New Year Fear & God’s Faithfulness

NEW YEAR FEAR & GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

1 Kings 8:56

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Some years ago, Carl Field’s dad, an attorney, took him to a fancy restaurant in New York City. When the bill arrived, there was a $15.00 charge for bread and butter. His Dad paid the bill, including the charge for bread and butter.

2. However, the next day, Attorney Fields sent a letter to the restaurant stating that the charge was uncalled for. Enclosed in the same envelope was a bill for $500 in legal services.

3. Someone from the restaurant called immediately and asked, "What is this $500 charge for? We never ordered any legal services."

4. Attorney Fields replied, "I never ordered any bread and butter either." The $15.00 was returned without delay.

B. HUMOR # 2: Bad start to a New Year

1. Alan Abercrombie was driving back to Virginia after New Years, when he saw flashing blue lights in my rearview mirror. ‘I handed the officer my license and made small talk while my wife dug through the glove compartment for the proof of insurance.’

2. "I’m usually very careful about my speed," Alan told the policeman as his wife handed him the paperwork. The officer studied it and then gave it back.

3. "Sir," he said gruffly, "this is not your proof of insurance. This is a warning ticket you got for speeding in South Carolina!” Needless to say, he didn’t have a good start to his new year!

C. TITLE & THESIS

1. The title of this message is “New Year Fear & God’s Faithfulness.”

2. As we face many uncertainties of the coming year, we have one great certainty that will never fail us: we serve an ever-faithful, never-failing God!

I. FEAR OF THE FUTURE

A. THE MYSTERIOUS FUTURE

1. Facing a New Year is usually somewhat scary. Who knows what may happen in the year; we may face blight or blessing? When we were born, we had two basic fears: the fear of loud noises and the fear of falling, but by the time we reached adulthood, our list of fears had grown a lot longer.

2. Fear isn’t limited to people who have serious fear problems; fear often effects the happiness of average people living normal lives. A lot of us are first-class actors—we put on the laughing, smiling front of perfect confidence, on the outside, while we’re tormented by fears on the inside.

3. Especially in these plague times in which we live, when Covid threatens to keep evolving and endanger our loved ones. How will we face these threats? Paul wrote Timothy, "God has not given to us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7, KJV). Paul tells us that unhealthy, debilitating fears are not from God.

4. THE FUTURE is a...

a. dark, hazy period ahead of us;

b. unknowable to man;

c. it’s mysterious;

d. it’s often viewed with apprehension/ fear, because bad times can come.

B. WORLDLY VIEW VS. CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

1. For people who don’t know God – the future looks like a roll of the dice: chance. Eccles. 9:11 mirrors this thinking; “but time and chance happen to them all.”

2. THE CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! God tells us that His unseen hand is constantly moving, guiding human events to His own ends.

3. It’s awesome to know that GOD KNOWS THE FUTURE! Isa. 46:9-10, “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” (see 44:8; 48:3).

4. Not only does God know the future, but HE ORDERS IT! Isa. 44:26 says God “fulfills the predictions of His messengers.” Again He says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” Isa. 43:18-19.

5. So when it comes to our security about the future, the Scriptures declare, “God is faithful!”

II. ASPECTS OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

A. GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES

1. 1 Kgs. 8:56, “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.”

2. God told Jeremiah, “I am watching to see that my Word is fulfilled.” (1:12).

3. Ezek. 12:25, “For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.”