WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.259 about the truth that the God we worship promises. 00:00:06.299 --> 00:00:08.439 Someone has said that promises are like crying 00:00:08.439 --> 00:00:11.599 babies in a church. It's best when they're carried 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:16.940 out immediately. However, sometimes promises 00:00:16.940 --> 00:00:19.699 can't be carried out immediately for one reason 00:00:19.699 --> 00:00:22.859 or another. And in cases like that, promises 00:00:22.859 --> 00:00:26.879 are like money. Much easier to make than to keep. 00:00:28.899 --> 00:00:35.179 God is one who promises and always is able and 00:00:35.179 --> 00:00:41.780 does carry out what he has said. It seems appropriate 00:00:41.780 --> 00:00:45.659 to me that on Mother's Day we focus on this particular 00:00:45.659 --> 00:00:50.679 attribute of God, his faithfulness, because there 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:54.500 is no image of faithful love that is more powerful 00:00:54.500 --> 00:01:00.109 than that of a mother. I don't know if you understand 00:01:00.109 --> 00:01:03.609 how radical this idea is that God is faithful. 00:01:04.969 --> 00:01:08.049 We sing about it, we study about it, we hear 00:01:08.049 --> 00:01:11.049 about it so much that we take it for granted. 00:01:13.650 --> 00:01:16.390 But imagine for a moment that God were not faithful, 00:01:17.629 --> 00:01:22.049 that God were arbitrary in keeping His promises. 00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:26.730 We would live our lives at the best in uncertainty. 00:01:27.150 --> 00:01:31.670 and at the worst an absolute terror. Wondering 00:01:31.670 --> 00:01:35.870 when God would keep which promises, if any of 00:01:35.870 --> 00:01:40.409 them, to us. Suppose God were faithful to some 00:01:40.409 --> 00:01:47.670 people, but not faithful to others. We must never 00:01:47.670 --> 00:01:51.930 take for granted the faithfulness of God. Yet 00:01:51.930 --> 00:01:54.590 it's hard for us to get a hold of what this means 00:01:54.590 --> 00:01:58.469 because we measure faithfulness by the world 00:01:58.469 --> 00:02:02.730 in which we live, a world that is dominated really 00:02:02.730 --> 00:02:06.769 by deceit and by lies. For we live in a world 00:02:06.769 --> 00:02:10.550 order that has fallen into sin, the very first 00:02:10.550 --> 00:02:13.849 of which was a lie, sold to Adam and Eve, which 00:02:13.849 --> 00:02:17.449 they believed. And since that time, the world 00:02:17.449 --> 00:02:21.090 order has been based largely upon deceit and 00:02:21.090 --> 00:02:26.250 lies as the norm. Doing business with a handshake 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:31.340 or by the giving of one's word, are as much antiques 00:02:31.340 --> 00:02:36.719 in 1991 as furniture that was made 30 or 40 years 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:40.060 ago. It was a little humbling this last week 00:02:40.060 --> 00:02:43.759 to be in some antique stores in Red Wing and 00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:46.800 there to go through and see toys and other objects 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:50.000 that are being sold as antiques, toys that I 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:55.710 played with when I was a kid. Give me a break. 00:02:55.930 --> 00:02:59.729 These aren't antiques, but they command the price 00:02:59.729 --> 00:03:04.229 of antiques. But is there anything more old -fashioned, 00:03:04.389 --> 00:03:07.250 more out of date than the idea that you simply 00:03:07.250 --> 00:03:13.150 seal a deal with a handshake? Whole professions 00:03:13.150 --> 00:03:16.590 are built up around the fact of the dishonesty 00:03:16.590 --> 00:03:21.770 of the human race. Today, commitments are made. 00:03:23.370 --> 00:03:27.349 but casually broken if the commitments become 00:03:27.349 --> 00:03:33.590 inconvenient. Ask merchants about return checks. 