THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD, EVEN IF YOU FALTER
2 Tim. 2:13
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT
1. It was Saturday morning and Philip remembered that it was his wife Victoria's birthday. So he went downstairs, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and said, Happy Birthday, darling!"
2. "Thank you," said Victoria, "I'm surprised you remembered." "Well I did," says Philip, "and not only that, I want you to get dressed right now. I'm going to take you to a great new store at the mall I've heard about and you can choose your birthday present."
3. "Wow, Philip!" said Victoria. "I’m impressed! You haven't bought me a present for years." "Well things sometimes change," said Philip. "I've just been given a raise by my boss. So come on, get dressed and we'll go right away. There's no time to waste."
4. Philip drove her to the mall, parked the car and they walked in. As they approach the middle of the mall, Philip said, "Close your eyes and I’m going to lead you to the store. You can browse around and choose anything you like and I'll pay for it."
5. He led her a short distance. Then said, “You can open your eyes!” Victoria gave him a happy huge and turned around to read, “Welcome to Dollar General!”
6. NOTE: Philip had to use makeup to cover the black eye for 3 days!
B. TEXT
1. Throughout the Bible, God is declared to be a faithful God: unchanging and true to His Word.
a. 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 of those who love him and keep his commandments.”
b. Ps. 145:13, “The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.”
c. Heb. 10:23 says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
2. Paul, at the end of one of his 5 “faithful sayings” (1 Tim. 1:15; 3:1; 4:8; 2 Tim. 2:13; Titus 3:8), says (slowly) “If we believe not, yet He abides faithful: He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13. That’s our verse this morning.
C. THESIS
1. We’re going to look at when God is faithful, why He’s faithful, and hear of an amazing example of God’s faithfulness even when it looked like He’d failed.
2. The title of this message is “The Faithfulness of God, Even if you Falter.”
I. WHEN IS GOD FAITHFUL?
A. EVEN WHEN THE WORLD DOESN’T BELIEVE
1. The rulers of Jesus’ day didn’t believe in Him. “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?” Jn. 7:48.
2. Americans are usually too influenced by what the Government believes about something. We need to be thinking about what GOD says about it!
3. The Great Statue in Daniel 2 demonstrates that earthly gov’ts are generally in opposition to God! So don’t cling to the opinions of politicians and powerbrokers. Their opinions don’t affect the truth of God in the smallest degree.
B. EVEN IF THE EDUCATED DON’T BELIEVE
1. Don’t be unduly influenced by the supposedly educated.
2. God says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise person?....Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since…the world through its wisdom did not know Him…For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” 1Cor. 1:19-21. “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools” Rom. 1:22.
3. Remember, E. Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself but because it contradicts them.
C. IF THE MAJORITY OF PUBLIC OPINION REJECTS IT
Think how many times public opinion has been wrong!
1. In the French Revolution was ‘mob rule,’ where as many as 300,000 Frenchmen and women (1 in 50) were arrested and 40,000 citizens were murdered 1793-1794. Over 40 million Frenchmen supported the egocentric Napoleon, to their destruction.
2. The German people knew of Hitler’s extermination of the Jews, but didn’t even speak out against it. They continued to support the Führer.
3. Many societies have become toxic and self-destructive due to their becoming completely immoral. The Roman Empire is an example.
4. God doesn’t care what the majority says; God sets the standards for godly behavior or ungodly. 1 man + God = Major.
a. ¼ of couples in the US are cohabiting. Our culture (talk shows) say it’s “ok.” The educational establishment will tell you it’s “ok;” Your friends will tell you it’s “ok.”
b. I don’t care who tells you it’s ok, God’s Word says it’s sin! I don’t care if everybody’s doing it; it’s still wrong! Go to the ultimate Truth! (the Bible and to obey it).
5. However, countless millions do serve Jesus! But we must individually get to the place we can say as Athanasius said, “I, Athanasius, against the world.” You must learn to stand alone.
6. When you know that you stand on Divine truth, you can set all the judgments of men aside compared with the infallible judgment of the mighty God!
D. WHEN SUPPOSED CHRISTIANS DON’T BELIEVE
1. Usually around Christmas or Easter, secular TV channels air programs questioning the virgin birth, the deity of Jesus, or His resurrection featuring supposed Christian scholars.
2. These “scholars” are really unbelievers who decided to study religion. Many of them are atheists! Don’t let them trouble you. Change the channel.
