Deuteronomy chapter 7. Go to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 7. If you're looking for somewhere to read in God's Word, this would be a good book to start reading. It's a rehearsal. It's the Lord through Moses going back over everything the Lord said and did. for them going through the wilderness right before they come into the promised land. So it's good for us to remind us all the Lord is and does and is promised.

Look at Deuteronomy 7. Let's read verse 6. God is speaking to his people. Thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee. to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people. Remember, many are called, but few are chosen.

But, verse 8, because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath and a covenant which he had sworn unto your fathers, that the Lord brought you out of the world with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And here's our text. Know therefore, know this, that the Lord thy God, he is God. The faithful God. which keepeth covenants and mercy of them that love him, and keep his commandments to a thousand generations."

Now, as I said, this is written to God's people. This is not to the world. In the Bible, most of the Bible is to God's people. Speaking of the love of God, God doesn't love every single person on earth. No, no. This plainly tells us this, doesn't it? But the subject here is our faithful God.

Verse 9. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God. Be faithful, God. And all I want to do is just preach Him. Declare Him unto you, His faithful. Lamentations 3 says, Great is thy faithfulness. We sang that song. We will. Is it the last song we're going to sing? Great is thy faithfulness. Oh God, my Father.

Faithful means trustworthy. Somebody you can trust. There aren't many of them today, are there? Trust the Lord, Scripture says. Not man. Don't put your trust in man. Paul, David said, I said in my haste, all men are liars. They're out for themselves. And not our God. He's true and faithful. Trust the Lord.

Faithful means firm, solid, certain, sure. Faithful means permanent, not going anywhere, not going to change. That's our God. Our God changes not. He said, because I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Change and decay in all around I see. O thou who changes not.

Faithful means true, loyal, devoted. Someone who will never turn on you or leave you. My, my. It says in 2 Timothy 3, in the last days people will be traitors. Not our God. Not our God.

Faithful means believable. Someone you can believe. You can, you should, you ought to trust God, not believe God. He's faithful.

Now, we're going to look at our faithful God, meaning the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It's going to be very simple, OK? Very short. Starting to say I'll try to be short. Well, I don't have to try to be that. I always have been. And I'll try to make this short.

Our faithful God, His faithful Son, the faithful Holy Spirit, His faithful Word, His faithful promises, true, believable, trustworthy, His faithful work, and His faithful people. God makes some people faithful. His people. All of His people. Okay? Now look at verse 9. Know therefore, He's telling His people, and I'm telling you, like Moses told them, Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God. He is God. John 17, 3, our Lord Jesus Christ said this, this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God. Know this, and you do know this, but I'm here to remind you. Deuteronomy keeps reminding us. And God keeps reminding His people, I am God.

That's not it. This is life eternal to know the only true God, which clearly tells us that there are other gods that are not God. Look at verse 4. He warns the people about Mary and those that don't believe in him. In verse 4, he says, they'll turn away thy son from following me that they may serve other gods.

Now, those of you who read God's Word know and have read that all through scriptures, every single prophet, every single book, keeps warning and exposing false prophets and false gods. And our Lord said this to his disciples, that many false prophets would arise and go into the world and deceive many when he leaves. And it's so true, and you know it's so. Most people believe in a God who's not God. And you notice gods is a small g, meaning they're not a god at all. Capital G-O-D, God is the creator, the sovereign ruler and controller, the owner of all things. That means everything and everyone. That there's nothing outside of his absolute sovereign control. If that were so, he's not God. And he's not to be trusted.

And you've heard things like this, and this is, I'm not going to deal much with it, but I have to because all of God's Word does. And right here it does. We didn't read it all, but he warns them about these other gods. The vast majority of people in our day talk about a god, and these preachers stand up and tell you about a god who wants to save you and can't lest you let him. That means he can't save. They say things like this, let go and let God. That's not in the Bible. If you must let God do anything, He's not God. You understand that? They say things like this when bad things happen. They say God didn't want that to happen. Then why do you need to trust Him? Why would you? He's no better, no more powerful than we are. Right?

Now you need to know, for your comfort and for your peace of mind, that your God is God. He didn't ask you to let Him. He came one day in preaching, like I'm doing now, and told you that He is your God, your God. And from then on, being born again, you know God is God. That you don't let Him do anything. He lets you do everything. Big difference isn't it? Daylight and dark. Daylight and dark.

