Bear with me, if you would, to
Matthew 24. Matthew 24. I would like for us to now look
at the next thing on my list. It's something that is very pleasant
and very encouraging. Matthew 24, verse 45. Who then is a faithful and wise servant,
whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them
meat in due season. Blessed is that serpent, whom
his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto
you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods." Who is that? Who is that speaking of? Who
is that a picture of? Who is that pointing us to? In Isaiah 42, God the Father
said concerning our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, he said,
behold, my servant, my faithful servant, my wise
servant, my sovereign ruling servant, my good and gracious
servant. I have put my spirit upon him. I have laid the government on
him. I have ascribed justice and judgment to him. I've given all things into the
hands of him. We are going to take a few minutes
this morning to look at the Lord Jesus Christ. If that'd be okay. We're just going to spend the
whole time. looking at the Lord Jesus Christ. Specifically, I'd
like for us to focus on this character trait of His. Verse
45 says, Who then is a faithful? Faithful. That word comforts
my heart just hearing it. Every time I hear that, it just
comforts me. Our subject this morning is the
faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The faithfulness of Christ. All of the Godhead is witnessed. It is all seen, viewed, and known
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of the Godhead. Everything that we know about
God, Father, Son, and Spirit, when we say God, and this is
important to realize, when we say God and we talk about God,
we're talking about three persons. We're not talking about one person
plus an additional two on the side. When we say God, we're not talking
about the Father, plus God's son and God's spirit on the side.
God is three equal persons. God, the father, God, the son,
and God, the spirit. The father is the father of God. That's a, that's a phrase we
ought to use more. The father is the father of God. The son is the son of God. And
the spirit is the spirit of God. We get confused when we start
mixing up that terminology. We say, this is how people say
it, God, the father, and then the son of God and the spirit
of God, as though they just came from God. No, it's either God,
the father, God, the son, God, the spirit. Or it's the father
of God, the son of God, the spirit of God. These three are one.
And these three are known and viewed and seen and witnessed
in one. God said, a body has thou prepared
me. All the fullness of the Godhead
is going to dwell with man, men and women, chosen men and women,
particular men and women, forever, for all of eternity. In the great day of eternity,
in the glorious presence of God, when that time comes that all
of God's people see God, I know I'm going to see God. and know
God personally, physically. When that time comes, everything
that God's people will know concerning the Godhead, they will know it
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything, all of it
will be in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when we
talk about the faithfulness of Christ, we're talking about the
faithfulness of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's one throne in glory.
All three members of the Godhead are seated in it, in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I tell you that for this
reason, turn with me to Deuteronomy 7. Deuteronomy chapter 7. In this chapter, the Lord is
saying to His people that He is going to give them victory
over all their enemies. And He is going to bring them
into the land that He promised to them. He's going to do that
for them. Verse 6, Deuteronomy 7 verse 6, He said, Thou art
an holy people. That means a set apart people. Where? Where are they set apart?
In Christ. God set them in Christ. 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. He didn't do this for
everybody. He did it for a special chosen people. 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 bondman from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know therefore
that the Lord thy God, he is God. I love those next three
words, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with
them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. He said, know therefore that
your God, He is God, and He's the faithful God. Isn't that
such comforting news? So comforting. Again, I mentioned
the fact that we're leaving a year today. We're stepping into a
new year tomorrow. I cannot imagine a more comforting
word to hear at this moment than the God Who is our God? He is the faithful God. Still
faithful. He is still faithful. He was faithful this past year. He will be faithful this coming
year. And the reason that is such glorious
news and such amazing news is because we are nothing but unfaithful. That's why it's such good news.
We are so unfaithful. That's all that we are. Unfaithful. Just unfaithful. We're unfaithful
in every way, shape, and form. We're unfaithful to ourselves.
Unfaithful to each other. But oh, how unfaithful we are
to God. In every way, shape, or form.
Every one of us is a gomer. What's a gomer? A gomer is a
harlot to the husband that loved her
and gave himself for her. That's what a gomer is. In every way, shape and form,
that's all that we are to the Lord our God. That's a perfect
explanation of the character of mankind in one word, unfaithful,
unfaithful. Now, how could we just pick one
word to describe the character of God Almighty? How could we
pick one word? An eternity of words couldn't
describe the character of God Almighty. But of the words that do describe
His character, one of those glorious words is faithful. He is faithful. Our God is faithful. He's faithful
to all. He's faithful to everybody. In
one way, He is faithful to every soul that He placed in Christ. In a completely opposite way,
He is faithful to every soul that's outside of Christ. Look at verse 10 right here in
Deuteronomy 7. says concerning those who are
not his chosen special set apart people. He said he repaid them
that hate him to their face to destroy them. He will not be
slack to him that hated him. He will repay him to his faith
face. He's faithful in judgment. He is faithful in judgment. He
was faithful in judgment to his people in Jesus Christ. And he's faithful in judgment
to those who are not his people outside of Jesus Christ. Hebrews
12 29 says our God is a consuming fire. He will consume. He's faithful. The hope of the saved is that
they were consumed in Christ. In the fiery judgment of the
cross of Christ. The condemnation of the lost
is, outside of Christ, there is a consummation still to come. There is a consuming still to
come. God is faithful in judgment. He's faithful in punishing sin.
