Open your Bibles tonight, if
you will, to Lamentations, the third chapter. The third chapter
of the book of Lamentations. This short prophecy written by
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, found between Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Lamentations, chapter three. We'll begin reading at verse
21, Lamentations 3, 21. This I recall to my mind after
acknowledging terrible trial, terrible temptation, terrible
trouble, terrible pain, terrible heartache. The prophet says,
this I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed. Because his compassions fail
not. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed. Consumed with our own lust. Consumed
with the care of this world. Consumed with Satan's devices. Consumed with the lust of the
flesh. Consumed. It's of the Lord's
mercies. Only of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed. That is because his compassions
fail not. What a great word the Spirit
of God inspired his prophet to use to express God's tender care
for us, his co-passions, his co-passions. Our Lord Jesus,
God our Savior, was a man tempted at all points, like as we are,
yet without sin. And he who is our high priest,
Our advocate on high, our God who rules the world, the God
of all providence, our Redeemer. He is touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. I haven't begun to imagine, let
alone declare the depth of those words. That which touches you. His child touches Him. That which you feel, He has felt. That which you experience, He
has experienced. And there's no exception. There's
no exception. He's touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. And it is of His mercies that
we are not consumed Because his co-passions, his co-passion with
us in all that we experience fail not. They are new every
morning. With every rising sun, his co-passion
with us is renewed. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. That's my subject this evening.
Oh, Spirit of God, give me wisdom and grace to proclaim it. Great
is thy faithfulness. I can't tell you how much my
heart and mind is occupied day after day with this subject. God's great faithfulness. God's great faithfulness. There is nothing I admire in
men more than faithfulness. And there's nothing I admire
in God more than his faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. There was a time When I talked
about God's faithfulness merely as an article of divinely revealed
truth found in scripture, that was the best I could do. Because
I had not, to my knowledge, to my knowledge, I had not experienced
much of his faithfulness. But now it's been over 46 years
since God revealed himself to me in Christ. And I've seen some
trials, some temptations, some heartaches, some troubles, some
sorrows, just like you have. In them all, I confess to you
and to God my weakness and my sin so mournfully manifest. But this one thing I can tell
you, about our God, our heavenly father. He is faithful. From the depths of my soul, I
tell you, great is his faithfulness. Faithfulness is a rare thing
in this world. In the business world, with few
exceptions, a man's word is no longer his bond. In the social
world, marital infidelity has become something that's expected. The sacred bonds of marriage
matrimony are tossed aside as easily as men throw away waste
paper. In the political world, our elected
representatives, with very rare exception, use their political
offices and affairs for nothing but personal advantage. And in
the religious world, things are worse. The vast majority of churches,
preachers, and religious leaders who claim to serve God and uphold
his word and proclaim his truth repudiate the character of God,
deny the word of God, and openly attack the truth of God. Faithfulness
in this world is a rare thing. But even among God's saints, among his most faithful servants,
there is great unfaithfulness. Oh, how unfaithful we have been
to our Redeemer. How unfaithful you and I have
been to the light and privileges and responsibilities God has
given us. That's just a sad fact. That's
just a sad fact. Our faithfulness to our God at
best is unfaithfulness. But God is faithful. God is faithful. And bless his
name, our unfaithfulness will never affect that in any way. God is faithful. Hear the Word
of God and rejoice in what I'm about to read to you. There hath
no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But
God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above
that you're able, but will with the temptation Make a way to
escape that ye may be able to bear it. Thy mercy, O Lord, is
in the heavens, and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. I will
sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. With my mouth will I
make known thy faithfulness. I have said mercy shall be built
up forever. Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish
in the very heavens. O Lord, God of hosts, who is
a strong Lord like unto thee, or unto thy faithfulness round
about thee? Thy faithfulness is unto all
generations. Thou hast established the earth,
and it abideth. O Lord, thou art my God. I will exalt thee, I will praise
thy name, for thou hast done wonderful things. Thy counsels
of old are faithfulness and truth. It is a good thing to give thanks
unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High, to
show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning and thy faithfulness
every night. God give me grace to awake every
morning, showing forth his loving kindness, his compassions that
are new every morning. And give me grace to record in
my meditation every night his faithfulness. Oh, how great is
his faithfulness. It is the faithfulness of God. It is the faithfulness of God.
that is the basis, the ground of our confidence before him.
