In Jesus Holy Name October 17, 2021
Text: Galatians 5:22-23
“God is Faithful” 4th in the series
Let me tell you a true but sad story about faithfulness. His name is not important at the moment. He fell in love with a beautiful girl. They got married. He was a farmer. They worked together, plowing and harvesting. In time she had a son. They loved their son. But in time the wife tired of the isolated country living, hard work and she felt she was missing something in life.
Their story is like the old country western song. By Kenny Rogers “ You’ve painted your lips and rolled up your tinted hair. Ruby are you going somewhere? …Ruby, don’t take your love to town. Oh, Ruby, don’t take your love to town.” But she did. Eventually she came home. She was pregnant. She had another son. He loved that son too, even though he was never sure that the child was his own. To him, it was hard but he had made a promise to be a faithful father and husband.
For a while all went well. Life began to have some normalcy. Soon, his wife felt she was missing the excitement of the city life. She left him with two sons. She left on a bus to the city where she grew up. In between work and caring for his sons… he tried to find her. Eventually, through networking he found his wife and brought her home. He found her living with another man. The poverty of the house was unbelievable. He rescues her again and begs her to come home. She did, but she was pregnant again.
She was faithless to their promises, but somehow he managed to forgive and remain faithful. That my friends is an example of faithfulness. A sad and painful story. But when the Holy Spirit flows strongly through your heart and mind, faithfulness to God’s values will be displayed in your life.
I think you know the man’s name. His name is Hosea. Hosea lived his life as a prophet demonstrating the pain of rejection, constantly loving his wife who could not give up prostitution. He was living out God’s faithfulness to His bride the children of Israel, who constantly ran off to worship other gods. God was faithful.
The Apostle John reminds us that God is love. Jesus said: “If you love me you
will obey my commands.”
Dr. S. Lewis Johnson remarked that the hardest verse in the Bible to believe is
Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” “If you can believe that you won’t have any trouble with the rest of the Bible.” The Bible simply declares that God is, and that He created all things. More than thirty- years ago Dr. E. V. Hill preached a powerful sermon at a Promise Keepers gathering in Chicago. In his own unforgettable style, he preached for 40 minutes on just two words: “God is.” He said it over and over again. God is . God is faithful to His promises. His promises began in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve.
God was faithful to His promise to Adam and Eve that a Savior would come. God was faithful to Abraham and Sarah. For a time…they lost trust in the promise of God. Their human nature was not patient. And now at the age of 100 and 95 God remembered His promise, even though they had been faithless and not patient. A son was born 25 years after God’s first promise to Abraham and Sarah. God had a long term plan.
Over the past several weeks our Thursday morning bible class has been reading the story of Joseph’s. You may remember that his father Jacob gave him a multi colored coat. It was obvious to his brothers that he was a favorite. Out of jealousy they sold him into slavery to Egypt.
He became a slave in Potiphar’s house. Potiphar was in charge of Pharaoh’s security and was responsible for the prison. Over time Joseph’s character traits of integrity, trustworthiness and administrative skills became obvious. Potiphar gave him the position of Manager over the household, fields and other slaves. Potiphar’s wife was very interested in the handsome young man. She pestered him. She begged him to come to her bed. Joseph remained faithful to his master and refused her advances.
Eventually she lied. And Potiphar had Joseph thrown into prison. I’m not sure Potiphar believed his wife but it didn’t matter. Joseph, a good man, a faithful employee found himself in prison. Because Potiphar knew Joseph’s skills, he put Joseph in charge of the prison. God knew the future… Joseph did not but his faith in God never wavered.
While managing the prison, two of Pharaoh’s attendants, the Baker and the Cupbearer were placed in prison. They both dreams… which Joseph interpreted. The dreams were fulfilled. But the cupbearer forgot his promise to Joseph, who languished in prison for another two years.
When Pharaoh had his dreams the Cupbearer remembered Joseph. Joseph was able to interpret the dreams. The Baker was hung and the Cupbearer restored to his position with the Pharaoh. After Joseph interpreted the dreams, Pharaoh placed him charge of all of Egypt. His integrity, his administrative skill, learned in Potiphar’s house enabled him to collect and stored grain for 7 years, then in the 7 years of the famine Egypt had food. Joseph is now 30 years old, some 17 years have elapsed. During the famine His brothers come to Egypt to seek grain. Eventually Joseph invites his brothers, their families and his father to Egypt. His comment: “You meant me harm but God meant it for good.” He was faithful.
