THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD

Transcription

1 THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD I. Faithfulness- The quality of being faithful. II. A. Faithful - 1. Of persons, their actions, etc.: Full of or characterized by faith; believing (NEH 9:8; GAL 3:9; 1TI 6:2). 2. Firm in fidelity or allegiance to a person to whom one is bound by any tie; constant, loyal, true (1SA 22:13-14; 26:23; ISA 1:21; HEB 3:2). 3. True to one s word or professed belief; abiding by a covenant or promise, stedfast (DEU 7:9). 4. Of persons and their conduct: Conscientious, thorough in the fulfillment of duty (1SA 2:35). 5. Of persons and their actions: That may be believed or relied upon; trustworthy, veracious (2KI 22:7; PRO 14:5; REV 3:14). 6. True to the fact or original, accurate. B. The other definitions of faithful proceed from the first definition, full of faith. 1. Our loyalties are determined by our beliefs. 2. We will be conscientious in the fulfillment of those duties we believe we ought to fulfill. 3. Being loyal and conscientious in fulfilling our duty causes us to be reliable and trustworthy. 4. Abraham was constant in his loyalty to God and conscientious in fulfilling his duty to God because he was faithful. C. God is full of faith in Himself. When He promises, He knows He can deliver on that promise. 1. God s strength and faithfulness are incomparable (PSA 89:8). God has the power to execute all that He promises. 2. Hence, His promises are constant (2CO 1:19-20). a. Amen - Sure; abstractly, faithfulness; adverbially, truly: so be it, truth. b. God s promises are not yea and nay, that is, they are not inconstant, vacillating propositions. 3. Therefore, God may be believed and relied upon (HEB 11:11). Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. (DEU 7:9) A. This statement is predicated upon God having chosen and loved His people (DEU 7:6-8). B. Our God is the faithful God. C. The faithful God keeps covenant. D. God s faithfulness is an incentive for us to love Him and keep His commandments. E.

2 III. IV. Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. (PSA 36:5) A. God s faithfulness is above this earth and unaffected by it. B. God s mercy and faithfulness are mentioned together (PSA 89:1-2, 24; LAM 3:22-23). 1. God s mercy is a constant. 2. Where would we be if God s mercy were not a constant? In proclaiming God s mercies and faithfulness the author of PSA 89 sets forth the covenant that God made with David promising to establish his seed and his throne forever. A. Our salvation is wrapped up in this covenant for herein is the promise of our Saviour and His victory (2SA 23:5; LUK 1:67-75; ACT 13:22-23). B. All of the saving mercy we receive is in and through Jesus Christ, the son of David. C. If Jesus, the seed of David, is not risen and reigning at God s right hand as God promised to David, then we are ruined world without end. D. Because God is faithful to this covenant, Jesus Christ was exalted after His humiliation (ISA 49:7). V. God s lovingkindness and faithfulness are also mentioned together (PSA 40:10; 88:11; 92:2). VI. VII. A. Lovingkindness - Affectionate tenderness and consideration; kindness arising from a deep personal love, as the active love of God for his creatures. B. God s love is a constant upon which we may rely (ROM 8:35-39). C. God s lovingkindness remains constant even when His children are disobedient (PSA 89:30-33; 2TI 2:13; HEB 12:6). D. God will be faithful to His covenant even though we may be unfaithful. I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. (PSA 119:75) A. Considering that God s mercy and lovingkindness toward us are constant, if God afflicts us, it is in faithfulness that He does so. B. Our afflictions do not mean that God has abandoned us. C. God is still faithful to His promise of JER 32:40: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good. D. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. (1PE 4:19) God s faithfulness extends to all generations and is evidenced in the constancy of the earth and God s ordinances (PSA 119:89-91). A. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (GEN 8:22) The Faithfulness of God Page 2 of 5

