The Faithful God

Hebrews 11, where we'll read together the first 19 verses. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

! This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith, we understand that the universe was formed at God's command so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

By faith, Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith, he was commended as a righteous man when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith, he still speaks even though he is dead.

By faith, Enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death. He could not be found because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.

And without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists in that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. By faith, Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear, built an ark to save his family.

By his faith, he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

By faith, he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents as did Isaac and Jacob who were heirs with him of the same promise.

For he was looking forward to the city with foundations whose architect and builder is God. By faith, Abraham, even though he was past age and Sarah herself was barren, was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.

And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by faith when they died.

They did not receive the things promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.

If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

By faith, Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.

Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from the dead. Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man, who can find?

That was Solomon's observation on the rarity of faithful men in his day. They were hard to find. His father David went even a step further and viewed the faithful as an extinct species.

Help, O Lord, for the godly are no more. The faithful have vanished from among men. We don't have to look far to feel the same sentiments today, do we?

Where are the faithful politicians? The faithful judges? The faithful husbands and wives who stood at a marriage altar and promised their unfailing love until death do us part.

Where are the faithful children to honor and obey their parents? Faithful students not to cheat. Faithful pastors not to be unfaithful to their flocks.

And church members to be faithful to their commitments. Wherever we look among men, we see the ugly face of unfaithfulness. So it's a refreshing breath of fresh air to us this morning to lift ourselves above this earthly scene and to fix our eyes on our God and to see one who is 100% faithful.

We're wanting to know what God is like. That's the search we're on. And we've come to His word where He Himself tells us what He is like. We found Him to be the uncreated Creator.

We have found Him to be the unchangeable God. Now this morning we come to see Him as the faithful God. Listen to the united testimony recorded in Scripture.

From those who knew Him best. Moses. At the end of his life. 120 years. He's been through a lot. He knew God like no other man knew Him.

Face to face the Scriptures tell us. And he had this to say about Him. As he speaks to that new generation of Israelites ready to go on into the promised land.

Deuteronomy 7, 9. Know therefore. That the Lord your God is God. He is the faithful God.

Keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love His name. And keep His commands. He is the faithful God.

Faithfulness is not just something He does. It is something He is. It's part of His very essence. His nature. So much so that if you take faithfulness out of God.

You no longer have God. 2 Timothy 2.12 If we are faithless. He will remain faithful. He cannot disown Himself.

He can't un-God Himself. So much is faithfulness a part of deity. Thank you Moses.

David to the witness stand. A man after God's own heart. And wherever you turn in the Psalms. You find that he can't say enough about the faithfulness of God.

Psalm 33.4 For the word of the Lord is right and true. He is faithful in all He does. Not only is He faithful. But all He does is faithful.

He's never done anything to anyone. That has not been in perfect faithfulness. To the truth. To all that He is. To all that He said. Psalm 89.9 O Lord God Almighty.

Who is like you? You are mighty O Lord. And your faithfulness surrounds you. Psalm 146.5 and 6. David celebrates the blessedness of the man.

Whose help and hope is the God. The Lord His God. The maker of heaven and earth. The sea and everything in them. The Lord who remains faithful forever.

His faithfulness surrounds Him. He remains faithful not just for a time. Not just up to a point. But forever and ever. He is the faithful God.

Jeremiah. We've read his letter on Sunday mornings. We read another chapter this morning. Jeremiah in the dungeon. Left there for a long time. What do you have to say about your God?

Jeremiah. Well we find that. This testimony of God being faithful. Is the testimony of the saints. Even in their most trying. Hours. They praise Him for His faithfulness.

Isn't that a peculiar trait. About the people of God. In the midst of their lamentations. This much they know for sure.

About God. That He's faithful. So lamentations. 3. 22 and 23. Jeremiah. Speaks for the. Suffering.

People of God. His compassions. Never fail. They are new. Every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Breaks out from speaking about God.

To praising God directly. Great faithfulness. But this testimony is not only true of those who knew God best. It's true of.