As we read through Joseph’s story, I have been impressed over and over again that the real hero of Joseph’s story is not Joseph. It’s God. God’s faithfulness nev er waivered. The same is true for a shepherd boy named David.
God promised a shepherd boy, a teenager, that he would become Israel’s next king. We all know that a teenager shepherd could not wear a crown. David had to learn what a king did. He had to learn how to fight and lead an army. Saul became jealous of David’s popularity and made plans to kill him. David was on the run for 10 years from King Saul. There was a time when David had a chance to kill Saul but refused. Eventually Saul and Johnathan were killed in battle. Tribal wars, political wrangling, but eventually David became King at the age of 30, some 17 years after God’s promise. God was faithful to His promise. We know that David was not always faithful.
Whether we are reading about Abraham, Joseph, or David, God was faithful to His ultimate plan to bring a Savior into the world. Abraham, Joseph, David, all demonstrated the character trait of patience as God molded their character into positions of leadership to accomplish His purpose. That is why the Apostle Paul could write:
“For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28 NKJV)
The Gospel of Luke begins with the story of Zechariah, a priest in the temple at Jerusalem, married to Elizabeth. They have no children, which in Jewish culture meant people wondered why God was punishing them. They knew children are a blessing and a heritage from the Lord (Psalm 127). So they prayed but their was empty.
Zechariah could have solved the problem by divorcing Elizabeth, a common practice in that day. He could have ditched his aging wife and married a younger woman who would give him children. That was the route many men took. Instead, Zechariah remained faithful to Elizabeth. One day an angel appears to Zechariah in the temple and tells him that God will give him and his wife a son. Their son was John. It was John who, at the baptism of Jesus heard God’s voice from heaven say: “This is the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world.” God’s faithfulness to bring redemption was standing in the Jordan River.
How can we pray and live out our faith in a hostile culture? What does it mean to walk by faith when we don’t know God’s plan for us? Joseph did not know why he was sold into Egyptian slavery. God did. David had the promise that he would one day be king. In our culture we must trust God’s faithfulness on His timeline.
The Apostle Paul wrote: God who has made us…. He has given us the (His) Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Corinthians 5:5). Not many things in life are guaranteed. If you have a job today, you might not have one tomorrow. If you are healthy today, you might be sick tomorrow. Even if you get a “guarantee” from a sales person, and you fill out all the forms…there will still be a list of conditions. Your guarantee will expire in so many days or you will void it by misusing the product, or the manufacture may decide to change the rules.
God’s faithfulness, His guarantees do not expire. In his letter to the congregation in Ephesus Paul wrote: God.. “Chose us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight (through our connection to Jesus, His death and resurrection) so that in Jesus we would have forgiveness of our sins…then “because we believed He sealed us with the promised Holy Spirit who is our guarantee of our eternal inheritance. (Ephesians 1:4, 7, 13)
The Holy Spirit as God’s “investment” in you. God is so determined to take his children to heaven that he sends the Holy Spirit who enables us to both believe and trust in the promises of God. It is then that the Holy Spirit begins to shape our lives into the image of Jesus.
We know that God has “created us for the good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10) We are no different than Abraham, Joseph, and David. God knows what is happening in our culture. He knows that His values etched in two tablets of stone are under attack.
Marriage between a man and a woman are under attack by Satan who uses human nature and a secular culture to tell us the grass is greener on the other side. Or like Hosea’s wife… you just missed out on life…. Our culture is asking families to disown our own human DNA which makes us male and female.
God scans the earth for potential leaders, He is not on a search for angels in the flesh. He is certainly not looking for perfect people, since there are none. He is searching for men and women like you and me, mere people made up of flesh, bone, and blood. But He is also looking for certain qualities in those people. The qualities, the character traits are Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness.
We are guaranteed these character traits thus He expects us to be salt and light in our culture, but we must remain connected with His Holy Spirit. “Let us keep in step with His Spirit.”
Amen
