God Is Faithful

Good morning, everyone. When Brother Paul read Scripture for us, I thought, what a wonderful message Exodus 33 is. Just read it. And that's a message. That's a declaration of God's salvation. And then when Brother John sang, of which I love that song so much. He sang it every time. I thought, what a wonderful message. Complete in thee, yea, justified, sanctified, salvation wrought, thy blood hath pardoned, bought for me, glorified. That's a message. That's what it is. I thought, what a wonderful message. And then Brother Eric stood up and I thought, what a wonderful message.

And now I'm thinking, I just really hope I don't mess it all up. I mean that. Totally dependent on the spirit of our Lord to take these glorious truths and to bless them to our hearts. We're just so dependent on him, so dependent on him to stand here, but so dependent to sit there. And I pray he'll help us one more time here. Turn with me, if you would, to First Corinthians chapter one. And while you're turning, I just want to once again say how thankful I am to Brother John for inviting me and for Vicki, everything that goes into putting on a conference and Johnny and Rhonda for having us and all of you. I'm just so thankful. First Corinthians one verse nine says, God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Now that is a wonderful verse. That is such a wonderful verse. I want to focus on the first three words. God is faithful. God is faithful. You know, the gospel is good news. It's good news. That's what the word means. That's what the word gospel means. Good news. And that right there is good news. It is such good news. That is the gospel. God is faithful. He's so faithful.

I am not. And you are not. You are not. If we were to shift over to the flesh for a minute, the ax needs to be laid to the root, doesn't it? Oh, you generation of vipers, who are you talking to? Me. I'm not, and you're not, but God is. God is. We come here like this and we gather together around the Word to learn about our God. I always hope we leave here feeling good within ourselves, but we're not coming here to feel good within ourselves. We're coming here to hear about our God. We're coming here to worship our God. Well, I would have come. I just didn't think I'd get anything out of it. Well, who cares? We're not here for us.

We're here for Him. We're here to hear about our God. We're here to know more of who He is and what He's like. God's people. We're going to live with Him forever. He is going to be our husband. We're going to be His bride. And we want to know what He's like. That's why we're here. We want to know who He is. We want to know what He's like. We want to know everything we can know about Him. Everything we can know about Him. We want to know His thoughts. We want to know his mind. We want to know his will. Don't you want to know the will of the Lord?

We want to know his character. We want to know his attributes and and that's it right there. That's one of the glorious character traits of our God. God is faithful. You want to know something about him? Here it is. He's faithful. I want us to look at that for just a minute here.

I want us to look at God's faithfulness. I want us to look at what God is faithful in according to his own word, according to what he says he's faithful in. And I want to start by acknowledging three things. Number one, I want us to acknowledge God. Let's just start by acknowledging God.

God is three persons, three persons. They are individual, but they cannot be separated. I can't figure that out. Three individual persons, but they cannot be separated. They are one God. When we say God, most people think of the father. And then they think of the son as the offspring of God, which he is not. He's not. The scripture says we, his people are the offspring of God. And the scripture says that Jesus Christ is the offspring of David. And what that means is he is man of very man. He is 100% man, just like you and me. Think about this. Think about this. I wonder, I wonder how tall he is. I don't know the answer to that, but I can tell you this. He's a man just like me and you. He is 100% man, but he is not the offspring of God.

He is the fullness of God. He is the begotten bodily image of the Godhead. When it says that he is the only begotten, what that means is he's the only begotten image of the Godhead that there is. You want to see the father? There you go. He is the only begotten of the father. He's the only begotten of the spirit. The spirit is not just the helper like people think he is. He's not just the facilitator who organizes everything and rounds everything up. He is the spirit of the father and the spirit of the son. He is their spirit. Romans eight calls him the spirit of Christ.

And if he's the spirit of Christ, then he is the spirit of the father, because the Lord Jesus Christ said, I and my father are one. If you've seen me, you've seen the father. 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, God.