God's own view of God. In other words. This is how God identifies Himself. To us in Scripture. As the faithful God. God. Moses.

You remember said. Show me your glory. Lord. And so. God did so. By passing in front of Moses. And proclaiming His name. His nature.

That is His glory. Who He is. And this is what He proclaimed. The Lord. The Lord. The compassionate and gracious God. Slow to anger. Abounding in love.

And forgiveness. Faithfulness. Or and faithfulness. Excuse me. And faithfulness. So that's how God would be known. It's a God who's abounding.

In faithfulness. It's His glory. That He is faithful. And notice it's something He abounds in. There's no shortage of. He is.

Abounding in faithfulness. Now that is the united testimony. Of Scripture. Dozens of places. Where God's faithfulness. Is explicitly stated. Even more where it's clearly demonstrated.

The Bible is saying. Don't miss this about God. God is saying. Don't miss this about me. I am the faithful God. Indeed creation. Bears this same testimony.

God made a promise. Back in Genesis 8. In verse 22. As long as the earth endures. Seed time and harvest. Cold and heat.

Summer and winter. Day and night. Will never cease. Are we enjoying. The heat of summer. After the cold of winter.

God is faithful. Are we enjoying. Day after night. God is faithful. Are we enjoying. Harvest. After seed time.

God is faithful. God is faithful. Summer and winter. Spring time and harvest. Sun. Moon and stars.

And their courses above. Join with all nature. In manifold witness. To his great faithfulness. Mercy and love. He's a great God. Who is.

Great. In his faithfulness. The rainbow. In the sky. Says God is faithful. he keeps his covenant promises. Now what do we mean when we say God is faithful?

Just precisely what does faithfulness mean in God? Let's consider three things this morning. First of all, it means he's truthful in all he says. What God says is true.

That's what it means to be faithful. His statutes are fully trustworthy, the psalmist says. Yes. Kids, sometimes you hear people tell you something and after they've told you, you say, I wonder if that's really true.

You never have to ask that question with the things God tells you. Because he's faithful. That means he's truthful in all he says. His descriptions are never exaggerated.

There's no distortion in them. There's no deception, no falsehood. He does not lie. In fact, Hebrews 6 and verse 18 says he cannot lie.

It is impossible for God to lie because God is faithful. And to lie would be to deny who he is. It would un-God God. He cannot lie.

So, kids, this is of great importance to you. If you hear God say something, you can always know that it is absolutely true. So, if God tells you in his word that he created the heavens and the earth by his powerful word in six days, you know it's true.

His word defines reality. He's the faithful witness. If his word tells you that at one time this earth was covered with water so that everything died, every living man and woman and child that was not in the ark died, then you know it happened.

It happened. It doesn't matter whether scientists can figure out how can you cover this planet with water. It happened. God is faithful. He is truthful.

All his responsibilities. We can ask, what is a faithful father? What does a faithful father look like? Well, he's one who fulfills all his responsibilities as a father to his family, isn't he?

He loves them. He protects them. He provides for them. He instructs them in the ways of the Lord. He disciplines them. He nurtures them.

He prepares them for life outside of his home. He's a faithful father because he fulfills his responsibilities. Our God is a faithful father to all his believing children in Christ Jesus.

Do you know, as a father to you who are his children, he does not leave any of his responsibilities undone. He's the faithful creator, as 1 Peter 4.19 says.

Absolutely faithful in all of his creation. He's the faithful shepherd. Leading, guiding, protecting, feeding, being with his sheep.

He's the faithful judge of the entire moral universe. Perfect justice. He's faithful. He's not careless. He's not delinquent in any of his responsibilities.

He's the faithful God. And lastly, for God to be faithful means that he keeps all his promises. Truthful in all he says.

Faithful in fulfilling all his responsibilities. And he keeps all his promises. David knew his God well. And he says this about him in Psalm 145 and verse 13.

The Lord is faithful to all his promises. Now, that can't be said of anyone else. But God. You've been faithful to some of your promises.