They said to David in Psalm 115, and is that Psalm 135 also? I think it is. Twice. They said, David, where's your God? They had their idols. You know, man-made gods, and that's what most people believe in, a god of their imaginations, Romans 1. They said, David, where's your god? He said, he's in the heavens, and he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. That's the god of the Bible.

and went on to talk about their gods are not, they have no hands but your hands, no feet but your feet, they can't do anything unless you let them, they want to save you and can't unless you cooperate. That's not God. Why do you need a God like that? You don't. You know this now. Keep this in mind. Your God is God. Aren't you glad? And you won't know that until he comes and tells you. He reveals Himself. Nobody believes this God except those God chose. Elect. Elect. Know therefore. It says He is the Lord. He is God. The only true God. The only true God.

Know therefore. Look at verse 9. Now here's what I want to deal with from here on out. Let the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God. Be faithful, God. Your God is trustworthy. Our God is trustworthy. He's the only one you can really trust. He's firm. He doesn't change. He's sure. He's certain. You can believe whatever He says. Absolutely. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit are faithful. Our Father. which is in heaven. He's faithful to his children. He's faithful. He's faithful in his--and God is love.

And that's about the only characteristic that modern religion talks about. That God is first holy, God is just, God is righteous, God is love, God is mercy, God is grace, God is long-suffering, God is compassion, God is patient, God is many things, many attributes. His chief attribute is holy. But God is love, thank God.

Look at verse 7. It says, the Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people, but you were the fewest of all people. It says he set his love upon you. Doesn't it say that? There's no one worth loving, starting with this preacher. And God, for God to love someone, he has to set his love upon you. You understand that? He has to purpose to love. In Jeremiah 31, verse 3, God says this of His people, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Meaning, He set His love upon His people before the world began. Before they were born. Before the children were born, having done neither good nor evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand. This is sovereign love. Okay? It's not conditioned on you at all. It's God's purpose to love some people, thankfully. Nobody's worth loving. He said, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. That's not for everybody. That's God's people. Jeremiah 31, 3.

Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn thee. We looked at that recently, didn't we? John 6. No man can come. No man will come except the Father, which had sent Christ, drawn them. They're drawn with cords. Cords of love, cords of a man. We'll get to that in a moment. But God's love is eternal. God's love is effectual. He said, I've loved you, therefore, you're going to come to Him. He doesn't ask you. He tells you. And you come. Aren't you glad? Our only hope for our children and those that we want to know the Lord is that He will speak to them and tell them to come. If He does, they're coming. And if He does, they'll never leave because of His love. His love is effectual. His love is unchanging. It doesn't change. No matter what you do, no matter. Isn't that wonderful? Some of us, well, I haven't had a rebellious son or daughter. Some of you had. You know, we love our children. Whether they're obedient or not, we still love them, don't we? How much more are we bothering them? God committed His love toward us while we were yet sinners. His people. His love doesn't change, aren't you glad? His love is eternal. His love is unfailing.

1 Corinthians 13 says, love never faileth. God is love. That's His characteristic, one of them. And His love doesn't fail. Whoever He loves, He saves them. He doesn't try to save. God doesn't try anything. You don't try God either. He tries you. But God doesn't try anything. He does as He will, with whom He will, because He will. And what He purposes, it's going to happen. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? But His love never fails. True love never fails. Those whom He loves, He saves. And His love is eternal.

One more thing about these false preachers and their false God, they say God loves every single person, based on John 3, 16. That means those in hell, God loves. Right? What kind of love is that? How could you trust a God who loved you one day and cast you in hell the next day? Why? What are you trusting Him for?

But we need to trust, we need a God who says, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. I will in no wise cast you out. I have loved thee with everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you. You're mine, mine and thine, and you're mine, and I'm going to keep you forever. I'm going to keep my covenant concerning you. I'm getting way ahead of myself. But I'll never leave you, and if you leave me, I'm going to come get you. Now that's a God you can trust.

In fact, our Lord, the Shepherd, went after the one, the one sheep. He doesn't lose any. He doesn't. His mercy, God's mercy, God is faithful in His mercy. He delights to show mercy. It's the thing we need the most. Mercy means not getting what you deserve. You know my story. I'm the prodigal son. Look at me. And I had nothing to do with this. God delights to show mercy. And His mercy endureth how long? Forever. His grace. He's the God of all grace. All grace. Whatever you have, God gave it to you. Whatever any human being has, God gave it to them. His tender mercies are over all His work. He feeds everybody. The just as well as the unjust. The evil of the good as well as the evil. His grace. He giveth and giveth and giveth. He's so faithful. He'll never quit giving. Amen. Amen.