00:03:35.009 --> 00:03:38.870 Ask the government about student loans. Ask the 00:03:38.870 --> 00:03:46.830 IRS about tax fraud. Ask schools about excuses 00:03:46.830 --> 00:03:51.449 for absences. Ask leaders of organizations from 00:03:51.449 --> 00:03:54.750 the PTA to local ministries and churches about 00:03:54.750 --> 00:03:58.650 promises. And inevitably you find the same rather 00:03:58.650 --> 00:04:03.710 sad story. That the human race has a poor record 00:04:03.710 --> 00:04:07.210 at keeping promises. Now we live in a world like 00:04:07.210 --> 00:04:10.569 that. And sadly too often we accommodate ourselves 00:04:10.569 --> 00:04:16.509 to that. But you and I worship a God who never 00:04:16.509 --> 00:04:21.399 breaks. a promise. Now it's good to keep in mind 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:24.980 that some of his promises are conditional. In 00:04:24.980 --> 00:04:27.240 other words, there's something that one needs 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:31.939 to do in order to receive the promise. But there 00:04:31.939 --> 00:04:34.339 are other promises of God that are unconditional. 00:04:35.620 --> 00:04:39.620 For example, God's promise to Abraham regarding 00:04:39.620 --> 00:04:45.160 a seed and a land and a blessing unconditionally 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:49.209 given to Abraham and to his descendants. Or for 00:04:49.209 --> 00:04:51.910 that matter, the promise that God will preserve 00:04:51.910 --> 00:04:56.029 those who trust in Jesus Christ until that time 00:04:56.029 --> 00:04:59.269 that they are with Him in heaven, the security 00:04:59.269 --> 00:05:02.449 of salvation, unconditionally promised to those 00:05:02.449 --> 00:05:07.129 who believe in Christ. God always keeps His promises. 00:05:07.550 --> 00:05:10.750 He is the God who cannot lie, as was read in 00:05:10.750 --> 00:05:13.889 our text earlier. He cannot lie because He is 00:05:13.889 --> 00:05:20.060 the truth. He is the truth. There is no lie in 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:24.199 Him. And that's why it says in 2 Timothy 2 .13, 00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:30.439 God cannot deny Himself. Though we may fail to 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:34.920 believe God at some point or another, He is always 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:37.699 faithful because He can deny Himself. What He 00:05:37.699 --> 00:05:43.759 is, He is the truth. And we read in 1 Kings 8 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:48.259 verse 56, not one word has failed of all his 00:05:48.259 --> 00:05:51.839 good promises. The God that we worship promises. 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:56.939 And he will faithfully bring to pass all his 00:05:56.939 --> 00:06:00.939 word. Hebrews 10 and verse 23 says, Let us hold 00:06:00.939 --> 00:06:07.160 fast the confession of our hope without wavering, 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:12.620 for he who promises is faithful. And then that 00:06:12.620 --> 00:06:14.699 text that's on the front of our bulletin this 00:06:14.699 --> 00:06:18.500 morning from Psalm 89. that says, I will sing 00:06:18.500 --> 00:06:22.420 of the Lord's great love forever. With my mouth 00:06:22.420 --> 00:06:25.040 I will make known your faithfulness through all 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:28.839 generations. O Lord God Almighty, who is like 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:33.399 you? You are mighty and your faithfulness surrounds 00:06:33.399 --> 00:06:37.980 you. Think with me of how the faithfulness of 00:06:37.980 --> 00:06:40.579 God may be observed. It can be observed, for 00:06:40.579 --> 00:06:43.939 example, in nature. Turn with me your Bible to 00:06:43.939 --> 00:06:59.720 Genesis chapter 8 and verse 22 Genesis 8 22 After 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:05.240 the flood Noah built an altar and Offered sacrifices 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:08.360 to the Lord and the Lord came down and made a 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:13.970 promise He says in verse 22 of Genesis 8, while 00:07:13.970 --> 00:07:18.769 the earth remains, seed time and harvest and 00:07:18.769 --> 00:07:21.930 cold and heat and summer and winter and day and 00:07:21.930 --> 00:07:26.149 night shall not cease. Now there is a promise 00:07:26.149 --> 00:07:29.310 that God made. It is a promise regarding the 00:07:29.310 --> 00:07:34.709 seasons and the cycles of creation. Some of these 00:07:34.709 --> 00:07:37.009 apparently were not present before the flood. 