Good morning. Turn with me in your Bibles,
if you would, to Psalm 138. Open our worship service with
Psalm 138. And while you're turning a couple
of updates are our pastor's home. He came home yesterday from the
hospital. Um, he's very weak and continue to remember, um,
both him and, and Janet in prayer. Um, and, and also our, our brother
Eric is in, uh, Danville this morning, right? He's in Danville.
So, uh, we pray for the message there as well as traveling mercies. Let's open with some, some one
38. I will praise thee with my whole
heart before the gods. While I sing praise unto thee,
I will worship toward thy Holy temple. and praise thy name for
thy lovingkindness and for thy truth, for thou hast magnified
thy word above all thy name. In the day when I cried, thou
answerest me, strengthenest me with strength in my soul. All
the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they
hear the words of thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the ways
of the Lord, for great, great is the glory of the Lord. Though
the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, but the
proud he knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of
trouble, thou wilt revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine
hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall
save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Thy
mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. We will end our reading now. Let's pray together. Our Holy Heavenly Father, thank
you for drawing us here today that we may worship. Thank you
for giving us a heart that yearns for your righteousness,
that yearns for Christ. Thank you for drawing us here,
Father. Thank you for providing this place where we can hear
your name proclaimed as it ought to be, in holiness and in glory
and in honor, where we can hear of Christ one more time. Father,
teach us. Teach us of Christ. Teach us
to pray for what we don't ask. Father, we provide. Provide for our congregation.
Father, thank you for this time. May your name be glorified and
worshiped, exalted here in this place today as it ought. Send
your spirit to be with us. Father, we pray for those that
are undergoing trial. We pray for our pastor. We think
of Janet. We think of others who are undergoing
physical, emotional trials, brokenheartedness, coldness of heart. Father, remember
that we're dust. Restore us unto you. Strengthen
us. Provide for us as you've promised. We lean on your word, Father.
Give us a heart to trust your will in whatever be done to trust
you. We pray for our children here
in this congregation, that you be merciful according to your
will, according to your word, according to your goodness. Father,
we lean on you for all things. We thank you most, most especially,
we thank you for Christ, for accomplished salvation in him,
for sin, completely put away as far as the East is from the
West, that we may come boldly to a throne of mercy. Father,
we're thankful. We don't forget to pray for your
congregations, your pastors, your preachers across the country,
wherever they may be, across the world even, even at this
time that are proclaiming your name. We pray that you bless
them. We also remember our friends
and our brethren out West California and in Oregon, where the fires
are, that you protect them according to your will. Father, we pray
these things thankfully and in Christ's name, for his sake,
amen. When I was lost in sin and shame
How Thou let me take the blame Blessed Lord, how merciful Thou
was to me When I could look down deep within and see the sinfulness
of sin blessed lord how merciful thou was to me oh how merciful
how merciful Blessed Lord, how merciful Thou
art to me. Oh, how merciful, how merciful. Blessed Lord, how merciful Thou
art to me. A sinner lost and so hell-bent
Yet Thou say'st, I must repent Blessed Lord, how merciful Thou
was to me I wonder why should I rebel With a soul deserving
help, Blessed Lord, how merciful Thou wast to me. Oh, how merciful, how merciful, Blessed Lord, how merciful Thou
art to me. Oh, how merciful, how merciful. Blessed Lord, how merciful Thou
art to me. I'm not ashamed of all thy grace
When you came and took my place Blessed Lord, how merciful thou
art to me And when this world ceases to be Eternal blood will
speak for me. Blessed Lord, how merciful Thou
art to me. How merciful, blessed Lord, how
merciful thou art to me. This morning I am pleased to reintroduce our friend
and brother, Roland Browning, from Dingus, West Virginia, his
wife, Lori. We thank you all for being here,
for being with us. And Roland, you come preach the
gospel to us. We're thankful to be here. The
Lord has blessed us. Pray that the Lord will bless
his message this morning. We pray that your pastor will
continue to heal. We've known Frank a long time.