His Word. The faithful God. His Word. He says what He means. And He means what He says. That's someone you can trust in. Someone is only as good, the old saying is, someone is only as good as their word. If they can't keep their word, you can't trust them, can you? They're untrustworthy. They're deceitful. God says what He means, and He means what He says. If He promises something, He will do it. If He warns you, He will do it. Right? No means no. We did a study on raising children years ago. Young parents would do well to go back and listen to it. Your yes needs to mean yes. And your no needs to mean no. You need to be true to what you're saying. Like, if you do this, here's the consequences. Justice. Swift. It's a deterrent to doing it again. I knew when my dad said he meant it. Son, you do this and we'll make it rough on you. And I did it and he did. But when he promised something, he fulfilled it. He gave it to me. That's our God. He says what He means, and He means what He says.

Yea, all the promises of God in Christ are what? Yea, and what? Amen. No ifs, ands, buts, or maybes. Isn't that wonderful? His promises. Look at verse 9. That the faithful God, He keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him. Why does anybody love God? We love Him. That's right, John just said that. God's people love Him. Why? Because, quote it with me, because He first loved them. That's what He said there. He set His love upon you, and those whom God loves, they love Him. They wouldn't love Him unless He first loved them. They wouldn't come to Him if He didn't call them. They're His elect, they're His chosen, and they come to Him. They believe Him. They believe Him.

His covenant, let me just read a few of these promises to you. If you want to turn, you can. You know, we don't do a Bible study anymore, but I sure study the Bible to give you that. Isaiah 54, listen to this. Isaiah 54. If you want to turn to Jeremiah 32, you can. But Isaiah 54, listen to what the Lord says. This is wonderful. And this is where He said, Your maker is your husband. your Redeemer and the Holy One of Israel, as you're a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, refused, but said, I'll never forsake you. Your maker is your husband. And he says, a little wrath I hid my face from you, but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, saith the Lord.

This is like the waters of Noah. The covenant He made with that bow in the sky, which men have wickedly made an emblem of perversion. Verse 10 says, The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. Isn't that good?

Jeremiah 32. Listen to this. Jeremiah 32. This is just marvelous. Jeremiah 32, verse 40. Jeremiah 32, verse 40. He said, I will make an everlasting covenant with them, His people. I will not turn away from them to do them good. All things work together for what? Good. Like Brother Edmondson is fond of saying, the Lord's out to do you good. Like Joseph said to his brethren, his sorry brethren, he said, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. It's all good. God's good. And it's all good. He's out to do us good.

They said, I'll put my fear in their hearts and they shall not depart from me. Won't you like that? Yeah, but what? Why won't they depart? Because they're kept by the power of God. Those God loves, He's not going to lose them. You see why the love of God needs to be, must be absolutely sovereign, effectual, eternal, unfailing. That's the God of the battle. Your God is God. And if he loves you, he's going to love you forever. He's going to save you. He's going to keep you. You may run. You may try to hide, but he's going to bring you back. Isn't that good? That's your only hope for your children, for your lost spouses and parents and whomever you Have a desire, a burden.

Chapter 33 of Jeremiah. Look at that. Chapter 33, verse 20. This is so good. If you can break my covenant of day and covenant of night, there should be no day or night in their season. Then I'll break my covenant with my neighbor. You remember after Noah, after the ark landed in and God said, Let me just read it to you. You remember after the ark in Genesis 9 landed, God destroyed the whole world and God put the bow in the heavens and He said, I'll never do that again. I'll never destroy man by flood again. And He said this, while the earth remaineth, seed time, harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease.