00:07:38.049 --> 00:07:40.670 The earth seems to have been temperate in all 00:07:40.670 --> 00:07:44.430 of its regions before the flood, but the flood 00:07:44.430 --> 00:07:50.649 tremendously changed the atmosphere of the world. 00:07:51.410 --> 00:07:53.889 And so from that time on there were seasons, 00:07:54.069 --> 00:07:59.160 there was cold, and there was heat. And there 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:02.480 was not continual harvest, but there was a time 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:05.240 for planting, and then a time for harvest, and 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:09.560 a time for the earth to lie at rest. And summer 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:12.079 and winter were apparently not present then, 00:08:12.100 --> 00:08:14.240 although day and night were. But God is saying 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:17.079 that from this time onward, as long as there 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:22.540 is the world, there will be seasons and there 00:08:22.540 --> 00:08:26.579 will be cycles in nature. God has kept His promise. 00:08:27.550 --> 00:08:30.129 There are some times when those of us in Minnesota 00:08:30.129 --> 00:08:32.210 think he's coming just a little short on one 00:08:32.210 --> 00:08:35.409 end of the promise regarding heat and summer, 00:08:36.690 --> 00:08:41.950 but eventually it always comes around. You see, 00:08:42.029 --> 00:08:44.750 we can observe the faithfulness of God in nature, 00:08:44.929 --> 00:08:47.789 the very reason that we can have such a thing 00:08:47.789 --> 00:08:52.809 as science. Which is built upon the idea that 00:08:52.809 --> 00:08:56.149 you can experiment and you can expect under the 00:08:56.149 --> 00:08:58.909 same conditions using the same things the same 00:08:58.909 --> 00:09:05.970 results every time You can even see in that the 00:09:05.970 --> 00:09:09.009 faithfulness of God building into the creation 00:09:09.009 --> 00:09:14.309 those kinds of laws that permit scientific experimentation 00:09:17.129 --> 00:09:19.610 And then we can see the faithfulness of God in 00:09:19.610 --> 00:09:23.230 covenants that he makes. In chapter 9 of Genesis, 00:09:23.549 --> 00:09:27.690 God makes a covenant with Noah and the generations 00:09:27.690 --> 00:09:31.889 following him, including ourselves. God spoke 00:09:31.889 --> 00:09:34.610 to Noah, it says in verse 8, and to his sons, 00:09:34.649 --> 00:09:37.690 saying, Now behold, I myself do establish my 00:09:37.690 --> 00:09:41.070 covenant with you and with your descendants after 00:09:41.070 --> 00:09:43.529 you. And he goes on to explain some of that. 00:09:44.560 --> 00:09:48.080 And then notice what he says in verse 12, this 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:50.720 is the sign of the covenant which I am making 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:52.860 between me and you and every living creature 00:09:52.860 --> 00:09:55.399 that is with you for all successive generations. 00:09:56.019 --> 00:09:59.100 I set my bow in the cloud and it shall be for 00:09:59.100 --> 00:10:02.000 a sign of a covenant between me and the earth 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.639 and it shall come about that when I bring a cloud 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:07.440 over the earth that the bow shall be seen in 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:10.929 the cloud and I will remember my covenant. Which 00:10:10.929 --> 00:10:13.149 is between me and you and every living creature 00:10:13.149 --> 00:10:15.970 of all flesh and never again shall the water 00:10:15.970 --> 00:10:21.529 Become a flood to destroy all flesh Every time 00:10:21.529 --> 00:10:23.970 that there is a storm and the result of the storm 00:10:23.970 --> 00:10:27.870 afterward is a rainbow in the heavens It is another 00:10:27.870 --> 00:10:30.590 time when God is showing the sign of the noach 00:10:30.590 --> 00:10:35.149 covenant God says you see there is an end to 00:10:35.149 --> 00:10:38.830 the storm There is not a flood to destroy the 00:10:38.830 --> 00:10:42.620 whole world has happened in the days of Noah. 