For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to intouch.org/tv. For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to www.intouch.org/watch
god
is a faithful god if he makes a promise
he’s going to keep it
if he gives us a warning he’s going to
fulfill it
and so when you think about your faith
we’re talking about the basis of your
faith when you think about the basis of
your faith
your whole faith is based on your
understanding of who god is
today on in touch resting in the
faithfulness of god
and jesus came up and spoke to them
saying
me
baptizing them in the name of the fall
of the son of the holy spirit
when you find that your faith’s being
tested
and you don’t know what god’s doing in
your life and your prayers seem to go
unanswered for some reason
and the devil just harasses you
and your plans are frustrated and your
friends have all deserted you
and somehow between you and god there
seems to be this cloud
what do you do where do you turn
how do you respond well some people
respond by
simply saying god doesn’t answer my
prayer
god isn’t who he says he is if he were
this wouldn’t be happening to me and so
you get into that victim
mode or you just trust the lord
when you don’t see your way clear and
you keep moving forward
probably in all of our lives at some
point or the other
there are those seasons when we go
through situations and circumstances
that we will almost be willing to say
god really and truly is not genuinely
faithful now we he we we believe that he
is but
look what’s happening in my life and so
we are prone to judge god by
our environment by the circumstances
that we’re facing
and so in the process of doing so we
think about all the things that we’ve
learned
and then when it comes to the reality of
the time of testing
that’s when we decide whether we really
and truly
believe it or not what i want to talk
about in this message
i want to talk about an attribute of the
lord god
i want to talk about something that
affects every single one of us
every day every time you pray every time
you find yourself in a spiritual battle
or whatever it might be
you’re affected by what we want to talk
about because
all of us face those times when we
genuinely not that we want to but we
genuinely question
that god is faithful to me in this
incident in this situation in this
circumstance whatever it might be
so i want you to turn to first
corinthians chapter one and they just
want us to read these uh
first nine verses together and it’s the
ninth verse i want us to note primarily
so he begins by saying paul as an
apostle of jesus christ by the will of
god and sophomores
our brother to the church of god which
is at christ to those who have been
sanctified in christ
jesus saints by calling with all who in
every place
call on the name of the lord jesus
christ our lord and ours
grace to you and peace from god our
father and the lord jesus christ
then he says i thank my god always
concerning you for the grace of god
which was given you in christ jesus
that in everything you were enriched in
him
in all speech and all knowledge even as
the testimony concerning christ was
confirmed in you
so that you’re not lacking in any gift
awaiting eagerly the revelation of our
lord jesus christ who
will also confirm you to the end
blameless in the day of our lord jesus
christ
god is faithful through whom you are
called into fellowship with his son
jesus christ our lord so what i want to
talk about
is simply this resting
in the faithfulness of god
now i can repeat this all of us will
meet those situations and circumstances
at times
that’ll cause us to at least doubt for a
moment
god where are you as we said that be
like some dark cloud
hanging between you and him so
paul is encouraging his listeners and
readers at this point
and i want us to think about for a few
moments all through the scriptures how
god
is reminding us of his faithfulness and
so
i want us to begin in deuteronomy
chapter 7.
let’s begin in the old testament just
for a few passages
in deuteronomy chapter 7 and i want you
to look at
if you will verse 9
and i just want to take you through a
few of these throughout the scripture
just to remind you
of how often he tells us this
he says in verse 9 know therefore that
the lord your god
he is god the faithful god who keeps his
covenant and his loving kindness
to a thousandth generation with those
who love him and keep his commandments
then if you flip over to the 119th psalm
just want a few of these
119th psalm and the 89th
verse look what he says he says
forever o lord your word is settled in
heaven
your faithfulness continues throughout
all generations
you establish the earth and it stands
then move all the way over to first
thessalonians
and the fifth chapter and
all through the scriptures first
thessalonians the fifth chapter the 24th
verse
of this chapter and notice here again
the emphasis on trusting him his
faithfulness he says
faithful is he who calls you and he also
will bring it to pass
then if you move over the second timothy
the second chapter
and look if you will in this um
second chapter and the
13th verse notice what he says
he says if we are faithless that is we
don’t believe
he remains faithful for he cannot
deny himself and then the first peter
for example in
chapter 4 and look if you will in this
19th verse and again
here’s what he says he says therefore
those
also who suffer according to the will of
god shall entrust their souls
to a faithful creator in doing what is
right
and everybody knows the first john
chapter 1 and verse 9. if we confess our
sins he’s what
faithful and just righteous and
