|
Sermon:
Perfidy to Fealty
by Chris Cumming
printer-friendly
MP3
I received a communication recently with a rather simple question. How
do we go from faithlessness to faithfulness? I suspect the question
originated in the fact that though we are firstfruits, called by God, we
are frail humans constantly confronted by life. To one degree or
another, we have all demonstrated an act of less than topmost faith.
For this sermon I am going to speak across the entire spectrum from
deliberate faithlessness to upmost faithfulness.
There is only one way we can go from Perfidy to Fealty and that is to
understand both. The purpose of my sermon today is to encourage all of
us to go from perfidy [pur-fi-dee]
to fealty [fee-uh l-tee].
We can see this spectrum in the two words I use in the title, perfidy [pur-fi-dee]
to fealty [fee-uh l-tee].
perfidy [pur-fi-dee]
1. deliberate breach of faith or trust; faithlessness; treachery
2. an act or instance of faithlessness or treachery.
to...
fealty [fee-uh l-tee]
1. History/Historical.
fidelity to a lord. the obligation or the engagement to be faithful to
[the] Lord.
2. fidelity; faithfulness.
Instances of faithlessness to a constant path of faithfulness.
The word, "Fealty" is closely related to the word, "Adherence" which
means:
noun
1. the quality of adhering; steady devotion, support, allegiance, or
attachment: adherence to a party; rigid adherence to rules.
2. the act or state of adhering; adhesion.
We have had many talks about Matthew 7:15-20 and the scriptures on true
and false ministers. The definition of a true minister is one who is in
"close adherence" to scripture.
Now we see that the definition of a forward-moving firstfruit is one
who:
1] is in fidelity to the Lord and to God the Father.
2] is in the state and act of adhering to scripture.
I find it interesting that Matthew 7:15-20 and a few other scriptures
focus on the ministry whereas the entire Bible is designed to bring the
called individual into close adherence to God and scripture. And
doesn't this make perfect spiritual sense? How would a firstfruit know
if a minister is in close adherence to scripture and God, unless he or
she was in that same close adherence and fealty?
Let us quickly review these scriptures in Matthew 7 to insure they are
speaking to ministers preaching the truth.
Matthew 7:15-20
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns,
or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast
into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Matthew 7:15-20
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Those who enter upon the narrow way must beware of false prophets, who
claim to guide believers but really practice deception. Sheep's clothing
is not to be regarded as prophets' grab, but is an evident contrast to
vicious wolves. God's people in all ages have needed to beware of
deceptive leaders (Deuteronomy 13:1; Acts 20:29; 1 John 4:1; Revelation
13:11-14). By their fruits. The doctrines produced by these false
prophets, rather than the works they perform, since outward appearances
may not cause suspicion. The test of the prophet is his conformity to
Scripture (1 Corinthians 14:37; Deuteronomy 13:1-5). Corrupt tree. One
that is decayed, worthless, and unusable. The worthlessness of such a
tree calls for its swift removal from the orchard lest it infect the
others. ~The Wycliffe Bible commentary
True ministers are in close adherence to scripture. They are conformed
to scripture and truth.
Scriptures on being aware of deceptive leaders
Deuteronomy 13:1 [See below]
Acts 20:29
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in
among you, not sparing the flock.
1 John 4:1
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are
of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Revelation 13:11-14
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two
horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and
causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first
beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from
heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those
miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to
them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the
beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Scriptures on conformity to scripture
1 Corinthians 14:37
If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him
acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments
of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5
1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth
thee a sign or a wonder,
2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee,
saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let
us serve them;
3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer
of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love
the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his
commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave
unto him.
5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death;
because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which
brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house
of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God
commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the
midst of thee.
Now that we have established all this about ministers, let us look at
the difference between faithlessness and faithfulness.
Let us begin with examples of both from the Bible.
Esther 3:2-6
2 And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and
reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But
Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.
3 Then the king's servants, which were in the king's gate, said unto
Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment?
4 Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened
not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters
would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew.
5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence,
then was Haman full of wrath.
6 And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had
shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all
the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the
people of Mordecai.
Note: this is a perfect
example of faithlessness.
Herod the Great
Matthew 2:16
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was
exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in
Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under,
according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
Both of these examples were extreme and clearly not something we would
expect in a firstfruit. This means we have two separate meanings to the
word, "faithlessness." One denotes the end product of one's character.
The other refers to an individual act of faithlessness. Let's look at a
scripture that speaks to the first definition or the end product of
one’s character. The verse is Revelation 21 and verse 8. I will begin
with verse 7.
Revelation 21:7-8
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God,
and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers,
and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which
is the second death.
Verse 8 is definitely speaking to end products. Each word is a
description of someone who fell completely from the faith. They have
fallen away. They are the foolish bridesmaids of Matthew 25. These end
products of character and consigned to the lake of fire as the verse
clearly states. Therefore, it is important that we see this distinction
between one fallen away and an individual act of faithlessness. You can
see this in verse 7, "He that overcometh will inherit all things."
Firstfruits, by definition, repent and move forward in any instance
where faith, obedience, discipline and consistency did not have their
way. This repentance is us going from Perfidy to Fealty.
