The faithfulness of God means that God will never desert us
nor forsake us.
It means that He will stick by us whether we are doing well
or doing poorly, whether we are on the top of the spiritual mountain or down in
the valley.
God is always available.
Walter Winchell said, “A real friend is one who walks in
when the rest of the world walks out.”
And in our tough times when it seems that everyone has
walked out on us because they have more important things to attend to, God
remains with us, sitting next to us, holding our hand and ready to listen.
God’s Faithfulness is a necessity
There are many passages in Scripture that describe our
sinful state.
Romans 3
·
We are unrighteous
·
We do not seek for God
·
We are useless
·
We do not do good
·
We are deceitful
·
We do not fear God
·
We are sinners
Ephesians 2
·
We are dead in our sins
·
We live in the lusts of our flesh
·
We are by nature children of wrath
When we realize what we really are then God’s faithfulness
is not merely an added blessing; it is a necessity.
God will always receive us back
Psalm 73
21When my heart was
embittered
And I was pierced within,
22Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before
You.
23Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my
right hand.
If there ever was a reason for God to leave us, then there
never was a reason for Him to have been drawn to us. God does not save us
because we have any intrinsic value in ourselves nor does He stay with us because
we are so valuable, talented, rich, or good-looking. The assurance of God’s
faithfulness rests wholly in the One that we call Lord and Savior.
If God accepted us as unforgiven sinners then what would
induce Him to leave us as forgiven saints?
God is infinitely invested in us; He bought us with His Son.
When I bought a scooter for a dollar at a garage sale for
one of my girls and then ran over it with my truck, I stood over it and
thought, “Oh, drat.” But when I bought a new car and then accidently scratched
it with a shovel I was, “AAAAAHHHHH!” The difference was the amount invested.
If I had paid $20,000 for the scooter then I would have been “AAAAAHHHHH!” when
I ran over it. Our heart is where our treasure lies and God put His greatest
treasure into us. We are temples of the Holy Spirit.
1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Why is God righteous or just when He forgives us? We
associate justice with punishment; not with forgiveness. It is because Jesus
Christ died on the cross to pay the entire sum of the penalty for our sins. And
then because the Father raised His Son from the dead, it showed that He fully
accepted Jesus’ payment for sins. The risen Christ is proof that God will,
indeed, forgive us of our sins. So when we confess our sins, God must forgive
us or He will not be righteous and just.
Even in our sin God is faithful.
Why is that important?
Because no matter how sinful we may be God is always faithfully
waiting for our repentance.
And when we do repent God will take us back with open arms
ready to restore us.
If we commit a really terrible sin and then a year later
decide to repent and come back to God we will not cry out “God? Hello? God, are
You there?” and hear a hollow echo coming back.
Instead there will be God’s arms eagerly waiting to embrace
us and welcome us back.
Because God is faithful, He is in the details of our lives.
·
Do you sometimes think that God has abandoned you?
·
Do you wonder if you might have lost your salvation?
·
Do you sometimes think that you’ve been so bad that God no longer
loves you?
Then study and mediate on God’s faithfulness. It will change
your life.
We will be brought to Heaven
1 Corinthians 3:11-15
11For
no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus
Christ.
12Now
if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood,
hay, straw,
13each
man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be
revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's
work.
14If
any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.
15If
any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved,
yet so as through fire.
Verse 11 is what this series is all about: laying a solid
and proper foundation.
·
Not a foundation of emotions.
·
Not a foundation of our or other people’s experiences.
·
Not a foundation of positive circumstances.
But a foundation that is rooted in the knowledge and firm
belief in who Jesus Christ is—that is a foundation that will never be shaken.
Verse 15, even if a person never accomplished any good in
his life, even if he never did anything that would survive into eternity, even
if he were so lazy or so uncaring that he never once obeyed God then, if he
were truly saved, then he would still be guaranteed a place in Heaven.
