THE RESULTS OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS, Part 2

God’s faithfulness is for His glory, but also for our good. Yesterday, we learned that His faithfulness results in God saving and sanctifying us (1 Cor.1:9; 10:13; 1 Thess.5:23-24)

Today, we will note three additional results.  Because He is faithful:

• GOD SHAPES US.

“I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.” (Ps.119:75)

The troubles that come our way are not meant to harm us, but to help us. These problems are the pressures of life that the Potter uses to shape our human clay into the image of Christ.

• GOD SECURES US.

“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lam.3:22-23)

We can be secure in knowing that God is faithful to extend to us mercies every morning. We are not consumed with the condemnation we deserve, because God is consumed with the compassion He desires. We may fail, but He will be faithful.

• GOD STABILIZES US.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (Heb.10:23). This does not mean that our faithfulness is insignificant, but that it grows out of God’s faithfulness to us. We can hold fast to our confession because God holds fast to His children. We may be unwavering in our stand for God is unmoving in His stability—and our feet rest on that Rock!  God’s faithfulness is the root of which our faithfulness is the fruit.

How wonderful is our Mighty God!  Great is His faithfulness. Again this morning I find mercies for the multitude of my sins. Compassions are abundant for my need is great. As the sun rises, God’s faithfulness dawns anew for me!

THE RESULTS OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS, Part 1

What a precious truth this is—a source of joy and peace.  The results of the faithfulness of God means:

• GOD SAVES US. “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor.1:9). If we are saved it is because God is faithful to call us by the Gospel, convict us by the Spirit, and convert us through faith in Christ—nothing we have done, but because of what He has done.

• GOD SANCTIFIES US. “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor.10:13). God is faithful to provide us the way to escape sin’s appeals and the will to endure Satan’s attacks. “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” (1 Thess.5:23-24). God not only sets us apart from sin, He separates us for Himself.

Here are two results of the faithfulness of God. Tomorrow, God willing,  we will explore three more. Let us praise our faithful God today and give thanks that He saves and sanctifies us!

THE REVELATION OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS

From the beginning of the Bible, we read the revelation of the faithfulness of God.  Here are a few examples that we can see in our day that have been present since the dawn of time.

The faithfulness of God is revealed IN THE SEASONS.

“‘While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.’” (Gen.8:22)

As I write this, some of the leaves on the trees are beginning to turn. The changing of the seasons illustrates God’s faithfulness.  It happens every year just as He promised.

The faithfulness of God is also revealed IN THE SIGN.

“‘Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ And God said: ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.’”(Gen.9:11-13)

Every time you see a rainbow it is a reminder of the faithfulness of God to His promise—a reminder of His wrath and mercy.

Then, the faithfulness of God is revealed IN THE SEED.

“Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’” (Gen.12:1-3)

There are many “ites” in the Bible—Midianites, Girgashites, Edomites, Hittites.  You’ve never met them for they are no more.  One group remains—Israelites!  God is faithful to His covenant though the Jews have been unfaithful to Him, and have faced genocide repeatedly.  Still they remain, while the mighty empires opposing them have crumbled—Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and Nazi Germany.

Should you be tempted to doubt the faithfulness of God to His Word, look at the changing of the seasons, the presence of the rainbow, and the existence of a small nation surrounded by foes in the Middle East.

THE ROOT OF GOD'S FAITHFULNESS

God’s faithfulness is rooted in His unchanging nature. Note how the Psalmist contrasts the changing conditions in earth with the changeless character of Eternal God.

“Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will have no end.” (Psalms‬ ‭102:25-27‬‬)

 Everything about us is changing.  It has been said there are only two certainties in life—death and taxes.  I would add a third: change.  Our bodies change—just get out some old pictures!  The stars and the earth are more stable than many things, yet even they are said to change.  Creation changes, but the Creator cannot.

His faithfulness is rooted in His immutability—He does not change. If you use the prefix “im” it means, “not.” So, if something is immovable—it is not movable.  To mutate means to change, so if you put im in front, “immutable,” it means not mutating—not changing.

The unchanging nature, character, and attributes of God are bound up with His faithfulness.  The hymn we sang testifies to this,

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD

Did you know a broken clock is right twice a day?  Here are the words of a false prophet that are true. “‘God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?’” (Numbers‬ ‭23:19‬‬). Balak, king of Moab, tried to hire Balaam, a false prophet, to curse Israel.  God would not permit it for His intention was to bless His people. So, instead of lies emerging from his lips, truth was told.  We affirm the faithfulness of God that Balaam decreed.

The late J. Robertson McQuilken was a wonderful man of God who served as President of Columbia International University for twenty two years.  In 1990, he resigned his position that he might care for his wife who had Alzheimer’s.

 Here is what McQuilken wrote about the faithfulness of his wife and why he would be faithful to her:

The board arranged for a companion to stay in our home so I could go daily to the office. During those two years it became increasingly difficult to keep Muriel home. As soon as I left, she would take out after me. With me, she was content; without me, she was distressed, sometimes terror stricken. The walk to school is a mile round trip. She would make that trip as many as ten times a day. Sometimes at night, when I helped her undress, I found bloody feet. When I told our family doctor, he choked up. “Such love,” he said simply. Then, after a moment, “I have a theory that the characteristics developed across the years come out at times like these.” I wish I loved God like that—desperate to be near him at all times. Thus she teaches me, day by day.

If you have time check out the audio of his resignation here:

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That touches us at a profound level because we realize that such a display of faithfulness is rare among humans. Yet, as inspiring as this is, it is but a shadow compared to the incomparable faithfulness of Almighty God.

God is always faithful. He is perfectly and preeminently so. That is what we will expound and exult over in our devotional series this week.