Though man just continues his evil in spite of God's clear warning of what he did then and is going to do again, yet man continues to rebel against this God who is so faithful, who is so good, who keeps summer and winter and springtime and harvest and the rain keeps falling. He warns with drought, with floods, with pestilence. The wrath of God is clearly seen from heaven every single day, Romans 1. And yet men don't heed it, don't heed the warning, don't do anything. But God is so faithful. He keeps the rain coming on the unjust subject. Keeps feeding everybody and everything. Keeps doing it. He's going to keep doing it until the end of time. It's faithful in Him. And God's people acknowledge Him. God's people thank Him. Beautiful day today. This is the day the Lord made. The Lord thy God is the faithful God. He made this covenant with His faithful Son. He talks about this covenant ordered in all things. And what? Certain. Why? Because God made it. You know, a covenant man makes. Find him a slick lawyer and he can get out of it. He made this covenant concerning his people, this eternal purpose to save his people, and he gave this covenant to his faithful son, Immanuel. Stay with me now. This gives God all the glory. This message is All gives all honor and glory to God. And this is all your comfort. This is all your salvation and all your comfort. If God will give you attentive minds and hearts to receive this, you're going to get great comfort, if you haven't already.

But he gave this covenant to save some people. Amen. To his son, whose name is Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus is God. God was manifest in the flesh. God became a man. That man named Jesus, born in Bethlehem, lived in Nazareth for 33 years on this earth, is God that made the world. And He hasn't changed. He didn't change when He came. He didn't change when He left. He had all power and all control and ownership over everything. He made the whole world. Jesus. Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. And when he came, he exhibited that power and authority over all flesh, men and devils, and everybody was completely subject to everything he said. He never asked anybody anything. He told people what to do. The devils asked him permission for what they could do. And people came to him like dogs. Dropped everything. Dropped everyone and came to him. Because he has all power in heaven and in earth. This is the Jesus of Scripture. Any Jesus less than that is not the Jesus Christ of Scripture.

He had all power over the elements. The wind, the waves, everything. Absolute control. He told the wind, stop! He told the waves, sit down. Like a dog laid at his feet. And those He chose, they knew, this is no mere man. This is God. He's God who came to save us, Isaiah 25, verse 9.

Over the animals, the elements, the fish. You're talking about a fisherman. You're talking about a fisherman. Get the net. 153. Exactly. 153 in the net. No more, no less. We've got to pay our taxes. Go down, put a hook in it. There's a fish down there waiting to get your money. This is the Jesus Christ of Scripture.

See, he doesn't try to save anybody. He's not wanting to save and hoping you'll let him. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Verily, verily. No, no, no, no. Verily, verily, I say unto you that Jesus Christ of Scripture came to save a particular people, given to Him by God in a covenant of grace before the world began, and He saved every one of them by His blood, by His righteousness. Hanging on that cross, He said, It's finished. Bowed His head in all heaven. gave him a standing ovation, went back and sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, reigning and ruling, expecting every single person and thing to do exactly what he was sent to do. And it's going to happen. You just wait and see.

The reason you're here is because he told you to come, or you wouldn't be here. That's a Lord Jesus you can trust. And you should, because there is no other. Faithful. He's the surety of this everlasting covenant.

I was going to take you to Genesis 43 of Judah. The story of Judah. He said to his father concerning Benjamin, his little brother, he said, the king on the throne said we can't come to see him unless the son is with us. What a picture of crap. And Judah said, I'll be a surety for him. He said, if I don't bring him back and present him to you, hold me accountable. Did he? Yes, he did. And that Judah is just a man. Jesus Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He's the surety of an everlasting covenant, whom God gave this people to in the beginning. And as it were, He said, if I don't bring them back, hold me accountable. Really? Oh, yes. Scripture says in the end, he's going to say, behold, I and the children that thou hast given me. They're all here. Not one missing.

I told you this story before, but it's a pretty good illustration. When my daughter was in the sixth grade, I'll never forget it because it was a traumatic, horrible thing. I was chaperoning her in about Ten kids at a swimming party. Half of them were boys. Twelve-year-old boys. Anyway, I was in charge of taking care of all these children, and they're in this deep water at the YMCA in Russell, having this birthday party for Hannah. And there were ten of them. One of them was my child. The whole time, I'm doing one thing. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Counting heads. I'm in charge of somebody else's children. I don't want to lose one of them. What if I save nine? And one of them is unaccounted for? Well, nine out of ten ain't bad. What would those parents have said?

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. He's got His people numbered. Though there as the stars in the sky and the sands of the seashore, He has them numbered. And He said, of those that thou hast given Me, I've lost nothing. You can't trust the Jesus that you might be saved one day and lost an egg. You don't need a Jesus like that. You need one that's numbered with the transgressors, and you're in that heavenly number, and He's not going to lose you. His glory's at stake. Your salvation's at stake. His name's at stake. He's called Savior. If there's someone He attempted to save and He can't save them, He's not Savior, is He? He said, Those thou hast given Me have lost them. He's the faithful surety. He's the faithful witness. Revelation 1 says of Jesus Christ, the faithful witness.