God has been faithful. God is faithful to all his promises. None are broken. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Never. He's the faithful God. So, do you have a promise from God? You're memorizing one if you're going through our memory pack.

You're halfway through Philippians 4.6. The promise comes in verse 7. Do you have a promise from God? Well, you can take it to the bank. It's pure gold. It's as sure as a done deal.

It's going to happen. Because God keeps all of his promises. Here's an old man. Weathered, wrinkled man.

He grew up a slave in Egypt. A Hebrew slave in Egypt. He was waiting for the redemption of Israel. He went through the Red Sea with Moses and the rest of the children of Israel.

He went through those 40 years of meandering in the wilderness. And then he replaced Moses and led the charge into the promised land.

Joshua. Joshua. Joshua. He's at the end of his life. And he stands before the people of God. And leaves them with this last word.

In Joshua 23 and verse 14. Here's his last word. And isn't it interesting? That it's a testament to the faithfulness of God. Now I am about to go the way of all the earth.

You know with all your heart and soul. That not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled.

Not one has failed. You know that. You've lived it. You've seen it. What were some of the promises.

That had not failed. That God would come and redeem his people. After this long period of bondage in Egypt. It didn't fail. He came for his people.

That he would lead them into the promised land. They might have a land of their own. That he would drive out the inhabitants of the land before them.

That he would be with them and provide for them. All along the way. And many, many other promises. And not one of the promises failed. Do you realize that God would sooner cause water to come out of a rock?

Or food to fall out of the heavens. Then that one of his promises should fall to the ground unfulfilled.

What will God not do to fulfill his promises? This ought to be a great encouragement to your faith, brother and sister. What will God not do to see in your life that all of his promises are fulfilled?

He's faithful to all his promised commitments. This is why no one who ever trusts in the Lord will ever be disappointed. We've been disappointed for trusting in men.

But never God. Never God. Not one of his promises has failed. And one day, dear believer. Every one of you. Believers in Jesus.

Will stand with your feet firmly planted in the promised land. And you will testify with Joshua. Not one of all the good promises of the Lord my God has failed.

He has kept them all. Every one to me. He is the faithful God. Now, let's think then.

If God is faithful, what should I be? If this is my God, how should I be affected by the fact that I have a faithful God?

I mean, that ought to make an impact in the way that I live. Let's consider this. The relationship between God's faithfulness and our faith.

If God is faithful, we ought to be a people of faith. Is God a God of great faithfulness? We ought to be a people of great faith. Faith needs something to rest on.

It can't just hang on a sky hook out there. It needs a foundation. And God's faithfulness is the great foundation of our faith. Now, we turn to the great chapter of faith.

Hebrews 11. And here we meet up with another old man. This time it's Abraham. Abraham. The father of the faithful. And in verse 11, we read this about him.

By faith Abraham, even though he was past age. And Sarah herself was barren. Abraham was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.

Now, isn't that pretty simple? He considered him faithful who made the promise. God's promised me something. And he considered him faithful who made the promise.

So he expected to see it. That's what it means to trust God. That's what it means to walk by faith. To consider him faithful who's made the promise.

That's why when God called him to go to a place that he would later receive as an inheritance, he obeyed and went even though he didn't know where he was going. So, here's this man and his entourage, his whole party coming down the dusty road and you meet him and you say, Oh, hello.

Where are you going? I don't know. Don't know where I'm going. What do you mean you don't know where you're going? You're going somewhere. You're packed up. You've got everything. All I know is that he who promised is faithful.

And he said, I've got a land and he's going to lead me to it. And that's enough. Wow. Can you imagine people walking away from meeting Abraham on the road to where he does not know?

And that's why when... Well... Do you see the reasoning of faith before we go on?

Look at the way faith reasons. There's a promise. God has promised me something. Now, this is the reasoning of faith. Faith says, either God is lying or he's telling the truth.

Either God's a liar or he's faithful. Those are your options. And faith says, I consider him faithful who made the promise. Your responses to the promises of God.