We're thankful that the Lord has put him in a place to preach
the gospel. Thank you, Lord, for giving us the opportunity
to gather here again. It's been a while since I've
been here, but we're thankful that we're here. Turn with me,
if you will, to the book of Deuteronomy. The title of the lesson or the
message this morning is The Faithfulness of God. What is this? Why do we do the things that
we do? Why does He show mercy unto a
people while passing by other people? Why is all this? What's taking place in our world
today as we know it? Some say, oh, this is Satan's
work. This is something that Satan
is doing, inflicting pain upon people. But the scriptures tells
us that God does all things. Everything
that happens in this life and in the life to come is for a
purpose. That is for my good and for God's
glory. Explain that as far as I can
go. I don't know why this thing is
happening here in our nation except to say God brought it.
God brought it and God will see it through. Turn with me again
to Deuteronomy chapter 7. We're going to read verse 7,
8 and 9. I'm basically going to deal with
one subject, the faithfulness of God. Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse
7. The Lord did not set his love
upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than
any people, for you were fewer of all people. He's talking about
the nation of Israel. But we can bring this right down
to our day. God did not set His love upon
us because we're more in number or fear. You look around. Look
around all the buildings that you pass by on your way here.
Crowds and crowds and crowds. Verse 8. This is the reason He
set His love upon us. Because the Lord loved you. And because he would keep the
oath which he has sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought
you out of it with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house
of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore
that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God. which keepeth covenant mercies
with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand
generations." Our God is faithful. It makes no difference what we
think. It makes no difference. Our God is faithful. Throughout
the book, you read from Genesis through the book of Revelation,
you will find the faithfulness of God. He does all things according
to his own will, according to his own purpose that he is determined
to do before the foundation of the world. This attribute, this is what
Mr. Pink called an attribute of God. The attribute of faithfulness
is essential, is essential to his being. He is God and besides
him there is none else. He rules, He reigns, He directs
all things according as He sees fit. Some will say, well, that's
sovereignty. It is. That's sovereign. He's
sovereign Lord over all. No one gives Him anything. No one is able to supply Him
with anything. He supplies all things for Himself. But without this thing of faithfulness,
When Adam sinned in the garden, what would God do? Oh, He remained
faithful. He remained faithful. He said,
I will have a people. I will be their God and they
shall be my people. And then, throughout eternity,
before the foundation of the world, He purposed these things
to come to pass. The Scripture tells us that Christ
was stood as a lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
Before there was ever a sinner, there was a sacrifice. Why? Because God's faithful. Because
He will see this thing through. When He created Adam in the garden,
when He brought him there and He breathed the breath of life
into his soul, he became a living soul. And when Adam, how long
he was in the garden before he sinned, I don't know. The Scriptures
don't tell us. And it makes no difference. All
we know that Adam sinned. Oh, God should have cut him off.
Oh no, God is faithful. He provided a sacrifice. He took
an animal and killed that animal and made clothes for Adam and
his wife. Why? Because he's faithful. He's faithful. I will have a
people and they shall be willing in the day of my power. Paul said it this way in 2 Timothy
2. If we believe not. If we believe
not. Yet he about is faithful. He
cannot deny himself. This one is holy, holy, holy. He is faithful. Faithful to every
characteristic of his being. Faithful is who he is. This describes him. And he cannot
deny himself. Faithfulness is the glorious
perfection the glorious perfection of His being. One writer said,
it is as if He is clothed from head to toe with this thing of
faithfulness. He wears it. He wears it as a
garment. The psalmist said in Psalms chapter
89 and verse 8, the Lord of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto
thee, for to thy faithfulness round about thee. Who's likening
to Him? Who can we compare God to? No
one. No one can compare to God except
God Himself. And when we start defining God,
when we start describing who He is, we must take His own word. Because our words are not sufficient.
