Loyalty to God, Fellow Man, and the Truth

Well, good morning, everyone. Good to see all of you on this rainy Sabbath morning, but there sure is a lot of bright sunshine in this room. And this service certainly is the highlight of the week, and I'm so glad that we can all be here and share it together.

I'd like to give you some quotes from the internet on loyalty. I have ten of them. Loyalty is a strong feeling of support or allegiance. Second one, loyalty is more than a word, it's a way of life. Cicero, a Roman statesman who lived in the first century B.C., said, nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than loyalty. Another quote, loyalty isn't gray, it's black or white. You're either loyal completely or not loyal at all.

Loyalty is a 24-hour proposition. It's not a part-time job.

I don't like this one. I'm more concerned with who you are behind my back than who you are in my face. Your loyalty shouldn't depend on my presence. That is so true. A man with no loyalty will leave you once the road darkens.

And just two or three more now. You don't earn loyalty in a day. You earn it day by day.

Without loyalty, you won't accomplish anything. And the last one, loyalty is the strongest glue which makes a relationship last for a lifetime.

So loyalty is very important. It's a quality we must have to be in God's kingdom.

The dictionary definition of loyalty is faithful to those person's ideals that one is under obligation to defend, support, and be true to.

Faithfulness or faithful adherence to a person, government, cause, duty, and so forth. A synonym they give here is allegiance.

Did you know that the word loyal and loyalty are not in the King James Version of the Bible?

But the concept is there. The concept of loyalty and faithfulness is there.

The Greek word for faithful or faithfulness is pistos. P-I-S-T-O-S. It means to be faithful. It means to be reliable, to be trustworthy.

Today we want to see what the Scriptures have to say about loyalty, because as we'll see, we cannot be in God's kingdom without it. It's very important.

I'd like to go ahead and give you a title for the message, and that is loyalty to God, fellow man, and the truth. You know, we sang in one of our hymns about loyalty in the song, Great Is Thy Faithfulness. It's directed to where God's faithfulness in the first verse goes like this. Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not by compassion's they fail not, as thou hast been thou forever will be.

So God is totally 100% faithful. Let's read one verse about it. The Bible is full of verses, but let's go to Deuteronomy 7 and verse 9. One of those great qualities of our God is that He is loyal, faithful, 100%. And truly, He does not change. His compassion's do not fail. As He has been, He will forever be.

That's amazing, isn't it? God is the same, and He looks the same as He did a thousand years ago, or ten thousand, and always He has looked the same. He's not aged. He doesn't have wrinkles like we do, or gray hair. His hair is white, and His character has always been constant. Okay, Deuteronomy 7 and verse 9. Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, the loyal God, who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations for those who love Him and keep His commandments. And I was just thinking, you know, for a thousand generations is just a way of saying that it is forever, because God is faithful for two thousand generations as well. A thousand generations at 25 years per generation would be 25,000 years. That's a long time. But God's faithfulness is longer than 25,000 years. It is endless going back in time, and will be endless going forward. God is faithful to His plan and purpose. He's loyal. He doesn't change.

Hebrews 13 says, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.

So He's 100% loyal, faithful, steadfast. And to be in God's kingdom and be a son of God, a daughter of God, we also have to be 100% faithful and loyal. God has to be able to depend upon us. We have to be spiritually true blue. So let's think about this a little bit deeper as we're going through the sermon. Who or what must we be loyal to? Let's consider that. Our first loyalty is to God, and that's the first part of the title of the sermon, Loyalty to God. We must be totally loyal to Him. He requires that we love Him with all of our heart and mind and soul and being. In the sermon last week, it was mentioned that we'd be able to say, I love you. And I know I've come up short myself in saying that. I've heard some of our ministers and prayers express that love, and I don't want I want to express that love to word God more. With all my heart and mind and soul and being, we must be loyal to keeping the commandments. The first four of the commandments have to do with expounding on that loyalty to word God. No other gods. Nothing else is between us and God. Nothing in our minds. Number two is no graven images, and that we uphold the name of God and not take it in vain. And remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. So we must be loyal to God, and we must be loyal to the truth. That's another part of the title. Loyal to the truth. John 17 in verse 17 says, thy word is truth. In Matthew 4 and verse 4, Jesus said that man is to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

So we are to be loyal to God. We are to be loyal to His truth. We are to be loyal to His laws, and we are to be loyal to the kingdom of God. Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God.