forgiving us of our sins
and cleansing us from all
unrighteousness now what does it mean
when we talk about
the faithfulness of god it means that he
always does what is right
he always does the right thing about
everything
in every single situation not only does
he do what he says he’ll do
he fulfills every single promise that he
makes
all of us have those promises in the
word of god that we
treasure those promises especially
meaningful to us because of what’s going
on in our life
and god brings us to a passage of
scripture in that passage
god somehow comforts us with it so when
he says that he is faithful
it means that in all times in all things
in all circumstances
god is always the same
he never changes he doesn’t falter he
doesn’t forget
he always is there to fulfill his
promise
and if you think about what your
favorite promise in the word of god
would be
he’s there every single time and
probably all of us
have seen those situations and
circumstances we when we come to that
verse and say lord
here’s what you promised why isn’t it
happening
well is it happening or is it not is god
doing it a different way than what we
expect
does he always keep his promise he says
for example he cannot lie he cannot fail
because he is god and he is a god who is
faithful in every single circumstance of
life
now it’s one thing to say that
and if somebody said well why do you
believe that god is
faithful and we’ll be faithful every
single time for example
we go through situations and
circumstances and we cry out to him
for god to help us and strengthen us
enable us to face it
so what’s what is our proof it’s one
thing to say that is
but when you look at the whole idea of
god’s faithfulness
there are five attributes of god that
are absolutely
necessary in order for god to say that
he’s faithful
the many attributes of god he’s holy for
example and all powerful and
many of the attributes you know but
there are five of them that are
absolutely essential
if god is going to be faithful to me and
to you in every circumstance of our life
and the first one is simply this he must
be
omniscient in order for him to be
faithful to me
that is he must know everything there is
to know about me
he must know things ahead of time he
knows present past and future
he knows about every single need that we
have
our wants our desires our weaknesses our
frailties
he knows everything if he did not know
every single thing about us
he could not be faithful to meet all of
their needs whatever they might be
so his omniscience he knows everything
one of his attributes is that he’s
omniscient the second
attribute is that he is omnipotent
he cannot promise me to be i’ll promise
you to be
faithful in every circumstance of life
if he’s not all-powerful
because there could be some situation
some circumstance well what would god do
if he’s not all-powerful
then that means he cannot under any
situation or circumstance
fulfill every single need or protect us
in every situation
so he not only knows everything and he
is all-powerful but likewise he must be
on the present
which means that he listen he is always
within reach
and we are always within his reach that
is we’ll never
see a situation whereby he’s not present
ready and able to do whatever is needed
in your life
so when you take those three attributes
along somebody says is god faithful yes
he is
well how can he be faithful in every
circumstance because he knows everything
he has all power to change anything he
desires to change a move
and he is always present
now those three we can possibly accept
and say well i i i cannot
i can understand that but that demands
something else
he must always be truthful
in every circumstance for god to be
faithful he must be truthful
because if he’s not truthful then i have
a problem
and so when we think about his
truthfulness i want you to look at a
couple of passages of scripture one of
which is in titus
and look if you will in this first
chapter the second verse says
in the hope of eternal life which god
who cannot lie
promised long ages ago
would god ever lie no he cannot lie
because if he lied he would be violating
his own character
and the very character and nature of god
is such that he cannot
lie he is always going to show us and
tell us the truth
and if you move uh back over to ii
timothy
look if you will in chapter 2
and if you look in verse 13
he says if we’re faithless he remains
faithful he
for he cannot deny himself he’s always
truthful
that he god would never mislead us he
would never say anything
that would cause us to head in the wrong
direction in life
he is all-knowing all-powerful
always present and when you look in
these passages
he’s always truthful so whatever he
promises for example
he says i’ll never leave you nor forsake
you is that the truth or is it not
and so when we talk about the
faithfulness of god
every single promise that he makes he is
going to fulfill
if he’s not fulfilling some promise in
your life to suit you for example
you have to ask yourself the question is
this a promise of god
or is this something i conjured up if
it’s a promise of god
you have listen the very nature of god
is that he cannot prove to be
unfaithful untruthful inadequate
unknowing mistaken in error about
anything
so the very basis of my belief that he
is a faithful god is his very nature
and he says as he cannot lie and even
when you and i are
unfaithful to him he says for example
that he’s still going to be faithful no
matter what
and over and over and over again he says
for example
in in first peter chapter 4
therefore those also who suffer
according to the will of god shall
