Sermon Notes
Pastor Jeff Stanfill

Faithful
June 25, 2006 - PM Service

MAKING YOUR HOME A TREASURE HOUSE
(THE COMMUNICABLE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD)
FAITHFUL
TEXT: ET AL
INTRO:
"God will always do what He says and fulfill what He has promised." (Grudem).

ILLU: Cymbala song

Why can this be said of God? Because God is truthful; He is the true God, and all that He knows and says are true; what He knows and says is the final standard of truth.

Num 23:19. God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?

Prov 30:5. "Every word of God is flawless;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Titus 1:1-3. Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness- 2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,

What does it mean that God is the true God? God in His own being is the one who fully conforms to the idea of what God should be. He is infinitely perfect in power, in wisdom, in goodness, in lordship over time and space, and everything else revealed to us about God. Other presentations of god are not what a god should be - tyrannical, cruel and capricious, distant and uninvolved or uncaring.

But who can define what a god should be like? Should it be us? This is circular in how it sounds but God is the one who defines what God should be like. He conforms to His own idea of what He should be like for, after all, He is God!

Being the true God, all His knowledge is true and is the final standard of truth. God is never mistaken in His perceptions or His understandings of the world and each one of us. All that He knows is true and is a correct understanding of the nature of reality. All of God's words about Himself, about nature, and about us are true for He knows what is true.

And as the true God, He does not lie, which is what we just read in the witness of Scripture. Furthermore, what He says is true not only because it conforms to what He knows to be true but because what He says is the final standard of truth. So what conforms to His Word is true and what does not conform to His Word is untrue.

From this we can say that if we think about something the way God thinks about it then we are thinking correctly about that thing. If we do something in the way God says it is to be done, we are doing it correctly. If we feel toward something the way God feels about it, then we can say we are feeling properly about it.

And this true God has declared that He Himself is faithful.

Deut 32:4. He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.

Ex 34:6. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

Ps 100:5. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Ps 33:4. For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.

1 Cor 1:9. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

1 Thess. 5:24. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

God will always do what He has said and fulfill what He has promised!

*God can be relied upon.
*God will never be proven unfaithful to those who trust Him.
*

We reflect this attribute of God by our being faithful. We are faithful both in and out of our homes; in and out of our churches; in and out of our desired places.

1. Speak truthfully. 2 Cor 1:18. But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No."

Col 3:9-10. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Eph 4:25. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

Speaking truthfully is admitting our wrongs, our weaknesses, and our waywardness. Confession of sin before God and before those to whom we should confess is being faithful for it is humbly speaking of ourselves as we truly are.

Speaking truthfully is arriving at the stated location at the designated time. As I understand culturally, in areas of the world where agreed upon times are not kept - much like the Middle East - the issue is my being late is a statement of my superiority; I do not have to arrive except when I want to arrive. So a couple of hours past the agreed time is expected. But in our culture punctuality can reflect God faithfulness as we are being truthful about when we agreed to do something.

2. Be loyal. I am reluctant to apply this for it is easily misapplied. When properly applied, loyalty reflects God's faithfulness. In a marriage, loyal is more than a physical issue - it means no flirting with any one other than my spouse; no emotional adultery or pornography. Rather I remain loyal to my spouse.

It means rallying around my family, friends, and other believers when they are attacked. Supporting them in difficult times.

And this is the corrective to misapplying loyalty - speaking the truth means telling them when they are wrong, advising them away from grave mistakes, not defending the wrong that they may do but helping them redeem the wrong they have done.

3. Enjoy the security that faithfulness brings! Remember 1 Thess. 5:24. God's faithfulness gives us strength and assures our protection. So our being faithful to our friends, family and church gives all the security of the relationship. When you know you cannot fall down, you will skate all over the ice and attempt jumps you may never try otherwise!

CONCL:
God is faithful! He will always do what He has said and fulfill what He has promised.

Chuck Colson's article December 2005.

Dark nights of the soul come to all believers. But God always does what He says and fulfills what He has promsied.