Were he not faithful, we couldn't trust him. Were he not faithful,
we couldn't believe his promises. Were he not faithful, we could
not rest our souls upon him. Faithfulness is an attribute
of God's character. essential to his being. Without
it, he would not be God. Know, therefore, that the Lord
thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and
mercy with them that love him. Like himself, God's faithfulness
is an infinite, immutable, unchangeable. Great is thy faithfulness. God's faithfulness is the basis,
I say, of our trust in him. Peter says, wherefore, let them
that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping
of their souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful creator. Turn
to the book of 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians, chapter
5. a long, long time ago. I was
a 17-year-old boy. I hadn't been converted very
long. And I was going through a terrible, terrible trial. It wasn't much, looking back
at it, but you know, babies, when they fall and bust their
rear ends, it's a terrible trial to them. And it was a terrible
trial to me as a young believer. And I thought I was about done. Really did I I thought this this
is gonna be the end of everything And I came to this passage of
Scripture reading the Word of God Second first Thessalonians
chapter 5 verse 23 The very God of peace sanctify you
wholly and I pray God your whole spirit soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ What an
impossible thing. What an impossible thing. Me,
sanctified, holy. God preserved me, body, soul,
and spirit, blameless under the day of Jesus Christ. Impossible,
Rex Bartley, if it in any way depends on you. Impossible, if
it in any way depends on me. But the next line reads, faithful
is he that calleth you who also will do it. Faithful
is he that calleth you who also will do it. God's faithfulness
is seen primarily in the fact that he always performs his word. The foundation of God standeth
sure. And there shall be a performance
of those things which were told us from the Lord. We read in
Numbers 23, God is not a man that he should lie neither the
son of man that he should repent. Hath he said and shall he not
do it or hath he spoken and should he not make it good? Now, let
me talk a little while about God's great faithfulness. in
three or four ways. First, we're given numerous illustrations
of God's faithfulness in his word. The book of God is written
to teach us God, to teach us his character and his ways, to
show us his redemption and grace in his son. And here in the word
of God, we're given example after example of God's great faithfulness. Back in Genesis 15, the Lord
God told Abraham that his seed would be as numerous as the stars
of heaven. And that his seed would be strangers
in a hostile land for 400 years. But after being in that land
for 400 years, he would bring them out with great substance.
And as you know, Israel went into Egypt. And there they served
the Egyptians for 400 years. And they had this word from God.
I'm going to bring you out. And when I bring you out, you're
going to be better off than you were when you went in. When I
bring you out, you'll not come out empty handed. You'll bring
out everything you need with you. You will prosper from having
been here. But that's a hard word to remember
when stripes are on your back. And when you're made to make
bricks for men who hate you, and your children are slaughtered
by folks who are scared to death, you're going to outnumber them.
And the trials went on year after year, generation after generation,
century after century. And it seemed certain that God's
word had fallen to the ground. When Moses finally appeared to
deliver Israel, the children of Israel at first rejoiced to
hear the word, but soon murmured against him and against God for
sending him because their afflictions only increased. And then at the
appointed time, God proved himself faithful. And it came to pass
that all the host of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt
exactly God had said in the days of the kings of Israel Isaiah
gave this word of promise a word from God behold a virgin shall
conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel and Hundreds
of years came and went but when the fullness of time was come
God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law to
redeem them that were under the law and of our Lord Jesus, it
was prophesied, righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins
and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. And when Christ came,
he faithfully fulfilled all the stipulations of the covenant.