3. ILLUSTRATION
a. One such minister was preaching that the word “in” did not necessarily mean “inside”; it means, “close to, round about, or nearby.”
b. He went on to say that when the Bible said Jonah was “in” the stomach of the great fish, he was really “close to, roundabout, or nearby.”
c. After the service, a man came up to him and said that his sermon was the most comforting message he had ever heard. It had cleared up many difficult things to believe in the Bible.
d. Like when the 3 Hebrew young men were thrown “in” the fiery furnace and were not burned – well, that was because they were really never in there, but just ‘close to or nearby.’
e. “But the most encouraging thing about your explanation of “in” is that if I reject the Gospel and go to Hell, I won’t actually be ‘in’ hell, I’ll just be ‘close to or nearby’” it.(Stephen Davey)
E. EVEN WHEN TRUE BELIEVERS DOUBT
1. Have you ever felt let down by God and almost lost faith in God? Even when we’re at our weakest, and fail, God will still always be faithful to us! Praise God!
2. After the Israelites came out of Egypt by God’s angels, the 10 plagues, went through the Red Sea, were fed in the wilderness with angels’ food – they continually doubted their God. Did God break up the covenant? No! He remained faithful.
3. Often God’s people have backslidden. Did that prove that God’s Word wasn’t true? No, church. God is faithful even if we aren’t. Peter denied his Master, but Christ was true.
4. He says, “I give unto My sheep eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hands.”
5. God is our Rock, and not quicksand. He is the Savior whether the rulers, the philosophers, popular opinion, or even the Church believes it. And as Christ remains the same Savior, so we have the same gospel.
II. WHY IS GOD FAITHFUL?
A. GOD’S NATURE CAN’T CHANGE
1. Mal. 3:6 says, “"I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed” NL
2. "Of old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands….And all of them will wear out like a garment…But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end” Ps. 102:25-27.
3. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.” Heb. 13:8. In Ex. 3:14, God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."
B. HIS WORD CAN’T CHANGE
1. “All people are like grass….The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures (stands/exists) forever.” Isa. 40:6,8.
2. ILLUS.: Like the atheist who asked the minister, “Do you really believe the Bible’s statement that “Jonah was swallowed by a whale?” “Sir, I’d believe it even if it said that Jonah swallowed the whale!” (Because God can’t lie!)
3. GOD’S WORD WILL OUTLAST THE UNIVERSE! “Heaven and earth shall pass away, by My words shall never pass away” Mt. 24:35.
C. GOD’S SALVATION CAN’T CHANGE
1. God can’t withdraw His salvation. Once Jesus shed His life was shed, once He suffered for our sins -- that sacrifice can’t be taken back! It’s available to us today!
2. His atoning blood has been put on the Mercy Seat; it can’t be removed. It’s there forever! If we cry out to God in the Name of His Son Jesus, He will hear us and answer – He will forgive us because of that Blood!
3. BLOOD STAINED BOOK
a. One evangelist spoke to Christians in the military. During his message, he displayed his own copy of a white Pacific Fleet New Testament. They are rare/valuable.
b. Following the meeting, a member of the audience showed him another white Pacific Fleet New Testament, one given to his son prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, one stained with blood.
c. The man said, “Sir, this little book is very precious; all the more because it’s stained with the blood of my son!”
d. God feels the same way about this Book. He loves it too. Its pages are stained with the blood of His Son.
4. Praise God! Our salvation can’t ever change!
III. GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO DAVID FLOOD
1. In 1921, two young couples in Stockholm, Sweden, answered God’s call to the African mission field to go to the Belgian Congo, which is now Zaire; David and Svea Flood and Joel and Bertha Erickson. Svea Flood was very beautiful and a well-known singer in Sweden. But they gave up everything to lay down their lives for the gospel.
2. They hacked their way into the Congo’s insect-infested interior, all catching malaria. Arriving at their village destination, the villages refused to allow them to enter. They built mud huts to await God’s direction.
3. After 6 six months of sickness and malnutrition, the Ericksons headed back. The Floods couldn’t leave because Svea was pregnant and also had malaria.
4. Despite her illness, she ministered faithfully to a little boy who came to see them from one of the nearby villages. The boy was the Floods’ only convert.
5. Svea gave birth to a healthy baby girl, and a week later Svea died. Suddenly, bitterness filled David’s heart. He cried, "Why did you allow this, God? We came here to share the Gospel! My wife was so beautiful, so talented. And here she lies, dead at 27. You’ve failed me, God. What a waste of our lives!"
6. David Flood gave his baby girl Aina to the Ericksons, whom he encountered and returned to Sweden. He warned everyone around him never to mention God in his presence and he became a miserable alcoholic.