entrust their souls
to a faithful creator in doing what is
right
so ask yourself the question do i really
and truly believe
that god is absolutely unquestionably
always without exception
faithful to his word
and faithful to us as followers of jesus
christ
now we’ll come to this a few moments
later but he’s also faithful to the
unbeliever
i’ll show you why in a moment but what i
want you to see is
the very basis of your believing that he
is faithful to you
that he’s he’s all he’ll always be there
is his his very
nature that cannot change
that’s who he is but there’s one other
thing
another one of his attributes and um
that attribute is simply this his
immutability which
means he cannot change that god does not
change now i know what some of you may
be thinking about some passive scripture
we’ll come to that in a moment but he
cannot change
if god is a changing god then he may
change
something about himself or about some
situation
that it would prove to be unfaithful but
he’s a faithful god
and he is a god who only tells the truth
he’s a god of truth fitness but he’s
also a god he does not change for
example in malachi the third chapter
and the sixth verse he said he says for
example
i do not change he’s always been the
same
he is the same now he and he will always
be the same
it is his nature that he’s unchanging
and apart from those five attributes you
can’t have a god
who is faithful he must know all things
he must have all power
he must be available at all times he
must be a god
only of truthfulness and one who does
not change
many things in life around this change
but he doesn’t
he treats us just as he’s treated people
all throughout
eternity to pass and eternity future
he’ll never change
it is his nature it cannot change if he
changed
everything would be uncertain if god
changed anything about
his promises then we we would have
uncertainty
if he changed anything about the way he
operates
we we would feel uncertain so you and i
come to him in prayer we make our case
for him our needs whatever the needs may
be
and the issue is do i believe it or do i
not
and so we know that the scripture says
for example
he says this is the confidence that we
have in him that if we ask
anything according to his will he hears
us
and if we know that he hears us we know
that we have the petition that we
desired of him
if he is a faithful god he cannot change
that
if he’s a faithful god then he’s not
going to say well exception if sins and
buts
notice what he says he says
when we call upon him if we ask anything
according to his will
he hears us and if he hears us then we
know that we have the petition that we
desired of him
so can god change that no because if he
changed that he would change
his truthfulness and he cannot change
his truthfulness this is a promise he’s
made
and the promises of god are powerful
and if he did not have promises we would
be walking in uncertainty all the time
he promises for example to heal does he
promise to heal every person
no he does not and so he is truthful
notice what he says this is the
confidence this is the basis of my
confidence
that if i ask anything according to his
will
who knows all things has all power who
loves me unconditionally if i ask
anything about his will
he’s going to hear me and if i know that
he hears me i know that i have the
petition that i deserve of him if i ask
something that’s not his will then he is
under no obligation
answer so somebody says well god isn’t
truthful because
here’s what he said i made this request
god says he answers prayer asking it
shall be given you seek and you shall
find
knocking that shall be opened unto you
but what what’s the issue
if i ask according to his will he does
not change
he does not falter he does not hesitate
he does not fail to keep his word he’s a
god of truthfulness
and a god who does not change and the
fact that he is unchangeable
is a great source of comfort and
assurance for every single one of
us for example he says
if thou shall confess without mouth
jesus as lord
you will be saved confessing him is lord
and you mean that you’ll be saved now
is that sometimes or all the times all
the time
if i confess i agree with him
that he is the lord and master of my
life i will be saved
now is that all the time is that just
certain people
believe on the lord jesus christ thou
shalt be saved what does that mean
and when somebody says oh i believe in
jesus christ
but they believe that he was that he is
that he’s somebody that he’s a savior
but not believing unto the point of
accepting him
as atoning for their sin and
acknowledging him is the lord of their
life
it’s a whole different story so somebody
says well i believe in jesus you mean to
tell me i’m not going to heaven
if you do not believe in jesus christ
with the meaning of what that word means
to
it is a word of action something must
take place if you believe in jesus
christ
as your savior something has to take
place the forgiveness of your sins
repentance of your sins
and accepting the lord jesus christ as
the lord master of your life
he’s truthful in every single aspect and
so when somebody says yes but god this
no no no no
he can’t change his truthfulness because
it’s his nature
it’s his nature to be all-knowing his
nature to be all-powerful
his nature to be always present his
nature to be always truthful
and his nature continually
always there doing
exactly what he promised to do he’s
unchanging
let’s eliminate all five of those
attributes of god
and what kind of god do you have
if he doesn’t know everything if he
doesn’t have all power
and if he’s not always in reach and if
