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);
b. the Renewing of the Mind (Rom. 12:1,2) [where you can only test & approve God’s will if you let the Word renew your mind]; and
c. by Abiding in the Vine (John 15, [you can only be fruitful if you spend quality time with Jesus in prayer]). All of these involve planting seeds and working through the process.” Watchman Prayer by Dutch Sheets, p. 136-137. Bracketed areas are mine.
3. Obedience is another condition. God doesn’t promise to bless the life of a person who’s living in sin or double-minded. Moses said, “Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may...enter and possess the land the Lord promised...” Deut. 8:1. God, of course, is patient & gracious, but He knows our hearts, whether we’re sold out to Him or not. The only prayer, from a sinner, that God is obligated to answer, is the prayer of repentance.
4. Also the Lord may want to use a difficult season as a stepping stone in our spiritual growth. In trying times we have to believe that God knows what's best for us and trust in his promises. We become tried and tested people by obeying God, even when we don’t see the answer we desire.
III. SOMETIMES IT LOOKS LIKE GOD HAS FAILED US
A. THE STORY OF NAOMI & RUTH
1. Naomi and her family had to abandon their home and move to a foreign country because of a horrible famine (Book of Ruth). While living in Moab, Naomi watched as her husband and two sons died of illnesses, prematurely. Grief-stricken, she was destitute and alone, and felt like God had forsaken her.
2. From Naomi’s point of view, God had failed to protect her family. But she couldn’t see that these tragedies were all leading to something glorious and gracious in God's plan of salvation.
3. Naomi would return to her homeland with one faithful daughter-in-law, Ruth. Ruth married a man named Boaz and they became great-grandparents of King David, and later of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world!
4. But during the time of her grief, Naomi couldn’t see the big picture. She couldn’t know what God was doing.
5. Maybe you feel like Naomi, and you are losing faith in God and His Word. Know that God is faithful to His Word! God told Jeremiah, “I am watching to see that my Word is fulfilled’” (1:12).
B. GOD NEVER FAILS
1. How can I say that God has never failed? To say that God set out to do something and was not able to do it (failed), is clearly impossible. God is a Being that is in all places, possesses all knowledge (including all possible outcomes), and has the power & resources necessary to accomplish anything. It’s impossible that God could fail.
2. When we question whether God kept His promises to us, this presupposes we know what God’s purposes were in our situation and that we are so wise we can see that God didn’t do what He set out to do.
3. But I think that most of the time we DON’T KNOW what God is doing, so we wrongly judge that God has failed us. God may not have fulfilled His promise to us – yet – but HE DOES THINGS IN HIS TIMING, NOT OURS! Someday we will see the reason God did it the way He did it. Then our vision of the situation will be clear.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: Smuggling Bibles
1. Christin Claypool from Kirby Free Will Baptist in Detroit took a missions trip to Cuba. Wanting to smuggle Spanish Bibles to a community of Christians there, Christin wore several layers of clothing to conserve space in her suitcase for the contraband.
2. But her odd appearance drew the attention of security agents at every airport. Christin had to open her suitcase at her departure city, then again in the Bahamas.
3. Arriving in Cuba, she was alarmed to again be singled out and ordered to open her suitcase. The zipper wouldn't budge, and she could open it only about two inches. She fought with it until at length the guard impatiently took over the struggle. Despite prolonged effort, the zipper wouldn't budge.
4. Christin was perplexed, for it was a new suitcase and had been opened several times before. In exasperation, the guard finally shoved it toward her and told her to go on.
5. Arriving at her hotel, Christin looked for a knife to cut open her luggage, but when she gave the zipper a tug, it opened easily. The Bibles were distributed as intended. GOD SHOWED HIS FAITHFULNESS TO HER BY JAMMING THE ZIPPER! Praise God!
B. THE CALL
1. GOD’S WORD IS TRUSTWORTHY. His promises are true. God always does what He says He will do.
2. How many of you are struggling with an unanswered prayer or with your confidence in God? Probably ALL of the great men & women in the Bible struggled with this same thing. Raise your hands so we can pray for you.
3. How many want to make sure you’re right with God so you can go to heaven some day? Prayer for salvation.
[Section 3 draws on Mary Fairchild’s article “God Never Fails—Joshua 21:45.”]