This tongue is not able to magnify and glorify the God of heaven
and earth. Who was it? Paul said he was
called up into the third heaven and he saw things and heard things
that it was not lawful for a man to speak. He actually saw, I
believe, God's people worshipping God in spirit and in truth. Worshipping
Him as holy beings, holy characters. And because this tongue is sinful,
it's not lawful. It's not lawful for me to utter
these words. I don't have the ability to praise
God as He ought to be praised. When God spoke to Moses in Leviticus
chapter 11, He said, For I am the Lord your God. Your God. Ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves,
and ye shall be holy, for I am holy." And then He gives us the
Spirit. He creates within us this new
being, this new creation. This holy thing that is born
of God sinneth not. Born of God. The inward man.
I'm not talking about this flesh. We sin daily. We come short of
the glory of God every hour of every day. With every breath
that we take, we sin against God. Oh, this inward man. This inward man that He has created
within us cannot sin. For it is born of God. And God
cannot sin. And He gives us His Spirit. would
lead us and guide us and direct us, causing us to worship Him. Why do we come here? Why do we
come to the house of God? Because God is faithful and He
has put within us that faithfulness to some degree. Oh, we lack,
we fail, we come short, yes, but we still have this inner
thought in this new being, this new creation that I want to hear
the Word of God. I want to be with God's people.
I want to hear Christ magnified and glorified and set forth. We never had that one time. We'd
go by the church building and never think about it. Oh, I'm
alright, I've done this, I've done that. But when God begins
that work within us, causing us to come to Him, causing us
to have faith in Him, and causing us to love Him, as we do in this
being. Then he gives us of his spirit
of faithfulness and tells us, come unto me, all you that labor
and heavy laden, I'll give you rent. or the promises of God
are sure and steadfast in and through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Everything that He has to offer us, everything that He has to
give unto us comes to us in and through the Lord. It is His sufficiency. It's His righteousness. It's
His obedience. It's His sacrifice. And then
He creates within us faith to believe it or faith to lay hold
of these things. Without this thing of faith,
the scripture tells us it's impossible to please God. But with faith,
with faith, we come and we worship and we magnify His name, giving
glory to Him for all that He has done. Although we be sinful preachers,
sinful preachers. When our Lord came into flesh,
when He became flesh, this is proof of the faithfulness
of God. God set His love upon a people. Now, I don't understand most
of this, see very little of things clear in Scripture. But I know
this, according to Scripture, God chose a people before the
foundation of the world. Before there was ever a people,
God said, they're mine. He picked one here, one there,
one here, and he said, these are mine. These are mine. I will be their God and they
will be my people. Well, what happened? Sin entered in. Sin came by act. Sin entered in to this thing.
Was that a surprise to God? Oh, no. No. He had a sacrifice,
as we said before, before there was ever a sinner. And this,
when our Lord came, the Son of God, that was seated with God
in the heavens from all eternity, He came and took upon Himself
flesh, made of a woman, made under the law. What is that?
That's bearing out the faithfulness of God. God so loved that He
gave His only begotten Son. And because of His love and because
of His faithfulness, He sent forth His Son made of a woman. And when He came, when He came,
He came in flesh like yours and mine, yet without sin. There
was no sin in him, there was no sin about him, there was no
sin found on him. He was a perfect man, but yet
he was God. He came and he consumed this
thing of sin. He came and the Lord had laid
on him, the scripture says, the iniquity of us all. Does that
mean every man under the heaven? No. If you look at the word us
and we, it is a separation from people. It's a separation that
God makes. It's us who worship God in spirit. It is we that are sanctified
by God. Not all men by nature. Not all
men in the world. For we see men cursing God's
name even today. So when Christ came, He came
in the flesh. And Isaiah said, in Isaiah chapter
11 verse 1, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of
Jesse. This is the way that our Lord
is going to take upon himself flesh. He's going to be of the
tribe of Jesse. And of a branch shall grow out
of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding. No one's baked like this man.
