What a wonderful Savior He is.
Oh my. Sometimes just singing like that,
you just don't want to stop. Deuteronomy chapter 7 is where
we'll be tonight. The Faithfulness of God is the
title of the message. The Faithfulness of God. Deuteronomy chapter 7, starting
in verse 1. When the Lord thy God shall bring
thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath
cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Grishites,
and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perzites, and the Hivites,
and the Jezebites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou,
and when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, Thou
shalt smite them and utterly destroy them. Thou shalt make
no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them. Neither shalt
thou make marriages with them. Thy daughter thou shalt not give
unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they
may serve other gods. So will the anger of the Lord
be kindled against you and destroy these suddenly. But thus shall
you deal with them. You shall destroy their altars
and break down their images and cut down their groves and burn
their graven images with fire. For thou art an 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." Ah, we looked at this this morning.
But because the Lord loved you. Remember too, Israel is a picture
of the church. But because the Lord loved you, and because he
would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers,
hath the Lord bought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed
you out of the house of bondmen and from the hand of Pharaoh,
king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord
thy God, and here's our text, this little portion right here,
he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy
with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand
generations. The Lord thy God, He is God, there's no question. The faithful God. Oh, the faithfulness
of God. Our text tonight will be found
in verse nine. Know therefore the Lord thy God,
He is God, the faithful God. Now faithfulness is one of the
sweetest attributes and most comforting. of the divine attributes
for God's people. The fact that God is faithful.
He's faithful. He's faithful to keep us. Faithfulness belongs to God.
Fickleness characterizes us sinners. But faithfulness, oh, that characterizes,
it belongs to God. And this faithfulness of God,
think of this, it's a practical truth for us, isn't it? God is
faithful all the time. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. So if the scripture says he's faithful there, we
know he's faithful now. And he's faithful in eternity.
God is faithfulness. It's a practical truth for us.
It's a pillow for our weary heads. It's a brace for our weak legs
and knees. Think of this and all the pressing
demands of life that we go through. All the things that we go through. Through the week and through
the ages and as we go through our lives. God is faithful. Even before we're saved. Even before we're saved. And
afterwards, we see it more and more, don't we? We see his faithfulness
in our lives. And think of this, his faithfulness
will never fail. Never. It's unfailing faithfulness. It will never fail. And the faithfulness
of God, coupled with his mighty sovereign power, is our everlasting
hope. Men disappoint, and we disappoint
men. We're lacking either in faithfulness
or power, right? But we can look above the ruin
caused by the fall of Adam, in our own ruin, and we can look above the unfaithfulness
of man, in our own unfaithfulness and behold one, behold one who
is great in faithfulness. Know therefore that the Lord
thy God, he is God, the faithful God. The faithful God. May we be assured that he is
faithful that promised, right? In our world now, unfaithfulness
is one of the characteristics of the day. And what man is not guilty of
it in some measure, right? Think of this, in the economic
world, nearly all failures are the result of unfaithful debtors
or employees or employers. And in the political world, wow,
we see this all the time, don't we? They make pre-election promises and they're broken as quickly
as they're made. We also see this in treaties made around
the world with different countries and nations. In international affairs, treaties
are signed and agreed upon And they're treated as just a
scrap of paper. There's fear and alarm. As men
learn that they cannot trust one another. And in the religious
realm, unfaithfulness is evident everywhere. Multitudes who profess
to believe this Bible, who profess to believe this Word, ignore
great portions of it. Or they say, I've heard O'Reilly
say this, well Genesis and all that, that's just like stories.
What? It's not just a story. It's truth. so they pronounce parts out of
dates, or they seek to explain it away with their own human
reasoning. Think of this, here's a heart-searching
question for us, for all of us, for me, for you. Have we been
the cause of grief to others by our own faithfulness? as wife, husband, child, parent,
neighbor, pastor, brother, or anyone else being brought to
grief by our unfaithfulness. May God keep us faithful, eh? He must give us the strength
to be faithful and to keep us faithful. This is what we pray. But look at the one spoken of
in our text. Know therefore that the Lord
thy God, he is God, the faithful God which keepeth covenant and
mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to
a thousand generations. This is the one who's always
faithful, even when we're not. First point is the faithful God.