Your response to the promises of God is a readout on your real view of God. Whether or not he's faithful. Don't tell me what your confession of faith says right now.

Don't tell me what your Bible says. If you want the real view of God on which you operate. Your functional view of God. Let me know what you do with the promises of God. Because they say one of two things.

They either say, he who promised is faithful. Or they say, I'm really not all that sure God can be trusted. I'm really not all that sure. There's a question mark with the faithfulness of the promiser.

That's what your doubts and fears and worries in the face of the promises say. Your worries have a voice that says, not sure that the one who promised is faithful.

Faith considers that he who promised is faithful. Takes God at his word. As a gentleman. As a man of his word.

A faithful God. So you see that the promises of God are telling things. They reveal the heart. They reveal whether there is unbelief in God's faithfulness.

Or whether we're actually questioning. The veracity. The truthfulness. The faithfulness. Of our God. Now, there are times when it's not easy to believe the truth about God's faithfulness.

There are times when your hopes and your dreams are dashed. And life seems to be going contrary to the promises of God. And it's a hard thing to believe that God is faithful.

Well, you must wait on God to fulfill his promise in his own time. In his own way. And while you're waiting.

You should be expecting him to do so. And you should be speaking well of his faithfulness. And praising him for it. Abraham faced many of these times when it was hard to believe God was faithful.

When it was hard to act faith. In God's faithfulness. God promised him a son, didn't he? And through that son. An offspring like the sands of the sea.

And the seashore. And the stars of the heavens. That he would become a father of many nations. Through this son. That is to be born. Of Sarah.

But life seemed to mock the promises. The fact was. That his own body was now dead. He was already a hundred years old.

And his wife Sarah's womb was dead. And she was barren. And yet he considered him faithful. Who had made the promise. Hebrews 11.

11 says. Do you see the reasoning of faith here? I'm dead. Sarah's dead. But God's faithful.

And he considered him faithful. So I don't know how this is going to happen. But I know this. God's faithful. Keeps every one of his promises. So Romans tells us. He did not waver through unbelief.

Regarding the promise of God. But was strengthened in his faith. And gave glory to God. Being fully persuaded. That God had power to do what he had promised. One thing he did not do.

He said. I will not doubt the faithfulness of God. And this gave glory to God. Do you know. When you do not doubt the faithfulness of God. You bring glory to God. Is that not why you live dear brother and sister?

To bring him glory. Faith in the naked promise of God. When there's nothing else to make it look like it will come true. Faith that says God is faithful.

Oh how God is glorified. By your faith. In his promised faithfulness. So after waiting 25 years. Abraham sees.

God's faithfulness. In the birth of Isaac. And he laughs. Isaac. He laughs. But then God tells him to sacrifice this son.

Of the promise. The very one through whom. This great offspring will come. Well that's a hard time to believe. The faithfulness of God. Isn't it? Verse 17.

Febers 11. By faith Abraham. When God tested him. Offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises. Was about to sacrifice. His one and only son.

Even though God had said to him. It is through Isaac. That your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned. Abraham reasoned. That God could raise the dead. God. And figuratively speaking. He did receive Isaac.

Isaac. Back from the dead. away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away going to. I guess if I'm going to kill the seed of promise, he's going to have to raise him from the dead. I hadn't seen that before, but one thing he knows, God's going to keep his promise. And he reasons from there. You see, when we don't understand how the promise is going to be fulfilled, it's not time to abandon our trust in God's faithfulness. It's time to get excited. What is God going to do? He has told me that he will fulfill all of my needs through his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. I can't see help arising from any quarter. Where's it going to come from? And it's time to get excited and to start looking in unusual places. God can raise the dead to keep his promise to me. He'll do that before he will fail on his word.

faith reasoning, but holding firm to this bedrock truth about God. He's faithful, the faithful God. Now that is the great story of the Bible. That's the great story from beginning to end.