In John 14, I've got to hurry. I wish I didn't have to hurry. There's going to be a day we don't have to hurry. And He's going to stand up and show us the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus faithfulness to all our lives. He's the faithful witness.

He said in John 14 troubled disciples, he said, you believe in God, believe also in me. He said, in my father's house are many dwelling places, many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. Is there room for me? Yes. I go to prepare a place for you.

Who did he do that for? Are you getting anything out of this? Do you believe this? Do you believe this, God? Huh? Do you? Do you need this Jesus Christ? Do you need to hear this? He did it for you. He said, if it were not so, I would have told you. I wouldn't have told you. I wouldn't have told you these things. I wouldn't have promised you these things. You wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be hearing this. You wouldn't care because He didn't care for you. But because He cares for you, you care. And you're here. And He's here. And He keeps reminding us.

If it were not so, I told you, I'd go to prepare. Where I am, you may be also. You're not going to get there. We're not going to be saved. There's not going to be one sinful, fallible, finite, failing human being. That's all of us. You can't keep ourselves for 30 seconds from failing, from falling, from sin. If God didn't hold you up, you'd be in the gutter. As soon as this service is over. That's a fact. We're kept by the power of God. He's faithful. He said, I told you.

They said, well, show us the Father. He said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. He said, the things, do you not believe that the Father's in me and I in the Father? Did you hear that? You need to tell that to some of these so-called Jehovah's Witnesses sometime. John 14. Do you not believe, he said, that the Father's in me? Wait a minute. God's in Jesus Christ? And I in the Father? So who's greater? They're equal. They're equal. Do you not believe that? The Word. He said, believe the Word. Believe everything I tell you. Believe that He's believable. That's what I'm trying to... Well, you do, but we just have so many doubts and fears, don't we?

He's our faithful husband. I was going to go to Hosea. God said to Hosea, you go love a woman who's worthless. She's a whore. She's a whore. She doesn't want anything to do with you. You go love her. And that's the love that God has for His people. They didn't want anything to do with Him. They sold their bodies to sin. They sold their minds and everything. They've given themselves over to fleshly pleasure all their lives. Now you go love that person and you buy her. So he said, I went and I bought her for 15 pieces of silver. And she became mine and he said, you're mine now from now on. You're not for another. You're mine. You're not going to anybody else. You're mine. Aren't you? That's the God you need. That's the Christ you need. That's the husband you need.

That woman at the well tried five men and none of them were faithful to her. She wasn't faithful then, probably. But boy, she met her true husband at that well, didn't she? And he never left her from that day forward. Our Lord said, where's the bill of your mother's divorcement? Well, I'm going to leave him. And sometimes God said, OK, go. Let's see, like you said to Ephraim, let him go. Let him go. Let's see what happens to him. He's on his own. Let him go. That's what God said. Read what he said, Hosea. And then God said, I can't give him up. He'll destroy himself. I'm going to go get him. And in the end, Abram said, I'm not leaving. That's our faithful husband, our faithful brother and friend.

And I had so many scriptures I wanted to read to you. Let me read just a few to you, okay? Listen to Proverbs 17. A friend loveth at all times. A brother is born for adversity. There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Who is that? Jesus Christ. He said, I call you friend because I tell you everything that I do. And greater love hath no man than is John Davis. And he laid down his life for his friends. And God's going to get what he paid for. Oh, he's a beloved brother and friend. Oh, my.

Listen to this. It says, a whisperer separateth cheap friends. When our Lord was taking our place, And standing before the accusers, he's innocent. But he's taken our place and he's becoming our substitute. He's becoming us. Guilty. And they kept leveling charges after charges at him. It says he spoke not a word. He's not going to give you up. He's not going to give you up. He said in the garden, he said, if you seek me, Let them go. He's a beloved friend and brother. Love covereth. Love covereth. He covered our transgressions of his own blood.

Listen to this in Proverbs 18, 24. A man to have friends must show himself friendly. And there's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Did he? Does he? Oh, does he ever.

And listen to this, Proverbs 27. Listen to this. It says, faithful are the wounds of a friend. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. And the faithful spirit of God. I've got to quit. The faithful Holy Spirit of God.

