Our God Is A FAITHFUL God Deuteronomy 7:9 (NKJV)

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1 Message for THE LORD'S DAY MORNING, January 29, 2017 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister Message 3 in Knowing The Living God Sermon Series Our God Is A FAITHFUL God Deuteronomy 7:9 (NKJV) Please open your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter seven; and let's read verse 9. Deuteronomy 7:9 (NKJV) Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; P R A Y E R ************************* I N T R O D U C T I O N This morning as we continue with our series of messages on Knowing The Living God I would like for us to focus our attention on God's faithfulness... Our God Is A FAITHFUL God. When we think of the word faithfulness several images come to mind. * When we think of faithfulness we think of the elderly married couple who has stuck together through thick and thin for fifty or sixty years or more.

2 * When we think of faithfulness we think of that hard- working employee who has devoted years of his or her life to the same employer. * When we think of faithfulness we think of the members of our Church in their 80's and 90's who rarely if ever miss Church on the Lord's Day. * And when we think of faithfulness we think of the family dog that's excited to greet us when we get home regardless of what kind of day we have had or what kind of mood we're in. Faithfulness...faithfulness! But what do we mean when we say OUR GOD IS A FAITHFUL GOD? There are three thoughts I would have you to consider. First of all, let's consider... I. The EXTENT of GOD'S FAITHFULNESS 1. The dictionary defines the word faithful as, thorough in the performance of one's duties, true to one's word, promises, or vows, steady in one's allegiance, affection, and loyalty, dependable and trustworthy. 2. Who do you know that has perfectly met everyone of those standards of faithfulness? You see, even the most loyal, most dependable, most trustworthy people you and I know has not, nor ever will reach a level of absolute perfection when it comes to FAITHFULNESS.

3 We live in a world of broken promises... broken contracts... broken vows... broken agreements... broken commitments...and broken allegiances...and broken loyalties. This is why many of us struggle with trust issues when it comes to our fellow man. We have been burned and disappointed and hurt so many times by the unfaithful- ness of others that it makes it very difficult to know whom we can trust. 3. GOD and GOD ALONE is perfectly faithful! ONLY GOD is perfectly thorough in the performance of all His duties! ONLY GOD is perfectly true to His word, His promises, and His vows! ONLY GOD is perfectly steady in His allegiance, His affections, and His loyalty! AND ONLY GOD is perfectly dependable and trustworthy 4. Our scripture in Deuteronomy 7:9 (NKJV) says... Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

4 5. Do you grasp what that verse is saying? It is saying that GOD is just as faithful to you and me today as He was with the very first generation of humans that lived on this earth! GOD has never been more faithful to one generation of people than He has another. GOD'S faithfulness doesn't change with the times, the circumstances, or the conditions on earth. 6. GOD is no-less faithful to you and me today than He was with Abraham, or Moses, or Joseph, or Daniel, or David. In fact, when you look at GOD'S TRACK-RECORD OF FAITHFULNESS from Genesis to Revelation, one has to wonder why any of us would ever doubt GOD or why would ever hesitate for even one second to put all of our faith and trust in Him. - GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL to keep every promise He ever made! - GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL to follow through with every warning and every judgment He ever issued. - GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL to honor every covenant He has ever made with man. 7. GOD'S FAITHFULNESS never falters...never fails...and never wanes! GOD is faithful...and true...and trust - worthy...and dependable...and reliable 100% of the time. OUR GOD IS A FAITHFUL GOD!

5 Secondly, I would have you to consider... II. The EXAMPLES of GOD'S FAITHFULNESS 1. One of the greatest examples of GOD'S FAITHFULNESS is seen in the life of Abraham. In Genesis 12:1-3 God made a covenant with Abraham. 1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father s house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 2. These are some wonderful promises GOD made to Abraham, but there were two gigantic obstacles standing in the way. One obstacle was that Abraham and Sarah had never been able to have children because Sarah was barren. How can GOD be FAITHFUL to His promise to make a great nation out of Abraham's off-spring when Abraham has no off-spring? The other obstacle was that Abraham and Sarah were past the normal child-bearing years when GOD made this promise. Abraham was seventy-five and Sarah was sixty-five. 3. Twenty-four years passed and Abraham and Sarah remained childless. It appeared that GOD had forgotten the promise He had made to Abraham. But one truth we can be sure of is this: GOD WILL ALWAYS KEEP HIS PROMISES ACCORDING TO HIS TIME, NOT OURS.'