In Matthew chapter 6 and in Philippians chapter 3, we are citizens of the kingdom of God. First and foremost, that citizenship goes ahead of our national citizenship. So we might say we could come up with a pledge of allegiance to the kingdom of God, something like this. I pledge allegiance, that's loyalty, I pledge loyalty or allegiance to God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and to the everlasting kingdom of God and the righteousness for which that kingdom stands, one holy kingdom under the loving leadership of God our Father and Jesus Christ our Savior.

And we all have to take that pledge of allegiance and be living it moment by moment, day by day, total 100% allegiance to the kingdom of God. And we have some good examples of loyalty in the Bible. God told Noah when he was about 500 years of age to build this big old boat.

So you read the scriptures in Genesis 6, 7, 8. He went out and started doing it, built this big old boat. They have one up in Cincinnati that is a Cincinnati area that is supposed to be a replica of that. It's a huge thing. I think some of us have seen that. But Noah went out. He was loyal, obedient to God 100%. He built the big old boat. And true and true, the flood did come, and he did save human life within the ark.

What about Abraham? God said, Go dwell in this land. Leave your... He probably didn't have a tent where he was living the first 75 years of his life. But go to this land that I will show you and live in a tent and wander around. And he did that for a hundred years. How would you like to live in a tent? I've been camping before. Usually after a night or two, I'm very happy to come back to civilization again.

But Abraham lived in a tent. He was willing to sacrifice his own son. You know, that's a tough one. We say, would we be able to do that? He was that loyal. He had the knife up in the air. He was ready to have Isaac to be the sacrifice when God stopped it. So Abraham was... proved himself. God said, Now I know. I know that you're 100% loyal. So maybe God's going to test us in certain ways to find out, too.

Think about that. To see if we are 100% loyal to him. Isaac. Isaac was a second generation in the land. And he believed the promises that his father told him about. And so Isaac was faithful. After his father died, God began to deal more directly with Isaac. And then Jacob also and Joseph, they were faithful and loyal. Many examples. Moses, David, Daniel, and his three friends. Jesus Christ, of course, exemplified loyalty. He was 100% faithful and loyal. And he said, Not my will, but your will be done. That has to be our position also. Not my will, but your will. But many examples in the New Testament church. What about the 12 apostles? They are facing persecution, opposition, even death, martyrdom.

They went out and preached the gospel for many years after the death of Christ. And most of them died in martyrdom. So they showed their loyalty. Paul, you can read about Peter just before he was murdered. In 2 Peter, 2 Peter was written shortly before Peter was murdered. He knew what was about to come. And he knew what he was going to do.

The apostle Paul in 2 Timothy just before his martyrdom. He said he had fought a good fight. And he finished his course. He was loyal right up to the end. He knew that he was about to be murdered. How would that be? To be in prison and knowing that you were about ready to be martyred.

But these men did that. So the Bible is full of examples of ones who were faithful and loyal, even to death. So our first loyalty is to God. His laws, his truth, his way of life, his kingdom of God. Our second loyalty, there is a loyalty to word fellow man.

We must be loyal to fellow man as long as there is not a conflict with the laws of God. More about that in just a moment. But we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. The second great commandment shows love and loyalty to word fellow man. And there are six commandments that deal with how we are to treat fellow man, honor your father and mother. Children owe it to their parents, a loyalty to their parents. Their parents are providing them with home, food, clothing, shelter.

Children owe that to their parents. And God requires that in the fifth commandment. Honor your father and mother. Do not kill. Do not take someone's life. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not covet. So there's loyalty involved to word fellow man in the last six of the Ten Commandments. Parents are to be loyal to their children as well. Not only are children to be loyal to their parents, but parents are to be loyal, to be truthful, and support and help their children to be a success in life every way that they can.

Neighbors are to be loyal to each other. We live in a neighborhood and we stop and talk to our neighbors now and then. And they are there. They would help us as we would help them. Bosses are required to be loyal to their employees. And employees, workers, are required to be loyal to the company and to the boss.

Well, what about here in the church? There's a special loyalty, I believe, that we have for each other. A special faithfulness that we have for one another. The Scripture is mentioned, fervent love for the brethren. That's a deeper love than the love we would have for ones not yet our brethren. But there are good examples of loyalty in the Bible. What about David? There are two times Saul was out to kill David. He had, seems like, 400 men, chosen men, from his army.

They were choice soldiers. And he went out to kill David. And David had the opportunity. You can read this in 1 Samuel 24 and also 1 Samuel 26. He had the opportunity twice when Saul came out to kill Saul. There was opportunity. David could not do it. Let's do read two or three verses on that in 1 Samuel 26. 1 Samuel 26. This would be the second time that Saul came out to kill David. And David had this opportunity to kill Saul and would not do so. Let's pick up the story. As Saul and his army were sleeping, in verse 7, David and Abashah came to the people by night and their Saul lay sleeping within the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head.