No one was able to comprehend what he did. They saw things
that he did with the natural eye, but they had no understanding
of it. He will have the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, and shall make him
of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. And he shall
not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove at the hearing
of his ear. He's not going to judge you for
what you say and what you do. He's going to do a righteous
judgment. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and
reprove with iniquity the meek of the earth. And he shall smite
the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of
his lips shall he slay the wicked and the righteous. The righteousness
shall be a girdle for His Lord. He's clothed with it. He's clothed
with this thing of righteousness and faithfulness. The girdle
of His reigns. How was it, David said, O thy
mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and thy faithfulness reaches
even unto the clouds. Our God is faithful in everything
that He does. He does because He's faithful.
Every sin that he puts away, it's because he's faithful to
a people. He's faithful to those who he
chose before the foundation of the world. He's faithful to those
who Christ has redeemed, and he's faithful to those who have
been regenerated by His Spirit. He will not leave us. He will
not forsake us. He will go with us always, even
unto the end of the world. Far above our comprehension.
Far above our comprehension. is the unchangeableness of God's
faithfulness. Oh, everything about him is great.
How can a sinful tongue describe the greatness of our God? Everything that he does. Brother
Don said he don't do anything except great works. Great works. His power. Oh, the power to create
life itself. to breathe into a man a breath
of life. And that breath, that soul that
he breathed into this breath of life, it shall live forever. Those that he has redeemed by
the blood of the Lamb, they shall live in joy with the Lord Jesus
Christ. But those that he has passed
by, they shall live in torment forever and ever and ever throughout
eternity. So what he does is great. His
power is great. His holiness. Is there any lacking
unto Him? Is there anything too holy for
God? God is holiness Himself. This thing of interchangeableness.
He changes not. He changes not. Therefore, ye
sons of Jacob are not concerned. For every attribute of His being,
His glory, His faithfulness, The more we see of Him, the greater
He becomes to us. The more we understand of Him,
the greater we see and desire to be with Him and like Him. He never forgets. Oh, I make
myself notes now. I go to do something or go to
get something, I write it down. Oh, but not so with Him. Everything
from eternity future to eternity past, whatever that is, he remembers
in an instant. He never fails. Oh, we sin and
come short of the glory of God daily. We fall and we fail and
we do it every day. But not so with him. He never
falters. He never stumbles or staggers. He never forfeits his... He never
goes against his word. He never misunderstands the word
that he's given us. And he does this that he may
declare every promise that he has made in Holy Scripture, every
prophecy that any prophet has ever spoke concerning the Lord
our God. God is faithful to perform it.
Faithful to perform it. The writer of the book of Numbers
said it this way, God is not a man that he should lie, neither
is a son of man that he should repent. Has he said, and shall
he not do it? Or has he spoken, and shall he
not make it good? This is his faithfulness. This
is his faithfulness. I have spoken it, I will also
do it. I have purposed it and I will
also bring it to pass. Everything that is in this book
is or will be performed. He's either doing it right now,
he did it in the past, or he will do it in the future. Our
souls rest upon his faithfulness. Our souls waiteth upon the Lord. because he's faithful. We know
with an understanding that he will do what is right. No wonder Jeremiah said, it is
of the Lord's mercy that we are not concerned. Because his passion
faileth not. They are renewed every morning.
Gray is thy faithfulness. Let me read you, you sing it
here, I've heard it sung here several times. Great is thy faithfulness. I'll read one verse, read one
verse of this song. Pardon for sin and a peace that
endureth. Thine own dear presence to cheer
and to guide. Strength for today, bright hope
for tomorrow. Blessings all mine with 10,000
besides. Great is thy faithfulness. Great
is thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies
I see. All that I have needed, thy hand
hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, O
Lord, unto me. Even unto me. Even unto me. Time after time, we read in God's
Word of His faithfulness. Many years, many years have passed
since when Noah built the ark. The Lord told Noah, He said,
you build an ark and you take of the animals and you bring
them into that ark, two by twos, some more than others. The clean animals were more than
the unclean animals. So Noah built this ark, and the
scripture tells us that while Noah built the ark, he preached.
