I admire loyal, dependable, faithful men
and women. I like people I can count on,
people that can be counted on in thick and thin, in good times
and bad, in all times and circumstances. That man who has a faithful friend
is immensely rich. And that person who has a faithful
companion is rich beyond description. Faithfulness is one thing we
want in our friends. Faithful friends. Faithful friends
are friends of confidence. Friends you can count on, you
can just depend on. Good times, bad times, rich or
poor, sickness or health, you can count on Faithfulness is
what we want, us men, in our wives. I don't simply mean fidelity
to the marriage vow. I mean faithfulness. Oh, what a blessing to have a
wife, a companion. You just count on her. You know
what to expect from her. She's faithful. She's steady.
She's dependable. Faithfulness is what a woman
wants in a man. A man she can count on, a man
she can depend on to love her, to care for her, to provide for
her. She doesn't have to worry about what he's going to do tomorrow.
He's faithful. He's dependable. He's steady.
Faithfulness is what we want in our children. Faithfulness
is what our children want in us. I love and admire faithfulness. That which is faithful can be
depended on, confided in, and trusted. always Now today I want
to show you some faithful things in the Word of God Things which
I have tried and proved for myself These are things that have been
tried and proved for generations By the people of God by untold
millions generation to generation Here are some things you can
count on I'm going to give you some things this morning. You
can trust in Some things you can build upon without fear. In this world, everything is
fickle and shifting and unstable. And about everybody else, everybody
in this world is as well. Where can you find anything or
anyone that's faithful? David, if you could find a faithful
employee, you could pay them the same salary you make and
make money. Faithful. Faithful. Faithful people where
can you find it? Where can you find? Something
you can lay hold of and know you can hold it forever Something
you can build upon and know it will never crumble beneath you
What would you give? To trust someone whom you knew
would never disappoint you What would you give? to find something
or someone that you know is faithful. If you're interested, give me
your ear. Let me just talk to you about
some things. I've just put some things together
from the scriptures that have been on my heart lately. If you
want to follow along, follow along. If you want to just listen,
listen. If you want to take notes, take notes. Whatever. Here in
Titus chapter 1 and verse 9, The Apostle Paul is addressing
those men who are given the responsibility of preaching the gospel, and
he tells them in verse 9 that they are to hold fast the faithful
word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound
doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. You
see this here? You've got one in your hand.
This is a faithful book. It's a faithful book. It's the
faithful word. It's the faithful word because
this is the word of God. Now there was a time when I didn't
know that. Now I always believed it. Always
believed it. Mentally. Always accepted it.
Never was a time when I I was so foolish as to take the Word
of God and throw it down and say, say, this is not to be believed. Always believed that this was
the Word of God mentally. But now for 20 years, day by
day, I have grown to know this is the Word of God. It's the
Word of God. I don't have any, I don't have
any more question about this being the Word of God than I
do that your name is Bob Pontius. This is God's word. Many attempts
have been made to find errors in it by foolish men. There are
preachers in this town who deny the inspiration and the authority
of Holy Scriptures. About all of them do. Most of
them don't deny it in word, but in doctrine and in practice,
others deny it in word. And there have been many arguments
made trying to prove the validity and the inspiration of scriptures.
You all know there's a great debate going on right now, has
been going on for years among the Southern Baptists as to whether
or not we're going to accept the inspiration of the Bible.
Well, arguments on both sides are arguments of fools. We're
going to attempt to prove that God's word is God's word. That's
a little foolish. Many women who are born again
by the Spirit of God know this is the word of the living God. They know it because they've
experienced it. We have been born again. We have been given
life by the incorruptible seed, which is the word of God, which
liveth and abideth forever. God speaks to our hearts. God
doesn't speak to us in an audible voice. God doesn't speak to us
in visions and dreams. God doesn't speak to us by angels
coming down from heaven. But God speaks to us by His Word
as really and truly as if more really and truly. Then He pulled
up a chair and sat beside us in our dens and said, Now Don,
this is what I'm telling you. He speaks by His Word. I know
this is the Word of God, for by it God speaks to me. And because it's the word of
God, this word is faithful. All the promises of this book,
all of them, are faithful. Faithful and true. Now, some
of them I know are faithful and true because I've experienced
them. The others I know are faithful
and true because they come from the same God. as these that I've
experienced do. I know that they are true because
they're the promises of God. We read the scriptures. Somebody
asked Ralph Barnard one time, said, do you believe the Bible
from cover to cover? He said, I don't know. I haven't
experienced all of it yet. I know what he was saying. You
believe what you experience. You know what you experience.
