Applause From the Room Is Not the Same as "Well Done"

Sermon outline

Faithfulness means being full of faith and fully reliant on God: live in the fear of the Lord, stay grateful for what you could lose, keep your word, and aim for His "well done" rather than the room's applause.

1. Applause is not the same as well done

   People clapping for you does not mean God is pleased; He may simply be saying you already have your reward. Build your life on His "well done, good and faithful servant", not on human praise.

   “Just because people in an audience are clapping for you doesn't mean God's happy.”

   • Matthew 25:21

2. Faithful means full of faith

   Break the word down and it is faith-full. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, it comes by hearing the word, and without it you cannot please God. Someone who is not full of faith cannot be faithful, which is one reason a single believer should not marry an unbeliever; the worthless servant was thrown out. Surround yourself with people full of faith, who pour faith into you.

   Illustration: If you want a project, buy a Lego set. You do not want to spend thirty years building something that falls down; when you buy a Polo or a GTI at the dealership, it is not a DIY car.

   “Find people, surround yourself with people that are full of faith.”

   • Hebrews 11:1
   • Romans 10:17
   • Hebrews 11:6
   • Matthew 25:29-30
   • Psalm 40:2

3. The fear of the Lord: does it please me or please God?

   A faithful man abounds with blessings, and faithfulness rests on the fear of the Lord, which is reverence for God and the foundation of wisdom and knowledge. Put one question to every decision: will this please me or please God? He adds that the lazy are like vinegar to the teeth, and that working smart beats working hard: if you want to be known as productive, get better at what you do, and use Google and YouTube if you cannot afford university.

   Illustration: Tired of relying on people who let him down, he started learning from online videos to do the things he had been told he could not do, and got better at them.

   “Whenever you're faced with a choice, will it please you or please God?”

   • Proverbs 28:20-22
   • Proverbs 9:10
   • Proverbs 1:7
   • Proverbs 10:26-27

4. Faithfulness is a life of reliance on God

   The Hebrew word behind faithfulness is understood as faith or belief and reveals a life fully reliant on God. Proverbs 3 joins love and faithfulness with trusting the Lord with all your heart, fearing Him, honouring Him with your first fruits and accepting His discipline.

   “How many of you want to be fully reliant on God?”

   • Proverbs 3:1-12

5. Above reproach, in church and out of it

   The qualifications for an overseer apply to every leader: a husband in his home, an older brother or sister, the eldest in a family, and they apply to wives as much as husbands. A reputation comes from what you do regularly. Do not speak fluent Christianese in church and live differently outside, because the world must see the difference.

   “The Christian walk is not just in these four walls.”

   • 1 Timothy 3:1-7

6. Ungratefulness leads to unfaithfulness

   When you do not appreciate what you have, you become ungrateful, and to be faithful you must know what you have to lose. We wonder how Israel could forget the Red Sea and the manna, yet we ask God for a job, a spouse, a house, a car and healing, receive them, and forget Him. Church is not only about promotion and increase; it is also sanctification and holiness. You cannot light a friend's cigarette and then tell him to get saved. A man is known by his fruit.

   Illustration: We pray for the red Ferrari with the stitched seats, or for the perfect spouse, thinking it will solve our problems, then forget God once we have it. Marriage will not fix what you have not sorted out in yourself.

   “To be faithful, you must be aware of what you have to lose if you are unfaithful.”

   • 1 Peter 2:9
   • Matthew 7:16-20
   • Psalm 51:10-11

7. Productive and prepared: be a person of your word

   In the parable of the talents, two servants doubled what they were given and heard "well done". Faithfulness is being productive and being prepared, in season and out of season, as you would study weeks before an exam. Be a person of your word: never make a promise to your children you cannot keep, because you will get a reputation as a liar. You carry your heavenly Father's reputation and your family's, so be sorry for doing wrong, not for getting caught.

   Illustration: As a boy he was promised a bicycle if he won a race in Johannesburg. He won so far ahead that others were still at halfway, ran straight to the stands asking for the bicycle, and never got it. So when his children ask for McDonald's, he says "we'll see".

   “It's not what you have. It's what you do with what you have.”

   • Matthew 25:14-23
   • 2 Timothy 4:1-2
   • Isaiah 25:1
   • Proverbs 2:8
   • 1 Thessalonians 5:22
   • Psalm 139:14

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