God is Faithful

The God That Created You Is Faithful

Series Introduction:

* We are as a congregation, are currently in a series of sermons that are a study the attributes of God.

* As your pastor, I believe that the ultimate goal of all preaching, and all ministry in the church, to encourage people to love God.

* If our relationship with God never moves from facts and figures about God, to the place of spiritual fellowship and true experiential worship, our lives as Christians we will become bitter and joyless and the Christian life will lose its purpose altogether.

* Our true purpose in life is to glorify God. This is why we were created. “This is the secret of life.”

* Do you just know about God, or do you have a relationship with Him this morning?

* The Bible tells us that there is a certain way that God wants us to worship him.

* How do we get to the place where we can truly worship God in the way He wants to be worshiped?

* Listen to the words of Jesus has He explained to the woman who met him at a well, who knew about God and her religion, that God wanted her to worship differently:

John 4:23-24 (KJV)

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

* What is the ultimate goal of coming to church and worshiping God?

* Jesus summed it all up for us in one short statement in Matthew 22:36:

* A man came to Jesus and asked Him “What is the greatest thing that I can do for God?” Jesus was straight to the point and told that man that the greatest thing He could do is to love God with all his heart.

Matthew 22:36-38 (KJV)

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.

* Loving God, should be the only motive behind anything we do at church.

* Any ministry that goes on in the church must flow out of our loving God.

* Until you and I move away from just knowing about God, to actually loving God in an intimate way, we cannot worship God sincerely, and with our whole heart.

* We can only worship someone we love.

* We must learn what God’s personality is like in order to fall in love with God.

* We can only sincerely love someone we know intimately.

* We learn to love God by knowing intimately what His personality is like.

* This is why I am leading you in this study the “Attributes” of God.

* An attribute is a characteristic, or a personal trait, that is consistently present in a person.

* For this series of sermons, an attribute of God is a characteristic or a personality trait that is always present in God.

* In the Bible, God reveals his personal attributes to us that we might understand Him and love Him for what He is really like.

* Unlike the attributes of men and women, God’s attributes and personality never change.

* When we see God’s attributes in this series of sermons, it will cause us to fall in love with God with all our heart, and mind and soul.

* And that is what is behind true worship- worship in sincerity and truth.

* Last Sunday we looked at the Goodness of God, today I would like to focus on the faithfulness of God.

Sermon Introduction:

* Every marriage vow that is not kept, every promise that is not fulfilled, * Every debt that is not paid, * Every promised prayer that is not prayed … * All touch on the issue of faithfulness we desperately need the faithfulness of God this morning! * If there is anything humans are, it is unfaithful.

* There was a time in our country when business was done on the basis of a promise and a handshake.

* There was a time when “til death do us part” meant exactly that people for the most part, stayed married until they died.

* There was a time in the not so distant past in this country when promises made were promises kept.

* But not so in the day in time in which we live.

* The condition we find ourselves in today is not a new one though.

* Solomon asked the question centuries ago, “Who can find a faithful man?”

Proverbs 20:6 (KJV)

6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?

* I am here to tell you this morning that there is still One this morning whose word is His bond!

- There is still One who can be completely trusted in everything! - There is still One who is faithful in all things!

- There is still One who’s word is not changed by time or circumstance!

* Part of God’s character, or in other words, one of the attributes of the personality of God is His faithfulness, and we worship Him for it!

* I have preached to you in other sermons about the Holiness of God.

* I revealed to you that the word Holy means “Cut apart from” or “separate from”

* When the Bible speaks of the Holiness of God it speaks to the fact that God is not at all like a man-

* What makes God holy is that God is totally set apart from mankind. Where man is totally unfaithful and untrustworthy by nature, God by nature is always faithful. * God is high and set apart from mankind, praise God this morning God is totally faithful!

* To be faithful means to stand behind your word, to remain constant in spite of circumstances.

* God has no circumstances!

* God is above all circumstances in your life!

* God is in control of the circumstances of your life!

* In the Bible, God uses the institution of Marriage to illustrate His own faithfulness.

* In the Old Testament, God speaks of his relationship to Israel like Israel is an unfaithful wife.

* In the New Testament, those who put their faith in Christ are called the “Bride of Christ”

* None of the things that cause men and women today to be unfaithful ever impact God:

* All of the things that lead to unfaithfulness in marriage;

* Selfish desire –Fear -weakness, loss of interest, strong temptations; * All of Those things cause us to be unfaithful in our marriage relationships, but none of these things have any effect on our God because He is different that we are- High and set apart from mankind who is unfaithful by his very nature.

Numbers 23:19 (KJV)

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?

* When I was a little boy God promised to me through His Bible, that if I called upon him that he would save me- Shall He not make it good this morning?

* If God does not keep His promises to this little boy then God is fallen and lost His holiness- The stars would fall from the heavens!

