The God That Created You Is Faithful

The God That Created You Is Faithful

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.

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, when “ ‘til death do us part” meant exactly that, and when promises made were promises kept. But the condition we find ourselves in today is not a new one.

* Solomon asked centuries ago, “Who can find a faithful man?” (Proverbs 20:6b)

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.

* Who can be completely trusted in everything. * One who is faithful in all things.

* One who is not changed by time or circumstance.

* Part of God’s character is His faithfulness, and we worship Him for it-

* I preached to you to you last Sunday 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- man is totally unfaithful * 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!

* God uses the institution of Marriage to illustrate faithfulness. 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:

* selfish desire, fear, weakness, loss of interest, strong temptation. * Those things cause us to be unfaithful—not God.

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 primes to this little boy then:

* If God does not keep his promise- The stars would fall from the sky!

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

* If God does not keep his promise to this little boy, then Satan would have succeeded in conquering God. Mankind would be doomed to be used and destroyed by an evil god. All that is good and right would be lost for eternity!

* We are studying on Wednesday nights right now in the Book of Genesis. We are about the study about the covenant that God made with Abraham. The entire Bible is the story of God being faithful to his covenant with Abraham.

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 devil, and crush his head, God was faithful to keep his promise to Eve!

2 Peter 1:16-19 (KJV)

16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

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;

2 Timothy 2:19 (KJV)

19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.

I. God’s faithfulness is revealed in 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.

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

Psalm 143:1 (KJV)

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

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.

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?

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.

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

2 Thessalonians 3:3 (KJV)

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

Matthew 6:13 (KJV)

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

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. * We get tired of forgiving and being faithful, but God does not. He remains faithful even when we do not.

2 Timothy 2:13 (KJV)

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

IV. Because God is faithful you can praise Him.

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

“The most obvious fact about praise, whether of God or of anything, had escaped me all of my life. I thought of it 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 most, while the cranks and the misfits and the malcontents praise 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 psalmists, in telling everyone to praise God, are 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.

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.

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?

V. Because God is faithful you can have courage when you are afraid.

* 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: cut off their supplies and wait until the people die or are too weak to defend themselves. It got so bad in Jerusalem 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 lament became personal: “Why have you allowed this to happen to me?”

* And then he says, in verse 21, “This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.”

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, (not complaining), wait for the salvation of the LORD.

* The hymn writer, Thomas Chisholm, took his inspiration for the hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness:

“Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,

Morning by morning new mercies I see.” * What could Jeremiah see? Nothing with his eyes except a completely destroyed city and a devastated people. But he could see, with the eyes of faith, God’s faithfulness.

* 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 the God who crated you.

* 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.

*Eyes of faith see not the circumstances, but 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: recall … remember … reckon … recollect … reprise the faithfulness of God and how He has delivered His people, including us, in the past.