Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
1. 1 Corinthians 1. Verse nine says, God is faithful. God is faithful. The gospel is good news. That's what the word gospel means. It means good news. And that
is good news. That is the gospel. God is faithful. I am not. You are not. But God is. God is faithful. We come here
and gather together around the word to learn about our God. We're here to hear about our
God and to know more of who he is and what he's like. God's
people want to know everything that they can know about Him.
We want to know His thoughts. We want to know His mind. We
want to know His will. We want to know His attributes. We want to know His character. And that is it. That is one of
His glorious character traits. God is faithful. God is faithful. I want us to
look at that for a minute for this Bible study. I want us to
look at God's faithfulness. I want us to look at what God
is faithful in according to his word. And I want us to start this by
acknowledging three things. Number one, I want us to acknowledge
God. God is three persons. They are individual, but they
cannot be separated. They are one God. When we say God, most people
think of the Father. When we say God, Most people
think of the father. And then they think of the son
as the offspring of God. He is not. He is not. The scripture says, we, his people,
are the offspring of God. That's what the scripture says. And the scripture says that Jesus
Christ is the offspring of David. meaning he is man of very man. He is 100% man, just like me
and you. I got a little hung up on that
thought when I wrote that down. If our God walked into this room
right now, we would see a man just like me and you. Is that
not amazing? He is 100% Man, he is not half God and half
man. He is 100% God. He is all God and he is all man. That is just, that's too wonderful
for me. That's just too big for me. But here's what he's not. He
is not the offspring of God. He is the fullness of God. The Son, Jesus Christ. He is
the begotten bodily image of the Godhead. And the Spirit is not just the
hired help. That's what people think of God
the Spirit. He's not just the facilitator
who organizes everything and rounds everything up. No. He
is the Spirit of the Father and the Son. He is their Spirit. Romans 8 calls Him the Spirit
of Christ. And if He is the Spirit of Christ,
then He is the Spirit of the Father. Because the Lord Jesus
Christ said, I and my Father are one. So when we say God is
faithful, what we're saying is the Father is faithful. The Son
is faithful and the Spirit is faithful. God collectively in
perfect unity. So that's the first thing I want
us to acknowledge, God. The second thing I want us to
acknowledge is, is God is, not God was. I know that you'll enter into
this with me. Sometimes we look at these stories
in the scripture and we think, boy, God sure was faithful to
his people back then, wasn't he? Boy, he was with his people. He communicated with his people.
He had his hand on his people back then, didn't he? As though it's like, those days
are over. No. Those days aren't over. As vitally
connected as he was to his people back then, that's how vitally
connected he is to his people right now. God does not change. There is nothing that he was
that he is not right now. The way he was, that's how he
is. God is. He said, I am. What he
did before, That's what he does right now. Just before I moved here, you all had not called me yet
as pastor, but I was preaching a lot. I was traveling a lot. And I would go by Brother Henry
Mahan's house and talk with him a lot. I went as often as I could. I
feel like it was almost every day I had interaction with him.
But here was a man who had been in the ministry of the gospel
for 60 years and had seen so much and been a part of so much
and learned so much. Just like everybody else, I just
wanted to glean from him, listen to him, learn from him. And we
were sitting at his kitchen table one day having a cup of coffee
and he was talking about his preacher school. That's what
he was talking about. He had a preacher's class that
he taught in the early 1980s. And he was talking about how
the men from that class were going out preaching. The Lord
started teaching and raising up preachers, and the Lord was
opening doors and opportunities and raising up ministries. And,
you know, sometimes men would go out by two to a place, and one was called to be the pastor
here, and another one was called to be the pastor there, and the
gospel was thriving. And I said to him, I wish I could
have been around back then. And he looked at me and said,
why? And I said, well, I know that
I technically was alive then, but just at this place, you know,
at this age, you know, preaching, I just wish that I could have
been around when all of that was going on and been a part
of everything that was happening, you know, going here and there
and the Lord, you know, giving all those opportunities to go
out and preach. And I just wish I could have
been a part of that. And he slammed his table so hard, the coffee
mugs rattled. Boom! He looked at me and said,
God's not out of business. And at that moment, a light bulb
went off inside of me. Honestly. We're not preaching
a has-been God. Oh, we of little faith. Why would we preach a God who
we don't think is going to do anything? What God was, that's what He
is, and that's what He will always be. What is He? Faithful. He started with a people. He's always had a people. He's
always going to have a people. until the day he returns. He's faithful to his people. God is faithful to his chosen
people. That word faithful means worthy
of trust. It means sure and true. It means steadfast. It means
firm in adherence to promises. If he says he will do something,
he'll do it. Because he's faithful. Turn with
me over to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46 verse 9, it says, Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there
is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, I will
do all my pleasure. calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country.
Yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I have
purposed it, I will also do it. What he's saying is, I'm faithful. I'm faithful. If I have promised
it, I will do it. If I have declared it, it will
be done. It will be done. Now, what has
he promised to do? What has he promised to be faithful
in? Let's roll through some scriptures
together, okay? Go with me to 1 John 1, just
before Revelation. 1 John 1. Verse nine says, if we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. Verse seven, uh, verse eight
says, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us. Verse 10 says, if we say that
we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in
us. He said all have sinned. But if he breaks us, if he puts
a heart of truth in us and a heart of faith to believe the word,
verse nine, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In Christ, God is faithful in
mercy. He is faithful in mercy. Outside
of Christ, God is faithful in condemnation. I know that this
world believes that God is not going to condemn
anybody. He's not going to damn anybody. He's not going to send
anybody to hell. I know that's what the world believes. But everything God has said he
was going to do, he's faithful in it. He's faithful in it. And he's just, he's faithful
in his justice. But thank God he's faithful in
his mercy. Thank God, outside of Christ, men and women are
most definitely going to be condemned and punished for sin. If we are out, if any of us here,
starting with me, if we leave this world outside of Christ,
we, you know, it's like everybody thinks they, you know, yeah,
they are going to be punished for all of their sins. No, we
are going to be punished for all of our sins. The sin that
we have already committed today. If God doesn't have mercy on
us. In Christ, if our guilt was laid
on Him, if our guilt was pressed into Him, if He was made to be
guilty for us in our stead, you want to know what the gospel
is and what salvation is? It's Christ taking our place. If He was made to be guilty,
because that's what we are, and He's innocent. But if He was
made to be guilty in our stead, if He was made to suffer the
punishment and the death that was owed to us, why did Christ
die on a cross? Because that's what was owed
to me. That's the reason why. If He did that in our place,
then in His blood, in the blood of Jesus Christ, God is faithful
and just in forgiving us and cleansing us and redeeming us
and making us righteous and holy in Him. God is faithful in forgiving
us in Christ. Now that's good news. That's
good news. God is faithful to forgive us
in the blood of Jesus Christ. That's called the gospel. That's
the good news of the gospel. Look with me at 2 Timothy 2. Second Timothy 2 verse 13, it
says, if we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful, he cannot deny himself. If we believe not. If we believe not. How did our saving relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ begin? Okay, how did it begin? Did it
begin with us? And before anybody, don't say
an answer out loud, but even before you answer in your heart,
did it begin with us believing on Him? You know, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Whoever doesn't
believe is gonna be damned. Did it begin with us believing
on Him? No. It began with Him authoring faith
for us and finishing faith for us and performing faith in us. We believed not. This is how
the whole thing started. We believed not. But He abided
faithful to His people. He abided faithful to them, for
them, for all of their needs. That's what he does for all of
his chosen people. He supplies what they do not
have. He supplies, he accomplishes
what they cannot accomplish. He was faithful. Look at 2 Thessalonians
3. Verse three, it says, but the
Lord is faithful who shall establish you and keep you from evil. God is faithful in establishing
us in his word, establishing us in Christ and in keeping us
from anything that would draw us away from Christ. You know,
you read that right there. And let's ask this question. What is evil? What is evil? Here's the answer. Anything that would draw us away
from Christ. This is the answer. Anything,
anyone, any place that would draw us away from Christ is evil. There is none good but God. There
is nothing good but God. And the moment we draw away from
Him, we're just drawn back into evil. We're just getting swallowed
up by evil. Lord, keep us in Christ, keep
us near Christ. Turn back one page to 1 Thessalonians
5. Verse 24. It says, faithful is he that
calleth you who also will do it. Do what? Call you? To what? Look at verse 23. 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
the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace, sanctification, preservation,
perfection, until the day that Christ comes back to get us.
Verse 24, faithful is he that calleth you who also will do
it. One more, go with me to Deuteronomy
7. Deuteronomy 7 verse 9, it says, 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 chapter is talking about
the Lord God destroying, if you were to read the whole chapter,
it's talking about God destroying every soul that was not chosen
in Christ, every soul that's not His, every soul that was
not redeemed in the blood of Christ. But to all of His chosen,
elect, redeemed people, look at verse six, He said, Thou art
in 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. But
because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath
which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought
you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house
of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 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. God is faithful. Isn't that good
news? God is faithful. He always has been. He always
will be. And for that, we rejoice. We
rejoice. That makes me so happy. Thank
God we rejoice in his faithfulness. For Christ's sake. Amen.