He preached unto the world that he was living in in that day. And as he preached and built
this ark, God blessed him. Now, this is the first time that,
as far as I can understand in scripture, that anything like
this was ever built. But the Lord gave Noah an insight. He began to beat me, he began
to beat me. And when he had built that ark, God, the scripture
tells us that him, his wife, his three sons and their wives
entered into the ark. And God shut the door. And it
began to rain. And it rained and it rained and
it rained and it rained. To the point that the whole world
was covered in water. Now listen to what he says in
verse 8. And he destroyed every living thing. Every living thing
that is upon the face of the earth that was not in that ark,
God destroyed. And he told Noah in Genesis chapter
8, in verse 20. And Noah built an altar. Noah,
after he had drained these so many days, the water began to
recede. And Noah's ark landed upon the
land. And the first thing Noah did
when he got out of that ark, he built an altar. And Noah built
an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast and every
clean fowl and offered burnt offering on the altar. And the
Lord smelt. Was this a surprise to God? Oh
no, no. And the Lord smelt the sweet
saffron of that sacrifice, the sweet incense of that sacrifice. And it says in his heart, the
Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore
for man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his
youth. Neither will I again smite anymore
every living thing as I have done. For all the earth remains
Listen to God's faithfulness here. While the earth remaineth,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day
and night shall not cease. It shall not cease. Every year
bring forth a fresh witness of the faithfulness of God. Every
morning When we see the sun arise, we bear out the faithfulness
of God. Every night when the sun sets and the moon rises,
bears out the faithfulness of God. We read in Isaiah chapter 7 verse
14, it says, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign.
This is the faithfulness of God. Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
and bear a son, and call his name Immanuel. Now if I understand
Scripture right, and if I understand some of the history that is leading
up to this, it was 740 years before it ever came to pass.
Isaiah spoke of this 700 and some years before it was ever
brought to pass. But Paul tells us this in Galatians
chapter 4, but when the fullness of the time was come, when God's
faithfulness bears out, it's going to happen. I'm going to
redeem my people. I will have a people and I will
redeem them. 740 years after he gave this
promise, he fulfilled that promise. Is that not faithfulness? You
and I forget from day to day what we promised today. You and
I say, well, I'll be here tomorrow, I'll be here next week, and it
may slip and we forget, but not so with God. 700 and some years,
He waited, waited, waited, and then He fulfilled His promise
as He has spoken. So God is faithful. God is faithful
to His promise and faithful to His people. Although we may not see it, although
our eyes and our ears and our hearts may be dimmed, our God
remains faithful. Times when our faith is sore
tried, do we see the faithfulness of
God? No, we forget. We forget. Times when our eyes
are dimmed with tears, we forget the faithfulness of God. He's
told us, I'll never leave thee, I'll never forsake thee, I will
not turn away from thee but to do thee good. But oh, we forget. We forget. A time when our eyes
are distracted of the things of this world. The things of
the world. It's so easily distracted, so
easily distract us. A time when we are harassed. by the religions of the ground
to us. Oh, times when Satan's loud voice roars in our ears,
and it seems to deafen our ears to that still, small, quiet voice
of, I will be with thee. I will not forsake thee. I'll
go with thee all the way. Times when our cherished plans
have been thwarted. We forget. We forget times when
friends and relatives have failed us, times when we're staggered,
or times when it seems like we don't have the strength to raise
our head up. Oh, we sought to be faithful
to God, and now a thick, dark cloud has hidden earth His face. This deep dark cloud of unbelief,
unfaithfulness has hidden His face from earth. Or we even say,
Lord, do I believe or not? Am I His or am I not? How can
a child of God think these things, do these things, say these things,
and act this way? Lord, how can it be that I am
one of Your elect and still have this thing of sin dwelling within
me. We forget about His faithfulness.
