Faithful Men II Tim. 2:2 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
God is faithful. Jesus Christ is faithful. The word of God is faithful. And we need to be faithful. A faithful man is a:
Faithful saint – Col 1:2; Acts 16:15 – he must be faithful to the Lord, to the words of God, to his church, to giving, etc. He must be obedient in all things and selfless, for example. Some of us developed a character in our youth to be diligent; some didn’t. When you get saved, whether you had the character to be faithful or not, you need to become faithful. You are now a child of God and your priorities change. Your ambitions, aspirations, and duties change. You are faithful to your new life in Christ.
Faithful sibling – Col 4:9; 1 Pet 5:12 – he must represent the body of Christ well and he must represent his brothers and sisters in Christ well. He is part of something much bigger than himself; he is part of the Lord’s body. His association with God’s people is going to be tested to see if he will hang with them in good times and bad.
Faithful servant – Matt 20:26-27 – he must be serving others. He is a minister to others [Eph 6:21; Col 1:7]. He goes from recognizing that he is a child of God to recognizing that he is a brother to other children of God to serving those who are his brothers and sisters in Christ. He goes from, “it’s all about me, to it’s all about us, to it’s all about you.”
Faithful steward – 1 Cor 4:2 – he must be trusted with his stewardship [Lk 19:17]. Paul said to commit these things to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. At this stage in his growth in faithfulness, he is given a stewardship from God and he is faithful to discharge his responsibilities in that stewardship faithfully. He protects the things that he has been taught and teaches others who will safeguard them, as well.
Conclusion: these four things that a faithful man must be are like stages of growth in faithfulness. Who are the faithful men whom we can teach, who will be faithful to teach what they have been taught to the next generation? Who are the faithful men who will let God use them to carry on his work with the gospel?