he’s not always truthful
and if he’s changing what confidence do
you have see what an awesome god we have
and if any of that’s missing you don’t
have any assurance about anything in
life you say well
i’ve trusted jesus as my savior i’m
going to heaven when i die
well but suppose god’s changed the whole
plan he hadn’t changed the plan
everything is the same god
doesn’t change and if he did we would be
hopelessly
and helplessly confounded in every
single area of our life
every promise would be up for grabs
every promise would be questionable
well here’s what he said but god does
change his mind no he doesn’t
somebody says yes he does and so i want
to bring up a passage of scripture
let’s go back let’s just take jonah for
example this is a good example
god said to jonah i want you to go to
nineveh and
and preach the message that judgment is
coming
judgment is coming so he goes and he
preaches judgment is coming
and the scripture says they turn to the
lord the king calls for fast they turn
to god
and so there is no judgment somebody
says see there
god changed his mind no he didn’t now
listen carefully
it’s one thing for god to make a
statement that is conditional
and though it is not spoken here this is
exactly
it was conditional because why would god
have them have him preach the truth of
the message of god’s
imminent judgment and they all
at least a big large part of the city
enough of them
repented of their sins turn to the lord
and then god wipe them out what was his
purpose his purpose wasn’t to destroy
him his purpose was to bring about
a a repentance and a revival throughout
nineveh
and that is exactly what happened so god
didn’t change his mind it was
conditioned upon that
and he says he doesn’t change his mind
what listen why would god
change his mind first of all when he
knows past present and future
so he already knows so he has to change
his mind he makes
some promises conditioned upon certain
things he makes some that are
unconditional
and many things for example what he said
to abraham i’m going to make you a great
nation
he didn’t say if you obey me or if you
do not he said i’m going to make you a
great nation and all the nations of the
earth will be blessed
period unconditional when he said to
jonah the preacher there in nineveh
what happened they repented was what
god’s goal was
not to destroy them but to bring them to
repentance and the reason
the ladies and gentlemen didn’t want to
go to begin with is because he didn’t
like him
he didn’t want him to be saved and you
remember he ends up sitting under a tree
and moaning and groaning and complaining
to god the very last part of the book
because god did what he said he would do
did god change his mind no god
accomplished his purpose
and jonah was the person through whom
god spoke
so he doesn’t change his mind so i ask
you again and the reason i emphasize
this is because i think we believe a lot
of things but
we don’t have any basis for it but i
want you to say again the character of
god
cannot change if he’s perfect
how would it change he is the ultimate
of every single thing the ultimate in
knowledge and wisdom and power
what what how could you change
perfection
the very ultimate and so therefore you
and i have a god
when he says that he is going to be
faithful
he is faithful and he cannot change
because it’s his nature
not to change and so when these things
happen in scripture that’s just one
answer we can give you some more
he said for example in first samuel
chapter 15
when samuel said to saul so
god is he is ripping the kingdom from
your hands
and you will no longer be king and the
passage simply says
god will not lie or change his mind
that’s what he told him and he didn’t of
course
so when you think about what’s the basis
of your faith
why do you believe him why do you trust
him what is it about god that you can
absolutely think about this you’re
trusting your whole
eternal life on the promise
and the reason you’re trusting your holy
eternal life on the promise is because
you believe that the god
who made that promise is not going to
change his mind
and when he says it’s through the shed
blood of his son
jesus you don’t believe he’s you don’t
think he’s going to change his mind
you accept his promises based on the
fact that he is god
and that he’s a god who doesn’t change
his mind who knows all things
and has all power everything is just
within his reach
and it would be absolutely totally
completely
unacceptable to try to describe
god as one who changes his mind and who
thinks this today and that tomorrow
so you have to look at all five of those
attributes
that’s the basis by which you and i can
say
god is a faithful god if he makes a
promise he’s going to keep it
if he gives us a warning he’s going to
fulfill it
and so when you think about your faith
we’re talking about the basis of your
faith when you think about the basis of
your faith
your whole faith is based on your
understanding of who god is what is he
like
and when people say to you well i don’t
believe all that stuff well what do you
believe
and you listen to somebody who doesn’t
believe in god and it sort of tickles me
at times i’m thinking
they’re just going round and round and
round and round
nothing is certain nothing is nothing is
really solid
it’s just it’s just gibberish
because when you eliminate the one true
god
and you eliminate the character of god
there is no assurance of anything
and no hope and so when it comes to life
and death
you either believe he’s faithful when he
says absent from the body
present with the lord is that once in a
while
is that an exception no it is the
