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Does God really mean what He
says?
2 Timothy 2:13
While we were living in Nashville, on the afternoons when Trista had
teachers meetings or parent meetings, I would go and wander aimlessly
until she was done. One day I wandered into the Barnes and Noble book
store and began to look through the stacks, when a young mother caught
my attention. Her son who appeared to be about three years old was
standing at the top of a staircase and his mother was calling for him to
come down. There wasn’t anything unusual about that but what struck me
as unusual was that the three year old was standing at the top of the
stairs making faces and mocking her as she called to him. Their
conversation went something like this.
Young man, come here. And the young boy stayed at the top of the stairs.
Did you hear me? I said come here. And the young boy stayed at the top
of the stairs.
Don’t make me come up there and get you, I said come here. And the young
boy stayed at the top of the stairs.
Don’t make me spank you. That’s it 1, 2, 3, 4, 4 ½, 5! And the young boy
stayed at the top of the stairs.
Then she continued getting louder and louder 6, 7, 8, 9, 10! And the
young boy stayed at the top of the stairs.
Not having children of my own at the time I was a little amused, and
left the store counting 11, 12, 13, 14, 15…
The reason that I start with that story tonight is that it fits so
perfectly with the game that we are discussion tonight: Risk. Now you
are probably thinking what does a spoiled little boy have to do with a
game about war. You see the object in the game risk is to conquer the
world. To win, you must attack and defend – attacking to acquire
territory, and defending to keep it from you opponents. And the risk
comes in when you decide how strong your opponent is. If they appear to
be strong then you make fast friends with them, but if they appear weak
then you take advantage of them.
This little boy in the bookstore knew who he was dealing with. He knew
that she would stand at the bottom of the stairs and make all kind of
threats but he was willing to risk his behavior on the fact that she was
lying. That day he won that battle, and sadly, he probably won the war.
Whether we are willing to say this out loud or not all too often our
actions reveal that we are willing to risk our salvation because we
believe that God, like this young mother, will not keep His word.
So tonight, I want to ask you, how faithful do you think God is? Is God
faithful to keep his word? With months like we have just endured in the
church, have you asked that question.
And it’s not always the tragic things that cause us to wonder about
God’s faithfulness. Sometimes it is the more common things in life.
Someone is sick and in the hospital. Or someone is sick at home.
Someone’s marriage may be falling apart. A mother and father down the
street have a prodigal child who is headed for certain disaster. A young
couple can make ends meet, can’t pay their bills and they just keep
getting behind. Or we don’t feel good. We have something wrong with our
back, our hip, our stomach, our leg, our arm, etc. Our head aches till
it nearly breaks.
How faithful do you believe God is at times like these? Or is He strong
enough to provide some relief? Some help? Some comfort? Some peace of
mind? Something solid to lean on?
The Risk that we take is because we spend too much time focusing on
human frailty and we forget top focus on God’s faithfulness.
Let’s look at what the Bible has to say
Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the
faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of
those who love him and keep his commands.”
1 Corinthians 1:9 “God, who has called you into fellowship with his son
Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.”
And there are many more Scriptures which speak about the faithfulness of
our God. But let’s look at one more
2 Timothy 2:13 “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he
cannot disown himself.”
God is faithful even when we are not. I don’t know about you but to me
that’s great news because I struggle with my faithfulness. We all waver
and run hot and cold and cold more than hot. But God is not like us, He
is always faithful! He is always there for us even though we are not
always there for Him!
Remember David before the giant Goliath? David was not afraid even
though he was up against impossible odds. Because he knew that God was
faithful and would be with him.
Goliath said to David, “I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and
the beasts of the field.”
And David said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin,
but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the
armies of Israel... This day the Lord will hand you over to me...” I
Samuel 17:44-45
And God was faithful to David. He made David’s slingshot hit the mark
right on the forehead of Goliath.
Do you remember the three Hebrews boys: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?
King Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true that you do not serve my
gods or worship the image of gold I have set up? If you do not worship
it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god
will be able to rescue you from my hand?” Daniel 3:14-15
And they said, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we
serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand,
O King.” Daniel 3:17
You remember the rest of that story! God was faithful to those Hebrew
boys. He did deliver them from the fiery furnace. And there was not even
the smell of fire on them!
What about Daniel in the lions’ den? He was put there because he would
not bow his knee to worship King Darius.
Daniel 6:16 “So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and
threw him into the lions’ den...” But God was faithful to Daniel! In
Daniel 6:22 we read that “God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of
the lions.....”
And the bible continues to give one example after another of the
faithfulness of God. And I know that everyone of us in this room knows
those stories and believes that they are true. But I have to ask what
about today? Is God still faithful today? Can He be counted today? Is
God faithful in providing for us?