* The very laws of nature that obey a Holy God would be corrupted and the force of gravity would be released- and all mankind would be flung from the face of the earth!

* If God does not keep his promise to this little boy, that He would save him if he called upon His name to be saved, then Satan would have succeeded in conquering God!

* If God were to no longer keep His promises, mankind would be doomed forever to be used and destroyed by an evil god! Satan would rule the universe if God no longer was always faithful!

* All that is good and right would be lost for eternity if God would fail to keep one promise!

* We are studying on Wednesday nights right now in the Book of Genesis.

* When you study the book of Genesis you study about the covenant that God made with Abraham.

* The entire Bible is the story of God being faithful to his covenant with the man Abraham.

* As a matter of fact, as you begin to study the Bible, you will see that the entire Bible is the story of God keeping his word to an unfaithful mankind:

* The Bible is dived up into the story of 7 Covenants that God made with mankind:

The Edenic Covenant The Adamic Covenant The Noahic Covenant The Abrahamic Covenant The Mosaic Covenant The Palestinian Covenant The Davidic Covenant The New Covenant The Everlasting Covenant

* Thank God when God made a promise to Eve back in the very beginning of creation, that her seed would overcome that seed of the seed of the devil, and crush his head, God was faithful to keep his promise to Eve-

* and through the seed of the woman God sent Jesus Christ to crush the head of Satan, and deliver us from the curse of death, and restore to us the paradise that Adam and Eve lost in the Garden of Eden.

* The entire Bible is about the faithfulness of God to an underserving people!

Hebrews 6:10-19 (KJV)

10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, 14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.

17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 Which hope- (confidence), we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

* I would like to take a moment to this morning to share with you another attribute of God that will ultimately cause you to fall in love with our God.

* First I want you to see God’s faithfulness revealed in His care for His creation…

I. God’s faithfulness is revealed in his creation.

* Psalms 104:10 speaks of how the faithfulness of God is shown to us by how faithful God is to His creation:

Psalm 104:10-28 (KJV)

10 He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. 11 They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst. 12 By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches. 13 He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. 14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; 15 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart. 16 The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; 17 Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house. 18 The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.

19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. 20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. 21 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. 22 The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.

23 Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening. 24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. 25 So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. 26 There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. 27 These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. 28 That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.

I. God’s faithfulness is revealed in his creation.

* not only is God’s faithfulness revealed in His creation, but also, Because God is always faithful, we can have confidence when we pray…

II. Because God is always faithful; we can have confidence when we pray.

* King David in the Bible knew the heart of God. In the Psalms, David constantly appealed the faithfulness of God in his prayers.

* Listen to the words of David in Psalm 143:1:

Psalm 143:1 (KJV)

1 Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.

* David had confidence that God would answer his prayers; because David knew that it was the nature of God to always be faithful- and David counted on it when he prayed!

* Jesus was always speaking to his disciples about having confidence that God would hear their prayers, because God is a faithful God.

* Listen to the words of Jesus as He reasons with disciples about praying with confidence in the faithfulness of God:

Matthew 10:29-31 (KJV)

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

* And again in Matthew chapter 7 Jesus encouraged His disciples to count of the faithfulness of God to answer their prayers:

Matthew 7:7-11 (KJV)

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

* Again in the Gospel of John chapter 14 and verse 13 Jesus teaches his disciples to count on the character of God, that He will be faithful to do what they ask in prayer. Here Jesus said:

John 14:13-14 (KJV)

13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

* Because God is always faithful, we can have confidence when we pray.

First, God’s faithfulness is revealed in his creation.

Second, because God is always faithful, we can have confidence when we pray,

Third, because God is always faithful, we can have confidence when we are tempted with evil…

III. Because God is faithful, you can have victory over Evil and temptation.

* In 2 Thessalonians, the apostle Paul tells us that God will always be faithfull to keep us from evil:

2 Thessalonians 3:3 (KJV)

3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

* In I Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13, the apostle Paul explains that God will always be faithful to help us when we are tempted with evil:

1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV)

13 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.

* Sometimes, we as human beings get tired and weary of forgiving and being faithful to God, and to others, but God does not ever tire of being faithful.

* God remains faithful to us, even when we do not remain faithful to Him!

* And it is impossible for God to ever tire of being faithful to His people:

2 Timothy 2:13 (KJV)

13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

* When we sin and fail God in our lives, God does not take His faithfulness away from us- He always remains faithful to forgive us!

1 John 1:9-10 (KJV)

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

* Because God is always faithful, we can have confidence when we are tempted with evil.

First, God’s faithfulness is revealed in his creation.

Second Because God is always faithful, we can have confidence when we pray,

Third, because God is always faithful, we can have confidence when we are tempted with evil…

Fourthly, because God is always faithful we praise Him.

IV. Because God is faithful we praise Him.

In his book, “Reflections on the Psalms,” C.S. Lewis says this about praise:

“The most obvious fact about praise, had escaped me all of my life. I thought of praise in terms of compliment or approval, or giving honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise.

