God does not change, not even for a moment. He can be trusted completely because He is faithful.
• In the midst of all these news about infidelity, adultery and scandals, God is reminding us today that He is faithful, and we are called to be faithful.
• God is constant and consistent, always, and for eternity! The Bible shows us
(1) God is faithful in His CHARACTER
Exo 34:6 “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”
Deut 32:4 “He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.”
God is 100% reliable, 100% of the time.
• He does not fail, forget, falter, change, or disappoint.
• He does not compromise, He does not contradicts. He is immutable.
This is our greatest assurance today. A. W. Tozer:
Our heavenly Father never differs from Himself. In coming to Him at any time, we need not wonder whether we shall find Him in a receptive mood. He is always receptive to misery and need, as well as to love and faith. He does not keep office hours nor set aside periods when He will see no one. Neither does He change His mind about anything. Today, this moment, He feels toward His creatures, toward babies, toward the sick, the fallen, the sinful, exactly as He did when He sent His only begotten Son into the world to die for mankind.
God never changes moods or cools off in His affections or loses enthusiasm.
God will not compromise and He need not be coaxed. He cannot be persuaded to alter His Word nor talked into answering selfish prayer.
James 1:17 says God “does not change like shifting shadows.”
• Shadows are never still, not even for a split second, because the earth is constantly rotating around its axis and moving around the sun in its orbit at the same time.
• You are never still actually. Shadows are constantly moving… but God is constant!
• “In God's faithfulness lies eternal SECURITY.” [Corrie ten Boom, 1892-1983]
(2) God is faithful in His WORD
Deut 7:9 “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations…”
• It is a covenant; a promise made on God’s side. It is not a contract, which ceases to be binding when one party defaults.
• In God’s Word, we have His promise. And it is an everlasting promise.
Num 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfil?
• He says what He means and means what He says and therefore does everything He says He will do. It is God’s faithfulness that gives us HOPE.
(3) God is faithful to His PEOPLE
Josh 21:45 Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Who sees and tastes the faithfulness of God? Man. We are the ones, the beneficiaries.
• God proved His faithfulness in His dealings with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua… All that He has promised came true, and will continue to come true for us.
• Despite man’s failures, God did not fail him. Despite man’s infidelity, God remained devoted.
God shows His faithfulness to us in very practical ways:
(a) When we are tempted, by providing us a way out.
1 Cor 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
(b) When we repent, He forgives and restores us.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
(c) God is faithful in protecting you.
2 Thess 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
(d) God is faithful in helping you grow to be like Christ.
1 Thess 5:23-24 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
Erwin W. Lutzer: “God's investment in us is so great he could not possibly abandon us.”
BECAUSE GOD IS FAITHFUL, THEREFORE…
(1) GOD WILL COME THROUGH FOR YOU ALWAYS
Regardless of how bad your situation is, God remains committed to you and will therefore see you through.
• He will NEVER let you down. He may not do what you want, exactly when you want it, or even how you want it. He may not even do it in ways you can understand, now or perhaps ever.
• But the truth remains: He is committed to you and will not harm you.
• He cannot change! He is true to Himself, to His Word and to you His people.
Jeremiah experienced that. He was in grief over the sins of his nation Judah.
• He expresses his sorrows over 5 laments in this book. The people were not listening to him. They were not just rejecting him, they were rejecting God. It’s hopeless.
• He devoted the entire chapter describing his agony and pain. 3:19-20 “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.”
He felt alone and depressed in the midst of a defiant people UNTIL he directed his thoughts to God.
• This is what we must do, when you feel like giving up; when everything that can go wrong went wrong, when you are in despair.
• Jeremiah did something that kept him “alive spiritually”. 3:21-22 “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
• 3:22-26 “Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. 23They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him." 25The LORD is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
Everything else may have changed, but not God. His love is great; His compassions never fail. They are new every morning.
• You cannot deplete His goodwill. There won’t come a time when God says, “Enough is enough! I’m done with you.”
• Every morning you open up the fridge, and it’s full again. Every morning, you look at the jar of water and it’s full again. They are new every morning!
Just like the Israelites in the wilderness, you step out of your tent and you see manna on the ground, fresh, every morning, for 40 years! (cf. Exo 16:35)
• You don’t have to save it for tomorrow. The faithful God will supply fresh manna.
• Imagine this, every day for 40 years you depended completely on God for survival, and God didn’t let you down. He kept His promise.
• How does that feel? Every day we see the faithfulness of God! Not for some days, but every day! We ask God for the blessing of such a sight! We pray that we’ll be trained to see God’s loving-kindness every day.
• They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness!
2 Tim 2:13 “If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown himself.”
• God cannot be unfaithful. It is not Himself, to be unfaithful.
• We are easily tempted to change our positions, our loyalties, our loves, but not God.
(2) CHANGE IS ON OUR SIDE
We are the ones who can be unfaithful. We are easily be tempted by the circumstances to change our positions, our loyalties and our loves.
• When I say “change is always on our side” I do not mean it to be a statement of fact that we change, but to stress that we need to CHANGE.
• Don’t ask God to change; change to keep in step with God. He does not need to change; we are the ones who need to change. The ball is in our court.
• We change our attitude and ALLOW God to mould us to be more like Christ.
We need to change our thinking, our conduct, our behaviour, our ways of seeing life and doing things.
• Be teachable, be obedient, and be humble. When God speaks, be receptive.
• We constantly reflect and renew our thinking, to listen and to learn (or unlearn), to grow and to change our ways, so as to align ourselves to His will.
(3) BE FAITHFUL
Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5). Those complimented for their faithfulness are Moses (Num 12:7), David (1 Sam 22:14), Paul (1 Tim 1:12), Timothy (1 Cor 4:17).
• Timothy was told to entrust what he has learnt to faithful men (2 Tim 2:2). God is looking for faithful people.
In the parable of the talents, the Master praised the “good and faithful” servants.
• Matt 25:21 His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
• Luke 16:10 “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”
• It begins with the little things. Be faithful in small things. Be dependable. When you are entrusted with something, do it with all your heart.
Let us be faithful, because our God is faithful. See the faithfulness of God in your life and give thanks.
PRAYER: Dear God, thank you for being so faithful and true. Because of Your great love we are not consumed. Your compassions never fail. You are good to those whose hope is in You. Lord, we seek You and wait upon You. Keep us faithful Lord. Let us face all that comes our way with faith. You will come through for us always. Help us see your faithfulness again this week. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of our heavenly Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and forevermore, AMEN!
