THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD Deut. 7:9 2-14-09
Today I want to talk for a little while on the “faithfulness of God”.
As we all know there are people in this world that are not faithful hardly to do with any thing, It seems that it’ is really hard for us to put confidence in any thing some people say or do. Have you ever known anyone like that?
I have met a few people that has lied to me so many times that I really had rather not hear any thing they have to say, because your just not sure if its true or not.
I’ve known some old drunks in the past that I’d believe quicker than some of the so called outstanding in the community crowd.
Unfaithfulness is one of the biggest sins of these days that we live in. In the business world, a man’s word is, with rare exceptions, no longer his bond.
In the ecclesiastical realm, there are men who have promised to preach and teach the truth, and yet they try and change Gods Word in order not to offend their listeners.
Let me say right here that there is a big difference in making an honest mistake as to what is meant of certain verses as opposed to purposely changing it. All of us make mistakes; pencils wouldn’t come with erases on them if we never made mistakes.
But there is One that has never made a mistake, One that we can totally put our trust in and believe every thing He says whether we understand it or not. And that of coarse is our Great God.
Ø He is faithful, faithful in all things, and faithful at all times.
Listen as I read today’s text, one verse;
Deut. 7:9 "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God”.
His faithfulness is essential to His being, without it He would not be God. For God to be unfaithful would be to act contrary to His nature.
2 Tim. 2:13 "If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself"
I was talking to a man one time that was tied up in the “occult” about “hell” and that people that die lost and in their sins go there.
And his comment was, -that he didn’t believe in hell-
And by the way, he use to go to a Baptist Church.
All I can say about that is, that that particular Baptist Church was not preaching the whole council of God.
But let me say that whether he believes in hell or not does not do away with what The Faithful God has already said in His forever settled Word, just because a person don’t believe in hell don’t do away with it.
2 Tim. 2:13 "If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself"
Faithfulness is one of the glorious perfections of God.
He is as it were, clothed with it:
Ps. 89:8 "O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? or to Thy faithfulness round about Thee?"
To do with God coming to earth incarnate in flesh Isaiah said,
Isa. 11:5 "Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins"
In Psalm 36:5 Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
Ø Our little finite minds cannot comprehend the unchanging faithfulness of God.
Everything about God is great, vast, and incomparable.
He never forgets, never fails, never falters, and never does any thing contrary to His word.
Every thing that He has declared would happen, has come to pass exactly like He said it would, and every thing that has not come to pass as yet, is because it’s not His time for it to happen, but we can rest assured that what ever He has declared will at the set time.
Num. 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man**, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?"
Lam. 3: 21-26 Jeremiah says -This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 22It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 25The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 26It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
More than four thousand years ago He said,
Gen. 8:22 "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease"
Al Gore and his global warming friends need to read that.
Every year that rolls around is a witness to God’s fulfillment of this promise.
In Genesis 15: 13-16 we find that Jehovah God declared unto Abraham, "Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them. . . . But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again"
And when that generation finally came about, Abraham’s descendants groaned and cried out to God to deliver them from the awful burden that the Egyptians had laid on them and guess what, God had not forgot His promise, because He is faithful.
Exodus 12:41, "And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt."
Through Isaiah the Lord declared,
Isaiah 7:14 "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel" ---and we’re told in Matthew 1:23 which being interpreted is, God with us.
Again centuries passed, but faithful to His Word;
Gal 4:4 "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman"
Ø God is true and faithful.
His Word of Promise is sure. In all His relations with His people God is faithful. He may be relied on.
No one ever yet trusted Him in vain. We find this precious truth everywhere in the Scriptures, for us, as Gods people need to know that faithfulness is an essential part of His Divine character.
Faithfulness; is the basis of our confidence in Him.
God has given us many "exceeding great and precious promises, are we really expecting Him to do for us all that He has said?
Are we resting with unwavering assurance on these words, in?
Heb. 10:23 "He is faithful that promised"
But there may be times that our faith is tried,
There could be any number of things that might happen and cause heartache and sorry to come our way. The things of the world might distract us, or maybe some of our friends on whom we had confidence in have failed us, a professed brother or sister in Christ has let us down, such as this will certainly bring us to a low point in our Christian life.-- We have tried to be faithful to God, and now a dark cloud hides Him from us it seems.
It might help us to remember;
Isaiah 50:10 -- let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.
Romans 8: 28 & 31 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose—31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
If we should ever be tempted to doubt the faithfulness of God let us cry out, "Get thee hence, Satan." Because that is Satan job, he knows that he can’t damn our soul, so he wants to make us as miserable as he can, he knows that a doubting Christian can not be very effective for God. Satan placed doubt in Eves mind as to the Word of God.
He said to Eve in Gen. 3: 1-- Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? He asks her a question trying to place doubt in her mind.
God has never forsaken nor deceived His children; He may very well be testing us.
Isa. 30:18 "And therefore will the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him"
Hebrews 13:5 - for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Listen to this little poem that I ran across as I was putting this together,
"Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace,
Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.
Ye fearful saints fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread,
Are rich with mercy, and shall break In blessing o’er your head."
Ps. 119:138 "Thy testimonies which Thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful"
God has not only told us the best, but He has also faithfully described the ruin, which the Fall of man has effected.
He has faithfully told us the terrible state which sin has produced. He has faithfully made known His hatred of evil, and that He must punish the same.
He has faithfully warned us that He is "a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29).
Not only does His Word give us many illustrations of His faithfulness in fulfilling His promises, but it also records many examples of His faithfulness in making good His threatenings.
Every stage of Israel’s backslidden condition through out her history reveals that solemn fact.
And the same was true with individuals:
Such as, Pharaoh, Korah, Achan and many others that show His faithfulness to judge their wickedness.
And the same faithful judgment will be with any that are listening today that are lost, unless you come to Jesus Christ for refuge, the everlasting burning of the Lake of Fire will be the final abode for lost sinners, God has already said so and He is faithful.
Religion is not good enough; we must come to God as His Word says.
Jesus said in John 7:38- He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said,
Not as what any thing or person has said.
He said in;
John 5: 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
God is also faithful in preserving His people.
1 Cor. 1:8-9 -- waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
God has promised to His Son a certain people for His inheritance, to deliver them from sin and condemnation, and to make them participants of eternal life in glory, it is certain that He will not allow any of them to perish.
Psalm 37:18 & 28 The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.-- 28For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever
God is faithful in disciplining His people as is told in Heb.12:. He is faithful in sending sorrow as well as in giving joy.
The faithfulness of God is a truth to be confessed by all that are saved, not only of our mouths, but also of our hearts.
When sicknesses come our way, lets not be at outs with God, what ever our sickness or affliction might be, He is still faithful.
Ps. 119:15 "I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are right, and that Thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me"
Many times afflictions are necessary,
Hos. 5:15 "In their affliction they will seek Me early"
“Affliction” is anything causing pain or distress.- to undergo hardship- suffer trouble
“Affliction” is not necessarily being sick, although sickness could bring it about.
1 Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
Ps. 89: 33 My lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer** My faithfulness to fail"
Paul was resting on the faithfulness of God when he said,
2 Tim 1:12 I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day