There is one who is great in faithfulness, and our text identifies
him. Faithfulness is a perfection
in God by which He is true to His Word and to all His covenants. And what a rest that is for us
to know that those He has chosen before the foundation of the
world, He will save them and He'll keep them. He's faithful. He's faithful. What He has purpose to do, beloved,
He will do it. You do it. And what he has promised,
that he will perform. That he will perform. Now, lying
is one of the most prevalent sins. Everyone struggles with
that, right? Everyone. And it was the belief of Eli
that caused the ruin of the human race. Adam and Eve turned away
from God's word and followed the father of lies. And we, their children, have
followed in their steps. The children of Israel. Turn
with me, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 30, verse 10. Just one
verse here, but look at this. The children of Israel, long
ago, would actually beg the prophets to preach lies to them. And think of this too, during
World War II, right? During World War II, lying was
camouflaged with the word propaganda. The pronest to tell and believe
lies is one of the most startling facts of human history. Look at this in Isaiah 30.10,
prophesize not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth
things, prophesize deceits. But there was one, turn if you
would to Isaiah 53.9, just a few chapters over. But there was
one, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, truth incarnate, God
incarnate in the flesh. Look at Isaiah 53.9, and he made
his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, because
he had done no violence, neither was there any deceit. He was
the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. No sin. No sin. Perfect. So the one who's faithful is
God. God is also faithful to His Son. Let's read our text again, and
then we'll go to a term, if you would, to John 17. The text says,
know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful
God. The Son's covenant obligation
in the everlasting covenant was for Him to assume humanity, to
become flesh. And in His incarnation, He voluntarily
renounced the glory He had with the Father before the world was
to come, or before the world was to become obedient to the
death of the cross. God became a man. And He endured the shame of the
cross for us. For us. And the reward bestowed upon
him because of that obedience was the resurrection, his glorification,
and his exaltation to the royal priestly throne, and the right
to judge. And in all this, God was faithful
to his son. Look in John chapter 17, verses
1 to 5. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
thy son, that thy son may also glorify thee. And look at this. Who has all power? Remember,
we looked at authority today, too. Who has all authority? Look
at this marvelous verse. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, all he rules, he reigns, he's king supreme. That he should give eternal life.
Look at that. That he should give eternal life. Why does he have to give it?
Because we won't seek it. He has to give it. He has all
the power. As thou has given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
has given him. Remember we saw that this morning
too in Sunday school, that the unconditional election based
upon nothing in us. Father gave the elect to his
son. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. They must believe on Christ to
be saved. Why do we believe? Because we're
one of God's elect. Oh, I have glorified thee on
the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. He lived the perfect life. He lived a perfect life in our
place. And now, O Father, glorify Thou
me with Thine own glory, or own self, with the glory which I
had with Thee before the world was. Oh, what condescension. The King of glory became a man. And now, O Father, glorify Thou
me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee
before the world was. Oh, God is faithful. God is faithful. The next point
is, God is faithful to His saints. He is faithful to His people. God has made promises to poor,
helpless, mourning believers in Christ, and He will faithfully
perform every promise that He has made. He will. Romans 11.29 says, For the gifts
and calling of God are without repentance. This means that God
is true to His covenant promises and will not fail to glorify
all the called, all that He gave the Son, all the redeemed in
Christ Jesus our Lord. And do you know that all the
promises of God for believers are in Christ, and they're yea,
which means certain. They're certain. He shall save his people from
their sins. That's a certain fact. He shall. And he did. And he did. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. Oh, you will not lose one. God
is faithful to his covenant and faithful, faithful to his people. Turn with me if you would to
2 Corinthians 1.20. All the promises of God in Christ
are yea, certain. So this means that every
believer can say amen to the glory of God. to the glory of
God. 2 Corinthians 1.20, God is faithful
to his saints. For all the promises of God in
him are yea and in him amen unto the glory of God by us. We give
him all the glory and all the honor and all the praise. Can
we redeem ourselves? Not at all. But Christ can. And He did redeem my soul. And
He redeemed all the elect on Calvary's cross. Can I gain merit and favor with
God by my works? No. No. My righteousnesses are like filthy
rags in the eyes of the Lord. But I'm clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. And so is every believer. I justify myself before God?
Nope. Christ was raised for my justification.
And therein do I rejoice. God is faithful. He's faithful. And he's a mighty
God. And he's mighty to save. Mighty
to save. The next point is the faithfulness
of God is the ground of our security. The ground of our security. The
ground of our security is God's faithfulness to His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians,
chapter 1. In the everlasting covenant, Jesus
Christ was given a people by God the Father, and they are
called the elect in scripture, the called ones. Now, by the calling of God, which
is the effectual call of the Holy Spirit, where he irresistibly
and invincibly calls us to Christ, we can't resist it. We can't
resist it. We were first admitted into fellowship
with Christ, and the ultimate objective is to be in his presence
and glory. One day, every one of us who
believe will be sinless and will be in His presence with all the elect, sinners just
like us, saved by the grace of God in Christ, plus nothing. And this is guaranteed by the
faithfulness of God, who will confirm us unto the end. Look
at 1 Corinthians 1, 8 and 9. He will confirm us unto the end,
for the called are to be justified and glorified. Who shall also confirm you unto
the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ? Now think of that. Think of what we are. in how
we think, in the things we do. And scripture declares here that
she may be blameless. Oh, what a wonderful gospel. What good news for sinners. In
the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, God is faithful. We saw it in the Old Testament,
said, right? Now we see it right here in the New. By whom ye were
called. You weren't seeking God, but
He called you. Oh, unto the fellowship of His
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. The called are justified, and
they are safe as long as God keeps His word to His Son. And this will never change, beloved,
because it is grounded in the eternal, immutable God. The certainty of glory for the
believer rests upon God's faithfulness to His Son, who shall also confirm you unto
the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. God is faithful. whom you were called, and to
the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. God will never
break his covenant with his people. Never. Never. What hope that gives us. What
peace that gives us. That if we're saved, we are saved. Now God may chastise His people.