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:47.899 God is faithful to His covenants. This is but 00:10:47.899 --> 00:10:50.580 one example of them. And it's an example of a 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:55.139 covenant made with all humanity. It's an example 00:10:55.139 --> 00:10:58.240 of a covenant with a visible sign that God still 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:03.960 gives today. The rainbow. We see the faithfulness 00:11:03.960 --> 00:11:06.120 of God in the history of the world. We're in 00:11:06.120 --> 00:11:11.059 Genesis. We'll turn to Genesis 15. And here we 00:11:11.059 --> 00:11:14.000 have a record of God's covenant with Abraham. 00:11:16.659 --> 00:11:18.879 The Lord came to him in a vision and said, Do 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:23.000 not fear, Abram, I am your shield. Your reward 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:27.440 shall be very great. And Abraham said, O Lord 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:32.080 God, what wilt thou give me, since I am childless? 00:11:32.600 --> 00:11:35.460 And the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus. 00:11:36.350 --> 00:11:39.190 Abram said, Since thou hast given me no offspring 00:11:39.190 --> 00:11:43.490 to me, one born in my house is my heir. Then, 00:11:43.490 --> 00:11:45.549 behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 00:11:45.590 --> 00:11:49.230 This man will not be your heir, but one who shall 00:11:49.230 --> 00:11:52.429 come forth from your own body, he shall be your 00:11:52.429 --> 00:11:56.669 heir. And he, the Lord, took him outside and 00:11:56.669 --> 00:11:59.090 said, Now look toward the heavens and count the 00:11:59.090 --> 00:12:02.429 stars, if you are able to count them. And he 00:12:02.429 --> 00:12:06.309 said to him, So shall your descendants be. then 00:12:06.309 --> 00:12:09.269 he, Abram, believed in the Lord and he reckoned 00:12:09.269 --> 00:12:13.529 it to him as righteousness. Abram believed the 00:12:13.529 --> 00:12:16.590 word of God. And what was the word? The promise 00:12:16.590 --> 00:12:20.750 that God made? That he would have an heir that 00:12:20.750 --> 00:12:24.029 would come from his own body. And that eventually 00:12:24.029 --> 00:12:28.789 this man who was childless now would have descendants 00:12:28.789 --> 00:12:31.889 that would be numbered like the stars of the 00:12:31.889 --> 00:12:40.779 heavens. Has God kept His promise? Yes. Multiplied 00:12:40.779 --> 00:12:44.240 millions of the descendants of Abraham in the 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:51.759 world today. Some of them through Isaac. Some 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:56.080 of them through Ishmael. But He has multiplied 00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:00.419 millions of descendants today in your generation 00:13:00.419 --> 00:13:02.480 of mine living in the world and they have been 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:07.220 here since the days of Abraham. God keeps His 00:13:07.220 --> 00:13:10.259 promises. We see it in history. We see it in 00:13:10.259 --> 00:13:16.899 the nation of Israel still existing today. I 00:13:16.899 --> 00:13:23.840 haven't seen a Hittite recently. Have you? Many 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:27.100 of the ancient nations are no more. Some peoples 00:13:27.100 --> 00:13:31.299 bear the same names. But in the Jewish people, 00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:34.519 in the nation of Israel, we have the descendants 00:13:34.940 --> 00:13:42.159 the very descendants of David. God has kept His 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:45.639 promise and has preserved that people. And today 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:49.139 has allowed them to come together again as a 00:13:49.139 --> 00:13:52.940 political entity for His own purposes. And yet 00:13:52.940 --> 00:13:55.840 sometime in the future, God is going to supernaturally 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:58.759 restore them to the land and bring them back 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:03.860 to faith in Him and in His Messiah. God keeps 00:14:03.860 --> 00:14:08.299 his promises. But all of us today share in another 00:14:08.299 --> 00:14:10.700 of God's promises, and that is the promise of 00:14:10.700 --> 00:14:15.279 redemption. In Isaiah 7, 14, God said, Behold, 00:14:15.340 --> 00:14:21.679 a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. You shall 00:14:21.679 --> 00:14:27.539 call his name God with us, Emmanuel. Galatians 00:14:27.539 --> 00:14:30.519 chapter 4, the apostle says, God sent forth his 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:37.259 son. made of a woman. God sent the Redeemer. 