We find it difficult, yeah, even impossible for carnal reason
to harmonize with the frowning providence of His gracious promises. These are times that we need
to read what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah chapter 50 in verse 10. Who is among you that feareth
the Lord? Are there any that fears the Lord in our day? Is
there any that obeys the voice of his servant? That walk within
darkness and have no light? Let us trust in the name of the
Lord and stay upon our God. Stay upon our God. Be rooted
and grounded and settled in this thing of faith, for he is faithful. For I'm so thankful that it's
not my hold upon Him that keeps me. It's not my hold upon Him,
but it's His hold upon me. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind the crowning providence
He hides a smiling face. He fearful saints fresh courage
take. The clouds so much you dread
are rich with mercy and shall break in blessings for your head. Why is it? Because he's faithful. Because he's faithful. David said, Righteousness are
thou, O Lord, and uprightness are thy judgments. God's testimonies
that thou has commanded are righteous and very faithful. Everything
that he does, he does because he's faithful. You read through
this book, God has not only told us of the best promises, he's
told us of the glory that we shall receive in heaven's glory. He's told us that we shall be
like him and with him in eternal bliss. Throughout the book, he
tells us time after time after time, these are yours. These
are yours. My grace is sufficient to give
unto you all that you need. But he's also told us the faithfulness
that he describes and the ruin which man has fallen into. He is faithfully diagnosed the
terrible state that this sin has produced. And he is faithfully
made known, faithfully made known throughout this book of his hatred
for sin. He is faithfully proclaimed that
sin must be punished. Faithfully proclaimed. His word
has told us, for our God is a consuming fire. There are example after
example after example written in his word that causes us to
take note of these things. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. Anyone who opposes him will lift
their eyes and torment. And he tells us, my son, the
Lord Jesus Christ is the only hope. He's the only hope. He's the only remedy for this
thing of sin. And then He gives us faith to
look. Look, look, look. Look unto Me, all ye ends of
the earth, for I am God and beside Me there is none else. Turn with me to the book of 1
Corinthians. Let me read you a few verses
here. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 1. Paul is giving an account to
the church at Corinth here of how that he is an apostle. And this testimony that Paul
gives us here is a result of God's faith. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse
1. Paul called to be an apostle. of Jesus Christ through the will
of God and Sophius, our brother, and to the church of God which
is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus. Call
to be saints with all that is in every place. Call upon the
name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. Grace be
unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus
Christ. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace
of God which is given you by Christ Jesus, that in everything
you are enriched by him. Everything you are enriched by
him. In all utterance and in all knowledge it comes from him.
Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that
you come behind in no gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. who shall also confirm you unto the
end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ." Why? How is this possible? How is
this possible that God would call a people and tell that people,
as Paul did to the church at Carna, You are a holy people. You have been sanctified. You
have been redeemed. And you're going to be kept.
You're going to be kept. Verse 9 tells us, God is faithful. By whom we're called under the
fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the
only reason that we continue. It's, whoa, I've got faith? This
is the only reason that you and I continue in this thing is because
God's faithful. He will not let us leave. If
we could leave, we would leave. If we could go out the door and
never come again, we would do it. But God is faithful. He will not leave us to ourselves. He will not leave us. This is
one of the, what I'm called to come and speak. This is the one
most dreaded thing that I dread, is that God would leave me to
myself. Left to myself, it's hard to
say what I would do. But he says that he will preserve
us, he will keep us, he will never leave us, even to the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's God's faithfulness that
preserves you and I. It's God's faithfulness that
keeps us. Keeps us. Keeps us. Paul was
confident in the absolute security of believers. Confident. His confidence was not founded
upon the strength of his own resolution. Oh, I've begun this
work. I started living for the Lord.