7. Back in Congo, the Ericksons suddenly died (possibly poisoned by a local village chief), and left little Aina to an American couple - Arthur and Anna Berg, who called her "Aggie." She grew up to be a fine Christian & married Dewey Hurst, president of a Bible College.
8. For 40 years Aggie tried to locate her father. Finally, she and her husband purchased round-trip tickets to Sweden. During their layover in London, they visited the Royal Albert Hall where a mission’s convention was in progress. They heard a black preacher testifying of the great works God was doing in Zaire - the Belgian Congo!
9. Aggie’s heart leaped. She asked him, "Did you ever know the missionaries David and Svea Flood?" He answered, "Yes. Svea Flood led me to the Lord when I was just a boy. They had a baby girl, but I don’t know what happened to her." Aggie exclaimed, "I’m the girl! I’m Aggie - Aina!"
10. The Congo preacher told how he had grown up to be a missionary evangelist to his own country - which now included 110,000 Christians, 32 mission stations, several Bible schools and a 120-bed hospital.
11. The next day Aggie and Dewey left for Stockholm. They drove to an impoverished area and entered a rundown building. Inside, liquor bottles lay everywhere, and lying on a cot in the corner was her father - the one-time missionary, David Flood. He was 73 years old and suffering from diabetes.
12. Aggie began crying, "Dad, I’m your little girl - the one you left in Africa!" The old man turned and looked at her. Tears formed in his eyes. He said, "I never meant to give you away. I just couldn’t handle a new baby." Aggie answered, "It’s okay, Daddy. God took care of me."
13. Suddenly, her father’s face darkened. "God didn’t take care of you!" he raged. "He ruined our whole family! He led us to Africa and then betrayed us. Nothing ever came of our time there. It was a waste of our lives!"
14. Weeping, Aggie told him about the black preacher she’d met in London - how the Congo had been evangelized through him. "It’s all true, Daddy," she said. "Everybody knows about that little boy convert. GOD DIDN’T FAIL US – He was faithful!"
15. Suddenly David Flood broke. All the lies of the devil evaporated. Tears of sorrow and repentance flowed down his face - and God restored him.
16. IF GOD IS FAITHFUL EVEN IF WE AREN’T BELIEVING, WON’T HE BE FAITHFUL IF WE ARE BELIEVING? YES!
17. When a sinner comes to Him, He becomes their Savior; whenever a sick person comes to Him, He is their physician.
If you lack something, He’ll be your Provider. If you are empty and need the Holy Spirit, He’ll be your Baptizer! Those of you who are weighed down with trials, Come and He’ll lift your burdens!
18. And if you’re burdened with sins, He’ll forgive you if you call! Come and try Him! Cast yourself upon Christ and you’ll find the reports are true. Come, hungry souls; He desires to feed you!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: WE WON’T ESCAPE OUR SINS
1. A little over a century ago, when pirates roamed over the seas between the southern states and the Spanish main, the brig “Nancy” was pursued by the British warship “Sparrow.”
2. She was suspected of being engaged in piracy, but when captured, not a scrap of incriminating evidence could be found among her papers. They thought to release her but referred it to the authorities at Kingston, Jamaica, that port.
3. Meanwhile a British ship, the Ferret, had been cruising the same waters off the coast of Haiti. They harpooned a shark, and found a parcel of papers, tied around with string inside it.
4. These papers (Which are still on display in the Institute Museum of Jamaica) were found to be the missing papers of the ship “Nancy.” Thinking they might serve an useful purpose, the captain preserved them till they reached Kingston, just as the case of the “Nancy” came before the courts.
5. Imagine the shock of the “Nancy” captain and crew, when, expecting release due to lack of evidence, they were suddenly confronted with the very papers which they’d thrown overboard and thought were buried in the depths of the sea! (H.P. Barker)
6. In the same way, when we all stand before the Great Judge, I hope you or I won’t be surprised at the terrible evidence that will come to light that day, that you thought was buried in obscurity.
7. There’s only one sure remedy: repent of your sins, surrender your life to Christ, and accept Jesus’ blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Only then can you be saved.
B. THE CALL
1. How many of you want to have your pasts forgiven? Lift your hand if you want to be forgiven.
2. How many have been doubting? Have you questioned God’s faithfulness? It’s time to let Him strengthen your faith and to trust Him that He will turn everything around for your good. Let’s pray!
[This sermon is a takeoff of Charles Spurgeon’s “Eternal Faithfulness Unaffected by Human Unbelief.”]