He brought in everlasting righteousness. He redeemed his people with his
own precious blood. He finished the work which was
trusted to him, committed to him, for which he became responsible
as a covenant sheriff, and he took his seat, exalted at the
right hand of the majesty on high, the faithful and true God. Second, God is always faithful
to his covenant. Turn back a few pages to Isaiah
chapter 59. Chapter 54 verse 9 Isaiah 54
verse 9 Sometimes sometimes it appears
that God's covenant has fallen to the ground in this place I
doubt there's ever a service in which someone, either in song
or in scripture reading, in prayer or in preaching, mentions the
covenant of God's grace and mercy in Christ. It's a common term
here. A few places know anything about
it. But here, it's a very common term. And we know something about
the teaching of scripture with regard to God's everlasting covenant,
order in all things and sure. And we've got it fixed pretty
good here. But Merle, sometimes it seems like he's forgotten
to be gracious. Sometimes it appears that he's
altogether forsaken us. Sometimes it appears that his
word has fallen to the ground. Hear what he says, Isaiah 54
verse 9. This is as the waters of Noah
unto me. For as I have sworn that the
waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, So have I
sworn that I would not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee. Here's another reminder of God's
faithfulness. After the storm and after the
rain, you look up in the sky and you see a bow set in the
sky. God said, Noah, look at that bow and remember, I'll never
do this again. Look at that bow and remember
my promise of mercy. Remember my promise of forgiveness.
Remember my promise of goodness He said this is as the waters
of Noah unto me For as I've sworn that the waters of Noah should
no more go over the earth So have I sworn that I would not
be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee for the mountains shall
depart and the hills shall be removed That looks to be like
you can expect everything in this earth sooner or later to
be turned upside down. You can expect everything in
your life sooner or later to be turned upside down. You can
expect everything you know in time physically to be turned
upside down. The mountains shall depart. The
hills shall 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." God's covenant never has and
never can be altered. His faithfulness can never fail. The covenant made between God
the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, before the world
began, depends on us for nothing. Depends upon humanity for nothing. Depends upon the works of men
for nothing. Depends upon the events of time
for nothing. The covenant is firm and everlasting,
immutable and sure, ordered in all things and sure. That means
this, God the Son, our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, our Savior, has
been faithful in his obedience to the Father as our covenant
sheriff, our federal head, our representative, our substitute. He has fully accomplished all
the will of God for us. He came into the world to save
his people from their sins and save us, he has. He came here
to make us righteous, and righteousness he's given us. He came here to
put away our sins, and he put away our sins by the sacrifice
of himself. God required obedience to his
law, satisfaction for his justice, and the complete restoration
of manhood to perfect holiness. And that's what God the Son has
done for us. He not only has made us righteous
representatively as our surety in his covenant grace, he sends
his spirit at the appointed time of love to every chosen, redeemed
center and causes them to be born again, creating Christ in
you, making God's people, God's elect, God's redeemed ones, new
creatures. new creatures in whom and with
whom and for whom old things are passed away and all things
have become new so that having Christ in us being made partakers
of the divine nature he has made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light and the Lord Jesus shall
at last come again and in resurrection glory These bodies of flesh shall
be transformed into the likeness of his glorious body, and manhood
shall be restored to perfection, absolute perfection, in and by
Jesus Christ the Lord. As a result of our Savior's obedience,
God the Father has done what he said he would do. He said,
ask of me, and I'll give thee the heathen for thine inheritance.
Turn to Philippians chapter 2, Philippians 2. You will remember that C.H. Spurgeon, one day when he was
preaching in London, they were renting a temporary place to
meet while they were building the tabernacle in London, England.
He preached to 23, either 21 or 23,000 people. I can't remember, but a lot of
people, a lot of people. And shortly after they started
meeting in this place, someone screamed, fire, fire! And people began to stampede
out. Two were trampled to death. And
Spurgeon was devastated. Spurgeon was just devastated.
