God will do all that He says He will do. That is the bedrock of God’s faithfulness. Because He is faithful, He will keep His promises, fulfill His threats, preserve His people, discipline His people, and help His people in temptation.
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The Faithfulness Of God
If we could compare God to a diamond, we have been turning the diamond this way and that to see its beauty. Everywhere we turn the diamond we see a new display of its beauty and glory. And it is the same with God. We look at His self-existence, and tri-unity, and immutability and we see a particular glory of His person. We look again at His knowledge, presence, and power, and we see another aspect of glory. We look again at His holiness, and there is a whole new vista of beauty in God. Today, we are going to turn the diamond again, and behold the faithfulness of God.
Now, what do we mean by the faithfulness of God? When we say that God is faithful we simply mean that God will always do what He said He would do. Now when you really think about a Being that always does what He said He would do, it is really amazing. How many people do you know that always do what they said they would do? How many people do you know that always do exactly what they say every single time? Well, if we are talking about people, the answer is no one! I have never met a person like that. Some people are better about fulfilling their commitments than other people are, but I don’t know anyone that always fulfills their commitments. However, the God of the Bible does just that. He always does exactly what He says He will do, without fail.
To put it another way, God is reliable. He is dependable. He is trustworthy. That word trustworthy, is a good synonym for faithfulness. To be trustworthy is to be worthy of someone else’s trust. You can only be worthy of another person’s trust if you do what you say you will do. If you continually break your word, others can’t trust you.
It is not just that God was faithful to one generation, but not to another. Ps. 119:89-90 says, “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands.”
And it is not just that God almost always acts faithfully. Isaiah 25:1 says, “O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name; for You have worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.” Just like all of God’s other attributes, His faithfulness is perfect.
And its not that God does most of His works in faithfulness. Psalm 33:4 says, “All His work is done in faithfulness.”
In fact, Psalm 36:5 says, “Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.” And it is not just that God the Father is faithful. Jesus Christ, God the Son is faithful as well. He is called the Faithful Judge (Rev.19:11); the Faithful High Priest (Heb.2:17); the Faithful Apostle (Heb. 3:1-2); and the Faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5).
This morning I’m going to break down the faithfulness of God into 5 areas. The fact that God is faithful means at least these 5 things: He will keep His promises; He will fulfill His threats; He will preserve His people; He will Discipline His people; and He will support His people in Temptation.
1. The Faithfulness of God Means That God Will Keep His Promises
On several occasions God appeared to Abraham and promised him a son. He made promises to Abraham in Genesis 15, 17 and 18. Then in Genesis 21:1 the Bible says, “Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised.” God made a promise, and God kept that promise.
Later, when Joshua was an old man and preparing to die he said, “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed (Josh.23:14).”
Later, when Solomon offered a prayer of dedication when the temple was finally constructed. In 1 Kings 8:56 he prayed “Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant.” Notice the repetition of the word promise in this passage. Solomon declared that not one word of all that the Lord had promised had failed.
Since God will keep all His promises, let’s bring to mind some of His promises. Here are 10 Biblical promises we can trust God for.
- Hebrews 13:5, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.”
- Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
- Romans 8:32, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”
- Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
- Romans 6:14, “Sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
- Philippians 4:19, “my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
- Matthew 6:33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
- Isaiah 26:3, “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.”
- Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
- Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
- Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
- Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
2. The Faithfulness of God Means that God will Fulfill His Threats
The faithfulness of God is a double-edged sword. Yes, it means that He will fulfill His promises for His children. But it also means that He will fulfill His threats upon the wicked. Let’s look at some Biblical passages that teach this.
2 Timothy 2:12-13, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” Now, for a long time I thought this passage was saying that even if I was faithless, God would be faithful to me to save and keep me. But, the more I look at the passage the less likely that interpretation seems. If we endure in faith, we will reign with Christ. But if we deny Christ, He will deny us. If we are faithless (deny Him), He remains faithful. Faithful to do what? Deny us! Why would God do that? Because He is faithful to His threats, and He cannot deny Himself. If God did not deny those who are faithless and deny Him, He would deny an essential attribute of His person – His faithfulness. In other words, God will be faithful to His threat of denying those who deny Him.
Psalm 54:5, “He will recompense the evil to my foes; destroy them in Your faithfulness.”
Psalm 96:13, “He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.”
Revelation 19:11, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.” Jesus Christ is called Faithful, and because He is faithful He judges and wages war with the enemies of God.
Joshua 23:15, “It shall come about that just all the good words which the Lord your God spoke to you have come upon you, so the Lord will bring upon you all the threats, until He has destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you.”
So, what threats has God made to the wicked?
Mark 16:16, “he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”
John 5:28-29, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”
Hebrews 2:3, “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”
Hebrews 10:26-27, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.”
Folks, you can be sure that God will be just as faithful to fulfill His threats as He will be to keep His promises. If He has said it, He will surely do it. There really is a day of Judgment coming! Those that do not believe the gospel will be condemned. There really is a Hell that some people will find themselves in. Many will find out too late that God will be faithful to His threats!