And we have got some things yet that we haven't come to experience. But this promise, this book of
promise is faithful. It's faithful. You can depend
on it. Whatever God says, God will do. Whatever he says. Read the book. When you find your soul in trouble
and disconsolate and uncomfortable, you find yourself in times of
depression and anxiety and fear, you find yourself in a particular
trial, search out the Word of God. Find somewhere in the Word
of God where there's a promise made to a sinner in the condition
you're in and the promise you'll find to be faithful. You'll find
it to be faithful. I've often told you the story
of that young preacher who went to visit an older lady in his
congregation. And when he started to leave,
he did what preachers are expected to do. He picked up her Bible
and started to read scripture and have prayer with her. And
as he was thumbing through the scriptures, looking for something
to read, he saw beside various verses in her Bible, particularly
over in the Psalms, two letters, T, And curiosity got the best of
him. He said, he said, Sister, I've got to ask you throughout
your Bible here, I see marked these letters T and P. What does that mean? And she
said, well, Pastor, those are the promises of God. And I've
tried them and proved them, tried and proved. That's the word of
God faithful. The doctrines, the truths of
this book are all faithful and true. I know there are many things
taught in the scriptures that do not jive with modern religion
and do not jive with modern thought and do not jive with modern opinion
and modern philosophy. And I say with regard to the
religion, the thought, the philosophy, the trends of the day, forget
them. Forget them. Say, well, you're
out of step with the times. I've been out of step with times
for a long time. I plan to stay out of step with the times. I
don't care what the philosophy of the day is. If it is contrary
to this book, the philosophy of the day is of the devil. I
don't care what the opinion of the day is. If the opinion of
the day is contrary to this book, it's of the devil. I don't care
what the doctrine of the day is. If the doctrine is contrary
to this book, it is satanic, hell-inspired, and will do you
nothing but destruction. The Word of God. That's faithful.
That's faithful. You can count on that. Here's
something else. Over in the book of 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. In verse 9, listen to these words. God is
faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful
by whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus
Christ our Lord. Some of you here have never really
known anything faithful in your lives. You've never truly known a faithful
person. You see, a faithful person is
beyond all suspicion. Beyond all suspicion. I don't know but one like that.
Because we're all sinners. We are Men and women of varying
degrees of faithfulness. But God is faithful. God is faithful. The prophet Jeremiah, in the
depths of his bitter experiences, in the pain of his soul, in the
agony of the hell he was going through on this earth, he lifted
up his heart to heaven and beheld God on his throne. And he cried,
great is thy faithfulness. And he dried his eyes. He ceased
to weep, for God is faithful. In this particular passage here,
the apostle Paul is showing us that God's faithfulness is the
ground and assurance of our eternal preservation and our complete
salvation in Christ. God is faithful. And you can
count on it. You can count on it. You can
count on God to be faithful to his covenant. We've studied this
morning about that covenant ordered in all things ensure that firm
and everlasting covenant of God's grace. God's going to do it.
God's going to do it. Oh, sometimes it doesn't look
like it. Sometimes it looks like everything's falling apart. Sometimes
it looks like everything runs in direct opposition to this
promise. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. But I can't see it. Oh, it's
not needful that you see it, only that you believe God is
faithful. God's faithful. He'll fulfill
His covenant. God's faithful to His Son. And
because he's faithful to his son, he's faithful to his people.
Faithful is he that called you, who also will do it. He'll do
it. He called you to faith, he'll
give you faith and cause your faith to endure. He called you
to the trial, he'll give you faith and sustain you in the
trial. He called you to the affliction, he'll go with you through the
affliction. He called you to glory, he'll bring you to glory. God's faithful to his word. And
he's faithful to himself, to all his attributes, to all his
purposes, faithful to his glory. I like this. If we confess our
sins, he's faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. Why don't you prove his faithfulness?