He couldn't bring himself to preach. for two weeks, he was
just in utter despair. And then he came to this passage
of scripture, Philippians chapter two. Look at it. If there be,
therefore, any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love,
if any fellowship of the spirit, if any bowels and mercies fulfill
you, my joy, That you be like-minded, having the same love, being of
one accord and of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife
or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in
the form of God, Thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath
highly exalted him. God gave him what he promised
he would give him as a reward of his obedience unto death in
redeeming his people. And when Spurgeon read those
words, God the Holy Spirit sealed them to his heart. And he went
the next Lord's day and preached to a great congregation again
on this subject, Christ exalted. If Christ is exalted, no matter
what I experience, No matter what I feel, no matter what I
see, all is well. He who loved me and gave himself
for me holds the reins of the universe and governs all things
well. The triune God has exalted and
glorified our Lord Jesus and given him power, dominion, authority
over all flesh. And he's given his son a seed
to serve Him forever. And the Lord Jesus, our great
Savior, God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, has given all preeminence
in all things. The salvation of sinners, you
see, is a matter of divine faithfulness. It's a matter of divine faithfulness. There are a people in this world who must and shall
be saved. They must and shall be saved
by the power of God the Holy Spirit through the preaching
of the gospel of God's free grace. Oh God give me grace. God give
me grace to give myself to this work with this confidence. God
will save his people through the preaching of his word. He'll
save them everyone because God has sworn he will do it He promised
his son a seed to serve him and the Lord Jesus in his high priestly
prayer said father I pray not for the world. I Pray for these
which thou has given me out of the world for thine they were
and thou gavest them me I pray not for these alone, but for
them also which shall believe on me through their word father.
I I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me
where I am that they may behold my glory. And God's faithfulness
to his son in answering his priestly prayer on our behalf will certainly
secure the everlasting salvation of his people. A people upon
whom God from eternity has bestowed in Christ every blessing of grace. shall come to experience every
blessing of His grace in time. God Almighty has sworn to give
sinners in Christ forgiveness, acceptance, justification, adoption,
preservation, and at last, glorification. Maybe He'll do that for you. Maybe He'll do that for you.
These are matters of covenant faithfulness to God's people. No wonder David sang on his deathbed. Although my house be not so with
God, the Lord hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure. And I love these next words.
This is all my salvation and all my desire though he make
it not to grow. Though I don't with my eyes see
what he's doing. Though I do not in my lifetime
with my eyes see how he fulfills that covenant. Though my own
family looks to me to be in horrible disarray. This God's covenant
ordered in all things. And sure, this is all my salvation. And this is all my desire. Third, God's faithful in all
his word. I remind you again what I said
to you this morning, this word, this book, this blessed, blessed
book. The Word of God. The Word of
God. This is God's Word. This is God's
Word. God has given you and me His
Word in our language. He's preserved it for us generation
after generation after generation. You have here the very Word of
God. Let me mock and deride all they
will, this book is verity and truth. This book, this book alone
will stand every test. It is absolutely true. The very
word of God and every doctrine taught here is absolutely true
and faithful. Every promise given here is absolutely
certain. True and faithful. And every
declaration of judgment given in this book is a matter of absolute
certainty. True and faithful. But there's another aspect of
God's faithfulness that touches us personally. God is faithful. Faithful in all his relations
to his people. and faithful in all his covenant
works on our behalf. God teach us to know this. God
is faithful. We can safely trust him. We can
safely rely upon him. No one ever trusted our God in
vain. God teach me your faithfulness.
Let's turn back to our text, Lamentations chapter three. We often judge God by our circumstances
and experiences. I'm guilty and you too. We often experience things and
feel things and go through difficulties by which we conclude that God
is not faithful. God forgive us. That's just fact. We murmur and complain. We're
in bitterness with God's providence because we judge God by our circumstances. Mark, we ought to always judge
our circumstances and our experience in the light of God's revelation,
not the other way around. Here in Lamentations chapter
3, every time I read this chapter, I'm mixed in my feelings. Are these the words of Jeremiah?