And Abner and the people lay all around him. Then Abashah said to David, God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Therefore, please let me strike him at once. I think Abashah must have known that David would not lift up his hand in the earlier opportunity that David had to kill Saul.

But he said, let me strike him at once with the spear right to the earth, and I will not have to strike him a second time. That's the part he knew one stroke of his spear would do it. David said to Abashah, verse 9, do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? David said, Furthermore, as the Lord lives, the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish. It turned out to be that latter one that Saul was killed in battle.

Verse 11, David went on to say, The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed. But please now take the spear and the jug of water which is by his head and let us go. And then David went a distance away and awakened Saul and let him know that he had the opportunity to kill him and would not do so.

So what an example of loyalty David had towards Saul. Of course, we know that Jesus Christ exemplified loyalty to God and fellow man perfectly. But you know, the Bible has many examples of disloyalty. Let's consider some of those. Cain was very disloyal to his brother, killed him, killed his own brother. You can read that in Genesis, what is it about? Chapter 4, I believe. Cain killed his own brother. Later we read that Korah in number 16, after the Israelites came out of Egypt in the wilderness. He led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron in Numbers chapter 16. We read that. You know, even Aaron and Miriam, the brother and sister of Moses, were disloyal to Moses in Numbers chapter 12. And they complained about the Ethiopian woman that he had married. You can read that in Numbers 12. What about Absalom? He rose up against his own father. That's just hard to realize how someone can get in that type of frame of mind, to rise up against his own father to kill, to take his place and to kill him. What about Judas? I guess one of the prime examples in the Bible of disloyalty would be Judas. Judas is carriot, betrayed Jesus Christ, as we know, with a kiss. What about the early church? Let's read a few verses on that. Acts chapter 20. Yes, even in the early church there were disloyalties. And let's read in Acts chapter 20 and verse 28. Paul was talking to the elders at Ephesus, and he says in verse 27, I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore, take heed to yourselves unto all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which he has purchased with his own blood. Now verse 29, for I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves shall come in among you, not sparing the flock. Now, savage wolves would be ones who come in from outside who were never members of, never attended the church, or were thought to be members anyway. But verse 30, from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves. So, ones that would be disloyal. Of course, we've not seen that sort of thing happen in our time, have we? Yes, we have. We've seen the same thing to happen, that people from within, traders from within, down through the years and decades, we have seen that to happen. Let's go to 2 Timothy 4. It's a disloyalty even in the church. In 2 Timothy 4 and verse 3. The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, not be loyal to the truth of the Bible, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heat up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. So yes, disloyalty even in the church. We read about a lot of disloyalty, in fact, in the later years of the New Testament church.

You can read 1 John, 2 John, 3 John. Some had left the church. They went out from us, but they were not of us. In 1 John chapter 2. In 2 John 7 and 10, we read that there were many deceivers. And John said, don't allow them into your home and don't wish them well, because they are disloyal to God and to the truth. In 3 John, there's one by the name of diatrophies who rejected the leadership of John. And he himself wanted to be the big leader himself. Jude wrote about unfaithful and ungodly men who caused division, who murmured to gain advantage for themselves. So yes, even in the New Testament church, there was disloyalty.

But you know there were many faithful examples in the early church. What about Peter? As we mentioned, faithful, loyal. Right up to his martyrdom, you can read about it in 2 Peter. He was faithful and loyal. What about Paul, as we mentioned? 2 Timothy 4, faithful and loyal till his martyrdom. John was faithful and loyal. He was used of God to write the final books of the Bible. Timothy, in 1 Corinthians 4, 17, was faithful and loyal. Tychicus, a faithful minister of God. And then in Colossians, faithful brethren at Colossae, and Epaphras, a faithful minister. Omnisimus, a faithful brother. Sylvanus. So we read about many that were very loyal. You know, what about our nation today? We don't have that trust, that faithfulness that we had at one time. And this was prophesied in the Old Testament prophecies. Let's go to Micah 7. Micah 7. And we see these prophecies being fulfilled today. Micah wrote about Micah 7 and verse 2. Micah 7 and verse 2. The faithful man has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood. Every man hunts his brother with a net. We're seeing that more and more in our own country. Verse 4. The best of them is like a briar, and the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchman and your punishment comes. Now shall be their perplexity. And that day of punishment might be closer as we've already heard today. Verse 5. Do not trust in a friend, because faithfulness and loyalty is no longer there. Do not put your confidence in a companion. Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom.

For son dishonors father, daughter rises against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the men of his own house.