Why don't you prove it? Confess your sin, trusting Jesus
Christ the Lord. And I'm telling you that God
is faithful. He's faithful to His Word. He
said, He said, He that believeth on Him shall not perish, but
have everlasting life. Why don't you prove it? Trust
Him. Trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Confess your sin. And God, in
faithfulness to His covenant, in faithfulness to His Word,
in faithfulness to His own justice, in faithfulness to His own purpose,
in faithfulness to His own glory, God will forgive your sin. I'm here to tell you He'll do
it. More than that, look over in Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews
chapter 2, verse 17. This book is a faithful word. It reveals a faithful God. And
this speaks of our faithful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews
2 verse 17, Wherefore, in all things it behooved him, it was
necessary for Christ to be made like unto his brethren, that
he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God to make reconciliation for the people, for the sins
of the people. Our Savior is called by many,
many names. They all inspire praise, love,
and gratitude. They compel our hearts to adore
him. But of all the names by which
he is revealed, none is more blessed than this. I'll be preaching
to you about it probably in a few weeks. Revelation 19, 11. His
name is faithful and true. Faithful and true. Oh, my soul. He's a faithful friend. He's
a faithful friend. He's a faithful Savior. He's
a faithful Redeemer. Our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully
represented us in the covenant of grace as our surety before
the world began. And having sworn to redeem us
in great faithfulness, he came into this world and lived for
33 years as a man in this world in poverty, man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief, but he lived in faithful obedience to
the will of God so that he might bring in everlasting righteousness
for us. Even the righteousness of God
which is now imputed to us, that righteousness which is by the
faithfulness of Jesus Christ our Lord. Not only that, but
our Lord Jesus was faithful even unto death in his obedience to
our Father and his Father. The Lord Jesus Christ was obedient
when he died. He was obedient when He died.
Obedient to the covenant. Obedient to the will of His Father.
Obedient to the purpose of God. Obedient unto the eternal salvation
of His people, accomplished by His death in redemption. You
see, the Lord Jesus, in order to save us, had to satisfy justice for us.
That no way under the sun, no way on this earth, that God could
take any sinner to glory unless Christ had died. Do you see that? God is just. God is just. And He could not, He could not,
He could not, He could not justify a sinner until that sinner has
fulfilled righteousness and satisfied justice. Therefore Christ came. He said, I'll do it for you.
I'll do it for him. And he began, he began back in
eternity. He began when he said, let there
be light, and there was light. And he came into this world,
and he steadfastly set his face like a flint to go up to Jerusalem,
for this cause he came unto this hour, that he might suffer the
wrath of God in our stead. And God poured out all his wrath
upon his Holy Son, when his son was made to be sin. And when
Jesus Christ cried, it is finished, the justice of God was satisfied. Now, I've told you that God could
not save a sinner apart from the death of Christ the Lord.
Let me tell you this too, and this is the area that this whole
world has missed the gospel. God cannot, He cannot, He cannot,
He cannot in justice. punish one sinner for whom Christ
died. He can't do it. He can't do it. The whole world talks about love.
the love of God, and they don't know anything about it. They
talk about grace, the grace of God, and know nothing about it.