So that's the first thing I want us to acknowledge God. The second thing I want to acknowledge is. Is. God is. Just like we said last night, you mind if I just. Bring a little bit of the message from last night, not was. Is. Is sometimes again, I did mention this last night and when I did, I was thinking I'm talking about that in the morning. I need to move on, but I'll talk about it now.

Sometimes we look at these stories. That's what we think they are. That's how we see them. Sometimes we look at these stories in the scripture and we think, oh, God was so faithful to them back then. He was so faithful to them. As though it's like those days are over, you ever get that feeling those days are over. I have to catch myself from that all the time. Those days aren't over. Those days are not over. We read how he dealt with Moses. We read how he dealt with Abraham. We read how he dealt with David as vitally connected as he was to his people back then. That's how vitally connected he is to his people right now.

God doesn't change. I really actually do only have one message. He does not change. There's nothing he was that he's not right now. God is. God is, he said, I am. What he did before, that's what he does right now. What he did before, that's what he does right now.

Just before I was called to Kingsport. Just before I was called to Kingsport. I went over to Brother Henry Mahan's house one day, and we were sitting at his kitchen table having coffee. And he was telling me about his preacher's school that he had in the early 80s.

And he was just telling me all about it, you know, how the men who were in it, Brother, your pastor, Brother John was in it, Brother Paul was in it. I don't know if anybody else here was in it. But they were in it, and Henry was talking about how the Lord was blessing the Gospel and giving men a heart to want to preach the Gospel, and opening up all these doors to go preach the Gospel. And sometimes men would travel by twos, and then this one, a ministry would be raised up, and one would be called to pastor here, and then one would be called to pastor over there. And the Gospel was thriving. It was just thriving.

And I said to him, I wish I could have been around back then. And he said, why? And that's not the answer I expected. I thought my statement was fairly self-explanatory. I said, I wish I could have been around back then. And with the just most puzzled look on his face, he had the best way of making you think, what in the world did I just say? He said, why? And I said, well, it's just because, you know, I wish I could have been a part of that. I wish I could have been a part of that.

Going here, going there, the Lord raising up opportunities to go preach the gospel. And he took his hand and he slammed it on his table so hard, the coffee cups rattled. He said, God's not out of business. He said, what He did back then, He can do it right now.

And that's the moment a light bulb went off in me. We're not preaching a has-been God. I mean, I'm telling you, that was a revelation to me. I think I thought we were. We're not preaching a has-been God. Why preach a God who we don't think is going to do anything? Well, everything He was going to do, He already did it. Why preach a God who we don't think He's going to do anything? What God was, that's what He is, and that's what He'll always be. What is He?

Faithful. Faithful. Faithful to his people. God is faithful to his chosen people. That word faithful means worthy of trust. That's what it means. Worthy of trust. It means sure and true. It means steadfast. It means firm in adherence to promises. If he says he'll do something, he'll do it. He'll do it because he's faithful.

Turn with me 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, my counsel shall stand and 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. That's what he's saying, I am faithful. If I have promised it, I will do it. If I have declared it, I will do it. What has he promised to do? What is he promised to be faithful in?

Let's just roll through a few scriptures and read it, okay? Turn with me, if you would, to 1 John 1. First John one, verse nine, it says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You talk about good news. 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. But 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.

That's amazing. That is amazing. Lord God, please. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. You know, your foundation gets shaken. That's the first shaking. I'm a sinner. My only hope is mercy in your blood, because I'm a sinner. Don't you love that he promised to be faithful in forgiving us? In Christ, God is faithful in mercy. He's faithful in forgiveness. Now, outside of Christ, God is faithful in condemnation. God is faithful in His judgment, His judgment and punishment of sin. He is so faithful in that. The Scripture says, He will by no means clear the guilty. Outside of Christ, we're all guilty. Therefore, outside of Christ, we will most definitely be condemned and punished. But in Christ, if our guilt was laid on Him, can you fathom the thought?

Just really quickly do this. All right, do a flashback. Whatever your earliest memory was to 10 seconds ago. Think about how sinful your life has been. All the things you did in the nursery to those other little kids, all the toys you stole, all the lies you told. Oh, and then you turned 16 and could get out and away and really start doing some stuff. Can you imagine that all of that sin was laid on the Lord Jesus Christ?