They certainly are. No question in my mind, they
certainly are. But these are the words of one far, far, far, far above Jeremiah. These are the words of him who
is Jeremiah's Redeemer and Savior as he suffers the wrath of God
in our room instead. Read them, children of God. and
put yourself here. Read them and put the Redeemer
here. I am the man that has seen affliction
by the rod of his wrath. He hath led me and brought me
into darkness, but not into light. Surely against me is he turned. He turneth his hand against me
all the day. My flesh and my skin hath he
made old. He hath broken my bones. He hath built it against me and
compassed me with gall and travail. He hath set me in dark places
as they that be dead of old. He hath hedged me about that
I cannot get out. He hath made my chain heavy.
Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. Every one of you here knows what
that is. One measure or another. He hath enclosed my ways with
hewn stone. He hath made my paths crooked.
He was unto me as a bear lying in wait and as a lion in secret
places. He hath turned aside my ways
and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate. Doesn't
it do your heart good to read, hear the words of a man, writing
by inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, saying things you feel
and wouldn't dare say. He had bent his bow and set me
as a mark for the arrow. He hath called the arrows of
his quiver to enter into my reins. I was derision to all my people
and their song all the day. He hath filled me with bitterness.
He hath made me drunken with wormwood. He hath also broken
my teeth with gravel stones. He hath covered me with ashes.
And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace. I forget
prosperity. And I said, my strength and my
hope is perished from the Lord. Remembering mine affliction and
my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still
in remembrance, and is humbled in me." God forgive my unbelief, he said. Forgive my misjudgment of you. This I recalled in my mind. Therefore
have I hoped. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They
are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul. Therefore will I hope in him.
The Lord is good to them that wait for him, and to the soul
that seeketh him. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Oh,
great is thy faithfulness. Even in affliction. Even in affliction. Maybe I should
better say, especially in affliction, when God takes out his chastening
rod Oh, how faithful he is. As a loving father to correct
us because of his love and care for us. I think it was Calper who wrote
these words. God in Israel sows the seeds
of affliction, pain and toil. These spring up and choke the
weeds that would else or spread the soil. Bastards may escape
the rod, sunk in earthly vain delight. But the true born child
of God must not, would not, if he might. All God's providences
are ordered for our good and brought to pass in tender mercy
because of his great faithfulness. And in faithfulness, He preserves
his own. God is faithful by whom you're
called. Faithful as he that calleth you
who also will do it. When we're tempted, he faithfully
keeps us. When we fall, he faithfully preserves
us, restores us, and forgives us. Turn over to Micah chapter
7. Micah chapter 7. I keep coming
back to this text of scripture in my own thinking, in my own
meditation and worship, and in my studies. Micah chapter 7,
verse 7. Therefore will I look unto the
Lord. I will wait for the God of my
salvation. My God will hear me. Rejoice
not against me. Oh my enemy when I fall I Look back What falls What horrid horrid thoughts And every time I'm determined,
God, not again. And I fall. And the prophet learned falling
is the inevitable constant experience of life in this body of flesh. That's just what it is. But don't
You who hate me, the prophet says, get too excited about that. For when I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be light unto me. Though often by word and by deed,
we deny him. He cannot deny himself. God is
faithful. The Apostle Paul said, if we
believe not, yet he abideth faithful. Aren't you glad? He cannot deny
himself. And the Lord God will yet prove
himself faithful, presenting us faultless and without blame
before the presence of his glory. with exceeding joy. This I recall to my mind, therefore
have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They
are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Spirit of God, seal those words
to my heart so that I may cease to murmur
against God's providence, so that I may cease from worry
and care in this world, so that I may honor God my Savior
with implicit confidence and steadfast obedience in every
circumstance. Great is thy faithfulness. O my faithful God, our faithful Father, make us
faithful to you. is thy faithfulness. Everything
in our lives attest to it. Every day of our experience in
this world manifest it. Give us grace to believe it and
make us faithful to you. Amen.