To that a child of God says, thank God. He's faithful in punishing
sin. Do you know that I want my sin
to be punished? Is that strange? That's strange
to say that. I do not want my sin to go unpunished. I want my sin to be punished.
I want my sin to be judged and dealt with and put away. Thank God in Christ it was. Thank God he's faithful in judgment.
Revelation 19 says, I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse
and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true. And
in righteousness, he doth judge and make war. With what? My sin. My sin. Oh, the bliss of this glorious
thought. I tell you every now and then
that, you know, sometimes we quote things, we know things,
we repeat things. Sometimes we get a hold of things.
Sometimes it really, and that's what this thought is to me at
this very moment. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought,
my sin, not in part, but the whole was nailed to the cross. I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
O my soul. Praise be to God Almighty for
His faithful judgment on the sin of His people in the person
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's so faithful, faithful
in judgment. Look right here at verse 8 in
Deuteronomy 7. It says, because the Lord loved
you, He is faithful in His love. Not because of anything in us,
it's because of everything in Him. Why is He faithful in His
love? Is it because, you know, we just
really make Him want to be faithful to us? No. Look at verse 7. The
Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because
you were more in number than any people. You were the fewest
of all people. God's love is because of God,
because of everything in him. Greater love had no man than
the faithful man. Everlasting love, love to the
end. That's faithfulness, love to
the end. Verse eight, because the Lord loved you and because
he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers. He's faithful in his word. He is faithful in his promise.
Every promise that he made to our forefathers has come to pass. Every one of them, every promise
that he made has come to pass. He made a covenant with Abraham
concerning his seed, his children, his grandchildren, his offspring.
He said, they are going to be my chosen nation on this earth. They will be the representatives
of my chosen people. And he said, they're going to
fall into bondage as my chosen people will. As a representation,
they're going to fall into bondage to Egypt for 400 years. And at the end of 400 years,
he said, I will deliver them and I'll bring them into the
promised land. We are reading right now that he did just that. That's what we're reading right
here in Deuteronomy 7. He was faithful to the promise
of his word. He delivered his chosen people
who all their lifetime were subject to bondage. And that promise of physical
deliverance that represents a promise of spiritual deliverance last
week. We read the verse in Isaiah 7
where the promise was given that a virgin would conceive and bring
forth a son. And he's going to be the savior
and the redeemer of his people. And that's exactly what happened.
When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his
son made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law. under the bondage and the condemnation
of the law. That's exactly what happened.
Isaiah 53 promised. Isaiah 53 promised that he would
bear our iniquities. All the iniquities of his people. that he would bring upon himself
all the guilt and all the shame and all the sin that his people
committed against God. And that's exactly what he did. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. In John 17, he said, Father,
I did it. I finished the work you gave
me to do. The promise was given that on
the third day he would rise again. And guess what? That's exactly
what happened. He arose, he ascended, and he
sat down on his throne. And now the promise to us is
that he will come back. That's the promise to us. He
will come back. That's the promise of his word
right now. He will come back for us to gather
us to himself, to glory. And guess what? That's exactly
what's going to happen. He will, he will come back to
gather his people to himself because he's faithful. He's,
you know, they say, where is the promise of his coming? Did
He do all of that and now He's done? No. He's faithful. He's faithful. He which has begun
the work, He'll perform it until the day Jesus Christ comes back.
He's faithful to the promise of His Word. He's faithful in
judgment. He's faithful in love. He's faithful in His Word, the
promise of His Word. 1 Corinthians 1 and 1 Thessalonians
5 both say that God is faithful in calling and keeping His people.
Do you all have any idea how happy it makes me to know that
God is the one who will call His people and keep His people? And that is not my responsibility.
I can't even call or keep myself. Do you have any idea? I think
about it all the time. I think about it all the time.
I think about what I have in these pages to say. I wonder
who's going to be there, who's going to walk in, who we've never
seen before. What are they going to hear?