You know how guilty you feel. I think about it all the time. I feel so guilty for my life. I feel so guilty. That's the only thing I know to say. Oh, I'm just so sorry. And as soon as I finish that, I have to say it again. I'm so sorry. My only hope is mercy in your blood, your faithfulness and promise. That's my only hope. That's all I have. All that guilt, all that sin, Acts chapter 8 says, in his humiliation. Oh, I'm so thankful to know that he bore my humiliation.

If our guilt was laid on him and our guilt was born in him, he bore our sins in his body on the tree. If he was made to be guilty for us in our stead, if he was made to suffer the punishment and the death that was owed to us because of our sin in our stead.

Then in the blood of Jesus Christ, God is faithful and just in forgiving us and cleansing us and redeeming us and making us to be righteous and holy in him. God is faithful in forgiving us in Christ. If you are a sinner, this is good news to you. The gospel is only good news to sinners, not the righteous, but sinners. God is faithful to forgive us in the blood of Jesus Christ. Turn with me to second Timothy two. 2nd Timothy 2 verse 13 it says. If we believe not. Yet he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself.

How did our saving quickening relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ begin? Our brother just told us. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved. How did that begin? Did it begin with us believing on Him? It did not. It began with Him authoring faith for us and finishing faith for us and performing His own faith in us, causing us To believe. Here's how it all started. We believed not. How can someone who is dead in trespasses and sins believe and you have he quickened? We believed not, but here's what happened. He abided faithful. The father chose to say The sun died to save the spirit quickened to say. That's what he does for all of his chosen people. He abides faithful to them. He abides faithful for them and every need they have.

Look with me at second Thessalonians three. Second 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 keeping us from anything that would draw us away from Christ. What is evil? Well, that's me. He's faithful in keeping me from me. But we could also just say it's anything, it's any place, it's anyone that would keep us away from Christ.

He's faithful in that. Thank God, all of God's people are faithfully kept by the power of God. Turn back a page to first Thessalonians five. Verse 24, it says, faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. Do what? Call you. To what? We'll look at verse 23.

The very God of peace sanctify you. Holy. And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace, sanctification, preservation, perfection until the day Christ comes back to get us. Verse 24 says, Faithful is He that calleth you who also will do it.

He will call you. Oh, I want to be one of His. Let me just let me just. Finish the message by saying this. For so long, I heard about God's election. I heard that all men and women were totally depraved centers, and I heard that God the Father elected a particular people to say. And that Christ only died for those people. He did not die for the world. He did not die to make salvation possible. He died for the souls the father handed to him. Those are the only ones the spirit will call. And there's no option. They're going to make it. And for so long, I just wanted to be one of them. I just didn't know if I was...

And I used to literally think, how will I know if He calls me? The story is told of a little boy sitting on the front row next to his mom like this, and his mom said, what are you doing? He said, well, the preacher said that the Lord calls His people, and if He calls me, I want to hear it. Well, how can I know If he calls me, how can I know if he's going to call me? Will the Lord call me?

I want to be one of his so badly. I want to be in his mercy. I want to be in that election. I believe in that election. I believe in that total depravity. And I believe in the power and the success of his work, and I just want to be one of his. I want to be included.

Do you think he'll call me? Oh, yes, he will call you. How will he do that? By revealing to you that that need of him is your call. That need of him telling you if you need Jesus Christ. If you feel as though that if you are without Christ, you are without hope because you're without God, if that's how you feel. Flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you. Don't take it for granted. People do not naturally feel this way toward Christ.

It takes the power of God to put faith in a person that shakes their foundation and brings light to them. and causes them to say, I need him. That's my only hope. That's our only hope. Our need of him, our complete and total reliance on him. That's your call. That's your call. Faithful is he. And I had another place to go to, but that's good enough. OK, I love you all so much. I thank the Lord for you. And thank you, Brother John.

God Is Faithful

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