Turn if you would there, Psalm 89. He may chastise them, but
He will never ever leave them. He will never ever leave them. Now think of this, what we're
going to look at in the verse in Psalm 89, 34, but we're going
to start in verse 30. But verse 34 says, My covenant
will I not break. Think of that in light of the
everlasting covenant, the people given to Christ by God. And that is the covenant that
Christ ratified with his own precious blood. He purchased
those people with his own precious blood. Psalm 89 verse 30, starting
there, if his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments,
if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, Then
will I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity
with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving kindness will I not utterly
take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant
will I not break." Oh, how precious words for the believer. My covenant
will I not break, nor alter the thing that has gone out of my
lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness
that I will not I lie unto David, his seed shall endure forever,
and his throne is the sun before me. What a firm foundation we
have in God. He is faithful, he's faithful. And think of this, our safety
does not rest upon our faithfulness, right, to God, but upon God's faithfulness
to his son. Now, when we read this, we want
to be faithful to God, don't we? It puts that desire in our
heart, oh Lord. This is why scripture says the
love of Christ constrains us from sin. When we read of the
marvelous things that Christ has done for us, it constrains
us. It constrains us. Oh, what a
God of mercy. What a God of mercy. So our safety
does not rest upon our faithfulness to God, but upon God's faithfulness
to his son. The fifth point is God is faithful
in the perseverance of his people. Oh, he will keep us. Those he
saves, those he's redeemed by his precious blood, he will keep. He will keep. and one day will
be presented faultless before his throne. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. We looked at that this morning.
And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Oh, what safety
and security we have in Christ. The Lord loveth judgment, and
forsaketh not his saints, Why? Because he's faithful. We saw
that in Deuteronomy, yeah. He's faithful. Psalm 37, 28 says,
The Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints. They
are preserved, oh, I like this. I love it. They are preserved
forever. Forever. Psalm 37, 28, The Lord
loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints. They are preserved
forever. by the power of God. And think of this, too. Whatever
is preserved is helpless to save itself, right? And helpless to
keep itself. All the saints are weak and unable
to keep ourselves, but we are kept by the power of God. We
are kept by the power of God. Turn, if you would, to 1 Peter. Kept by the power of God. 1st
Peter chapter 1. God's promise to the believer
is everlasting life. This everlasting life, this everlasting
favor, everlasting justification for us is in Christ and Him alone.
And we will never come under condemnation. Never. Look at 1st Peter. And I started verse, I have my
notes to start at four, but I want to start at three. Look at verse
three here. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which according to his abundant mercy, God's mercy isn't
just mercy. It's abundant mercy, beloved,
abundant, overflowing mercy. Have forgotten us into a lively
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance
incorruptible. undefiled, and that fadeth not
away, reserved for you in heaven. Oh my, oh my. Look at verse 5, who are kept,
kept, kept by the power of God. through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations. All the things that we go through
in this world, they weigh us down, don't they? The trials
and tribulations that come our way, or losses of loved ones,
and just the daily life. At the trial of your faith, being
much more precious than of gold that perishes, Though it be tried with fire,
it might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. Kept by the power of God. Feeble,
weak saints who cannot keep themselves are kept by the power of God
in Christ. Oh, what a mighty Savior. God
is faithful. He is faithful. Oh. He is faithful. 1 Thessalonians 5, 23 and 24
says this, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly. And
I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful
is He that calleth you, who also will do it. Oh, faithful is he that calleth
you, who also will do it. Here is the believer's complete
sanctification and deliverance from sin, made to depend upon
the faithfulness of God. Made to depend upon the faithfulness
of God. The called are not only justified,
they will also be glorified, because God is faithful. He is
faithful. Remember, He is the author and
the finisher of our salvation. He's not going to call sinners
with a factual life-giving call and then leave them stranded
on the road to glory and say, oh, now the rest is up to you. Those He keeps. Those He saves,
He keeps. And as some old preacher said
one time, where the head is, the body will soon follow. Turn with me, if you would, to
Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6. Oh, beloved,
those who have fled Jesus Christ as a refuge from the storm of
divine wrath and justice, those who have fled to Him, have God's
Word and His oath, two immutable things in which it is not possible
for Him to lie, as the ground of their hope. The ground of
their hope. Hebrews chapter 6. Verse 17 to 20. Wherein God willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs a promise, the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath. that by two immutable things
in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation who have fled for refuge." Oh, what a refuge from
our sins, eh? Oh. "...to lay hold upon the
hope set before us." Which hope? We have as an anchor of the soul. It's an anchor for our soul.