Is there enough here? Well, not here. Is there enough
here for God to do a work in them? One word. Leave. Bow. Look. One word. God is able to
take one word. It's not by man. It's by might
and power and the ability of God Almighty. And he's faithful
in that. Preach the word. He told Ezekiel,
go preach to a bunch of dead, dry bones. Really, do I? I mean, really?
I'm the only one out here. Really? It's that important that I stand
up and say, hear the word of the Lord. You preach and see
what happens. He's faithful in calling his
people, giving them ears to hear, eyes to see, hearts to believe. He's faithful to keep his people.
Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. Thank God. God is faithful by whom you were
called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Faithful. Psalm 119 says, God is faithful
in afflictions to His people. He's faithful in giving afflictions
to His people. I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments
are right and that Thou in faithfulness hath afflicted me. David said, it's good that I
have been afflicted. That was the faithfulness of
the Lord to me because it's that affliction that brings us back
to him. It's that affliction that drives us to him. Arthur
Pink said, when God smites us with the rod of chastisement,
it is faithfulness that wields it. When God chastens and smites
us, His faithfulness is wielding the rod. It's always good. God moves in a mysterious way,
his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable minds of
never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. Things happen and we just think,
I don't see how good can come from this. Just wait. Wait on the Lord. Wait, I say. He'll strengthen your heart.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His
grace. Behind every frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err
and scan His work in vain. God is His own interpreter. He
will make it plain. He'll make it plain. Everything
that he's doing, he's doing it. And he's faithful in it. He's
so faithful. I've told you this story so many
times, but it's so applicable and such a good reminder. George Whitefield, back in the
1700s, he was called to go preach one night in a town far away. and he was riding on his horse,
and it was pouring down rain, and he was soaked to the bone,
and he said, I had a bad attitude. And I was thinking, Lord, why
all this rain? Why are you pouring all this
rain on me? I'm going to preach your word.
Why such misery? Why do I have to ride like this?
And he said, I rounded the corner and out jumped a robber with
a flint pistol and fired it at me. And he said, the flint was so
wet, the pistol wouldn't go off. And he hightailed it out of the
air crying, thank you for the rain. I'm telling us, God is
faithful. God is faithful and we're gonna
see it every single time. He is faithful in all afflictions,
all of His dealings with us. He was faithful in judgment,
faithful in love, faithful in all of His dealings with us.
Matthew 24 said He is faithful to give us meat in due season,
spiritual meat. He said, I'm the living bread.
but even physical me. David said, I've been young and
now I'm old and I've never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his
seed begging bread. God is faithful. Second Timothy two says he is
faithful in providing faith to us and performing faith in us. It says, if we believe not yet,
He abideth faithful. I'll tell you this, we never
believed in the first place. Have you ever really thought
about that? Did your faith start the work? No. No, faith has always been a gift
from Him. It's the faith of Jesus Christ.
It has always been the performance of Him. It has always been authored and
finished of Him. Always. We of our own selves,
we never believed in the first place. That was Him. It was always
Him. That was His faithfulness to
us in providing for us and performing in us what we needed to please
God. Faith. Thank God He abides faithful
in that. 2 Thessalonians 3 says He is faithful
in establishing us and keeping us from evil. Faithful in His
providence. Faithful in His purpose. We could
just go on and on and on. We could just keep on keeping
on. We could name an infinite number of things that our Lord
is faithful in. I'm going to close the message
with one more, okay? Turn with me to Lamentations
3. After Jeremiah, Lamentations
3, it's page 1027 in the Old Testament in my Bible. Lamentations 3 verse 21 says, This I recall to my mind, therefore
have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not concerned because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Our Lord is faithful in mercy
and compassion. Do you need mercy from him? Does
anybody need mercy? All sin that we commit is against
him. All sin is against him. David
said against thee and thee only have I sinned. Well, David, I
thought you sinned against Uriah and I thought you sinned against.
He said against thee. I've sinned against you, I've
done this evil in your sight. We sin against God. All of our sin is against God. And then the next morning, do
you know what we wake up to every time? Mercy every time. Isn't that amazing? Compassion
and mercy. He starts it over brand new every
single morning because he's faithful. He said, I will be merciful and
I will show compassion. And he's faithful. Great is his
faithfulness. Thank God for all of his faithfulness. that he's shown to us in the
person of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank God for the
faithfulness of Christ in 2023. If God tarries, if tomorrow comes,
God will be faithful to us in 2024. And we will thank him for it
in 2024. That's the greatest news I know
to tell today. Thank God. Jesus Christ is faithful. He's
faithful. Amen.