3 VIII. IX. 1. God has remained faithful to this word He spoke in GEN 8: Our whole lives, work, and economy are planned according to these constants. B. God s promises to His people are as constant as these ordinances, which will continue while the earth remains (JER 31:35-36; 33:20-21). We are as sure of eternal life and of a Royal High Priest as the sun rises and sets each day. C. Verses 90-91, while dealing with the constancy of creation, cohere with all the other verses of Psalm 119 that treat of the word of God because they set forth God s faithfulness that supports His creation and His word. D. Our generation can depend as much upon God s faithfulness as the generations that have gone before. Time has not changed God! Being faithful, God will consummate our salvation in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (1TH 5:23-24). A. God, who purposed our salvation in the counsel of His will, shall do according to that counsel (EPH 1:5, 9-11). B. Our eternal salvation depends upon God s faithfulness to execute His own counsel in which He cannot lie (TIT 1:2; HEB 6:17-18). C. Hence it is said: thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth (ISA 25:1). D. It is no wonder that God s faithfulness and salvation are linked in PSA 40:10. E. For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. (MAL 3:6) God promised to betroth His people unto Himself forever in righteousness, in judgment, in lovingkindness, in mercies, and even in faithfulness (HOS 2:19-20). A. Betroth To engage (a woman) in contract of marriage; to plight (pledge) one s troth (faithfulness, good faith, loyalty; honesty: truth). B. The word even in v. 20 expresses the identity of faithfulness to righteousness, judgment, lovingkindness, and mercies, these being constants with God. C. God in His lovingkindness sent Jesus Christ to fulfill His righteousness in His life and death, and to suffer God s judgment in His death thus securing everlasting mercies for His elect. 1. God the Father was faithful to His covenant promises to Christ. 2. Christ was faithful to the charge given Him by His Father to save His people from their sins (ISA 11:5; HEB 2:17). a. Jesus Christ s name is Faithful and True (REV 19:11). b. Being faithful, He finished all that the Father sent Him to do (JOH 17:1-4; 19:30). 3. God therein betroths His people unto Himself forever. The Faithfulness of God Page 3 of 5

4 X. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1JO1:9) A. As with His mercies and His lovingkindness, God s righteousness is mentioned with His faithfulness (PSA 143:1; ISA 11:5). God s righteousness is a constant that He will never compromise. B. Jesus Christ fulfilled the righteousness of God by fulfilling its demands for obedience in His life and its demands for punishment of disobedience in His death (ROM 3:20-26). C. Therefore, God is faithful to forgive our sins in keeping with His promise and also just to do so since the demands of His righteousness have been met in Christ. 1. God s faithfulness to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from them is the means of our fellowship with Him and His Son (1JO 1:3, 7). 2. Hence it is said: God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord (1CO 1:9). D. Therefore, God hears our prayers in His faithfulness and in His righteousness. 1. We can depend upon God to hear us. 2. It is a righteous thing with God to hear us. 3. What an encouragement to poor sinners to pray! XI. But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. (2TH 3:3) A. Stablish - To place or set (a material thing) firmly in position; to station (a person) in a place. To set (a person, etc.) permanently in an office, dignity, or condition. B. Comparing this verse with the rest of Scripture will enable us to understand what we are being assured of here. C. These words assure us that God s people will be set permanently in the condition unto which God has predestinated them and they will be kept from any evil that would undo this (ROM 8:30-39; 1PE 1:5). D. These words do not assure us that we will be kept from the temporal consequences of our sins, but they do assure us of being kept from the eternal consequences of our sins (see above). E. These words do not assure us that God will always keep us from trouble in this world, but they do assure that that God will keep us from spiritual evil by means of the truth (PSA 91:4; JOH 17:15-17). 1. Christ Himself told us we would have tribulation in this world (JOH 16:33). 2. That we are not always kept from trouble is evident from PSA 91:15: "I will be with him in trouble." The Faithfulness of God Page 4 of 5

5 XII. 3. God promises to be with His children through their troubles so that they emerge from them refined, rather than destroyed by them (PSA 66:8-12; ISA 43:2; ROM 5:3-4). a. through - From one end, side, or surface to the other or opposite end, side, or surface of (a body or a space) by passing within it; usually implying into, at one end, side, etc. and out of at the other. b. God having made these promises, is faithful to deliver on them. 4. Because God is faithful to these promises, He will never permit a temptation to take us above our ability to bear it, but will make a way of escape. Otherwise we would not be kept from evil (1CO 10:13). 5. The truth of God s word will fortify us in our troubles (PSA 119:50). 6. By God s word we can overcome Satan who will try to use our troubles as an occasion to tempt us (1TH 3:3-5; 1JO 2:14). 7. The Thessalonians were keeping the word of God (2TH 1:3-4; 3:1, 4). Hence they were assured that God would keep them from evil (REV 3:10). Being faithful, God is true to His word. A. Therefore, God s word is faithful and can be relied upon (PSA 119:86; 119:138; TIT 1:9). B. If there is no faithful copy or translation of the word, then we have no faithful word. C. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief (1TI 1:15). Are you a sinner? There is no doubt that you are the kind of person Jesus came to save. D. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. (1TI 4:8-9). You can depend upon the fact that godliness is profitable. E. The saying of 2TI 2:11-13 sums up the scheme of salvation including those aspects that are not conditioned upon the believer's obedience and those that are. They tell us what we can count on. F. The words of REV describing our eternal home are true and faithful (REV 21:5; 22:6). Believers can count on such a place being there! XIII. God s faithfulness is to be the subject of our praise in church (PSA 89:5). XIV. God s faithfulness is the incentive for us to be faithful (HEB 10:23-25). XV. This glorious truth of God s faithfulness is the balm for to our sorrows (LAM 3:17-26). The Faithfulness of God Page 5 of 5