00:14:37.700 --> 00:14:40.799 The promise was fulfilled in that virgin birth 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:45.879 prophecy of Isaiah 7 -14. And Jesus Christ was 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:50.759 born and went on to the cross and there offered 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:54.779 the sacrifice for human sin. God fulfilled His 00:14:54.779 --> 00:14:59.769 promise of sending a Redeemer. And today he extends 00:14:59.769 --> 00:15:02.669 the promise to all people who will believe in 00:15:02.669 --> 00:15:06.330 that Redeemer. That whoever will call upon the 00:15:06.330 --> 00:15:11.009 name of the Lord will be saved, will be redeemed 00:15:11.009 --> 00:15:16.549 from sin, and made a child of God. God keeps 00:15:16.549 --> 00:15:21.629 his promises. Because the God we worship keeps 00:15:21.629 --> 00:15:26.090 his promises. There's some application to our 00:15:26.090 --> 00:15:29.850 lives that are kind of exciting. One is that 00:15:29.850 --> 00:15:33.610 knowing the God who faithfully promises means 00:15:33.610 --> 00:15:38.809 laying aside falsehood ourselves. If you and 00:15:38.809 --> 00:15:42.129 I know the God who promises and who faithfully 00:15:42.129 --> 00:15:46.990 keeps his word, it is an instruction to us who 00:15:46.990 --> 00:15:50.389 are his children to likewise lay aside falsehood. 00:15:50.809 --> 00:15:55.409 Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4, the fourth 00:15:55.409 --> 00:16:07.370 chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians. The 00:16:07.370 --> 00:16:11.049 apostle says, and we'll just begin in verse 22, 00:16:13.009 --> 00:16:17.610 in reference to your former manner of life, you 00:16:17.610 --> 00:16:21.090 lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted 00:16:21.090 --> 00:16:26.789 in accordance with the lusts of deceit. If there 00:16:26.789 --> 00:16:33.529 is one central core issue with the old self, 00:16:34.110 --> 00:16:40.389 it is the issue of deceit. It eats away and it 00:16:40.389 --> 00:16:47.090 corrupts the natural man. Deceit. The apostle 00:16:47.090 --> 00:16:51.629 says here, lay aside that old self and be renewed 00:16:51.629 --> 00:16:54.710 in the spirit of your mind and put on the new 00:16:54.710 --> 00:16:59.289 self which in the likeness of God has been created 00:16:59.289 --> 00:17:04.609 in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Just 00:17:04.609 --> 00:17:07.789 the opposite of deceit. Then he says, therefore, 00:17:07.910 --> 00:17:15.109 laying aside falsehood, speak truth. You and 00:17:15.109 --> 00:17:19.170 I need to learn to be honest as the children 00:17:19.170 --> 00:17:24.069 of God. To be honest, not just because it's a 00:17:24.069 --> 00:17:27.170 good thing to do and it's beneficial to society 00:17:27.170 --> 00:17:31.690 and it keeps our reputation intact. Those are 00:17:31.690 --> 00:17:34.369 all fine reasons, but they're secondary. We need 00:17:34.369 --> 00:17:39.210 to be honest. because by our faith in Jesus Christ, 00:17:39.230 --> 00:17:43.470 we have been made new people. And we want to 00:17:43.470 --> 00:17:46.430 lay aside and take off the manner of life that 00:17:46.430 --> 00:17:50.869 was a part of our old self, with its deceit and 00:17:50.869 --> 00:17:54.890 its lying and its dishonesty. And we want to 00:17:54.890 --> 00:17:59.769 put on the new self, which is created in the 00:17:59.769 --> 00:18:03.990 holiness of truth. And because of who we are 00:18:03.990 --> 00:18:09.750 in Jesus Christ, to lay aside falsehood. We want 00:18:09.750 --> 00:18:13.430 to be honest with others. When we make a commitment, 00:18:13.529 --> 00:18:16.470 we make a promise to somebody, we keep that promise. 