Therefore I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation, for God will hear me. We do long for the kingdom of God. That's when it's going to be resolved. Let's go to Jeremiah 9. We find a similar prophecy in Jeremiah chapter 9, beginning in verse 4.

Jeremiah 9, beginning in verse 4, Everyone take heed to his neighbor, and do not trust any brother. For every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slanderers. Everyone will deceive his neighbor, and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. Your habitation is in the midst of deceit. Through deceit they refuse to know me, says the Lord. So I think we can see that more and more loyalty is not there.

It's just not there. But so here in the end time we're seeing lack of loyalty toward fellow man, toward God and his truth certainly, and toward fellow man as well. Toward our nation a lack of loyalty, and it's bringing us down. But what about the end time church? Surely there's not any disloyalty in the end time church of God.

You know, the answer is yes. There have been many disloyalties in our in our time. Mr. Herbert Armstrong saw betrayals. He wrote in his autobiography that he would come into an area to do a campaign, and there would be converts, people that believed, and then he would leave that congregation, a congregation that was formed in the hands of who he thought were faithful men, who would, before too long, begin to lead astray those converts. You can read about that in his autobiography. So there were betrayals back in the 1930s. You know, I came on the scene in the late 1950s. I remember a professor that became disgruntled and began to complain and murmur. And I think there may have been a few students who went along with his murmuring. He was disloyal. The 60s and the 70s, I think for those who go back that far, you can remember that there were disloyalties. In the 1980s, what about after Herbert Armstrong died in 1986? Were there any disloyalties? The pastor general of the church began to go a different way. And for a while, I know, I wonder what's going on here. Eventually it became very evident in the 1990s. And 26 years ago, this church leader said it was okay that we didn't really have work to be done on the Sabbath if that was necessary to provide for the family. Denying the fourth commandment, disloyalty to God and disloyal to the truth. And the holy days, same thing, and tithing and cleaning and cleaning meats. But you know, it's very important at this point to point out that loyalty does not mean following a leader into error. And so we knew that something had to be done. And so in 1995, the United Church of God was formed. But even in the 26 years, almost, of united, have there been any disloyalties? I think we can say there have been. What about in the years ahead? Let's go to Matthew 24.

Matthew chapter 24 and the Olivet prophecy beginning in verse 9.

Matthew 24 beginning in verse 9.

Then they shall deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

Maybe that could be talking about outside of the church, but it does seem to be talking about inside, doesn't it? Many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many, and because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he that endures to the end shall be saved.

So yes, in the years ahead, at the end of this age, it is prophesied that there will be disloyalties and betrayals that will take place. But let us determine that that will not be us. We must be loyal servants of God. Proverbs 20 and verse 6 says, Who can find a faithful man? Loyal man. You know, hopefully, who can find one, each and every one of us? We can determine to be 100% loyal, faithful to God, to fellow man, and to the truth. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 4. It is required that we be loyal. We're not going to be in God's kingdom without it.

1 Corinthians 4. Let's begin reading in verse 1. 1 Let a man so consider us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. This congregation wasn't too sure about the apostle Paul. He was having to let them know, well, you know, we are servants of Christ. That's what we are. We're stewards of the mysteries of God. The word steward is from two Greek words, meaning a house and to arrange. To arrange things, then, in a house. You might say a manager of a household. The ministry is, then, a steward of God, a manager of God's household. This word is used here as a minister, a preacher of the gospel who is watching over God's household.

But we all must be faithful servants of God. It goes on to say in verse 2, Moreover, it is required in stewards that 1. be found faithful. You know, that applies to all of us as members. In the context here, the apostle Paul is applying it to himself as a steward, a manager of the household of God. But all of us must be faithful. It is required of us if we are to be in God's kingdom. I'd like for us to read quite a few verses now, the importance of going on to be 100% loyal to God, fellow man, and to the truth. I say fellow man as long as he's not trying to lead us into some type of error. Even there, we pray for that person, and we just don't follow him into error. We pray that he will change his position. Let's go to Luke 16. We're going to read several verses now on loyalty. It is important. Loyalty 16. Pardon me, Luke 16 and verse 10. Luke 16 and verse 10. He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. So you know if we are faithful in that little bit we are given now, then we'll be faithful when God gives us more. Verse 11 goes on to say, Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal in the new King James Version. He will be loyal to the one and despise the other. The King James says he will else he will hold hold H-O-L-D to the one. And the Greek word actually does mean to hold to or to adhere. But loyal is an okay translation. The King James may be actually a little bit closer. He will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in mammon. So let us be faithful in that little bit that God has given to us.

