The Faithfulness of God - Holy One of Israel Part 4

Hey you know what a series here entitled the holy one of Israel and what were doing is were studying the attributes the essential nature and characteristics of who God is. So far we've looked at three of these wonderful attributes in part one, we saw the God is eternal in part to the God is holy and in part three. The God is omnipotent and if you missed any of these. I urge you to pick up the tape for the CD in the bookstore or to go online and podcast them. I really want you to keep up with us as we go through this series because it all builds on itself. Today were going to talk about part for the faithfulness of God.

The fact that God is faithful. Now what does that really mean when we say that someone is faithful.

Well to be faithful literally means to be dependable to be trustworthy to be reliable to be faithful means that we are true to our word at all costs to be faithful means that we committed ourselves to someone or something and by George. Nothing is going to keep us from fulfilling that commitment now the Bible boldly declares that this characteristic is true of God. The Bible says.

First Corinthians 1. Nine.

God is faithful and notice what the Bible means here doesn't mean that faithful is something God does, it means that faithful is something God is.

It is part of his intrinsic nature and being a lover. David said Psalm 36 five. He said God's faithfulness reaches to the skies and in Romans three. The apostle Paul says verse four. God will remain faithful even if every man in the world turns out to be a liar now in saying this, what is the Bible really telling us what friends it's telling us that we can always count on God is telling us that everything God has promised us, God will do.

It's telling us that when everyone else in the world lets us down or fails us, God will still be there for us unfailing as ever know. I believe in order for this truth. The fact that God is faithful in order for this to have maximum impact on our lives. It's critical for us to understand where God's faithfulness comes from God's faithfulness comes from God's character. Let me repeat that God's faithfulness comes from God's character. Let me explain what I mean. You see, some people run faithful number one because they simply lie but God in his character is holy. He is incapable of lying or deceiving. Numbers 2319 says God is not a man that he should lie. Titus chapter 1 verse two says that we have a God who cannot lie when God makes you and me a promise. My friends heaven and earth may pass away, but God will fulfill his promise because if he failed to do so, he would betray his character and he would forfeit his right to be God and that's never going to happen. Number two.

Some people run faithful because they make commitments impulsively and then later they change their mind. But you see in his character, God is immutable. This means that God is not subject to change of any kind. Hebrews 13 eight says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever.

Malachi chapter 3 verse six, God says I am the Lord. I do not change, and because God is immutable. It means he never makes knee-jerk promises he never makes impulsive decisions and then later changes his mind. When God promises something my friends. It is settled in eternity forever is already thought it through and is not changing his mind finally number three.

Some people run faithful even though their heart is right and even though their commitment is sincere thereon faithful because they lack the power to fulfill what they promised. But in his character, God is omnipotent. Matthew 19 Jesus said the things that are impossible with men. Those things are possible with God. And because God's power knows no limit.

That means that God's heart will never make you and me a promise that God's power cannot back up and so I want to repeat God's faithfulness comes from God's character because God is holy because God is immutable because God is omnipotent.

Therefore God is and God must be faithful. He cannot be any other way and this is what makes the faithfulness of God so impeccably dependable human beings may blow hot and cold. My friends, but God's faithfulness is from everlasting to everlasting because it is rooted in the very character and being of who God is. Now that's as far as we want to go in our passage for today. Theologically, because now I want to ask the most important question you know what that is. So here we go ready.

Glad you're ready. Anybody else ready all right here we go. 123 yeah you say Launcelot, you know you say you are you know you you're really a sweet person up there and and NMI.

I know you're you're trying hard but listen a lot. I gotta tell you I been there done that got the T-shirt. I mean, I've trusted people who swore to me. You know they would never let me do they would never fail me. They would always be there for me. I could count on them and I been knifed in the back more times and you can count Solon here. You are now asking me to do it to believe God when he gives me the very same line. I'm sorry I don't want to seem nasty.

But before I let my guard down again. I want some proof. I want some proof that God's not going to hurt me like my father did that. He's not going to betray me like my ex-girlfriend did. That is not going to desert me like my ex-husband did and that he's not going to turn on me like my XO call friend at work. I mean how do I know that if I trust God like you're asking me to that he's not going to turn on me like all these people there question that's given an answer. You deserve an answer as exhibit a that I would present to you that proves the faithfulness of God that is telling you, me, the truth exhibit a that I would offer you is the nation of Israel 4000 years ago God made some unconditional promises to a fellow named Abraham he promised Abraham that he would multiply his descendents that he would give them the land of Palestine as their eternal possession that he would preserve them as a people forever, and God repeated these promises to Moses and David and Solomon in Isaiah and Daniel. Now there been a lot of Gentiles down through the years would dedicated themselves to nullifying this promise of God, I mean there was King Nebuchadnezzar who sacked and burned Jerusalem and there was Haman in the book of Esther, who tried to exterminate the Jewish people. And then there was the Romans who in 70 A.D. burned and sacked the city again and and scattered the Jewish people to the four winds and then there was Adolf Hitler who proposed the final solution to the Jewish problem is, he called it, and we we work all the way up to our modern day Islamic nations who had predicted that they will exterminate the Jewish people and the nation of Israel and yet in the face of all of this and more.

