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Sermon Illustrations: Faithfulness
Anecdotes
John Wesley preached three sermons a day for 54 years, preaching more than 44,000 times. He travelled by horseback and carriage more than 200,000 miles (around 5,000 miles a year), knew 10 languages, published a four-volume commentary on the Bible, an English dictionary, five volumes on natural philosophy, four volumes on church history, histories of England and Rome, grammar books on Hebrew, Latin, Greek, French and English, three works on medicine, six volumes of church music, seven volumes of sermons and controversial papers, edited a library of fifty books, arose at 4 a.m., and worked solidly to 10 p.m. ARE YOU GETTING TIRED? He said, "I have more hours of private retirement than any man in England." At 83 he was irritated because he could no longer write more than fifteen hours a day without hurting his eyes. On his 85th birthday he wrote that he felt no weariness while travelling or preaching. But at 86 he was ashamed that he could no longer preach more than twice a day. He complained in his diary that he had an increasing tendency to sleep in till 5:30 a.m.
Texas National Guard magazine reports the motto of the parachute riggers: I will be sure always. They have to jump the chutes they pack.
The king of Syracuse was a tyrant. Having condemned a man named Damon to death, he granted him permission to visit his wife and children one last time. The condition was that if he failed to return, his best friend, Phintias, would be executed in his place. As the day of the execution got nearer and Damon still had not returned, the king visited Phintias and said, "What a fool you were to put up your life in exchange for your friend." Phintias replied, "My friend is a man of honour and will do his utmost to return. However, I am hoping and praying that for some reason he will be unable to return. I would be honoured to die in his place." Soon the day arrived, and there was still no sign of Damon. Phintias was led to the scaffold. There he addressed the people and told them how glad he was that he could ransom the life of his friend. Suddenly, from the back of the crowd, there was a great disturbance, and the crowd parted as Damon made his way to the front just in time. Damon was disappointed and said to the king that if he couldn't die for his friend, he'd die with him. And the king was so overwhelmed at this show of faithfulness, he pardoned them both.
Quotes
God is more concerned with the gut-level faithfulness of our lives and our preparedness to be true and faithful to His word, than He is with the outcome of it. Peter Stott
Daniel was faithful when it was inconvenient. His three friends were faithful when it was dangerous.
A wife who is 85% faithful to her husband is not faithful at all. There is no such thing as part-time loyalty to Jesus Christ. Vance Havner