To ensure that Revelation 21 and verse 8 is speaking to the fallen away,
let us reference just a small portion of the commentary on this verse:
But the fearful - Not the timorous [fearful]
sheep and lambs of Christ, the dear children of God, who are sometimes
of a fearful heart, on account of sin, temptation, and unbelief; but
such who are of cowardly spirits, and are not valiant for the truth, but
who, through fear of men, either make no profession of Christ and his
Gospel, or having made it, drop it, lest they should be exposed to
tribulation and persecution; these are they that are afraid of the
beast, and live in servile bondage to him.
~John Gill
Note: The commentary shows
clearly this distinction between firstfruits and those end products
fallen away.
So let us talk of the "children of God, who are sometimes of a fearful
heart, on account of sin, temptation, and unbelief.
For most of us, we just have a number of times when our faith is less
that topmost.
I found a passage from one web site talking about this. I believe it a
bit harsh in its wording and may assume things that are not part of a
firstfruit's heart. Therefore, I am not going to read it here but give
you my version of what the author was attempting to say.
~begin quote~
Despite the admonition from God to have faith, firstfruits
are human and they still struggle with the realities of life, including
all troubles, trials and tribulations. They readily believe the primary
doctrines of the salvation process but do not always see the principles
of God necessarily working in our lives. When trials hit us, our focus
sometimes zooms in on every aspect of that trial. This affects the flow
of faith. The main challenge for all of us is to look up to God the
moment the trial hits. To do this, we must address each of the
following areas and give attention to any where we are lacking.
1] Have a close relation with both God the Father and Jesus Christ.
2] Be fully immersed in the Word of God.
3] Increase faith via prayer, meditation, fasting, and constantly
invoked experience [Assiduity].
~end quote~
Going back to that web site that speaks to this subject, there is
something said there that I will share with you:
~begin quote~
There are many reasons for this phenomenon among Christians. The main
reason we struggle with faith is that we don’t truly know the God in
whom we profess to have faith. In our daily lives, we don’t trust
complete strangers. The more intimately we know someone and the more
time we have had to see him “in action,” the more likely we are to
believe what he says. But, if God is essentially a stranger to us, we
are less likely to believe what He has said in His Word. The only cure
for this is to spend more time in God’s Word getting to know Him.
~end quote~
Note: We have been discussing
the concept of putting a face on God and making Him real. We have
learned in our Assiduity praying that the more elements we put in God's
hands the more we see His intervention and in doing so we "see" God.
The prayers call for the intervention of God in multiple instances and
events of one's day. The more He intervenes, the more we "see" Him.
Do you recall the example of Peter walking on the water:
Matthew 14:25-31
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on
the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were
troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it
is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come
unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he
walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind
boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying,
Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and
caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst
thou doubt?
Clearly Peter did not have the Holy Spirit but he was with Jesus so had
the Spirit with him. We know this from verse 29 and Peter walking on
the water. Then something happens in verse 30. His eyes take over for
his faith. He sees the wind whipping up the water and becomes afraid.
The reason we see this account in the Word of God is simply because the
same thing happens to us. The admonition and the lesson is in the
question from Jesus: "Wherefore didst thou doubt." It is as if Jesus
marvelled at this. Peter was walking on water. He knew how faith
worked. How could he ever allow himself to sink into the water? When
this happens to us, we need to redouble our efforts beginning with
repentance and then focused action in increasing our faith.
There is a story of a group of farmers gathering together to pray for
rain during a most severe drought. All the families in the district
came to the place they chose to pray. One young boy came with an
umbrella. Now that is faith.
Notice some quotes on faithlessness:
Quotes on Faithlessness [Disobedience]:
"Obedience is an act of faith; disobedience is the result of unbelief."
“Any lack of joy in the world is the result of disobedience.”
"In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough
shadows to blind those who don't."
In the beginning of this sermon I stated that the word, "Fealty" is
closely related to the word, "Adherence." Here are some quotes I found
on Adherence:
Quotes on Adherence:
"What is conservatism? Is it not the adherence to the old and tried
against the new and untried?" ~Abraham Lincoln
“Adherence to men, is often disloyalty to principles.”
“God’s eternal blessings are contingent upon our obedience and adherence
to the word of the Lord that is revealed to us through His holy
prophets”
“It is time that Christians were judged more by their likeness to Christ
than their notions of Christ."
The more we conform to the image of Christ [2 Corinthians 3:18], the
more we will proceed from Perfidy to Fealty.
Let us now read the verses that command and encourage us to walk from
faithless action to faithful action:
Proverbs 3:1-7
1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write
them upon the table of thine heart:
4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God
and man.
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Proverbs 3:24-26
24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie
down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the
wicked, when it cometh.
26 For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from
being taken.
Lamentations 3:22-26
22 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his
compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that
seeketh him.
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the
salvation of the LORD.
Hebrews 10:22-23
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with
pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for
he is faithful that promised;)
2 Corinthians 5:7
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
1 Peter 1:8
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet
believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
1 Peter 5:9
Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are
accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
Let us finish with some quotes on faithfulness:
Quotes on Faithfulness:
"Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity.
Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of
the human mind."
"Marriage has a unique place because it speaks of an absolute
faithfulness, a covenant between radically different persons, male and
female; and so it echoes the absolute covenant of God with his chosen, a
covenant between radically different partners."
"Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the
impossible."
"Difficulties to a Christian are only miracles that have not yet
happened!"
"Faith is not believing that God can, it is knowing that he will."
"Don't tell God how Big your storm is, tell the Storm how Big your God
is."
"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole
staircase."
So continue now and complete your journey from Perfidy to Fealty. |