God is Faithful
God is Faithful
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
“Who Wrote Whom?”
Just a line to say I’m living,
that I’m not among the dead.
Though I’m getting more forgetful
and mixed up in the head.
I got used to my arthritis,
to my dentures I’m resigned.
I can manage my bifocals,
but I sure do miss my mind.
For sometimes I can’t remember
when I stand at the foot of the stairs,
If I must go up for something,
or have I just come down from there.
And before the fridge so often,
my poor mind is filled with doubt,
Have I just put food away,
or have I come to take some out?
And there’s time when it is dark
with my nightcap on my head,
I don’t know if I’m retiring,
or just getting out of bed.
So, if it’s my turn to write you,
there’s no need for getting sore,
I may think that I have written,
and don’t want to be a bore.
So, remember that I love you,
and wish that you were near.
But now it’s nearly mail time
so I must say good‑bye, dear.
There I stand before the mailbox,
with a face so very red.
Instead of mailing you my letter,
I had opened it instead.
¾ Anonymous
“God is faithful!”—three words that spell comfort, confidence and courage in a world of fatefulness, faithlessness and fearfulness. They were addressed to a church that was passing through a period of extreme crisis. In chapter after chapter Paul had to deal with matters of faith and order that were seriously wrong, but in spite of this he could declare, “God is faithful.” What a motto to take into the days, weeks and months of an unknown future.
I. This Is a Faithfulness That Is Related to God’s Character
· “God is faithful . . .” (1:9).
Character is the description of the traits or qualities of a person of type. The word “character” means “an engraving instrument.” As applied to God, “faithfulness” is that which supremely marks Him or “engraves” Him in the history of human experience. It is an attribute and an activity of God which we can both trace and trust.
A. Faithfulness Is an Attribute of God’s Character
God is absolutely reliable, firmly constant and not given to arbitrariness or fickleness. Scripture is replete with figures of speech that represent this divine stability and steadfastness. In the Old Testament we read of the extensiveness of God’s faithfulness: “. . . thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds” (Ps. 36:5); therefore, man cannot outstretch it!
We further read of the everlastingness of God’s faithfulness: “Thy faithfulness is unto all generations” (Ps. 119:90); therefore, man can never outlive it! We also read of the exceedingness of God’s faithfulness: “[The Lord’s mercies] are new every morning” (Lam. 3:23); therefore, man can never outmatch it! To understand this attribute is to discover the key to every other attribute of God. Whatever the Spirit reveals in the Word concerning our God we can add—He is faithful!
B. Faithfulness Is an Activity of God’s Character
One of the distinctive doctrines of Holy Scripture is that of God’s “covenant-loyalty.” The frequent combination of words that are used in the Old Testament to describe God’s faithfulness denote a determined, almost stubborn, steadfastness toward His people and His covenant (Gen. 24:27, 49; Exod. 34:6; Ps. 40:11; 136, etc.).
When we consider God’s faithfulness to Israel throughout her generations in times of storm and calm, we must say, “God is faithful . . . which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him” (see 1:9; Deut. 7:9). This is why we cannot do anything else but trust Him.
A boy was crossing the ocean with his father. During the voyage the ship ran into a storm and was tossed about in such a fashion that everyone was stricken with fear. But it was quite different with this little fellow. He sat still with eyes directed toward a certain spot. At last someone went up to him and asked him how it was that he was so unperturbed. “I have my eyes on that window,” said the lad, “and I can see my father on the bridge.” Then he added, “My father is the captain of this ship and he has steered her through many storms.” In like manner, we have a faithful Captain who is Master of all the winds and waves of life. When we think of God’s character we are reminded that faithfulness is both an attribute and an activity of His nature and power.
II. This Is a Faithfulness That Is Related to God’s Call
· “God is faithful, by whom ye were called . . .” (1:9).
Because of the attribute and activity of God’s faithfulness, men and women are called to a quality of life which is otherwise totally impossible and even unthinkable. As we examine the Word of God we discover that it is:
A. A Life of Redemptive Provision in Christ
· “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Because we are sinners by birth, by choice and by practice, it is quite impossible to live in fellowship with God and our fellow man. And yet we are told: “. . . if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). This divine provision is not to encourage us to sin— God forbid—but rather to enable us not to sin; for the Son of God who shed His precious blood at Calvary for our reconciliation now reigns in victory to save us by His indwelling life. But if and when we do stumble and fall, He, in response to our genuine confession and repentance, “. . . is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
B. A Life of Corrective Protection in Christ
· “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
The context here finds Paul recounting the temptations that faced the children of Israel in the past, and therefore the children of God in every age. He gives a word of caution: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Christians can be so cocksure of their acceptance in Christ that they neglect their dependence on Christ; so Paul insists on the need for vigilance.
But Paul also gives the way of conquest: “. . . God is faithful, who will . . . with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). He speaks of God’s permissive faithfulness. God is always aware of the circumstances associated with every temptation and will never allow any testing outside of His permissive will. He knows just how much we can bear and will never permit temptation beyond that point. Think of His protective faithfulness: He always has “a way of escape.” How comforting to know that whenever we are trapped Jesus is always our way out! There are no situations in which He is not more than Conqueror and, therefore, more than adequate. This is the faithfulness of our God.