00:18:17.470 --> 00:18:23.710 God helping us. That even to our own loss, we 00:18:23.710 --> 00:18:28.710 keep our word. Oh, there is such a need for this 00:18:28.710 --> 00:18:32.769 example in our world. And when it exists, what 00:18:32.769 --> 00:18:42.710 a difference there is. What a tremendous testimony 00:18:42.710 --> 00:18:47.009 it is in an office when there is a man or woman 00:18:47.009 --> 00:18:51.569 who works there as a child of God and who is 00:18:51.569 --> 00:18:57.329 honest and who holds up integrity and truthfulness 00:18:57.329 --> 00:19:01.130 before everybody else in the office. It raises 00:19:01.130 --> 00:19:05.349 the standard of morality in everybody because 00:19:05.349 --> 00:19:09.069 of the presence of that one who is there. Be 00:19:09.069 --> 00:19:11.930 that kind of a child of God who makes a difference 00:19:11.930 --> 00:19:19.930 in the world. Be honest also with yourself. If 00:19:19.930 --> 00:19:22.269 there's any lying that we tend to do easily, 00:19:22.569 --> 00:19:24.869 it's when we lie to ourselves. We let ourselves 00:19:24.869 --> 00:19:28.410 off with excuses that are just a little shady. 00:19:30.269 --> 00:19:33.349 Or there are times when we say things to ourselves 00:19:33.349 --> 00:19:38.339 and self -talk that's a lie. We say to ourselves, 00:19:38.579 --> 00:19:43.559 you're so stupid. You always blow it. It isn't 00:19:43.559 --> 00:19:47.880 true. We all make mistakes, but it isn't true 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:50.460 to say to ourselves, you're stupid and you always 00:19:50.460 --> 00:19:54.000 blow it. That's a lie. Get rid of that kind of 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:58.380 vocabulary. Be honest with yourself before God. 00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:06.059 Of course, be honest with God. Be honest with 00:20:06.059 --> 00:20:11.000 God. And when you make a promise to God, when 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:13.500 you make a commitment to God, keep that promise. 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:20.400 I know, O Lord, says the word, that thy judgments 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:23.660 are righteous, and that in faithfulness thou 00:20:23.660 --> 00:20:28.460 hast afflicted me. Knowing God who faithfully 00:20:28.460 --> 00:20:30.960 promises means laying aside falsehood, but it 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:34.119 also means abiding under the discipline of the 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:40.569 Lord. God in faithfulness afflicts us. Psalm 00:20:40.569 --> 00:20:44.450 89 is about the affliction that is upon the people 00:20:44.450 --> 00:20:47.349 of God and yet the faithfulness of God is upheld 00:20:47.349 --> 00:20:51.309 there. In Hebrews chapter 12 we have a beautiful 00:20:51.309 --> 00:20:54.849 expression of God's faithful love to us when 00:20:54.849 --> 00:20:58.529 it says that God as a father who loves his children 00:20:58.529 --> 00:21:04.470 disciplines us. Mothers who love their children. 00:21:05.849 --> 00:21:08.190 Discipline them in the name of little fathers 00:21:08.190 --> 00:21:11.710 who love their children discipline them and God 00:21:11.710 --> 00:21:14.970 disciplines us not because he's angry Not because 00:21:14.970 --> 00:21:17.849 God is mad at us not because God wants to make 00:21:17.849 --> 00:21:20.869 us miserable, but because God wants our good 00:21:20.869 --> 00:21:25.430 That's why we discipline our children When we 00:21:25.430 --> 00:21:27.829 discipline our kids is because we have a longer 00:21:27.829 --> 00:21:31.430 few of the consequences of this disobedience 00:21:32.170 --> 00:21:34.970 We understand what it can mean if this kind of 00:21:34.970 --> 00:21:38.990 a routine or habit continues on and so we intervene 00:21:38.990 --> 00:21:44.190 We say no you can't do that and God does the 00:21:44.190 --> 00:21:48.150 same thing He's able to look ahead. He sees the 00:21:48.150 --> 00:21:51.309 consequences, and he says my child. I love you 00:21:51.309 --> 00:21:56.509 therefore He takes us to the woodshed and we 00:21:56.509 --> 00:22:00.130 get our discipline When you and I undergo the 00:22:00.130 --> 00:22:04.009 discipline of God Rather than making us bitter 00:22:04.009 --> 00:22:07.869 at God, we should lift our hearts to God in gratitude 00:22:07.869 --> 00:22:12.230 that it's an expression of His faithful love. 00:22:15.369 --> 00:22:19.869 Knowing the God who faithfully promises means 00:22:19.869 --> 00:22:24.670 resting upon His character. 