The world rings with praise! readers praising their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game, even praises of weather, dishes, actors, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, and once in a while, even the praise of a politician! I had not recalled how the humblest and at the same time most balanced minds, praise the most-

While the cranks and the misfits and the malcontents praise the least! I had not noticed, either, that just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us in joining them to praise it!

‘Isn’t she lovely?’ ‘Wasn’t it glorious?’ ‘Didn’t you think it was magnificent?’ The psalmist, in telling everyone to praise God, is doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about. I think we delight to praise what we enjoy, because the praise not merely expresses what we feel, but it completes the actual enjoyment itself.”

* One of the ways in which we know that we are falling in love with someone is, that when we see or hear something of great value to us,

then we have a overwhelming desire to for the one we love to share this experience with us.

* This is the way that praising the faithfulness of God is contagious!

* Praising God begins to spread through a church service like a wildfire!

* When someone begins to praise God for his faithfulness, then the congregation is moved by the Holy Spirit, who caused the church to praise God with a fervent praise, until the tears of worship and joy begin to flow down the cheeks of the faces of all God’s people!

* Praising the faithfulness of God brings great joy and gladness to the heart of man!

* Listen to the Psalmist when his heart get caught up in the praise of God in Psalms 89:1:

Psalm 89:1 (KJV)

1 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

* Listen again as the psalmist get caught up in praising God for His great faithfulness:

Psalm 89:5-8 (KJV)

5 And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

6 For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?

7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

8 O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

* Because God is always faithful, we praise Him.

First, God’s faithfulness is revealed in his creation.

Second, not only is God’s faithfulness revealed in His creation,

Third, because God is always faithful, we can have confidence when we pray,

Fourthly, because God is always faithful, we can have confidence when we are tempted with evil…

And fifthly, because God is always faithful, we can have courage when we are in times of trouble.

V. Because God is faithful we can have courage when we are in times of trouble.

* Jeremiah was a prophet of God whose ministry took place when the city of Jerusalem was besieged by, and ultimately destroyed by, the Babylonians.

* Jerusalem had been under siege for eighteen months.

* People were dying of starvation and thirst, the normal result of ancient warfare sieges on a city.

* The enemy would cut off their supplies and wait until the people die or are too weak to defend themselves and then go in and destroy the city.

* The siege on the city of Jerusalem got so bad during the ministry of Jeremiah, that people were killing and eating their own children to stay alive!

* Understandably, Jeremiah reacted angrily toward God for what He had allowed to happen to Jerusalem.

* But ultimately his complaint became personal: “Why have you allowed this to happen to me?”

* And then Jeremiah remembers that God is always a faithful God and he says, in verse 21, of Lamentations chapter 3 “This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.”

* And that leads us right back to our text verse this morning: Jeremiah said:

Text: Lamentations 3:21-26 (KJV)

21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

* Or text this morning is where the hymn writer, Thomas Chisholm, took his inspiration for that great hymn “Great Is Thy Faithfulness:”

“Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,

Morning by morning new mercies I see.”

* Listen to the words of that great hymn:

1

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father, There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!” Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided— “Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

2

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon and stars in their courses above, Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

3

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

© 1923. Ren. 1951 Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188 www.hopepublishing.com All rights reserved. Used by permission.

* What could Jeremiah see? Jeremiah cold see nothing with his eyes except a completely destroyed city, and a devastated people.

* But the prophet Jeremiah could see, with the eyes of faith, God’s faithfulness in a terrible situation.

* If the only time you declare the faithfulness of God is when we understand and see what He is doing, then you don’t fully understand the character of God.

* God is a God you can trust this morning! Even when things are terrible all round you, you can still trust in the security of God’s faithfulness at all times!

* The psalmists captured the very essence of trusting in a faithful God in troubled times in Psalm chapter 46:

Psalm 46:1–Psalm 47 (KJV 1900)

1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed,

And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,

Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God,

The holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved:

God shall help her, and that right early.

6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved:

He uttered his voice, the earth melted.

7 The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,

What desolations he hath made in the earth.

9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth;

He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder;

He burneth the chariot in the fire.

10 Be still, and know that I am God:

I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

11 The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

* Many times in life we only see with our physical eyes, and what we see begins to cloud our perception of the character of God.

* We must learn to see with the Eyes of faith lie the prophet Jeremiah and see not the circumstances in times of trouble, but constantly focus our gaze upon the faithfulness of God!

Psalm 23:4 (KJV)

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Conclusion:

* God’s faithfulness is a source of courage to all who trust in Him. * We need to do what Jeremiah did: We need to recall … remember … reckon … recollect … the faithfulness of God and how He has delivered His people, including us, in the past.

* We have been created by God, to bring glory to God, by our praise of His great faithfulness in times of dark trouble.