mike and Eddie's house and I struck up a friendship with them and I became in with those popular kids. When Earl called me, I kept putting him off saying, I'm kind of busy. All those years since that time, there's still a shame around that betrayal. And that's exactly what it is, isn't it? It's a betrayal.

Why is it? Because the truth is, I betrayed Earl. I handed him another rejection in his life when he probably had so many. But I wanted something. There's the key. I wanted something. I wanted in.

I wanted that popularity. If I had to hurt him, I would do it. That is the essence of betrayal. I am willing to hurt you to get something for myself. That, folks, is a profound example of an entrusted relationship that is not centered on Jesus Christ. Because it's centered on who?

Me. What I need, what I want. Who defines better what I need and what I want than Jesus Christ himself? And my faithfulness is defined as centering my attention on Christ in the context of entrusted relationships. It is his character and his purpose, his principles that guide me in all of those entrusted relationships. It is not their behavior that guides me. If my behavior is guided by the behavior of other people, then where is my attention?

It's on them. I'm not called to that. That's not faithfulness. They didn't die for you.

They didn't rescue you to the Father. It will not be before them that you stand when time is done, but it will be before Christ. This is my calling. I will center my attention on Christ in the context of entrusted relationships. All right, here's the next part.

I will continue the course. Now, we have this example. Verse 3, this one has been counted more worthy, worthy of more glory than Moses, and as much as he built the house, has more honor than the house. Christ is much greater than Moses because Christ built the house. Moses was a servant in the house.

Christ created his people. Moses was one of them. Moses was following Christ.

That's what he's saying here. Moses was a follower of Christ ultimately. All right, verse 4, for every house is built by someone, but he who built all things is God.

What is he saying here? This is a direct statement regarding the deity of Jesus Christ. God has spoken to us in person. So this one who came to speak to us, the brother who came to rescue us, he is the definition of faithfulness. So the definition of faithfulness is not so much a text or a paragraph or a good statement that we can remember.

It is a person. Jesus Christ himself is the definition of faithfulness, so faithfully follow him. And that's what he gets to at the end of verse 6, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. So, faithfulness being defined as, of course, the person of Jesus Christ, this is my calling. I will center my attention on Christ in the context of entrusted relationships. I will continue the course. I will continue the course. End of verse 6. If we hold fast the confidence, continue the course, meaning stay the course.

It means a long obedience in the same direction. This is continuance. This is not proof. This is about a proof of a reality that exists. If I have entrusted myself in faith to Jesus Christ, my continuance is the proof of the reality of that.

Otherwise, I'm guilty of a superficial investigation of Jesus Christ. This is not about retention. It's about genuine possession. Here's the point of this.

Continue the course. Commitment without challenge is meaningless. Commitment without challenge is a meaningless concept. If there were no challenges, then how could you call it commitment? And so, as the author of Hebrews is writing to the Hebrew people, he says, listen, I understand you're going through some challenges. Commitment without challenge is meaningless. This is the opportunity for you to demonstrate and to recognize the genuineness of your faith.

If, end of verse 6, if we hold fast the confidence in rejoicing the hope from the end. Faithfulness. Follow Christ faithfully with commitment.

How do you do that? Let's go back in the definition, all right? It's not just, okay, I've got to be faithful. I've got to be faithful. I've got to somehow pull it out of me that I have to be faithful.

No. That's not grace. Where does faithfulness come from?

This is my calling. I will center my attention on Christ in the context of entrusted relationships. Chuck Colson said something very striking towards the end of his life. Chuck Colson, of course, was one of Richard Nixon's men and was caught up in the Watergate scandal, by which Richard Nixon had to resign as President of the United States, and Chuck Colson ended up spending time in prison for his involvement in that. Chuck Colson was really on the up and up in his political career.

He was the poster boy for a successful politician, and he says this. While he was in prison, he came to Christ and his life was transformed, and he established the prison ministry, which has gone on for decades and has transformed thousands of lives. Chuck Colson says this, the greatest paradox of my life is that every time I walk into a prison and see the faces of men or women who have been transformed by the power of the living God, I realize that the thing God has chosen to use in my life is none of the successes, achievements, degrees, awards, honors, or cases I won before the Supreme Court. That's not what God's using in my life. What God is using in my life to touch the lives of literally thousands of other people is the fact that I was a convict and went to prison. That was my great defeat, the only thing in my life I didn't succeed in.

It's pretty amazing, isn't it? But here's the point. Those people in prison were his entrusted relationships. When he was with Richard Nixon, his attention was not focused on Christ, and all of that success led him to failure. When he was in prison, his attention was centered on Christ, and those were his entrusted relationships.

And that's where he was faithful, and that's what brought God glory. This is my calling. I will center my attention on Christ in the context of entrusted relationships. I will continue the course with confident joy knowing the outcome. I will continue the course with confident joy knowing the outcome. And that taken from the very end of verse 6, and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. The New International Version translates that hope in which we glory. The New American Standard says the boast of our hope. Knowing the outcome, we can stay the course with confident joy.

I've given the illustration before. It's like watching a ball game that you've pre-recorded. And you've already heard on the news the outcome of the game, and your team won, and you are so pumped, you're so excited about it. You're going to go back and watch that game all over again because you want to see how your team did it. But you know the outcome of the game, don't you? And when there is, let's say it's football, because I'm a footballer, okay? Let's say it's football. Let's say when your team, you know the outcome of the game.

But when your team fumbles, or when the other team gets a touchdown, you're not in despair, are you? Why? Why?

Tell me why. You know the outcome of the game. God has revealed to us the outcome of the game.

Where you and I stand with Jesus Christ face to face, and we will be with Him forever just like Him. Folks, that's awesome. We were made for that. And that's the outcome of the game. That's the outcome of the calling.

We know the outcome, and because of that, we can continue the course with confident joy. And that is the time when all things will be as they ought to be. Very difficult for us to imagine that. Imagine a world that is not in any way impacted by sin. Not anyone else's sin, not my sin. In fact, even I won't be impacted by my sin.

Just try to imagine that. When things, all things will be as they ought to be. We know that.

Now listen, this is very important. Is this just wishful thinking on our part? Well, this is our creed.

We believe in Jesus, and we just believe as with everything that we can believe, that everything, everything is going to be okay. No. No. That's not what this is. Let me tell you what this is.

We can be so guaranteed of this. Why? Because it is anchored in a person in real history. This one. This one who ought to be the center of my attention. The very one who defines faithfulness. The only reason that you would not be faithful by centering your attention on Christ in the context of entrusted relationships and continuing the course with confident joy, knowing the outcome. The only reason you would not do that is because you've been distracted by the immediate. Your focus has left Christ, and you are now focused on something or someone else.

And it's dragging you down. You know what that's like? Some of you run marathons. Some of you run sprint races in school. Some of you crazy people run marathons.

Anyway, that's beside the point. But, when you're running, do you look at your feet? That's an easy answer, isn't it? If you've lost your focus, if your attention has left Christ, and you are focusing on one of those things that's hanging on the broad rim of your hat, that's like running looking at your feet. And what happens when you run looking at your feet?

You're going to wind up in the ditch on the side of the path. Faithfulness. Faithfulness.

This is the definition of faithfulness. This is my calling. I will center my attention on Christ in the context of entrusted relationships.

I will continue the course with confident joy knowing the outcome. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, 7 Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. 7 Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.