promise to every single believer
and jesus said he would come for us
receive us unto himself that where he is
that’s where we’re going
we’re going to be how many of you are
expecting
one day to die and go to heaven
on the basis of what
one simple thing the promise of the son
of god
who never changes his mind and who
listen
who has all power to make it a reality
when i think of people who are not
believers
and they talk about what assurance they
have which is none
and think about if they would just stop
and think well now
now what what what
what is it out there how am i and they
just hem her around
they have no hope no that is they may
have a hope but it’s totally unfounded
our hope isn’t just a hope it is a hope
with the assurance given to us by god
whose very character is such that he
does not change and every single promise
he’s given us in the scripture
he’s going to keep now this is
demonstrated throughout the scripture
let’s just take for example run through
a few of them quickly
when he said to adam and eve in the
garden in the day that you eat of the
fruit of this tree
you’re going to die
did god want them to die no did he
change his mind though he did not
he made a provision for them
through the shedding of blood that’s why
they had skins
they have skins you got to have death
and you got to have blood
so he said you’re going to surely die
they didn’t die physically but they died
spiritually
for example when he said to noah noah
here’s what i’m going to do i’m going to
destroy every living thing on the face
of this earth
i want you to build this ark you take
you and your family and all these
animals
and i’m gonna put you in the ark and i’m
gonna destroy everything on the earth
that’s exactly what he did then he says
i’ll never do it again that way
and he hasn’t that’s why he gave us a
rainbow
you see god hasn’t missed anything god
is a god
of promise and assurance and confidence
he wants his people to be confident
that’s why our testimony ought to be
bold
listen the reason most people don’t have
a bold testimony is they can’t defend
their faith
and they say well here’s what i believe
but why do you believe it
why do you believe that god will answer
your prayer
why do you believe that he’s going to
take you home to heaven why do you
believe that he’ll empower you why do
you believe there was
because you believe the promises of god
well watch this you can believe those
things but then when you get in the
midst of a big trial and things are
tough and looks like you’re not going to
make it you’re going to lose everything
or
your family’s falling apart do you still
believe it
he hasn’t changed watch this our
emotions
oftentimes sort of run counter
to the promises of god and we have to
decide
am i going to believe what i feel am i
going to believe what god
said and that’s where faith and doubt
crash so i think also about what he said
to abraham the 12th chapter
of genesis he said abraham
i’m going to make you the father of a
nation that will be like the sands of
the sea
and he says all the earth is going to be
blessed
out of your loins is that what he did
that’s exactly what he did
and so you have the nation of israel you
have the coming of the messiah
everything that god promised and notice
that he didn’t say if you do this and so
that was an unconditional promise of god
here’s what i’m going to do now watch
this when god makes a conditional
promise
it’s conditioned upon something we do or
do not do
when he makes an absolute unconditional
promise
nothing can change it because
it is unconditionally the word of the
living god
i think for example in his promise of
the virgin birth in isaiah
that’s what he said and that’s who jesus
was born of a virgin
i think about for example what what uh
jesus said in the 16th chapter of
matthew
when he was talking to his disciples and
he said to them he said
um i’m going to be i’m going to be
persecuted i’m going to be
crucified and i’m going to rise in the
dead well that didn’t make any sense at
all to them
but he was stated and he didn’t say he
was conditioned upon anything he’s this
is what’s going to happen
and that is exactly what happened no one
can point to anything
god’s ever said and said god lied
he’s the god of truth and power and
knowledge and understanding and
unconditional love
he wants us to believe him because
believing him
is our entrance into life eternal
and so god doesn’t just simply give us
some light-hearted
promise or lighthearted invitational if
you’ll just believe this that other
put your trust in me he says for the
gift of eternal life
and our eternal life is conditioned upon
our acceptance of jesus christ for the
forgiveness of our sins
past present and future
we have hope that’s not just hope but
it’s hope grounded
in the very nature of god himself so
let’s think about for example if god is
not a faithful god
with all these attributes when you get
down to pray what would you think
you think i hope so
i hope so if all these things are not
true you pray well lord i hope so
and the truth is our relationship would
be meaningless how can you have a
relationship with somebody
you don’t trust and if god’s changing
his mind
not exercising his power you don’t know
how he’s going to operate
then there is no assurance no confidence
in our life
and how would we respond to life
if we do not have unconditional promises
of god
and you face storms in life
when you and i go through storms in life
what gets us through them
the pr listen the promises of
god is what gets us through them lord
you said here’s what you would do
if i would pray and trust you if i