They talk about mercy, the mercy of God, and know nothing about
it. I'm telling you that God sent His Son to be crucified
as the substitute for sinners at Calvary so that He might in
justice forgive their sins. And having slain the sinner's
substitute, He cannot punish the sinner for whom Jesus Christ
died, else He ceases to be just. That's the problem with universal
redemption. That's the problem with modern religion. All over
this town, all over this state, all over this country, all over
this world today, preachers are standing up in the name of God
and telling sinners that Jesus Christ died to satisfy justice
for every man in the world. And then they turn right around
and say that many for whom Jesus Christ died must pay the penalty
of their own sins in the torments of hell. And if they had enough
sense to stop and think, they'd have to understand that in declaring
that, they say that God Almighty has ceased to be righteous and
ceased to be just in His exercise of mercy. I would rather the
world go to hell than that God should cease to be just. or that
God should cease to be righteous. Jesus Christ faithfully endured
all his father's righteous wrath as our substitute. And he faithfully
rules everything for the salvation of his elect as our king. And
he faithfully intercedes on our behalf as an advocate in heaven. How can I talk about his faithfulness? I want to be faithful to him. But my soul over these 20 years. In these last few hours since
I got up this morning. so little faithfulness to Him. Real faithfulness to Him. But in all the time since He
first revealed Himself to me, this dear friend, this beloved
Savior, has never failed in His faithfulness to me. He's never
failed to represent me before my Father. He's never failed
to come to me in my hour of need. He's never failed to supply my
needs, both temporally and spiritually. He's never failed to comfort
my heart. He's never failed to chasten
me and to embrace me. He's never failed to show me
his love and his mercy. He's never failed to be gracious
to me. Never. Oh, children of God, when
you sin, don't despair. We have a faithful advocate,
Jesus Christ the righteous. He intercedes on our behalf before
the throne of God. And his intercession is just
his presence. Before God, he stands with the
marks of redemption in a human body. And he says, this is for
my people. This is for them. More than that,
our Lord Jesus Christ will be faithful to the end. I believe in eternal security
because I believe in the faithfulness of God. and the faithfulness
of his word, and the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Christ will
cease to be faithful should even one of his perish." He said,
I've kept them in my hand, and they shall not perish. I believe
it was Polycarp. I'm not sure. I believe it was
Polycarp. One of those early preachers of the gospel, I think
it was in the fourth century, was being put to death, burned
at the stake. And his persecutors demanded
that he deny Christ. Not that he just come right out
and say that Jesus Christ is not God, that he's not Savior,
that he's not Lord, but that he deny some essential truth
of the gospel of Christ. And Polycarp was 86 years old. And he looked at his persecutors
when they demanded that he deny Christ. Just before they would
light the kindling for the fire for his burning. And he said,
80 in six years have I lived upon this earth. And he has not
denied me yet. I cannot deny him now. He's faithful. He's faithful. Oh, I would to
God you knew the faithfulness of Christ. If you if I could
convince you of his faithfulness. His faithfulness in redemption
and His faithfulness in grace, you could not, surely you could
not resist such a Savior as He is. Turn over to the book of Jeremiah chapter
3. Jeremiah chapter 3. Here's another
faithful thing. Jeremiah, the third chapter,
here's a promise of God made to his church. And he'll fulfill
it. Jeremiah three, verse 15. I will give you pastors according
to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. In every age, God has graciously
given his church faithful ministers of Christ. The Apostle Paul described
the pastor of the church at Colossae in these words, Epaphras, our
dear fellow servant who is for you a faithful minister of Christ. He described Tychicus as a beloved
brother and a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. Now, God requires one thing,
one thing, Every gospel preacher one thing he requires faithfulness
Faithfulness and Faithfulness Is both the
least and the greatest thing The servant can give to his God
By the least thing I can do is be faithful that's the least
thing I can do For the Lord my God, the least
thing I can do, David, is be faithful. That's the least I
can do. And that's the greatest I can do. That's the greatest. I thank God for faithful ministers
of Christ, men whose faithfulness has been tested and proven over
the years. I'm going to stick my neck out
a little while, or a little bit. And I'll hear about it in a little
while, I'm sure. I've been around now, preaching
the gospel of God's free grace since I was 17 years old. That's nearly 21 years. And in those years, I have known
a lot of preachers. A lot of preachers. But I know very, very few who
over the years have stood steadfast preaching the gospel of God's
grace, never deviating from the message of free grace. I know
very few. I personally know only two or
three who for 30, 40 years have stayed right with it. It stayed
right with it. I'm not saying that's all there
are. I'm saying that's all I personally know. All others that I know
have been turned aside from one thing
to one thing or another. turned aside by the love of money,
turned aside by desire for a bigger crowd, turned aside to intellectualism,
turned aside to this doctrine or to that doctrine, to this
ism or to that ism. I know just a few, a very precious
few, who have just stayed right on this main line and never gotten
off on those sidetracks. Very few. God have mercy. God have mercy. This is my prayer. Lord God, make me faithful. Keep
me faithful. Make me to grow in faithfulness
to Christ. Let me never reproach the name
of Christ, the gospel of Christ, are the Church of Christ. God
make me faithful for Christ's sake. I don't want to be an embarrassment
to the God I represent, an embarrassment to the gospel I preach, or an
embarrassment to you whom I serve in the gospel. And I know what
a faithful minister is. Whether I measure up or not,
I know what one is. He is a man who is faithful in
his life. You can trust him. You can trust
him. You can trust him with a dollar
or five million dollars with no strings attached. You can
trust him to do business with him. You can trust him to do
as he says. You can trust him to be dependable. You can trust his word. You can
trust his confidence. You can trust him. And if a man
is not honest, dependable, and trustworthy, he has no business
preaching, period. That's not too hard, is it, buddy?