God made a promise in Genesis 315 that he would save his people through the seed of the woman. And the rest of the Bible shows how God keeps his promise. And it gives us many other promises along the way. And it is the great story of the Bible. God is the faithful God. He's faithful to his promise. That's the story of church history. God, the son keeping his promise to build his church, even though the gates of hell oppose it. Church history is the testament. God is faithful.

That's the story of every Christian biography you've ever read. Why do you draw such encouragement as you read about biography? That's something that happened in the past. What's that got to do with you, Christian? Why are you so encouraged? Because your God doesn't change. He's the same faithful God that he was to Adoniram Judson, to Martin Luther, to John Calvin, that he will be to me, the faithful God. That's the story of every Christian biography. He's faithful to his promises. And if you have faith to believe it, that's the story that is being written about your life, dear child of God. Whoever you are, that's the great theme, the great story.

God has made promises to you. And don't judge his faithfulness halfway through the story. The last chapter has not been written yet. Hang on. It gets better. You'll find him to be faithful to every one of his promises. Judge not the Lord by feeble strength, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.

All his people of all generations. You're talking about great is thy faithfulness. It's so great that it's it's to all his people. Isn't that something? He can be he can be faithful to to Keith Underhill over there in Kenya. And he's faithful to Brian Ellis over there in the Philippines. He's faithful to me here in Bremen and you or you're at it. What great faithfulness to all of his people in all places of all times. And so I I take that ammunition and I talk to myself. All the generations of God's people have found God to be faithful to them to every promise. Do you think for a moment, John Heaney, that you're going to be the first one in that long line to prove that God is unfaithful? Think again. God is faithful. He will be faithful. He will be faithful.

He will not go back on his promise. He cannot deny himself. And so I say the faithfulness of God ought to make us a people of great faith to take him at his word.

And it ought to make us a people of great faith to take him at his word. And it ought to make us a people of the promises. The faithfulness of God ought to send a scrambling to our Bibles to find a promise to scour the book.

Where are the promises? These great and precious promises to know them, to memorize them, to meditate on them, to live upon them.

They're meant to give you hope. How is your hope for the future? As you look at the dark thunderstorms in your present horizon, how is your hope?

Your future is bright as the promises of God, as Adoniram Judson says. What are the promises? Are they giving you hope? Strength for today and hope for tomorrow. That's what we have in the faithfulness of God.

Are they giving you joy and peace? The joy and peace that comes from believing, Romans 15, 13. From believing the promises. Believing the promises.

It creates joy and peace. That tells me that the promises of God are to influence my emotional lookout on life.

Yeah, my emotions. My emotional state. The emotions with which I wake up in the morning and go into work and walk before people. There ought to be the stamp of hope and joy and peace in my life.

Because of what God has said to me in His word, His promises. What is the reason for your hope, dear sister?

Someone would ask. How can you have hope in such trials as you're going through? Let me tell you about the promises that my God has made to me.

And He's the faithful God. And He gives me hope. Where do you find your peace, your joy? Let me tell you about this God of the promise.

Do you realize how huge this is? The fact that God is faithful. How important this is. Many of us have ventured our all on a promise of eternal life.

We've set our sights on pilgrimage. We've set our sights on the new Jerusalem. And on our King who reigns there. We're going to be with Him.

It's all a promise. And we're venturing all on that promise. And everything hangs then on the faithfulness of God. Will He keep His promise?

I get back from a trip abroad. And I announce to you the next Sunday. I found it. The fountain of youthfulness. Of eternal youthfulness.

And if you come to me. To this far away country. And drink of this fountain. You'll live forever. And you'll be young forever. Oh, but it'll cost you everything.

You've got to sell your home. You've got to leave your job. And your dwelling place. You've got to come away with me. You're ready to sign on to that promise? It is no less radical what our God is promising us.

Jesus Christ has come from heaven to our planet. And He's announced to us. Whoever believes in me. Shall never perish. But have everlasting life.

Do you realize how strange that should sound to the ears of mortals? We see our fellow man die constantly around us. And here's a promise from this man who says he's come from heaven.