The story is told of a young man who came to the city to find employment. He gave up attending church, but formed the habit of stepping into the foyer of a prominent church in time to hear the closing hymn of the evening service. On one such occasion the hymn was “The Celestial Country.” Afterward, he found himself humming these words: “For thee, O dear, dear country, Mine eyes their vigils keep; For very love beholding Thy precious name, they weep.” Later the young man faced a great temptation. He worried intensely about the situation. Should he commit this wrong? There was little chance that he would be found out but as he wrestled with the temptation he found himself unconsciously humming the hymn. Suddenly it became clear that he was not willing to give up God and Heaven to live in his own way. He fell upon his knees and prayed, “Deliver me from evil.” The shadows lifted; he had won. He felt for the first time he was a citizen of that better country.[1]
C. A Life of Progressive Perfection in Christ
· “Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thess. 5:22‑24).
Paul is not speaking of faultlessness. We shall never be faultless until we see our Lord face to face and know the total redemption of our bodies, but we can be blameless. In spirit, soul and body we are to be so sanctified positionally and progressively that our lives know a healthiness and harmony that are distinctive. It is a quality of life which makes the world realize that we have both a standard and a secret which are supernatural. It is God in us, by the Holy Spirit. It is the release of divine energy in response to human bankruptcy. God never calls without enabling. Herein is the nature and power of His faithfulness.
III. This Is a Faithfulness That Is Related to God’s Communion
· “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord (1:9).
The word “fellowship” is better translated “communion”—and what a communion! This is a study in and of itself. For our purpose, however, we shall limit ourselves to three aspects of this communion:
A. The Communion of Unity
· “. . . the fellowship of his Son” (1:9).
In his epistle, John reminds us that “. . . truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). There is no higher concept of unity than that represented by the fellowship of the Father with His Son. Indeed, in His High Priestly prayer, the Savior petitioned His Father for this very thing—”That they all may be one . . .” (John 17:21).
One of the main problems in the church at Corinth was that of disunity, so at the very beginning of his letter he reminds them that God who is faithful had called them into “the fellowship of his Son.” This was both a word of rebuke and reassurance: a word of rebuke, because the church was a bad reflection of the unity between the Father and the Son; a word of reassurance, because the unity enjoyed in heaven is possible on earth through the faithfulness of God.
When brethren “dwell together in unity” (see Ps. 133:1), the Holy Spirit comes upon His people as “precious ointment”; as the dew upon the mountains, and as life in all its abundance. The words of the apostle are clear when he exhorts: “. . . walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace’ (Eph. 4:1‑3).
2) The Communion of Purity
· “. . . the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ . . .” (1:9).
When those two titles are brought together in Scripture it is always indicative of the saving and sanctifying power of our Lord. “Jesus” speaks of His saving grace, while “Christ” emphasizes the sanctifying grace of our indwelling Lord. That which supremely distinguished the Master throughout His days here upon earth was His holiness. He was “. . . declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness . . .” (Rom. 1:4). And the writer to the Hebrews informs us that He was “. . . holy, harmless, undefiled [and] separate from sinners . . .” (Heb. 7:26). No one can be united in fellowship with the holy Son of God without experiencing the communion of purity.
Sir Peter Lely, a rather well‑known painter, made it a rule of his life never to look at a bad picture. The reason he gave for this decision was that such experiences affected him so that when he began to paint his mind would be obsessed by the bad painting . . . and his own brush would be tainted and his work affected . . . So it is with the Christian life. The pure in heart always see God. Those who allow themselves to be infected with the filth and the evil of the world somehow lose their pristine beauty and take on the color of their environment. Spiritual beauty can be maintained only by refusing to look upon evil—by the upward, not the downward, look. [2]
C. The Communion of Loyalty
· “. . . the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1:9).
Just as unity depends on purity, so purity depends on loyalty. When the Master is Lord in the midst of His people then loyalty in worship, service, giving and outreach inevitably and irresistibly follow. Of course, it costs to be loyal. It cost Abraham the yielding up of his only son. It cost Esther the risk of her life. It cost Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego the fiery furnace. It cost Daniel a night in the den of lions. It cost Stephen death by stoning. It cost Peter a martyr’s death. It cost Paul his very life. This is what faithfulness is all about! But, thank God, our loyalty is not our attempt to be faithful, but rather God’s attribute and activity of faithfulness realized and reproduced in us by His Holy Spirit.
When Henry M. Stanley found Livingstone, the great missionary who had spent thirty years in darkest Africa, and who had been lost to the world for over two years, he wanted him to come back home to England with him. But Livingstone refused to go. Two days later he wrote in his diary: “March 19, my birthday; my Jesus; my King; my Life; my All. I again dedicate my whole self to Thee. Accept me, and grant, O gracious Father, that ere the year is gone I may finish my work. In Jesus’ name I ask it, Amen.” A year later his servants found him on his knees, dead. It was said of Livingstone:
He needs no epitaph to guard a name
Which men shall prize while worthy work is known;
He lived and died for good—
Be that His fame
Let marble crumble, this is Livingstone.
Paul puts it perfectly when he says: “I [have been] crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith [or faithfulness] of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). May we also live by the faithfulness of the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us!
We cannot think of such a life and ministry without exclaiming “God is faithful.” Oh, that grace might be given us to know this same faithfulness—a faithfulness which is related to God’s character, God’s call and God’s communion. Indeed, it was the realization of what is meant by God’s faithfulness that transformed yet another missionary life— Hudson Taylor. When he read Mark 11:22—”Have faith in God”—in the original language, Hudson concluded that the verse could be rendered just as accurately, “Hold fast the faithfulness of God.” This brought about what he described as “the exchanged life.” This is the secret of living a life of unity, purity and loyalty in the midst of “a wicked and perverse generation.”
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[1] Adapted from 1001 Illustrations by Aquilla Webb, Harper & Row.
[2] My Daily Quiet Time by Harold Lindsell, Zondervan, p. 203).