yielded my life to you
it is the unconditional promises of god
that gets us through the storms of life
and if he’s changing if he alters his
course somehow then what happens
we have no assurance none whatsoever
of what’s going to happen so it’s all
based on his faithfulness
that god is who he says is and that it
does not change
it would certainly be impossible to have
any kind
of real true genuine assurance and
confidence
if god was not absolutely faithful
so let’s think about
why we can rest in his faithfulness for
a few moments
we said we’re talking about resting in
the faithfulness of god
how can we rest in that no matter what
we are facing well first of all
turn to lamentation chapter 3 for a
moment just turn there for a moment
go past isaiah and jeremiah and
look at this third chapter he says
verse 22 the lord’s kindnesses
indeed never cease
his compassions never fail
they’re new every morning great
is your what faithfulness
great is your faithfulness so first of
all we can rest in
his faithfulness simply because
he’s not going to change and he’s a
faithful god
in first thessalonians 5 24 one of the
reasons we can rest in his faithfulness
is because
he here’s what he says he says whatever
he calls us to do
he will empower us to do it that is a
promise of god that’s an unfailing
promise
whatever he calls us to do he will
empower us to do it
so for example you say well maybe god is
calling me to be a sunday school teacher
what’s my promise my promise is this he
says
if i call you to do it i will empower
you i will enable you
watch this it wouldn’t even be honest
with god
if he called you to do something and
then did not enable you or to help you
bring it to pass
likewise he says if we confess our sins
he’s faithful and just the forgiveness
of our sins
if if you don’t believe that he’s
faithful
then how will you ever know and i’ve
heard people say this i said okay we
deal with something about sin in their
life
it’s okay let’s ask god right now to
forgive you of your sins are you willing
to ask him to forgive me yes i am
let’s let’s ask him so they pray and i
say well has he forgiven you
well i hope so wait a minute read that
verse and sometimes i’ve had people read
that verse
up to 10 times
because every time before that they
would say well i think so
well i hope so maybe so i’m not sure now
wait a minute
if god is who he says is and he says if
we confess our sins
that is we agree with him about it he
says
he’s faithful and just righteous that he
has the right
to forgive me for my sins because of
what christ did at the
cross he’s faithful and just to forgive
us of our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness
if god is not faithful i would never
know where i
am the only reason you and i know that
we are saved is because we believe
that he’s true to what he says likewise
i think about uh
first corinthians chapter 10 verse 13.
he says
maybe you should turn to this one first
corinthians 10 13 it’s all about
temptation
and you’ll recall the promise the
awesome promise he makes
in this passage listen to what he says
he says
no temptation whatever the nature of it
is no temptation has taken you but such
is it’s common to man
that is all of us attempt to like in
many many ways
no temptation taken you but such is
common to man but god look at this
but god is faithful
who will not allow you to be tempted
beyond
what you’re able able to bear but will
with the temptation
he will provide the way of escape also
so that you’ll be able to endure it
here’s what he’s saying he has put a
limitation on your temptation now
if that passage of scripture were not in
the bible we’d say well god listen that
temptation is so strong
that you knew how god
you’re the one who tempted me no god
doesn’t tempt us he says he doesn’t
and here’s what else he says this is his
promise he says
i will not allow you to be tempted
more than you can bear if we’ll trust
him
he puts a limitation on temptation and
trials in life
not just temptation or temptation to do
wrong but trials in life
he he has a limit why because he loves
you and me
unconditionally and he would be he would
listen it wouldn’t it wouldn’t even be
righteous in the eyes of god to require
us to do something
that he knows that there’s no possible
way for us to do it and he doesn’t come
to our rescue and help us do it
he says he will make a way to escape
that whatever we are dealing with
he will help us to marry he says for
example
in psalm 119 look at this passage a
moment in psalm 119
in the 75th verse i want you to notice
of what the psalmist says he says i know
o
lord that your judgments are righteous
that is they’re always right
and then he says i also know that in
faithfulness
you have afflicted me that is sometimes
the affliction that comes upon us
is god doing what he’s being faithful to
his word
and so he loves us enough that he
doesn’t want us sinning against him and
living disobediently before him and so
what does he do
he sends enough affliction to get our
attention to change your attitude
change our mind to start living
obediently before him
and so what he’s saying he says i’m
grateful that you love me enough
that you’re faithful listen to that he
says you’re faithful
i’m glad you’re faithful in afflicting
me
and sometimes we we think afflictions
and difficulties and hardships are all
bad
none of it’s from god yes it is
discipline is from god
and it is an act of his faithfulness
to get us back in line doing what he
would have us to do and of course we’ve
talked about
his answer in prayer and
let’s think about what what jesus said
in the sermon of the mount