We are so used to an economy of give and take that it is
only with difficulty that we are able to accept the truth that God gives. Pride
wants to earn divine acceptance; humility simply believes it.
Security of our relationship
2 Timothy 2:13, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful,
for He cannot deny Himself.”
Even when we are weak and doubting, Jesus Christ remains
faithful to us.
The assurance of our relationship with God cannot be
determined by including ourselves in any part of the equation; it must be
solely determined by the character of God. It rests not on our loyalty but on
God’s commitment to us.
Our Security of Salvation = (My character x 0%) + (God’s
character x 100%)
Our Security of Salvation = God’s character
Hebrews 13:5, “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER
FORSAKE YOU."
1 John 5:13, “These things I have written to you who believe
in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have
eternal life.”
But not only is our future relationship with God secure but
so is our current relationship.
Philippians 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing,
that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ
Jesus.”
God will remain faithful to finish His work in us.
I know someone who wanted to build a shed. He bought all of
the materials, had the plans, and started it. That was over ten years ago. He
lost interest about halfway through. So now there sits a partially completed
structure that is worthless and has so fallen into disrepair that the only
thing that can and should be done with it is to tear it down.
God will never lose interest in us and let us go to waste.
He will abandon us for someone with more talent or who is more popular or
better looking. He has promised to work in our lives to bring us to perfection
and He will be faithful to that task no matter what.
2 Timothy 2:12b, “If we deny Him, He also will deny us.”
This verse does not mean that a believer who denies Jesus will lose his
salvation since that would contradict God’s promise of always being faithful to
us. Those who deny Jesus are those who made a temporary but insincere
confession and then, thinking it all to be useless, turned away. I once shared
the Gospel with a stranger and he told me that he was once an enthusiastic,
professing Christian. But he did that to get over a hump in his life. Once all
was well again he did not need Jesus anymore. He said that Jesus was like a
shoehorn; once you get your shoe on then you do not need the shoehorn anymore.
And once Jesus got him over the problem in his life then he did not need Jesus
anymore.
Hebrews 6:4-6
4For
in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the
heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5and
have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6and
then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance,
since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open
shame.
We can always have joy
John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you so that My
joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”
God tells us that He wants to see the same joy in us that He
has in Himself. This is clear enough, yet the paradox lies in what happened in
Jesus’ life.
He proceeds to speak of how the world hates Him, rejects
Him, and persecutes Him and when He has finished the Upper Room Discourse, the
Prince of Peace is then betrayed, tried, and crucified. The One is truly meek
and humble of heart is mocked and spit upon by the criminals for whose crimes
He is willfully paying. Is this the joy God wishes on us?
The issue lies not upon the circumstances but in an attitude
of delightful dependence upon a faithful Father. Situations will change. There
will be times on the mountain with the glory of God surrounding us and times in
the valley filled with doubt and confusion.
Psalm 91:2, “I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!"
A fortress is a fortified place of exceptional security; a
stronghold.
A fortress is beyond a fort or a city with walls. It was
considered to be an impenetrable place of safety. Towns may be overrun and
burned down but a fortress would withstand any attack. Its walls were thick so
that they could not be broken down, they were tall so that they could not be
easily scaled, and they were complete in that they offered protection from all
sides.
God is faithful in providing us with opportunities for persecution and
affliction
Psalm 119:67, 75, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, But
now I keep Your word. I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous,
And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.”
An often overlooked aspect of God’s faithfulness is His
constancy in shaping our lives to become more like the character of Jesus
Christ.
All of the promises of a trouble-free life without hurt are
reserved for heaven when we shall be without sin. It is then that we shall
forever rest from our labors. Till that time, however, we must be prepared to
suffer persecution from men and to suffer discipline from men and to suffer
discipline from God. Through this means, perhaps more than any other, He
refines stubborn people such as ourselves to become more like Himself. The Lord
is good to be so faithful to us. We strongly tend to grumble and complain.
Instead, we should believe and obey.