And he says, if you believe in me, you will never ever die. Everlasting life. Even though you die, you'll live forever. Well, it all hangs on the faithfulness of God.

It'll cost you everything. You've got to deny yourself. You've got to take up your cross. You've got to follow Him. You've got to quit going your own way. You've got to put all your eggs in this basket.

That He will be true to His promise. And you're willing to venture it all on His promise. Do you see how important the faithfulness of God is? I wonder if you've ventured on the faithfulness of God.

There He is. He's this faithful God. He's made the promise of eternal life. Have you ventured on Him? If you've come to His Son and believed.

You've repented. Turn from going your own way and come to Him. He promises you He everlasting life. And you will find that you will never be disappointed.

But if you've not come to Christ. If you've not ventured on Him and said, Here's my life, Lord. I surrender it all to You. Then that is to not believe God is faithful.

That is to not believe the record that God has given concerning His Son. That He who has the Son has life. It's to call God a liar. It's to say He's untrue. He's unfaithful.

And some of you sit here every week. And every week you walk out those doors without Jesus. Your feet are saying, God is a liar. I really don't believe it.

I hear you, preacher. I don't believe it. Your feet tell the true story. The real story is you do not believe.

You will not come to me because you do not believe. Oh, why will you not come and prove His faithfulness? End your wicked unbelief at once.

And trust yourself to the faithful God. Who keeps His covenant of love to a thousand generations. Those who love Him and keep His commands. He'll save you, just as He said, through His Son.

Save you for Jesus' sake. Save you freely. I want to set before you, in conclusion, a few things that this faithful God does for His people.

You know, sometimes God just makes a promise. He just sets the promise before us in Scriptures. Other times, God makes a promise. And in the middle of the promise, He says, And God is faithful.

Isn't that something? It tells me God knows that John Heaney struggles with unbelief. John Heaney is so bold as to doubt the truthfulness of God's promises.

And so, in the middle of making His promise to us, He reminds us that He's faithful. I want to look at four texts, if we have time, that do that very thing.

1 Corinthians 10.13. The first text. God is faithful in temptation. How are you doing, brothers and sisters, with temptation? 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians. Written to believers in Corinth. The place where sexual immorality was tied to the society and its idolatry. And these folk had been saved out of it.

And were being tempted every day to return to it. How are you doing with your temptations? To sexual immorality. To idolatry. To testing God. To grumbling.

You see what He tells these Corinthians in verse 13. You're not the first one to have this temptation. Verses 1 through 12. He spans church history.

He says, you know, the Israelites had all these temptations. Hundreds of years before you. There's no temptation taking you. But such as is common to man. But now, here's the thing you need to realize in your temptation.

And God is faithful. God is faithful. Get the context. The context is talking about temptation. As we'll see as we go on.

God is faithful. And He's faithful to do two things. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it. This tells me that the faithfulness of God is not only a truth to be sung and praised in our singing of hymns in the gathered assemblies of God.

But the faithfulness of God is something that is to be brought to my memory right in the midst of my temptations to sin. If I believe that God is faithful, then when temptation comes, I need to count on it.

And what am I able to count on as a child of God? This is what God does for His children. He's faithful in their temptation. He's faithful and will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear.

Every single temptation must pass the inspection of my faithful God. And He weighs it to see if it's heavier than what I can bear.

And He measures it to see if it's longer than what I can bear. And anything that is too long or too heavy, He will not let touch me.

And you need to know that in every temptation because the devil will tell you you can't help it. The temptation is too strong. It was helpless.

You can't help it. That's a lie from the pit. The truth is God is faithful and will not let you be tempted beyond what you're able to bear. Remind yourself of that.

Blessed promise. Who will you trust? Your self or your feelings? I don't feel like I can go through this. Oh, we get in trouble when we put more weight in our feelings than we do the promises of God.

God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted. You're going through a trial. You say, it's too much. I can't bear it. I know that's the way you feel.

But God's promised otherwise. Not only will He not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when your temptation will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. There's always a way of escape.