Both sure, it's sure, and it's steadfast. "...which entereth into that
Within the veil, whether the forerunner for us entered, even
Jesus made an high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Oh, God is faithful. God is faithful, beloved. The
next point is God is faithful and disciplined in his people.
And we looked a little bit at all that. When I lived back in
Oregon, I can't tell you how many times people asked me, And
I know one day it'll be asked here. How many times people ask
me, how do you discipline folks at the church? They always want
to know that for some reason. I don't know why, but it's a
question that always comes up. Well, they never ask if we preach the
gospel. They always want to know how
we discipline folks. They'll ask you about, you know,
do you do altar calls? Do you all do all this stuff?
And they'll ask you about discipline, but they'll never ask you if
you preach the gospel. They always want to know, how
do you discipline folks? Well, I'm called to preach the
gospel. The gospel of God's free grace
in Christ. And it's God who does the disciplining.
He does the correcting. I can't tell you how many times
listening to sermons that I got it right between the eyes. But
it's been good. It's always good for me. God is faithful to discipline
his people. And he does it through the preaching
of the gospel. Somebody asked one of our preachers one time,
do you counsel? And he says, yeah, every week.
Every week. Every Sunday morning and every
Sunday night. Yeah. Oh, God is faithful. The psalmist
cried out this way in Psalm 119.75. I know, Lord, that thy judgments
are right and that thou hast in faithfulness afflicted me. Here, David submits to God's
dealing with him and acknowledges that they are right and good. Right and good. Psalm 119.75. In David's creed, there's no
chance or luck. Everything comes from God's hand. And sometimes David's afflictions
were most painful sometimes, but he always saw God's hand
in them. and he believed that they were for his good. Brother Tim mentioned Brother
Zane and how he always finishes up his letters just resting in
God and resting in his sovereignty and knowing that these afflictions
come from God's hands. We need to see that, don't we?
Sometimes it's hard for us, but we hope that we do, that we always
see God's hand in everything that comes to pass. God was acting in the best interest
of David, and he knew what he needed, and that's why he says,
I know, oh Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou hast
in faithfulness afflicted me. God is not an unfaithful and
permissive Eli. He's faithful in all that he
does. In all that he does. We ought
to praise God for his faithfulness. We sheep of God, we saints are
like sheep. We just wander off. Off we go. And he just brings
us back. With loving kindness. Oh, he's
a great God. He's faithful. He's so faithful. He's a faithful shepherd. He
knows how to bring us back. He knows how to bring us back.
Psalm 119.67 says this, before I was afflicted, I went astray.
Now have I kept Thy word." Oh, what a wonderful God. He's faithful. He's faithful. And He loves His people with
an everlasting love. Turn with me, if you would, to
Hebrews chapter 12. The doctrine is the same in the Old Testament
or the New. Hebrews 12, 11. Now no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous. No one likes to go through things,
do we? No one likes that. But grievous, nevertheless afterward
it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which
are exercised thereby. Oh, what a great truth. What
a great truth. I want to close with a portion
of scripture Jude. Jude. And let us think on this. May
the faithfulness of God become a spring in us. May it bring
us joy and peace. When we go through things this
week, may we just look to that. The faithfulness of God in Christ
and how He's faithful to His people. May we flee and rest in our faithful
God. Look at this in Jude. We're close
with this. 24 and 25. Now unto Him that is
able. He's able, beloved. He's able. He's not only able to keep me,
and keep you, but all the elect of all the ages, a number that
no man can number. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling, Spurgeon said, if it was up to us, we'd
fall a thousand times a day. To keep you from falling and
to present you Sinners to the core, redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb, presented faultless. Before the presence of His glory.
Remember we looked at that a few weeks back? In the presence of
a holy, righteous God who can stand. Sinners who are clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. presents you faultless before
the presence of His glory, and look at this, with exceeding
joy. Christ presents His people with
exceeding joy. If we look at the faithfulness
of God to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty,
dominion, and power, both now and ever. Amen.