Escape from temptation
As you read the Scriptures with your mind focused on one or
more of God’s attributes you will see how crucial it is in so many ways.
1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you but
such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow
you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will
provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
No one can ever make us sin. When we sin it is always our
choice, our decision.
Proverbs 7:22 is a classic version on how we are tempted,
tempted, tempted and then suddenly give in. A man went to a place that he
should not have. That was his first mistake. It shows that he already had a
desire to sin. And so many times in our own lives we really want to sin and so
we place ourselves in a position to do so. Then a woman approaches him and
tempts him with many words. And he listens and he listens some more. He should
have run. Then comes verse 22, “Suddenly he follows her As an ox goes to
the slaughter, Or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool.”
Suddenly, at one decisive point, he made his decision to sin. The man in this
story had many chances to avoid sin, but he did not avail himself of any of
them.
Someone was trapped on a rooftop from a flood.
First someone in a boat came by but the person refused to
get in because they were waiting for God to rescue them.
Then someone came by in a helicopter to rescue them but they
refused because they were waiting for God to rescue them.
Then they drowned.
When we are tempted we do not have to wait for some
spectacular, supernatural guidance or rescue. Sometimes the best approach is to
just get away from it.
But no matter how God does it, it is always the faithfulness
of God that allows us to escape from each and every temptation.
2 Timothy 4:18, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil
deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory
forever and ever. Amen.”
When we think of a faithful friend we think of someone who
is devoted to us and who cares about what is happening in our lives. God is our
Lord and our King, but in John 15:15 He announces a relationship that is
startling, “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what
his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have
heard from My Father I have made known to you.” God wants us to be intimate
with Him. He has shared a great portion of His heart, thoughts, and desires
with us in the Bible. As we read the Bible we quickly discover that it is not a
manual but an autobiography and that its author is calling us to share
ourselves with Him at all times and in all ways.
God is a constant presence in our lives. He does not go away
to attend to more important business. He is always ready to hear our personal
prayers, to comfort our intimate pain, to strengthen us when we falter, and to
guide us when we are confused. The phrase “I am with you” or a close variation
is repeated over 20 times in the Bible. Psalm 91:4 provides us with a strong
promise, “He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek
refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.”
Lamentations 3:20-23
20Surely my soul
remembers
And is bowed down within
me.
21This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never
cease,
For His compassions never
fail.
23They are new every morning;
Great is Your
faithfulness.
1) In
addition to the ones discussed above, what are some other assurances that God’s
faithfulness means to us?
2) How
does knowing that God is faithful help us through difficult times?
3) Is
God still faithful to us when we are in sin or does He leave us only to return
when we repent?
4) What
are some ways that God has proven His faithfulness to you personally?
5) Who
are some people in the Bible that God proved His faithfulness to?
6) If
God is so faithful then how come some people claim that in their darkest hour
they felt as though God were not there at all?
7) If
God has promised to be faithful no matter what then why cannot we use that as
an excuse to do whatever we want?
8) What
is the difference between God’s faithfulness (God will never leave nor forsake
us) and God’s omnipresence (God is everywhere)?
9) What
are some practical ways that we can be faithful to other people the way that
God is faithful to us?
Elizabeth’s father abandoned her family when she was eight
years old. As a result she has had a hard time keeping friends. When she feels
that someone is getting too close to her she will say harsh things to that
person and become distant. She is often lonely and many times it is obvious
that she longs for a close friendship. You have been getting close to her and
you are starting to see her doing the same thing to you. The other day she
insulted your clothes and you have left several friendly but unanswered
messages in the last two weeks. When you started to get to know her you knew
that she is like this and you promised yourself that you would stick it out and
show her that you are a loyal friend. You know that she is hurting and that her
behavior is a defense mechanism to avoid being hurt, but it is difficult to
endure the growing insults and cold shoulder. You decide that rather then pull
away from her like everyone else you will talk to her. What will you say to her
and can you incorporate God’s faithfulness into your discussion?