The weather outside was cold and brisk, but passion and excitement radiated warmly inside the sanctuary at First Baptist Church, Trussville, during the final session of the 2018 Alabama Baptist State Convention on Nov. 14.
Jimmy Jackson, pastor emeritus of Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, opened the final session by preaching on believers’ faithfulness to God.
“We all have sinned. We are not perfect in our faithfulness,” he said.
Jackson preached out of Psalm 13 and Ephesians 3. Psalm 13:5 says, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.”
God’s love is dependable and it is determined, Jackson said.
“His love will not go away. His love is immeasurable and it cannot be removed from us,” he said. “God is determined to accomplish His will. God stayed faithful to His task.
“Because we are all sinful creatures, we fail in our faithfulness daily,” Jackson said.
“None of us are capable of being as faithful to God as He is faithful to us. He could not be the God of the Bible if He were not holy and He couldn’t be holy if He were not faithful.”
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God’s faithfulness is innate, “but as infallible beings we did not have faithfulness coming into this world.”
“We have the resources for faithfulness if we trust in Jesus,” Jackson said.
“Faithfulness is an acquired characteristic of our life. … We got it at our new birth and it has to be developed.
“It is the spirit of God in our lives that makes it possible for us to serve Him. … The solution that God has given us is the Bible, for our faithfulness is meditation on the word of God,” he said.
“Our faithfulness to God is inspired and it is instilled,” according to Jackson. “We love Him because He loves us,” he said. “And it is instilled when the Holy Spirit comes into our life and seals us with Him forever and ever and ever.” Ephesians 3:19 says, “That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
“We must concentrate, meditate and evaluate the love of God,” Jackson said. “This is the key. If we were filled with the fullness of God, you and I would be faithful.”
Get alone with God and thank Him for loving you, Jackson said. “Go to the cross. He still loves us in the same way. “Our faithfulness must increase as our lives and our spiritual walks progress,” he said.
While the world is going backward instead of forward, the Church must go forward instead of backward.
“If there’s a time that we need to be more faithful in our walk with God it’s now,” Jackson said.
“God put us here at this time in His own providence and sovereignty because He knows if we seek after Him, we can see victory in this world.”
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