Tonight let’s look at some areas in life where God is faithful to us.
God is Faithful – He Saves
Paul writes about God’s saving power in two different letters.
Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we
were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -
and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
Surely we all agree that at one time we were helpless, lost sinners in
this world and we had no way of saving ourselves.
God doesn’t owe us anything. He created us, gave us life, gave us a
home, a job, a family, etc. and He could have sent us on our way,
saying, “Now it’s up to you to take care of yourself.”
But He didn’t do that. Instead, He saw our helpless, sinful situation
and was graciousness enough to provide a way out of it.
Look with me at Ephesians 2:1-5 (Read Text)
He sent Jesus to save us! When we were helpless, unworthy sinners, He
sent Jesus to bear our sins in His body on the tree!
God is faithful! He came to help us while we were helpless! God is
faithful! He saves! He saves in Jesus!
God is Faithful – He Gives
A young woman brought home her fiancé to meet her parents. After dinner,
her mother tells her father to find out more about the young man. So he
asks him, “What are your plans?”
The young man replied, “I am a Bible scholar.” “A Bible scholar. Hmm.
That’s admirable but what will you do to provide a house for my daughter
to live in like she has been accustomed to?”
He says, “I will study and God will provide for us.”
“And how will you buy her an engagement ring like she deserves?” He
says, “I will concentrate on my studies and God will provide for us.”
“And children?” asks her father. “How will you support any children you
might have?” He says, “Don’t worry, sir, God will provide.”
Later in the evening, the girl’s mother asks her husband, “Well, how did
it go with the young man?” The father says, “He has no job and no plans,
But the good news is he thinks I’m God.”
God is God and He is faithful in providing for us!
Philippians 4:19 “My God will meet all your needs according to his
glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
God will provide for our needs in life as we look to Him, seek His will
and do what is right. And the text reads “needs,” not “wants.” Many
people have the mistaken idea that should provide for all their “wants”
in life. God has never promised to do that! There is no blanket promise
in Scripture that God will provide us with everything we want. It’s very
nice when God exceeds our expectations, however. And He does do that
occasionally.
God is faithful! God is faithful in providing for us when we look to Him
and do what is right!
Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and
all these things will be given to you.”
What things? The necessities of life! Seek God first in life, His
kingdom, His church, etc. and He will faithfully provide for our
material needs! But do we seek the Lord first in life?
God is Faithful – He Comforts
We experience a lot of trouble in life! Family troubles, financial
troubles, health troubles, work troubles, house troubles, car troubles,
kid troubles, you name it the trouble and we experience it! But God is
faithful! He is one who can give us strength to endure and overcome. He
is our refuge, our retreat, our security, our comforter, our encourager.
Again we look at the writings of Paul. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Praise be to
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion
and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles...”
A friend of mine was telling the story of a new Christian a few months
ago. This young man was converted by the example of his fiancée and had
immersed himself into his relationship with God. He had a job working
with a local cable company and was climbing the corporate ladder. They
had a beautiful wedding, moved into a beautiful home, and received one
promotion after another. Finally, after 2 years he was promoted over the
Continental Cablevision Company in Detroit. After about 18 months into
his new job he and his wife seemed to be having some struggles and he
called the preacher and set up an appointment for lunch.
During lunch he confessed to the preacher that he was in a bind. He
struggled with being the man that God had called him to be while he was
peddling the smut that comes on some of the channels he was marketing.
He looked at his friend and told him that they had made the hard
decision to resign his position because he came to realize if he was
going to be a man after God’s own heart, committed to righteousness, he
could no longer market unrighteousness.
The preacher asked him about his new job and the man said he didn’t have
one, he and his wife were selling their house and going to move into a
small apartment until he could find something.
Now, that’s powerful! He was in a bind because he was willing to give up
a job that he considered unrighteous. Now do you suppose that God
comforted him? Provided for him? And was faithful to Him?
Well he did and that’s how I heard about the story. You see he looked
and looked but couldn’t find anything, but just before the money ran out
he received a call from Coke a Cola in Atlanta offering him a job in
marketing, making almost twice as much as he had given up.
God is faithful in our times of trouble! God is faithful when we get in
a bind! Or whenever we have, terrible things happen to us!
Do we risk our salvation on the thought that God is not faithful? No
because we can be sure that
God is faithful - He saves
God is faithful - He gives
God is faithful - He comforts
God is faithful! And we need to focus our eyes and our spirits on Him if
we are going to make it in this old sin cursed world! God’s strength and
faithfulness should cause our faith to grow, not shrink.
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