Let's go to Luke chapter 19 and verse 17. We'll read several verses on being faithful, being loyal, how important it is. Loyal to God, loyal to fellow man, loyal to the truth. Luke 19 and verse 17. This is where these minas or pounds have been given out to individuals. In verse 16, the first King James saying, Master, your mina has earned 10 minas. It really increased a lot. Verse 17, he said to him, Well done, good servant, because you were faithful in a very little of authority over 10 cities.

You know, let us determine to be faithful in the very little given to us.

Let's go to 1 Corinthians 15. We're going to read several verses now on the importance of loyalty. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 58. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, this is the conclusion of the resurrection chapter. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 58. My beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable. So we could say faithful, loyal, steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

So be steadfast. Be 100% loyal. Let's go to 2 Chronicles 16 and verse 9. This verse has been referred to. Let's go there to read it. 1 Chronicles 16. 2 Chronicles 16 and verse 9.

The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him.

The New King James again uses the word loyal. The King James version has perfect.

The Jewish Holy Scriptures has whole. And the Hebrew word has that meaning of whole. W-H-O-L-E, whole. But perfect is not bad, is it? That's kind of whole. Whole and loyal, that is to be whole. But whole, the Jewish version does give a little concept that is, to me, a little bit better. Someone that is whole with God. Someone that is 100% loyal. Someone that is 100% loyal is whole. He is perfect with God.

So God is looking. This verse says, God is looking throughout the earth. Is he going to find you and me as his eyes run around? I believe he will. I have that confidence in each and every one of us. That's the way we want it to be. We fall short. We know that, but we want to be whole and perfect with God. 100% loyal.

Let's go back to Matthew now, Matthew 24 and verse 45.

Matthew 24 and verse 45. Who then is a faithful and wise servant? A woman that is really whole with God, perfect with God.

Loyal. 100% loyal. Whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he comes, will find so doing. I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.

So someone that is loyal is going to be richly rewarded, will be in God's kingdom, giving great responsibilities. But what if you're disloyal?

Verse 48. If that evil servant says, in his heart, my master is delaying his coming and begins to beat his fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that house will come in a day when he is not looking, an hour he is not aware, and cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

If someone wants to not be whole, not be perfect with God, then just not going to make it. Matthew 25 and verse 14. You know, Matthew 25 is a part of the Olivet prophecy, too. Matthew is the only one that gives what is found in Matthew 25. Mark, Luke, and John do not give this at all. But here, Matthew has it.

Matthew 25 and verse 14.

The kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, delivered to his goods to servants he gave to one he gave five talents, verse 15, to another two and to another one. We know that after a long time he returned, and in verse 25 he that received five talents came and brought five other talents. So now he had ten. Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Look, I've gained five more talents besides them. And the Lord said, well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful. You were loyal. You were whole and perfect with me.

Over a few things I will make you ruler over many things enter into the joy of the Lord, and the one that received two increased by two. And he had the same thing said to him, verse 23, well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few things. I'll make you ruler over many. Well, we know that the one the other one that received one did not increase, and what he did have was taken away from him. He did not make it into the kingdom of God.

So is faithfulness required? It is. Is it important? It is. I'm not giving this sermon because I think any of us is disloyal or unfaithful, but it is a good reminder that we want to be 100%. We want to be perfect with God.

For the very best of our ability, we want to be whole with Him.

Let's read just a couple more scriptures, and then we'll conclude with these. Let's go to Psalm 15. Psalm 15.

We'll begin in verse 1.

Psalm 15 in verse 1. Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? We might say who is going to enter the kingdom of God.

Well, verse 2. He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart. He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend.

You see, he's totally loyal. He doesn't bring up anything evil about his neighbor. In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord. He who swears to his own herd and does not change. He does not put out his money at usury, nor take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved, and will be in God's kingdom.

Final scripture. Let's go to Revelation 17 in verse 14.

Revelation 17 in verse 14.

It's talking about a battle, the battle that is going to take place, described in more detail in Revelation 19 when Jesus Christ returns and fights against a beast and the false prophet and nations gathered at Jerusalem. Verse 14 says, These make war with the Lamb, the returning Jesus Christ. And the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings.

And those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful. They are loyal. They are called of God.

They have responded to that calling. They are chosen of God, have this spirit, and are growing and overcoming, developing the character and the nature of Almighty God, and faithful, 100% loyal.

So yes, loyalty is important. Let's always strive to be loyal to God, 100%, to fellow man, 100%, and the truth, 100%. Let's grow in these godly qualities of faithfulness and loyalty, because God is looking for loyalty in His sons and daughters.