he said in the sixth chapter he says
our heavenly father knows our needs
before
we even have them and that he’ll meet
our needs is that a promise yes it is a
promise
and you say well is it conditioned i
think it is conditioned it’s conditioned
if a person is lazy
and slothful and doesn’t care there’s a
whole different issue
but god is willing to he’s willing to
meet our every single need
because he’s a god who loves us
unconditionally
and that’s that’s the kind of love he
has his love is unconditional for his
children
and therefore he’s going to meet every
single need that we have
and he says for example that uh
in romans 8 28 you know that by heart
god causes all things to work together
for good to those who love him to those
who call it on this purpose
is that a promise yes it is
and if we didn’t have that promise think
about the frustration we would have
in difficulty in hardship if god is
allowing us to go through difficulty
he’s a god of purpose he is a righteous
god in other words he isn’t just sitting
back
and watching things happen in your life
and mine he
is involved in our life he has we have
been indwelt
by the spirit of the living god and
indwelled by the spirit of the living
god we have been sealed forever as a
child of god
so when somebody says well i know i’ve
been saved and i know i’ve been sealed
but i think i think you can still be
lost
then what you’re saying is that god who
indwelt you
and said that he saved you for all
eternity
he lied now you tell somebody who
believes you can fall from grace then
they don’t like that at all
i can tell you they don’t but that’s
what they’re saying i know that’s i know
that’s what it says
but i believe that you sent against god
you’re going to be lost
then what you’re saying is that god did
not tell the truth
now i know that it’s a misconception
they have but that’s
ultimately that’s what it says
either he’s righteous in everything or
he’s an unrighteous god
this is an awesome god for example in
the first verse of the first
chapter of the bible when it says in the
beginning
god created the heavens and the earth
the god word there is elohim
infinite in power infinite in power
absolute in his faithfulness
has all power infinite in power absolute
in his faithfulness
that’s the god who is unchanging
who has all power all knowledge all
understanding
who loves us unconditionally who has the
best for us who comes there rescuing any
in every situation
who limits the trials and heartaches he
allows in our life
and he has promised us
a resurrection body well
so you say well i i don’t know about
that part
well let me ask you this if you’re
willing to watch this if you’re willing
to trust your salvation
on a single promise of god
based on the cross but it’s a single
promise of god
would you not trust what he said about
your resurrection body
and i think people sometimes they get
their emotions all mixed up in it all
and they stop they don’t stop to think
wait a minute i’m trusting my whole
when i come to death i’m either going to
be screaming
in fear i’m going to be rejoicing in the
lord that i’m about to meet him
now if you don’t have any certainty
about it you know it’s going to be a sad
time
you base your whole eternity on what you
believe
about god that he is faithful to keep
every single promise he’s made
without fail and here’s the issue you
can look at this book you can go from
genesis to revelation
and you’re not going to find any verses
in here or anything god does
that he makes a mistake or he is an
error or he forgot
god never says oh i thought he never
says oh i see
he doesn’t say any of that why because
he’s this infinite indescribable awesome
god who loves his children
and who is committed to us for all
eternity
now there’s one last thing i want to say
about that
he’s also faithful
to the unbeliever no wait a minute how
can that be true
we’ll turn to matthew chapter 7 for a
moment turn to matthew chapter 7
and let’s look at this 21st verse
now remember what he said what we said
he is a god of truth
he does not lie not everyone who
verse 21 chapter 7 not everyone who says
to me lord lord will enter the kingdom
of heaven
but he who does the will of my father
who is in heaven will enter
many will say to me in that day lord
lord did we not prophesy in your name
and in your name
cast out demons and in your name perform
many miracles
and then i will declare to them i never
knew you
depart from me you who practice
lawlessness
what is he saying he says listen
he is a faithful god who keeps his word
people who pretend to be christians and
pretend good works and think that’s
sufficient
and boast that it is he says they’re
going to be separated from god for all
eternity
look if you will in john chapter 3
and look in this if you will we know
john chapter 3 16 and all that
but when it comes down to verse 36 he
said
he who believes in the son has eternal
life but he who does not obey the son
will not see life
but the wrath of god watch this not will
but is abiding in him or on him that is
people who are lost
are under the wrath of god and listen
this is what he says he’s a god of truth
and so
he’s going to be faithful to that look
in the 20th chapter of the revelation
for a moment and look at this terrible
passage of scripture
because it is terrible of what’s going
to happen to people
who die without christ and
the 20th chapter beginning in that 11th
verse
and notice notice what he says
he says then i saw a great white throne
and him who sat on it
from whose presence earth and heaven
fled away and no place was found for
them
and i saw the dead the great and small
standing before the throne and the books
