Title: Those who are faithful receive God's blessings.
Contents
◆ Title/ The faithful receive God's blessing.
◆ Bible / Joshua 14:8~9
The Bible says that those whom God seeks are faithful ones (1 Corinthians 4:2).
However, it is also true that it is not easy to find people who are loyal to this generation. Nevertheless, what God wants for the saints is loyalty. (Matthew 24:45)
So, what is loyalty in the Bible?
Loyalty is aman in Hebrew. This is where the word Amen is derived. And this word (Aman) means to support, to be faithful, to believe. And in the New Testament Galatians 5:22-23, the word loyalty is written as the Greek word pistis, which means trust, assurance, assurance, sure).
Then, the word loyalty has the same meaning as the word faith, and it has the same meaning as the word Amen we speak of.
In the Bible, there is a man of loyalty recognized by God. He is Moses (Numbers 12:7; Hebrews 3:2).
God acknowledges him as a man loyal to all God's house. "Not so with Moses my servant, for he is loyal to all my house."
And he elevates such loyalty to the amazing position that Jesus was faithful to God.
So, what does it mean to be loyal?
The Bible says that we fear God (Nehemiah 7:2). Hananiah Hananiah was the leader of Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah. Although the Bible does not describe him in detail, the meaning of his name is “Jehovah is merciful.” As his name suggests, he will protect the kingdom that has been destroyed by God's mercy to the end, and pray for Israel's 70 years of captivity in Babylon to restore God's restoration He was a person who waited and waited.
And he was a man who believed in God's will, providence, and the word of promise. And he was used to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
The Bible says that he was a faithful man before God. And in recognition of his loyalty, he was appointed to a high office in Israel by the prophet Nehemiah.
The Bible writes about him this way: “The fear of God excelled in the crowd.”
This means that many people's trust in God was slowly waning because of the suffering they were going through.
In the midst of their continued captivity, they suddenly lost hope and had completely forgotten God's promises. And by the time the 70 years of captivity ended, they would have remembered Jeremiah's prophecy.
And they came to know that everything up to now was God's providence and that it was God's discipline for their disobedience and unrepentance. As they returned from captivity, they would have sang songs of thanks and joy.
They again began to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem that had been destroyed by the restoration of their first love for God and expression of faith, and among those restored, “Haniah” was the most outstanding example of faithfully fearing God before God.
First/ We find here the true face of loyalty, which is “faithfulness and the fear of God.”
To fear means to serve God with fear and trembling.
God is the Creator who created us. He is the creator and ruler of life. So we confess “I believe in God the Father Almighty, who made the heavens and the earth…”
God's name is not a name that we can call out like that.
God forbade this strictly (Deuteronomy 5:11). “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for I the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes my name in vain.”
The same is true in serving God.
Especially in the life of a saint, the fear of God must be manifested in his life.
And it is revealed in his obedience to God's word and his life as a worshiper who worships God.
Second/ It means that there is nothing wrong and there is no fault (Daniel 6:4; Luke 16:10).
Wrong means (salu) not negligent, not negligent, not ignoring.
Transgression (sehat) means to corrupt, to corrupt, to defile
Loyalty, therefore, means doing your best in the task entrusted to you. It is never wasting time hoping for dirty profits, but doing your best in front of Hana, even if it is a small task. Not only that, it means not ignoring the task, no matter how small or insignificant, that has been entrusted to you.
Furthermore, I say that I do not do anything that corrupts, corrupts, and defiles me and my surroundings through such appearances.
Daniel was a man who was faithful before God.
And the Bible says it “for he is faithful.”
I want to have this kind of loyalty Loyalty refers to your appearance before God, not your appearance in front of people. It is called koram deo in Hebrew.
The Apostle Paul also confesses that God, who was faithful to him, entrusted him with the ministry of preaching the gospel and was faithful to that office. “Now that I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”
Machida - fulfill one's duty. to complete (to do one's own or another's will.
(2 Timothy 4:7) Can we confess like this?
Through the parable of the talents, Jesus taught about loyalty, that is, non-negligence and non-negligence, and the completion of the entrusted work (mission).
I am one! To say that is negligence. Saying that someone will do it and saying do it later is neglecting the mission God has given you.
How are we?
Let's restore our loyalty...
Third/ Loyalty is to have hope without losing faith in the midst of suffering (Rev 2:10).
In the midst of hardship, the easiest thing to miss is faith and hope.
But the faithful do not miss these. Loyalty is etymologically used in the same sense as belief. Then, to be faithful means to have faith, and a person who has faith is a faithful person. And faithful people believe in God's promises and have hope. No matter what difficulties you face, never give up.
Noah was like that. If he had not been faithful, he would not have believed the word of God, and he would not have built the ark. Because the ark did not begin to be built because of a special sign, and the place where it was built was also an extraordinary place. Because of this, while building the ark, Noah must have suffered from speculation and skendall (contempt, ridicule). It must have been the same from family and people, relatives and friends. But he was a faithful man, and therefore a man of faith.
Many people of faith were like that. And in the end he was saved by God.
So, who is a faithful person and what blessings do they receive?
The Bible defines a faithful person in one word (Proverbs 25:13).
“A faithful messenger is like ice-cold water on a harvest day to the one who sent him, able to cool the heart of his master.”
The Bible Says A Faithful Man Cools His Master's Heart
The word “cool” means to restore (shub). It means to turn back (Ezekiel 14:6).
The Bible declares God's blessings on those who are loyal.
Proverbs 28:20 - “The faithful are blessed with many blessings, but those who are quick to get rich will not escape punishment.”
1. Covenant (Blessing of the Earth)-(Nehemiah 9:8)
2. The blessing of participating in the joy of the master (Matthew 25:21-23)
The blessing of becoming a being that is pleasing to God (Zep 3:17)
3. Loyalty (1 Tim 1:12) - Blessing of receiving God's approval
4. Crown of life (Stephanos) - Giving a crown (a crown worn on the head of an athlete) or crown (Rev 2:10) The reward is given, and that reward is life.
5. God's eyes looked upon him (protected) - (Psalm 101:6)