No. God began living within me. That's the difference. That's
the difference between the preaching around us and the preaching that
gives God's glory for His grace. I started this and I can quit.
I heard a man years ago. He'd been preaching in a Pentecostal
church as long as I can remember. And the subject came up of eternal
security. And he says, well, I know that
scripture tells us that God will never leave us. He says, but
we can leave God. Then he said, to me then, it's
in my power. Oh no, no. I don't leave Him
because He won't allow me to leave Him. have the strength to do this
on my own. It's His faithfulness to me that
keeps me looking, looking, looking. God is faithful in glorifying
His people. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians
5, verse 23, For the very God of peace sanctify you wholly.
That means make you holy, holy, holy. And I pray your God whole
spirit and soul, I pray that your whole spirit and soul and
body be preserved blameless, blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that called you
who will also do it. This is not our work. This is
not our power. This is not our resolve. It's
His Word. It's His faithfulness. And it's
His power that does it. So, glory be to His name. God deals with us not on the
ground of our merit. Oh, I'm thankful for that. I'm
thankful that He doesn't look at me and say, oh, he's done
a good job. Oh, no. No. There's no merit here. Everything
about us is plagued with this thing of sin. Even the message
that we attempt to preach. Brother Henry said there's enough
sin in the best message I ever preached to send my soul to hell
10,000 times over. So it's not of merit. And it's
not of worth. It's of His faithfulness. His
faithfulness to me. Giving me. Causing me. Coming
unto Him. Coming. What does the Scripture
say? Looking unto Jesus. Not look. Not I looked a long
time ago and now I'm alright. It's looking. Looking. Looking
every day of every day. We must continue to look to Christ. For when we take our eyes off
of Him, Then, oh then, we fall in the ditch. Whom he called, this is how faithful
he is. Whom he called, them he will
also glorify. Whom he did predestinate, them
he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. This is his faithfulness to you
and I. who look to Christ by faith.
Paul said, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that
he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. And people say, oh, there it
is. I've got to commit something. You don't have the power to commit
anything except sin. Oh, to have a good understanding,
have a knowledge of this truth that God is faithful will cause
us will cause us to bow before Him and cry out, Lord, leave
me not alone. Leave me not alone. The understanding that God will
preserve us blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
will increase our confidence. Increase our confidence. Lord,
it's not of me, but it's of Your Word. Leave me not alone. Peter said it this way in 1 Peter
4, verse 19. 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. When we trustly
and truly resign ourselves to Him, When we truly and trustfully
resign all of our affairs in this life and in the life to
come to Him, put all things in His hand, fully persuaded of
His love for me, fully persuaded of His faithfulness to me, then,
then, and only then can we trust Him as we ought to. But while
we're here in this flesh, we struggle. we struggle. But let
us remember, our God is faithful, and he will do what's right.
Thank you. Brother, thank you. That was
a blessing. You know, our hope is completely
tied up in our Savior, and He is faithful to perform. Thank
you, brother. That was a blessing. I'm thankful
that our Lord gave you that message and the strength and willingness
to come here and preach to us. Thank you. Before we dismiss,
let's close in prayer. Our Father, we're thankful for
prayers answered, that this time was a time of
worship. Thank you for blessing this time, for blessing our brother. We pray that you give him and
Lori traveling mercies on their way home this afternoon. Bring
them back to us safely when it's time. Thank you for blessing
this time. Thank you for glorifying your
name and that Christ was proclaimed from this pulpit one more time.
I pray that you bless the hearts of your children, that your words
sink in. Give us minds to ponder these
things this afternoon and the week to come, that we may be
reminded as the sun sets and as the sun rises of our Lord's
faithfulness. We pray this thankfully in Christ's
name for his sake. Amen. Okay, you're dismissed. It was a new world. It was new.