God has miraculously preserved the Jewish people through the centuries and now even in the lifetime of some of us here today.

He's given them back their homeland that they were out up for 19 centuries, folks know all the people in world history has ever been disbursed to the four winds and still survived as a people for 1900 years except the Jewish people nor the people in world history have ever lost their homeland and ever gotten their homeland back after 1900 years except the Jewish people. No other language in world history has ever died out as a living spoken language and then been revived again as a living spoken language except Hebrew and how do we explain all these amazing historical anomalies. While tell you how we explain them.

We explain them this way of faithful God made some promises to a man named Abraham 4000 years ago, and that God is determined that he's going to keep his promise. Even if he's got the jack, the whole world around to do it. A man, you bet I want to tell you that every time I go to Israel and the Lord will and I'm about to leave in a couple weeks with a tour group every time I stand on the Mount of olives look out at the city of Jerusalem. Every time I walk through the narrow streets of Jerusalem and your little Boys and Girls Club eating Hebrew. Every time I go to the Wailing Wall and I see Jewish men and women there.

Praying back after 1900 years and safety I am gripped again and again and again to tears. And I mean that literally with the inescapable truth that God is faithful and listen. If God's been faithful to the Jewish people for 4000 years and refuses to break his promise to them.

Believe me, God is not going to break his promise to you as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ is not going to happen now. What are some of these promises that God is made to us as followers of Christ that he says he is going to be faithful to what women give you if you up first Corinthians chapter 1 verse eight God is faithful there you go, there's our word and he will present each of us blameless before him in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a promise that if you're a follower of Christ. God is going to make sure you won't miss heaven and it's amazing to me that he wrote this promise to the church at Corinth because these were the most carnal Christians in the entire early church. I mean if there were any Christians anywhere in that early church that were in danger of losing their place in heaven because of bad spiritual performance. It was these guys but thank God that is followers of Christ our place in heaven is not based on our spiritual performance is based on the fact that a faithful God made us a promise what's that promise.

John 524 Jesus said the person who believes in me has eternal life, and they will never come into condemnation, for they have passed forever from death into eternal. I praise God. All our defects. All our shortcomings.

All our sins put together cannot and will not invalidate the promise of a faithful God not you're here and you've never trusted Christ as your real and personal Savior. This is important information for you to know it's important for you to understand that you can't work your way into heaven anyway, no matter how much spiritual performance you do.

But the alternative is that God is offered you a way to get in. That's not based on your performance.

My friends based on his faithfulness and his promise and he wants to activate this promise. John 524. He wants to activate this in your life, but the way it gets activated is when we trust what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross, shedding his blood to pay for our sin activates this promise my friends, I urge you if you've never activated this promise. You need to do so. It's the only way this thing works call going to heaven.

Something about well is another promise first Corinthians 1013 God is faithful is our word who will not allow you to be tested beyond what you are able, but with the test will make a way of escape, that you might be able to bear it. God promises here to inspect every detail that comes into our life and to make sure that no detail will ever go beyond our capacity to handle it and I'll tell you what there been a many a time in my life as a Christian wife said God, you know what, I'm not sure I can handle this. I'm not sure I can do this but you think I can because you promise me that you faithfully have inspected this in Lord, if you think I can do it than with the help of the Holy Spirit. I'm going to believe I can do it. What a wonderful promise.

Hey Romans 828 God will work all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

Here God promises to take everything in our life. The good the bad the ugly and mix all together so that the result the blend that comes out is beneficial and good for us.

What an incredible promise. First John 19 if we confess our sins, God is faithful, there's our word and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

God promises here to be the God of the second chance and the third chance in the fourth chance in the 50th chance he promises that he every time we mess up, and every time we fall short. He will be faithful to forgive us to wipe the slate clean and to help us by the power of the Holy Spirit to do better the next time. Philippians 419, my God will supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Messiah Jesus. Here God promises to meet the material needs of every follower of Christ, housing market swamp or no housing markets long subprime mortgage crisis or above prime want to know what the opposite is. But whatever the opposite is God says not matter to him. He's going to meet the needs of his people all over. David said Psalm 37 been young and now I'm old yet. I've never seen God's people forsaken, or their descendents baking bread and friends. I could go on. God promises to comfort us to guide us, to protect us from the enemy to give us wisdom in the situations of life to answer our prayers. In short, we have the promises of a faithful God that he will. Romans 832 graciously give us all things that we need.

How incredible is that now is the one that's great. God bless you, that's great, but here's my question. It's great that God's going to be faithful to me.