6 4. By the time you get over to GENESIS 18 Abraham is now 99 and Sarah is 89. And one hot day while Abraham was trying to stay cool in the doorway of his tent, GOD sent three messengers to speak with Abraham; and they told Abraham to stock up on pickles and ice cream and get the nursery ready, because Sarah is going to have a baby! Well, those weren't the exact words they said, but they did tell Abraham Sarah was going to have a son, just as GOD had promised! Finally, in Genesis 21, twenty-five years after GOD first made His promise to Abraham, Sarah gave birth to a son and they named him ISAAC. 5. But then just one chapter later in Genesis 22, it appears that GOD breaks His promise when He commands Abraham to do the unthinkable. Follow along with me as I read from Genesis 22, beginning with verse 1 and following... GENESIS 22:1-14 (NKJV) 1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. 2 Then He said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.

7 5 And Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you. (make special note of that! Abraham didn't say I will come back to you, he said, WE will come back to you. Meaning, Isaac and I will come back to you. 6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, My father! And he said, Here I am, my son. Then he said, Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together. 9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! So he said, Here I am. 12 And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me. 13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will- Provide; as it is said to this day, In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.

8 6. Abraham fully trusted in the faithfulness of GOD, and he saw GOD keep His promise in a great and mighty way. 7. The Bible is literally filled with examples of how GOD has demonstrated His faithfulness to His people. GOD WAS FAITHFUL to spare Noah and his family in the flood. GOD WAS FAITHFUL to bring Moses and the children of Israel out of Egypt. GOD WAS FAITHFUL to deliver Jericho over to Joshua and the Israelites. GOD WAS FAITHFUL to deliver the Midianites into the hands of Gideon and his band of 300 men. GOD WAS FAITHFUL to deliver Joseph from the Egyptian prison. GOD WAS FAITHFUL to deliver Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. GOD WAS FAITHFUL to deliver Daniel from the mouths of the lions.

9 8. OUR GOD IS A FAITHFUL GOD! And I submit to you this morning that THIS SAME GOD WHO WAS SO FAITHFUL TO THE GREAT MEN AND WOMEN OF FAITH IN THE SCRIPTURES IS STILL FAITHFUL TO YOU AND ME AS WELL! Let's consider finally... III. The ENCOURAGEMENT of GOD'S FAITHFULNESS TO US (A) GOD IS FAITHFUL IN TIMES OF TEMPTATION. I Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. II Thessalonians 3:3 (NKJV) But the LORD is faithful, who will establish you, and guard you from the evil one. When we are tempted we get this over-whelming sense that we are fighting the battle all by ourselves, and that is simply not true. GOD WHO IS FAITHFUL PROVIDES ALL WE NEED TO BE VICTORIOUS OVER TEMPTATION.

10 (B) GOD IS FAITHFUL IN TIMES OF FAILURE Psallm 86:15 (NIV) But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22,23 (NKJV) Through the LORD s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. I John 1:9 (NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Many a Christian has made a mess out of his or her life. And when we mess up we start believing that we have done irreparable damage to our relationship with GOD and that He has given up on us! Nothing could be further from the truth! The truth is, we will fall down and get up and fall down and get up and fall down and get up all the way to heaven. And must rest in the wonderful promise of OUR FAITHFUL GOD that He will never leave us or forsake us, even when we have failed miserably! Brothers and sisters listen! You may be beat down and discouraged right now! You may feel like nothing is going right in your life! You may feel like the most miserable failure that ever was! But GOD has not and will not ever give up on you! OUR GOD IS A FAITHFUL GOD!

11 (C) GOD IS FAITHFUL IN TIMES WHEN OUR FAITH IS WEAK II Timothy 2:13 (NKJV) If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. Philippians 1:6 (NKJV) being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; I'm sure that you have discovered over the course of your Christian life that your spiritual growth doesn't always remain steady. Some times our faith is strong, sometimes it is weak. Some times we move forward, and sometimes we seem to be moving backwards. But the one thing that remains constant through it all is GOD'S FAITHFULNESS to us. (D) GOD IS FAITHFUL IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE OF LIFE Romans 8:35-39 (NKJV) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

12 C O N C L U S I O N A young man walked into a professional photography studio with a framed picture of himself and his fiance. He wanted to get a duplicate made of the picture. Very carefully the studio owner removed the picture from the frame and on the back of the picture were these words: My dearest Michael, I love you more and more each day. I promise to love you forever and ever for all eternity. It was signed Diane. And right under her name, Diane wrote: P.S. If we ever break up I would like to have this frame back. *********************************** When it comes to GOD'S FAITHFULNESS TO US, there is never a P.S. Brothers and sisters listen! People may turn their back on you! But God never will! People may fail you, but God never will! People may disappoint you, but God never will! People may give up on you! But God never will! Our God Is A FAITHFUL God!