were
opened another book was opened which is
the book of life
and the dead were judged from the things
which were written in the books
according to their deeds
and the sea gave up the dead which were
in it death and hades gave up the dead
which are in them
and they were judged every one of them
according to their deeds
then death and hades
were thrown into the lake of fire and if
anyone’s name was not found written in
the book of life
he was thrown into the lake of fire
you say do you believe all that let me
ask you a question does god lie
no he doesn’t what i want you to see
having never trusted jesus as your
savior do you understand
that it has nothing to do with the love
of god god loves you unconditionally
but he is a god of truthfulness he’s the
god who keeps his promise
listen he is a god who keeps his promise
and his warnings that if you disobey me
there will be consequences you obey me
there are great wonderful consequences
you must choose
what to believe or not to believe a god
who is a god of truth
who does not change his mind who has all
power
all knowledge always present
and a god who loves you unconditionally
would you reject him
you may still say i don’t believe all
that
but let me just remind you your unbelief
does not change the promise
of the living god that puts you in a
pretty bad spot
you can change that you say well how
by acknowledging that jesus christ is
the son of god who went to the cross
and when he went to the cross he laid
down this life on the cross shed his
blood
for you and me that is he paid our sin
that in full with his life
and the moment you and i ask him to
forgive us of our sins
and surrender our life to him it isn’t
just something you say
you yield your life to him and that
moment your sins are forgiven
the bible says you are sealed with a
seal the holy spirit of promise
your name is written in the lamb’s book
of life you are forever
a child of god now you have this awesome
faithful god indwelling you in the
presence of the holy spirit
to enable you to live a godly life to
enable you to achieve and accomplish
everything that god has in mind for you
it’s a choice you make
but let me just say this it is an
eternal choice
to say no to god is an eternal disaster
to say yes to god
is an eternal blessing
that is yours for the asking and the
receiving
and that’s our prayer for you and father
how grateful we are
that you’re who you are awesome
indescribable holy god
would you sink this message in every one
of our hearts
would you remind us daily who you are
and let us live on the basis that we
have you living within
us trustworthy
trustworthy god faithful god
dependable reliable in every way
what an awesome blessing i pray the
spirit of god
would enrich each one of us deepen
our understanding of you and take this
father and apply it to our hearts in
such a way
that our faith rises our sense of
confidence increases
everything about us begins to change
when we recognize
whose we are whom we serve
and who loves us unconditionally in
jesus name
amen god
is always faithful and by trusting in
his promises
believers can experience his perfect
peace in every situation
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dad
dad
have we tried the drill i’m with you
buddy
nearly 2 000 years ago the apostle john
recorded christ’s great unveiling
revelation god’s climactic story of hope
fulfilled warning
the day of wrath and judgment
blessed are those who will live forever
in the new heaven
and earth
share a personal message on a beautiful
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many people see the bible as a
collection of rules or as a road map to
becoming a good person
but was the bible meant to be a morality
textbook
though it contains wisdom unmatched by
anything in the world
god’s word offers so much more today an
in touch viewer ask
about the standards god requires and
they’re right
what is meant by james 1 27
it talks about other religions being
acceptable to god
many religions have the traits mentioned
in this verse
does that mean god accepts them well let
me explain this verse to you
first of all it does not refer to other
religions at all
it does not give us a definition of
religion pure and undefiled means true
and genuine
life-changing it must be more than
external
and sprang from an inner spirit of
compassion and holiness before god
religion is more than superficial it’s a
genuine act of love
living a godly life true worship more
than buildings in ritual and formal
religious activity
the verse is not referring to other
religions so the answer to your question
is simply no
for example in the ten commandments if
you’ll notice uh
in this twentieth chapter of exodus if
you’ll notice for example what the lord
says
he said you shall not worship them
speaking of other gods
or serve them for i the lord your god
i’m a jealous god
visiting the iniquity of the fathers on
the children on the third and fourth
generations of those who hate me
so he says we’re to worship him and him
or does he recognize other gods
absolutely he does not and in james
he warns us about this thing but jesus
also for example
he says in the 14th chapter and the
sixth verse
i am the way the truth and the life no
one comes to the father but by me
james would be a contradiction to all of
this
well thank you for joining us for this
broadcast of in touch and remember
obey god leave all the consequences to
him
it’s the only way to enjoy life at its
very best
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god and compassion for people
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