2 Thessalonians 3 00:22:24.670 --> 00:22:28.750 .3 talks a little bit about this. A great expression 00:22:28.750 --> 00:22:31.569 of the Apostle. It's interesting in this book, 00:22:31.650 --> 00:22:33.730 these two books written to the Thessalonians 00:22:33.730 --> 00:22:36.569 who were going through a time of suffering, Paul 00:22:36.569 --> 00:22:39.049 underscores the faithfulness of God and he says 00:22:39.049 --> 00:22:43.450 in verse 3 of 2 Thessalonians 3, the Lord is 00:22:43.450 --> 00:22:48.029 faithful and He will strengthen and protect you 00:22:48.029 --> 00:22:52.150 from the evil one. Dear friend, listen to me. 00:22:52.329 --> 00:22:56.869 No one has ever trusted God in vain. No one. 00:22:58.519 --> 00:23:03.099 God is faithful to His promises and you and I 00:23:03.099 --> 00:23:11.240 can learn to rest upon His character. We live 00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:13.880 in a world where we have a hard time believing 00:23:13.880 --> 00:23:18.720 people in authority because so often what has 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:23.579 been said has either been shaded in the giving 00:23:23.579 --> 00:23:26.880 of the facts or what has been promised doesn't 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:30.910 come through. And so we hear people in authority 00:23:30.910 --> 00:23:34.309 say things and we just let it go off our backs 00:23:34.309 --> 00:23:36.750 like water off a duck's back. It doesn't stick 00:23:36.750 --> 00:23:39.589 with us because we expect them not to keep their 00:23:39.589 --> 00:23:46.029 word. That's sad. That's the world we live in. 00:23:46.109 --> 00:23:50.329 But God is different. When God says it, you can 00:23:50.329 --> 00:23:58.029 count on it. Instead of expending so much energy 00:23:58.029 --> 00:24:04.509 and worry and anxiety, we can relax and we can 00:24:04.509 --> 00:24:08.009 trust God to be in control of our circumstances. 00:24:09.490 --> 00:24:14.170 The Lord is faithful and He will protect you, 00:24:14.210 --> 00:24:19.509 says Paul, from the evil one. He will. Will you 00:24:19.509 --> 00:24:22.420 believe that? And what you're passing through 00:24:22.420 --> 00:24:25.980 right now, today, this weekend, will you believe 00:24:25.980 --> 00:24:28.700 that God is faithful and He will protect you? 00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:33.420 That you don't have to run around anxiously worrying? 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:42.180 Give it to God and rest in Him. I hope that our 00:24:42.180 --> 00:24:47.680 hearts today can soar with knowing God who is 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:51.170 faithful to His promises. I hope that we can 00:24:51.170 --> 00:24:55.269 begin to get a hold of the radical nature of 00:24:55.269 --> 00:24:59.130 this truth. That God is so completely different 00:24:59.130 --> 00:25:05.690 than our normal sphere of reference. God is absolutely 00:25:05.690 --> 00:25:10.730 trustworthy. We can depend on Him. Because He 00:25:10.730 --> 00:25:14.349 is the God who promises, let that embolden us 00:25:14.349 --> 00:25:18.009 to be innovative in our visions of serving Him. 00:25:18.410 --> 00:25:21.809 Do you have some dream or some desire of serving 00:25:21.809 --> 00:25:25.509 God that just seems so impossible to where you 00:25:25.509 --> 00:25:28.789 are? Is God planting in you a vision of some 00:25:28.789 --> 00:25:31.690 kind of service for Him? Or some way that you 00:25:31.690 --> 00:25:34.970 can serve Him there in the office? Or in your 00:25:34.970 --> 00:25:37.450 factory? Something that you can do that right 00:25:37.450 --> 00:25:43.029 now just doesn't seem possible? Be bold and trust 00:25:43.029 --> 00:25:47.920 God. Go for it. Let the faithfulness of God embolden 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:52.859 you to plow ahead and not to look back. Let it 00:25:52.859 --> 00:25:55.480 also provide