John 14, our Lord said, I must go and leave, but I will not leave you comfortless. I'm sending someone that's going to be with you forever. He's going to abide with you, the Spirit of God. If any man hath not the Spirit of God, you know he has. And what he's going to do is he's going to keep you, lead you, guide you, direct you in all truth. He's going to restrain you. He's going to constrain you. And when you do evil, he's going to convict you and convince you and reprove and rebuke and correct you. He's going to chasten you. He's going to do all of this. He's not going to let you go. I told him to keep you and bring you back to me when it's all over. That's the Spirit of God. That's the angel spoken of in Exodus.

Oh, my. God is faithful. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Faithful. Listen to this. Now here's... And you're going to hang your head, but don't do it. God's people are faithful. God's true people. Because God is faithful. He cannot create a people unlike himself. You understand? If we're created in his image, if there's a new creature created in Christ Jesus, they're going to be like him. Right? He said, I'll never leave you. And God's true people won't either. You understand me? God could do no less. If He doesn't make them like Himself, they're not saved.

And we all hang our head, but listen to Revelation 17. It says that those that are with Him, those that are with Christ, Revelation 17, 14, are called, chosen, and what? Say it. Faithful. Faithful. All through the Scripture. The first mention of faithfulness is Moses. He said, My servant Moses is faithful. You can believe him. You can trust him. Why? Because God sent him. And what he's saying is true. Moses never did anything untrue. Is he a sinner? Yes, he is. Is he fallible? Yes, he is. Can he fail? Yes, he did. But he's faithful. He's faithful. He didn't leave them. He didn't leave them, did he? They left him. They got mad at him. They went away. He didn't leave them, did he?

Such were all his prophets. He talked about Abraham, my faithful friend. God said that about Abraham. He's my faithful friend. Did Abraham fail? Yes, he did. Did God fail him? No, he did not. What did he do with Abraham? Straightened him up. He learned. He rebuked him. He chastened him. He's a faithful man.

David. The Lord set up David except that one matter with Bathsheba. He said he's faithful in everything he does. Why? Because this is what God does. You understand me? If you can leave God, God doesn't love you. If you can leave the Gospel, He never revealed the Gospel to you. If you can leave your brethren, You don't love them. Love never fails. Is that right? Is that right? And it remains to be seen, doesn't it? It all remains to be seen about all of us. God's true people are faithful. Yes, they are. His prophets, His preachers, His people. Paul mentioned several names. Silas, Paproditus, Timothy, Onesimus. You remember Philemon, the story of Mismas, that runaway slave who stole from his master and went away, and the Lord saved him, and Paul called him faithful. He's faithful now. He was unfaithful before, not now. He's not leaving. He's not going anywhere. He's not going to steal from anybody.

Because this is what God does. God gets no glory if we leave Him. His people are faithful. They're faithful to Him, faithful to His honor, His glory. His cause is the cause of Christ. They stand up for His name, for His glory, for His honor. Yes, they do. They're faithful to each other. Faithful to each other. Yes, they are.

You know, you husbands and wives, If you really love each other, you ever get mad at each other? Ever? Shouldn't, but we're two sinners living in the same, and one's male and one's a strange creature. Female, real strange. They're both sinners. I'm going to take the grace of God to keep them together completely. But if God creates this love, it lasted. We've got people who have been married. My parents were married 72 years. And Eddie and Jeanette have been married a long time. And John and Earlene.

Are you leaving? You're going to leave her? Why? You love her, don't you? Loving everything. You ever get mad at her? Have you ever gotten mad at her? I should ask Earlene this. How could you get mad at that sweet thing? But you do, don't you? You might fuss and fight. You shouldn't. We shouldn't, but you do. Do you leave? I'm out of here. No, you don't. If you leave, you don't love me. Do you?

Someone said to my dad one time, have you ever thought about divorce? He said, no, never. Murder? Yes. But not a divorce. Funny, but seriously, you can't leave somebody. You can't. You can't. You ever leave that boy? Huh? We get mad at each other. You know, we're all a bunch of sinners. We get upset. We get put out. We get offended. But you don't leave. You just don't leave.

You know, people get mad at one of their brothers and especially the preacher, and they take it out on God. I'm not going to worship God anymore. Oh, really? Then you didn't love him. He that loveth not knoweth not God. See, this is what God is, and this is what He does in His people, this is what He does in His true people. They are called, they are chosen, and they are faithful. Why? Because God is faithful.