What if I had been unfaithful to God. I me. What if what if I'd done some things that have led him down. I mean then what happens. Well folks, let me start by saying were all unfaithful to God every single day. I hope you understand that you and I may be sensitive to the big ones that we do.

But if we could see our life from God's perspective, you and I let God down multiple times every single day. We all do, but the Bibles got some great news for us. The Bible says, second Timothy 213.

Even if we are faithful last look at this God remains faithful.

So why because he cannot deny himself who he is. Hey what a fabulous truth, no matter how much you and I may fail no matter how much you and I may fall short.

No matter how much you and I may disappoint God with our performance. It doesn't matter. God will never fail us. He cannot deny his character and his very being is that cool or what. I think it's cool because I let God down every day and I know it and it's so great to know that God's faithfulness to me is not riding on my faithfulness to him. Now, in light of all this. What's the final so what I'm trying to get to today, let God give it to you.

He gives the so what for all of this right in the Bible.

Hebrews 1023, he says let us hold unswervingly. I love the new American Standard translation. Let us hold without wavering to the confession of our faith. Watch now why, for he who promised is faithful. Folks if God is a holy God of the universe. The way he says he is and he is if God is the immutable God of the universe.

The way he says he is and he is if God is the omnipotent God of the University, says he is and he is if he is the faithful God of the universe that he says he is and he is then friends in the light of that we as followers of Jesus can be on wavering, no matter what life throws at us because of Almighty God is going to be true and faithful to all these promises we just went over and what do we have to fret about folks. What do we have to get discouraged about nice it will on the messy one quote one. One last question, and that is okay, I hear everything you're saying but I just want to know just tell me the truth. Does this mean that you never fret this mean you never get discouraged is mean you never get down. You never have a bad day I meet are you are. You're up there preaching does this mean you're on wavering every day. Well as I can honestly tell you that I'm sorry. I wish I could but I care and there been many times in my life is a follower of Christ. Rob got discouraged. I still sometimes can get discouraged.

I still sometimes can fret, let me tell you what I've learned, I've learned in these dark days when I do this. I've learned that whenever I do get Dale and whenever I do get discouraged. I can always trace it back to the same cause I can always trace it back to some area of my life where I am doubting God some area of my life where I am doubting that God's going to be faithful and it is good to keep his promises to me and the solution every time I do this is the same and that is I need to take my eyes off my problems off my struggles off my fears and I need to put my eyes on the character of God and the promises of God and the faithfulness of God. And you know what happens when I do that.

Philippians 47 the peace of God that passes all understanding suddenly comes into my life and guards my heart, my life not know there's a lot of you hear were going through tough times and maybe a lot of you hear were dealing with discouragement, and fear and anxiety in your life and if if I were able to sit down and write every one of you a personal note, I would tell you in every note the exact same thing that the solution to your discouragement is the same as the solution to my discouragement would you need to do is what I need to do. You need to take your eyes off your problems off your struggles off your disappointments off your tragedies and off your challenges and put your eyes on the immutable, omnipotent, holy, faithful God of the universe and stand on his promises stand on hello. Love is a song says, standing on the promises I cannot bail as the doubts and the fears assailed by the living word of God shall prevail. Why because a faithful God made those promises so let me challenge you here today. My friends life stuff. Job said man is short-lived and full of trouble and he was right but you know what is not the trouble to get sis. Listen here, and with the sound on its our focus the gifts us when our focus is on our trouble. That's when we're in big trouble you follow that right when our focus is on Christ and who he is in his character and his beauty and his faithfulness. Friends are problems look completely different than so that's the whole point of this series that were doing this fall is to challenge us to understand who God is and then to challenge us to walk through this life with our eyes not on our problems not on the issues of life. But with our eyes on the living Christ and who he so I hope you'll do that. I'm telling you the problems won't go away, but the peace of God will replace him in your life and in your heart and I hope you'll do that. They got help with spring or Jesus, as Job said, man is short-lived and full of trouble. It's true Lord and you know that when we have trouble. It is so easy for us. God to take our eyes just like Peter did when he was walking on the water to take our eyes off of you and start looking at the winds and the waves Lord. And what happens just like Peter, we start to sink or Jesus, forgive us we should know better doing that, but were just human. Lord forgive us and remind us today that your character in your attributes or where our focus needs to be each and every day in the Lord Jesus just like Peter when he was looking directly at you the winds and the waves were still there, but he walked above them. Lord, remind us that when we have our focus squarely on you your character, your nature, your being. Your attributes or promises we can walk on top of those waves to Lord their still there but were not sinking, so God change our life because we were here today change the way that we live because we were here today, refocus and attune our hearts and fortify our souls that we might focus on Christ, remembering that the Bible says, looking unto Jesus not looking on to our problem, looking unto Jesus, Lord, help us do that and thank you that you are faithful, every promise you made, you will keep even though we may not understand how, thank you, Lord Jesus, and may we find great comfort in this truth we ask these things in Jesus name. And God's people said amen