3. The Faithfulness Of God Means That He Will Preserve His People
One of the most precious truths that flows from the faithfulness of God is that God will preserve His people. He will keep them. He will glorify them. How do we know? Let’s look at God’s word.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” Paul is praying for the Thessalonians that they would experience entire sanctification. What is that? It is for their spirit, soul and body to be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, it is connected with the eternal security of the saints. But why does Paul believe God will sanctify them entirely? It is because God is faithful. He was faithful to call them, and He is faithful to bring their complete preservation to pass.
It is because of God’s faithfulness that Paul could write in 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.” Why was Paul confident of that? Because He knew that God is faithful.
Paul gives us the same truth in 1 Corinthians 1:7-9, “so that you are 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 were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Again, Paul points to the second coming of Christ, and says that He will confirm us to the end, blameless. But how does Paul know that? It is because He knows that God is faithful. He was faithful to call us, and He will be faithful to confirm us to the end blameless.
Listen to this beautiful promise from Jeremiah 32:40, “I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.” Now here God promises two things: 1) that He won’t turn away from us to do us good; 2) that He will put the fear of God in our hearts so that we won’t turn away from Him. So, if God promises not to turn away from us, and He says that we won’t turn away from Him, that means He is faithful to keep us in His love and grace forever!
Do you believe that truth? You might be skeptical like I was for the first 10 years of my Christian life. Someone would tell me that no one can snatch me out of Christ’s hand, but I would retort, “Yes, but I can jump out!” Someone would say that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, but I would respond, “maybe so, but I can separate myself by my own free will.” However, did you notice in all the texts we have read tonight about God preserving His people because of His faithfulness, that there are no conditions to that promise? The Scriptures simply tell us what God will do. He will preserve us complete. He will confirm us to the end. He will perfect His work in us to the day of Christ Jesus. He will not turn away from us. He will put the fear of Him in our hearts so that we don’t turn away from Him. When the Bible speaks about our security in Christ, it always points to God’s work. God can’t fail! He will be faithful, and that’s why we are secure.
My friends, rejoice in that truth. Rest in that truth. Believe that truth!
4. The Faithfulness Of God Means He Will Discipline His People
Psalm 119:75 says, “I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.” When God afflicts us, He does it in faithfulness. He is keeping His word concerning us. How could God be faithful to keep us, if He did not also afflict and discipline us when we went astray?
Listen to the word of Psalm 89:30-34, “If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments, if they violate My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes. But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. My covenant, I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.”
Proverbs 27:6, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” Now I know that we usually apply this to ourselves as the friend that must faithfully inflict a wound to help his friend. However, Jesus is our Friend. He called us friends. And He as our friend, is faithful to wound us when we desperately need it.
The next time you feel like the Lord is disciplining you, rather than become angry or resentful, be thankful! He is only disciplining you because He is faithful to you! If He were not faithful, He would let you go on in your sin to your utter destruction. “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12:6).
5. The Faithfulness Of God Means That He Will Support His People In Temptation
I get this truth from 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.” Now, this is a precious promise indeed! God is faithful to us in our temptations in two different ways. First, He is faithful by not allowing us to face temptations that are beyond what we are able. Second, He is faithful to provide the way of escape from the temptation so that we will be able to endure it.
Now it is true that we don’t always take that way of escape, but God is always faithful to provide it. If we give in to temptation and sin against God, we can never give the excuse that there was just no way that we could endure that temptation. The humbling truth is that there was a way of escape, but we ignored it, because we didn’t want to escape.
Conclusion
So, my friends, what does God’s faithfulness mean for you and me?
- Let’s not worry. God can be relied on. He won’t let us down. He’s got everything in control, and He can be completely trusted and relied upon to do what is right concerning us. Friends, the Christian doesn’t have to worry. In fact, to worry is to sin. When we worry, we are saying “I don’t believe God is sovereign and faithful and good.” If I did believe God to be sovereign, faithful, and good, there would be nothing to worry about! That means that I can relax, knowing that He is faithful.
- Let’s not grumble. Whatever God is doing, it is right. He loves us and is working all things together for our good. Those “all things” will include adversity and suffering. But let’s not grumble and complain. Instead, let’s thank God, knowing that this is necessary for us right now. If we know that He is faithful, we can resign ourselves to His will, knowing that no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
- Let’s not be unfaithful. Our God is absolutely faithful to us in all things. Shouldn’t we strive to emulate Him in this regard? Faithfulness is a communicable attribute, meaning God can communicate this to us to some degree. Let’s seek to be like Him. Let’s seek to be loyal to Him, committed to Him, dependable and reliable to do His will in our lives.
- Let’s not be distrusting. If God is faithful, He is trustworthy. If anyone was ever worthy of our trust, it is God! So, when you find a promise in God’s word, believe it! He is faithful – so exercise faith in His word. He is trustworthy, so trust His Word. Refuse to doubt God’s precious promises. Lay hold on them, and trust Him, until you see Him face to face.
Let’s pray.
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