sermon20220508 The Faithfulness of God - Mother's Day
Notes
Transcript
To the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the Lord. 1 Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. 2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 3 The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good. 4 He plots trouble while on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not reject evil. 5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. 6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord. 7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8 They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. 10 Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart! 11 Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12 There the evildoers lie fallen; they are thrust down, unable to rise.
Good morning,
Today is Mother’s Day, a day in which we honor our mothers.
And since this morning is Mother’s Day, there are passages that I could preach on. I could mention the godly woman of Proverbs 31. I could mention Matthew 1 and Luke 1, which talk of Mary the mother of Jesus. I could also preach on Exodus 20, where the Lord commands us to honor our mothers.
However, rather than speaking about mothers, I would like to talk to you this morning about faithfulness. Not the faithfulness of you as a child on this day when we honor our mothers. Not the faithfulness of those of you who are mothers. I would like to talk to you about the faithfulness of Christ, the faithfulness of the God who never fails, is always perfect, is always there.
(1) Why has God given us history in the Bible? That we might put our faith in the God of faithfulness
All of history points to the sovereignty of God and the fulfillment of God’s purposes and plans.
All of history points to the sinfulness of all men and women and the holy supremacy of a God who intervenes, who steps into the lives of men and women throughout all of time and guides them, judges them, but most importantly, transforms them.
The history of the Bible shows us, and this is in no way and exhaustive list:
That God is all powerful
That God’s promises will be fulfilled.
That good men can make bad decisions
That bad men can make good decisions
That good men can evil children
That evil men can have good children
That women can be just as evil and wicked and murderous as men
That evil is not something external, it is something resident in the hearts of all men and women
9. That apart from the common grace and the particular grace of God, all men and women are spiritually dead and under the certain wrath of God.
(2) Where do we see the faithfulness of God in the Bible? Everywhere
But there is one book in particular
Chronicles - the faithfulness of God
Made into two books when it was translated from Hebrew to Greek because of the length.
First Chronicles provides a view of David’s reign with the Lord as the hero.
Second Chronicles continues this “divine editorial” by focusing on David’s descendants, the kings who ruled over the southern kingdom of Judah.
Should have been David and Solomon - the united kingdom but the current format divides it in half.
In writing this history of the kingdom of Judah, the writer of Chronicles had a special purpose in mind. His emphasis was different from the compiler of the Book(s) of Kings. He used the history of his people to illustrate the faithfulness of God to His word (note Psalm 132:11–12); and, because God is true to His word, He is trustworthy. And so, in interpreting this portion of Scripture, we need to keep in mind the first recipients of this material and the need to continuously remind ourselves of the faithfulness of God.
Those to whom this book was read had returned from captivity in Babylonia. Life for them was hard. Their cities lay in ruins, the wall of Jerusalem had been broken down, Solomon’s Temple had been destroyed, their houses were in a state of disrepair, and their fields (that had lain fallow for more than half a century) were overgrown with thorns and thistles. They were in desperate need of assurance that God still cared for them. The Chronicler was aware of this and wrote to illustrate the fact that God is indeed faithful to His spoken and written word, and He rewards faithfulness on the part of His people.
But more important, Chronicles is about the faithfulness of God and a challenge to have a faith that obeys.
If you read though 2 Chronicles you will see that the good kings are described as faithful to the Lord and his word. They trusted him, they obeyed him, the knew that he was faithful and that he rewarded their faithfulness.
The bad kings are described as unfaithful and faithless, they trusted in other gods, other idols, other kings. And they were punished for their disobedience.
Athaliah wife of Jehoram, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, mother of Ahaziah 22:1-9, Joash
10 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. 12 And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land.
Mt 2:13-15 The child is protected
(3) Three Old Testament promises based on God’s faithfulness
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
God is faithful to those who are redeemed, who come to him in faith
4 For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.
what the Lord is doing in your life is not because of his lack of care but because of his faithfulness
13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
prayer
(4) Three New Testament promises based on God’s faithfulness
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
The faithfulness of Jesus to those who love him
How do we respond to the Lord when we live in a world where it seems that God has forgotten us?
The faith that comes from the Lord
The faith that produces faithfulness
The faith that produces obedience
The faith that produces true worship
The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever - until we truly seek to glorify him we will never truly understand what it means to enjoy him.