That's right. That's right. You see, those
men who are faithful live not for themselves, but for the glory
of Christ. And the glory of Christ dictates
the way a man behaves in this world. It dictates it. More than
that, he's faithful in his study. If a pastor is going to have
anything to say, You gotta live there. He's got to live there. He's got to live there. Seeking
a message from God for you. I've been seeking a message for
you. I believe maybe I've got one.
But you've got to be faithful in study. Studying the Word. Seeking an understanding in the
Word. Seeking by prayer a message from God for the hour. It's not
hard to sit down and write out a sermon, a little outline. That's
not hard. Anybody with half good sense
can do that. It's not too hard to stand up
here and repeat the outline you've written down. But it's something
else altogether. Stand before me with a message
from the living God for the hearts of men. A pastor is not only
faithful in his life and in his study, but he's faithful in preaching. A faithful man, a faithful pastor,
you can count on him to tell you the truth, regardless of
cost or consequence, always. You can count on him to preach
the gospel of God's free grace, no matter where he is, no matter
who he's facing, no matter what it costs. You can count on him.
He's faithful in preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He's
faithful in declaring the message of Holy Scripture. This is the
word, this whole book, this is the word which by the gospel,
by Jesus Christ, is preached unto you. And he's faithful in
his ambitions. God forbid that I should be a
man of personal ambition. Now that's searching. That's
searching. And yet, God forbid that I should
be a man without ambition. You see, a faithful pastor, a
faithful minister of Christ, is ambitious for the glory of
Christ, the furtherance of the gospel, and the good of God's
Church. Ambitious. A faithful minister of Christ
is a man who lives by the gospel, lives for the gospel, lives to
preach the gospel and places everything and everyone else
secondary to the gospel, including most especially himself. I have
a wife to care for. I thank you for providing for
me to care for my wife. I have a daughter to feed, to
clothe, to educate. I thank you for seeing to those
needs. But my wife and daughter, their physical welfare, their
emotional welfare, their social welfare must be, God help me
if it is not, it must be secondary to the gospel of God's grace. It must be. Now that's what a
faithful minister of Christ is. If I cannot give myself to the
gospel in this way, for the glory of Christ, I have no business
pretending to be a gospel preacher. None whatever. And I thank God, oh I thank God,
for faithful brethren. faithful brothers and sisters
in Christ. I cannot speak highly enough
of you, my dear brothers and sisters,
the faithful in Christ Jesus, is what Paul calls you. the faithful. Words cannot express my gratitude
to God for you. It's been eight years now since
God first brought us together. The eight best years God's given
me on this earth. Because of you. That's That's
commendation. You say, well, you don't want
to commend men. Yes, I do. Yes, I do. I want
to commend God's men and God's women. Paul did it. It's all
right for me to do it. I know that it is God who, by
His grace, has made you faithful, if you are. But you're faithful,
and I commend you for it. I recognize that God's people,
all of them, are called, chosen, and faithful. But they are faithful. And throughout his epistles,
Paul mentions his faithful, beloved brethren in the most tender,
appreciative terms possible. Just read the opening paragraph
and the closing paragraph of every one of Paul's epistles.
You'll find that he spoke with the highest affection and tenderness
and admiration and gratitude to God for his faithful brethren. With Paul, I thank God for you
who have obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. Faithful
men and women are men and women who can be counted on, depended
upon, and trusted. They are the men and women who
keep things going. They just keep things going. They are the pillars of the Church,
which is the pillar and ground of the truth. It is love for
Christ and faith in Christ that makes them faithful. And you
can be sure of this. All of God's saints are. Now
I've told you what a faithful minister of Christ is. Let me
tell you what a faithful brother is. Faithful sister. They are
men and women who are faithful in their lives. Faithful men and women you can
count on you can confide in them. You can trust them You know, this is a shame it's
a commentary on this religious age I Learned very early Try my best
to avoid doing business With super pious religious fellows.
