God Has Never Failed

GOD HAS NEVER FAILED

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: IT ISN’T ALWAYS NECESSARY T0 BE PROPER

1. I am the product of a long line of English teachers, including my mother, my wife, and my youngest son.

2. So I’ve always had to watch my grammar (not grandmother) and my subject-verb agreement, etc. That’s why I got a laugh out of the following story:

3. An English teacher came upon the scene of an accident. She rushed to the side of a dying man, who had crawled out of his car. He looked up at her and whispered, "I think I'm done for." She responded, "Please Sir, don't end your last sentence with a preposition!" An English teacher to the end!

B. THESIS & TITLE

1. The Christian life is a walk by faith. We are learning about the God who’s revealed Himself to us – what kind of person He is. The Bible is the source of our knowledge about Him and his requirements. It tells us about God’s truthfulness, His power, knowledge, promises, and how He has helped others.

2. But frequently we encounter contradictions – times when bad or unpleasant things happen to us, and these cause us to question God’s care. Some of this is based on wrong teaching and wrong expectations. The Christian life doesn’t promise you a pain-free life; in fact, it promises you the opposite.

3. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of them all” Ps. 34:19. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” Acts 14:22.

4. However, in general, God DOES promise to bless His people. In the end we’ll see that it’s true. But in the mean time we have to keep our trust in God unwaveringly, despite the events that tempt us to question God.

5. So tonight’s message is about the fact that “God has Never Failed.” We’re going to look at the testimonies of those who had a lifetime to walk with God. We’ll look at some of the conditions of God’s promises, and see how we have to trust until we get the long view of what God’s purposes are.

I. TESTIMONY OF THOSE WHO WALKED WITH GOD

A. MOSES, Numbers 23:19; “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”

B. JOSHUA, Josh. 21:45; Joshua could say, at the end of his life; “Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” Josh. 21:45.

C. DAVID, Psalm 37:25; “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” “As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless” 2 Sam. 22:31.

D. SOLOMON, 1 Kgs. 8:56; “Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.”

E. ISAIAH, Isa. 55:11; prophesied for God, “so is My Word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it”

F. LORD JESUS, Matthew 5:18; “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”

G. APOSTLE PAUL, 2 Tim. 2:13; "For no word from God will ever fail."

II. GOD HAS MADE US MANY, GREAT PROMISES

A. THE WORD IS A TREASURE TROVE!

1. Someone has said, “The Bible contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's character. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed.

2. “Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully.

3. “It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ; yes, to glory itself for all eternity.” Source Unknown.

B. GOD’S PROMISES DO HAVE CONDITIONS

1. The famous missionary, Dutch Sheets, early in his walk with God, asked, “Why doesn't the Word work for me?” In prayer God answered him, “Because all truth comes in seed form. What you do with the seed after it is planted will determine whether or not it bears fruit in you.”

2. “Suddenly, many other passages of Scripture made sense:

a. the Parable of the Sower [where the seed of the Word was put into 4 types of hearts, and only bore fruit in the heart that was good ground] (see Matt. 13; Mark 4; Luke 8);