FOS 11 Faithfulness (and the end of Goodness)

Matthew 7:16-20 (ESV) You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Review from the last lesson:

Psalm 31:19 (ESV)

Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!

Isaiah 63:7 (ESV)

I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

Psalm 25:7 ESV - 7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD

Psalm 65:4 ESV - 4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!

Hebrews 6:5 ESV - 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come.

In the five preceeding verses:

1- What do you learn about God’s goodness? What is God’s goodness tied to? It’s for those who fear Him and take refuge in Him. It’s also tied to His steadfast love. In the FOS 5 study, we learned about the depth of God’s love. 

2- How do the authors of these verses respond to God’s goodness? They praise Him and recount specific things He has done. They are satisfied.

3- Take a few moments to praise God for His goodness in ways that you have seen in scripture, the lives of those around you, and in your own life. When you look at these things together we see that His goodness is shown through His love both to all people in the sacrifice of Jesus and other good things we experience on earth. His goodness is also shown specifically to His people in the joy we have in Him, and ways He has worked uniquely in our lives. I want to repeat David’s testimony in Psalm 65—We shall be satisfied . . . Do you find satisfaction with God’s good provision for you, or are you constantly seeking more, different, or better?

Romans 15:14 ESV - 14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.

Philemon 1:14 ESV - 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord.

Romans 12:2 ESV - 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

In the three preceeding verses:

1- What do you learn about God’s goodness? What is their goodness tied to (and not tied to)? The transformation and renewal of their mind. He’s talking about what the Spirit does inside of us when we allow Him and don’t insist on letting our own desires stifle the work of the Spirit in us. We also see that goodness is not out of compulstion.

2- In all of these verses, Paul is the author. He has written the words as letters to churches to encourage and strengthen them. If a pastor was to write about goodness in your life, what might he say? What ways would he praise you, and what ways would he challenge you? I hope you took the time to examine yourself with God and against His precepts. Sometimes this is hard for me. I don’t like admitting my weaknesses. In 2 Corinthians 13:9 Paul says, “For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for.” In 2 Corinthians 12:10 he says, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” God’s transformative power is shown in us when we let His Spirit work in us.

Micah 6:8 ESV - He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

This is such a beautiful verse and so simple in what it calls us to do, yet sometimes its can be so difficult to push down my pride and allow God’s goodness to shine from within. I’m thankful that God is forgiving and patient with me.

Faithfulness:

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

God has shown His faithfulness since the beginning of time. In the garden of Eden He promised that Satan’s head would be crushed by Eve’s offspring—referring to Jesus (Genesis 3). When He says He will do something, He does accomplish it. There are many prophesies throughout scripture that have been fulfilled. It is part of his character and as a fruit of the Spirit, it can be part of our character too. Read what Paul says about God’s faithfulness to Timothy in the verses below.

2 Timothy 2:11-13 ESV - 11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful--for he cannot deny himself.

Homework:

When you look up the following verses, remember to look at the verses that come before and after to get the whole picture. Questions follow the verses.

2 Thessalonians 3:3 ESV - But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.

Psalm 111:7 ESV - The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy;

Psalm 145:13 ESV -  Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.

In the three preceeding verses …

1. In what ways is the Lord faithful?
2. In Psalm 111, what do we learn God’s works are besides faithfulness? How can those two work together with what you know of God?
3. In the above verses, how does His faithfulness help or affect believers?

1 Samuel 2:35 ESV - 35 And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.

Numbers 12:7 ESV - 7 Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.

Hebrews 3:5-6 ESV - 5 Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

The three passages above all work together to teach about the most important instance of God’s faithfulness. Again, be sure to read the complete passages, not just what I quoted.

1. In the 1 Samuel 2 passage, begin your reading in verse 27 to understand what God was angry about. What was God’s issue with Eli and his sons? What was their special calling? Who do you think God refers to when He says He will raise up a faithful priest?
2. Read the full 16 verse chapter. Aaron and Miriam were Moses biological siblings (You may recall that he only lived his first few years with them before being raised by Pharaoh’s daughter. Also keep in mind that this is after God has brought all of Israel out of Egypt by the 10 plagues which He spoke through Moses with Aaron being his assistant. ). What things does God say about Moses’ character? What example of that does Moses show in verse 13?
3. The last passage quotes the Numbers passage and expands on it. Read verses 1-6. Who are the 2 people being compared and contrasted? In what ways are they similar and different? What do you think this is teaching us about Christ?

Proverbs 14:5 ESV - A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies.

Proverbs 28:20 ESV - A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.

Isaiah 25:1 ESV - O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

What do you learn about faithfulness in the above verses?

How has God been faithful in your life.