I just I learned you don't do it Man, you're going to get burned. You're going to get burned. I
recall when I was in Springfield, Missouri in school, just before
we got married, Shelby had wrecked a car that I had. It's all right. She didn't get hurt. And I had to go buy another one.
I went to go car shopping, found a car I liked. I walked in the fella's office.
And there was a Bible laying on the table. I thought, well,
maybe it ain't like you think. But I was pretty suspicious.
He was very pious. Found out I was in Bible college
studying for the ministry. He was, oh boy, he really turned
it on. He really turned it on. I don't
know why it is. Somebody finds out you're a preacher, finds
out you got some conviction, and all of a sudden, they can
turn on the religion, you know. They can turn it on. Well, he
turned it on. And it got syrupy thick, and
I got sick, and I left. But I was interested in the chorus.
I checked around. Biggest crook in town. Biggest
crook in town. A preacher, no less. Biggest
crook in town. Not God's people. Not God's people. Not God's people. I was preaching along this line.
Another state recently in the young man, I was talking about.
God's people being faithful in their lives, honest, paying their
bills, taking care of thing that gets down where the rubber hits
the road. It just gets where the rubber hits the road. That's
called faithfulness. This fellow came up to me afterwards
and he said, well, what if you can't pay your bills? I said,
you can if you're honest. You can if you're honest, because
if you're honest, you don't borrow what you can't pay. You live
within your means as God's servant. So I can't live within my means.
You can't live within the means of what your heavenly father
provides you. Something bad wrong with that.
Does that make sense? Sure, it makes sense. God's people
are honest, they're faithful. More than that, they're faithful.
with all that they possess, talent, time, money, whatever it is,
they use it for God's glory and for the good of God's people.
They just do. What more can I say? God's people
are not selfish hoarders of wealth and property and possessions.
God's people use what God puts in their hands. They use it,
that's why God gave it! To use it! To use it for His
glory. And they're faithful to the Church
of Christ. Do you remember an article I
had in the bulletin a few months ago? Just suppose, just suppose,
every member of Grace Baptist Church were exactly the same
kind of member you are. That's a pretty good thing to
consider. Just suppose, just suppose everybody was as faithful
in praying for this preacher and for this assembly as you
are. Just suppose everybody was just
as faithful in hearing the word Reading studying and seeking
the Word of God and attending the house of worship Sunday morning
Sunday night Tuesday night just as faithful as you are just suppose
Just suppose Everybody supported the ministry In exactly the same proportion
as Generously or as niggardly as I do Just suppose. Just suppose everybody, everybody
witnessed for Christ and sought the salvation of sinners just
like I do. Just suppose everybody took an
interest in the church property and in the seeing things are
clean and neat and well arranged, in good repair. Just suppose
everybody did it just exactly in proportion as I do. Just suppose
everybody demonstrated their love for God's church just like
I do. Just suppose everybody was just
as warm and friendly as I am. What kind of church would this
be? How long would the doors stay open? For some, in all honesty,
it would be thriving. Thank God. For some, we'd have
to close up tomorrow. Some people come in, a congregation
of this size, and let me, I praised you, let me reprove you. congregation
of this size, there ought never to be a man, woman, or child
come through those doors that everybody here doesn't greet
warmly and friendly. I watch what's going on. I watch
people. I see people come by and you
speak to them. Well, hello, it's good to see
you, this one. And then they Well, hello, it's
good to see you, and somebody goes, mm, some unfriendly grouch. What's wrong with warmth and
kindness and affection? What's wrong with letting people
know, especially people that you're not, that you don't have
natural things in common with, what's wrong with taking somebody
by the hand, stopping and letting them know you're interested in
them? If you are, if you are. And if you're not, something
is bad wrong, bad wrong. God's people are faithful to
the church, faithful to the gospel of his grace, faithful to those
who preach the gospel, and they're faithful to one another. Grace
makes men gracious, mercy makes men merciful, love makes men
loving, and faith makes them faithful, faithful. These are
faithful things, faithful word, our faithful God, our faithful
Savior, faithful ministers of Christ, faithful brethren. Oh, may God make you to be a
part of this faithful band and make you to receive the benefits
and blessings of it. For Christ's sake. Amen.