you with confidence to trust Him 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:59.819 in your greatest challenges of life. It may be 00:25:59.819 --> 00:26:01.619 that there's a mom here today and you say my 00:26:01.619 --> 00:26:04.079 greatest challenge is just going home today and 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:10.019 facing what I have to face in my family. There 00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:14.430 are some moms like that. Will you let the faithfulness 00:26:14.430 --> 00:26:18.630 of God provide your confidence to go home and 00:26:18.630 --> 00:26:22.609 face it? Let the faithfulness of God stir you 00:26:22.609 --> 00:26:26.950 to keep your promises and to fulfill your word 00:26:26.950 --> 00:26:34.069 just as God does to us. Back in 1983 a terrible 00:26:34.069 --> 00:26:41.890 tragedy took place in Beirut. Almost 300 Marines 00:26:43.210 --> 00:26:46.349 were killed in a terrorist explosion. You remember 00:26:46.349 --> 00:26:49.789 it well. And how this building that was supposed 00:26:49.789 --> 00:26:52.170 to be strong and well -guarded in which they 00:26:52.170 --> 00:26:58.849 were sleeping was impacted with a car filled 00:26:58.849 --> 00:27:01.190 with dynamite. The result was the whole building 00:27:01.190 --> 00:27:07.650 just collapsed into a rubble heap. Some Marines 00:27:07.650 --> 00:27:12.160 lived through the terrible fire. that followed 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:16.460 the explosion. One of them was visited by General 00:27:16.460 --> 00:27:21.299 Kelly in the hospital a few days after the explosion. 00:27:22.339 --> 00:27:26.220 He was wrapped from head to foot in bandages. 00:27:26.900 --> 00:27:33.380 Tubes were going in and out of his body. He could 00:27:33.380 --> 00:27:40.549 not talk. General Kelly expressed the gratitude 00:27:40.549 --> 00:27:44.390 of the United States government for his service. 00:27:46.170 --> 00:27:50.509 And the Marine, with pain, motioned for a pad 00:27:50.509 --> 00:27:57.609 and a pencil. He could not speak. And with the 00:27:57.609 --> 00:27:59.690 strength that he had, he took that pencil in 00:27:59.690 --> 00:28:02.650 his hand and he began to write letters on this 00:28:02.650 --> 00:28:20.180 pad of paper. E -M -P -E -R -F -I. That was as 00:28:20.180 --> 00:28:24.019 far as he could go. But it was clear to General 00:28:24.019 --> 00:28:26.759 Kelly exactly what he was saying. It was an abbreviated 00:28:26.759 --> 00:28:31.539 version of the motto of the Marine Corps. Semper 00:28:31.539 --> 00:28:40.640 Fidelis. Always Faithful. Oh, as children of 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:45.559 God, that that should be our goal. Our God is 00:28:45.559 --> 00:28:51.660 always faithful to us, semper fidelis. May that 00:28:51.660 --> 00:28:55.900 motto be written on our lives, that we might 00:28:55.900 --> 00:29:00.039 imitate our Heavenly Father and like Him be faithful. 00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:05.900 We worship a God who promises. Let's pray to 00:29:05.900 --> 00:29:13.819 Him. Would you stand with me please as we pray? 00:29:16.180 --> 00:29:19.039 Fathers, a congregation of people, we stand in 00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:23.420 your presence. How we thank you that you are 00:29:23.420 --> 00:29:30.859 simple fidelis, always faithful. We worship you, 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:35.559 we bless you, because you are absolutely trustworthy. 00:29:37.500 --> 00:29:44.829 Forgive us. when we fail to remember that. But 00:29:44.829 --> 00:29:48.890 right upon our hearts today afresh, I pray, a 00:29:48.890 --> 00:29:52.829 desire to be like You, Father, to be faithful 00:29:52.829 --> 00:29:58.210 to our Word, to give our promise and to keep 00:29:58.210 --> 00:30:01.329 it with all of the strength and grace that You 00:30:01.329 --> 00:30:05.670 would give us. Whether it be in the context of 00:30:05.670 --> 00:30:10.220 our marriage vows, our responsibilities in the 00:30:10.220 --> 00:30:15.400 home, in your work in the world, or in our jobs. 00:30:16.339 --> 00:30:22.059 May we be a faithful people and thus bring glory 00:30:22.059 --> 00:30:28.460 to you. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.