God's Faithfullness

Pastor Dennis Peery

Introduction

ILLUSTRATION: A couple had two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were excessively mischievous. They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew that, if anything ever stolen in their town, their sons were probably involved.

The boys’ mother heard that a clergyman in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys.

The clergyman agreed, but asked to see them individually.

So the mother sent her 8-year-old first, in the morning, with the older boy to see the clergyman in the afternoon.

The clergyman, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, "Where is God?".

The boy’s mouth dropped open, but he made no response, sitting there with his mouth hanging open, wide-eyed. So the clergyman repeated the question in an even sterner tone, "Where is God!!?" Again the boy made no attempt to answer. So the clergyman raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy’s face and bellowed, "WHERE IS GOD!?"

The boy screamed and bolted from the room, ran directly home and dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him.

When his older brother found him in the closet, he asked, "What happened?" The younger brother, gasping for breath, replied, "We are in BIG trouble this time. God is missing - and they think WE did it!"

Christ is given the name “Faithful”:

Revelation 19:11 (NIV)11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.

God’s Faithfulness is dependent upon His character:

2 Timothy 2:11–13 (NIV) 11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

This morning, I want to share 4 ways that God is faithful to us.

FAITHFUL IN PAIN

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV) 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

God is faithful to not allow troubles to overtake you.

ILLUSTRATION: On January 9, 1985, a Congregational pastor in Bulgaria named Christo Kuleczef, was arrested and put in jail. His crime was preaching in his church, just like I am right now. It was a crime because the week before the village committee had appointed a new pastor. The secular committee who runs the village put a new pastor in even though the Congregational church doesn’t recognize any pastors but the ones they elect and install.

So he preached, and they clamped him in jail immediately, and he immediately began to share Christ and make the truth known while he was in prison. He had a trial. It was a mockery of justice, and he was sentenced to eight months.

He did his eight months, got out, and wrote these words: "Both prisoners and jailers asked many questions, and we had a more fruitful ministry there than we could have expected in church. God was better served by our presence in prison than if we had been free."

FAITHFUL IN PROMISES

Hebrews 10:23 (NIV) 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Our faith may be small but IF the object of our faith is FAITHFUL then our faith is sure!

ILLUSTRATION: Many years ago, a captain of an English ship sailing near Turkey was caught in a storm. As there was no harbor nearby he let down the anchor, but the wind blew so fiercely that it began to drag the anchor. It couldn’t get a grip on the sandy seabed and so the ship began to drift. Another anchor was let down but it too refused to take hold and the ship was drifting nearer and nearer the shore and soon would be stranded. There was only one little anchor left and the captain felt sure that it wouldn’t be of any use. But it was let down and to his surprise the chain tightened. Soon the ship was held fast and by the help of the little anchor it rode out the storm.

When the time came to lift the anchors, the big ones came up easily for they hadn’t caught on the seabed, but the little anchor refused to come up. They pulled ever so hard and at last it came up little by little and it was very heavy. Something came up with it. It was another anchor. The little anchor had caught in the ring of the anchor of a great battleship that had been lost there years before, and that’s why the little anchor held so firmly.

God is like the great battleship that anchors us in any kind of storm.

FAITHFUL IN PROTECTION

2 Thessalonians 3:3 (NIV) 3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.

ILLUSTRATION:

During the building of the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay, construction fell badly behind schedule because several workers had accidentally fallen from the scaffolding to their deaths.

Engineers and administrators could find no solution to the costly delays.

Finally, someone suggested a gigantic net be hung under the bridge to catch any who fell. Finally in spite of the enormous cost, the engineers opted for the net. After it was installed, progress was hardly interrupted. A worker or two fell, but the net saved their lives. The net allowed them to move on in their work without fear and worry.

FAITHFUL IN PARDON

1 John 1:9 (NIV) 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Billy Graham, the great evangelist, tells of driving through a small southern town and being stopped by a policeman and being charged with speeding. Graham admitted his quilt, but was told by the officer that he would have to appear in court. The judge asked, "Guilty, or not guilty?" When Graham pleaded guilty, the judge replied, "That’ll be ten dollars -- a dollar for every mile you went over the limit." Suddenly the judge recognized the famous minister. "You have violated the law," he said. "The fine must be paid--but I am going to pay it for you." The judge took a ten dollar bill from his own wallet, attached it to the ticket, and then took Graham out and bought him a steak dinner! And Billy Graham used that illustration in his sermons to explain God’s grace. That is how God treats us as repentant sinners! He paid for our sins with his son and now we get to dine with him in heaven....

*** Prayer Response: Are you feeling lost? Needing the Father to find you? He is faithful to forgive IF we confess.