There's the army and they're trapped in the mountain by their surrounding enemies. And then there's this secret way of escape through a secret mountain pass and they all escape.

In your temptation, your faithful God says, I will see to it that there is a way out. A way of escape. Every time from your temptation.

Doesn't that give you some backbone then to face that temptation? I know there's a way out. Then I'm going to be looking for it. I'm not going to be sitting here and giving in to these temptations as if they're too strong for me.

They're not. God will enable me to find the way out and take it. And so I start counting on the promise. He'll make a way out. So, is the faithfulness of God just a part of your theoretical view of God?

Or does it affect the way that you handle temptations and trials in your life? Where are you being tried? Are you reminding yourself of these promises of God?

And remember, He's faithful. Turn next to 1 John 1 and verse 9. Because the sad reality is that we don't always take God's way out of temptation.

Instead, we give in. We fall into sin. And by we, I mean every one of us. That's what John says in 1 John 1.8.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. So, what are you doing with your sin? That's my question to every man and woman, boy and girl here this morning. What are you doing with your sin? You're denying it?

You're rationalizing it? You're excusing it? You're justifying it? You're doing something with it because you all have sin. Or are you doing what the Bible tells us to do? Confessing it. Confessing it.

1 John 1.9. If we confess our sins. He doesn't just say, He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But in the middle of His promise, He reminds us.

If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Here's another time to take refuge in the faithfulness of God.

When you've sinned against God. When you've fallen under temptation. And again, as our brother Dave said in the Sunday school hour, we've heard this promise so often that we can come to yawn at it.

And it doesn't just shake us up to our boots to realize the glories of it. Do you mean that these things that I've done in my past that I'm embarrassed to think of, that I would be embarrassed if any of you knew about?

Do you mean to tell me that this God against whom I've sinned will actually forgive me those sins? And remove them and take them away?

And never again bring them up against me? Yes, that's what the promise is. He's faithful. He will forgive us our sins if we confess them.

He will forgive them. And His faithfulness is seen in that He's true to His promise. Do you know God has made a promise that if we confess our sins, He will forgive them? He's made the promise, the crowning promise of the new covenant in Jesus is, For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.

I will, He says. Ah, blessed promise. Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Red as crimson, they shall be as wool. Wonderful promise.

And now we're being told, He who promised is faithful. So if you believe, and your functional view of God is that He is faithful, when you sin, you'll beat it a fast track to Christ with your sin, to confess it, to be forgiven, to be cleansed.

You won't wait around and make yourself cleaner before you come. You won't go through all your self-reformation and all the things to try to make yourself.

But you'll come just as you are as a dirty sinner. And you'll throw yourself on the mercy of God, as Psalm 51 was so beautifully laid out this morning. You'll do that over and over. Why? Because you believe God's faithful.

He will forgive you. Oh, but this isn't the first time, Pastor, I've come with this sin. Asking to be forgiven. And you start thinking how you feel towards those who have done something to you over and over again.

And you start thinking that's true of God. He's getting weary of me coming. I just simply ask you, is God a liar or is He faithful to His promise? That if you, with true humility, come and confess your sins, He is faithful and will forgive you your sins.

Psalm 119.75. We don't have time to speak of these last two. Let me just give them to you. He's faithful to afflict you. Wow.

What a blessed son you are to have a father who's faithful to afflict you, to discipline you. Psalm 119.75. I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous.

And in faithfulness you have afflicted me. God is faithful in all He does. He's faithful in forgiving us. He's faithful in making a way out of our temptations.

He's faithful to afflict us, to discipline us. I told you He's a faithful father. It's good for me to be afflicted, the psalmist can say. Because I've learned your statutes.

In faithfulness you have afflicted me. And that's why the saints, under their greatest afflictions, can say, Great is your faithfulness. You read Lamentations this afternoon.

You want to see what Jeremiah was looking at. The starving faces of children. As the siege around Jerusalem lasted on and on.

And people were dying of hunger. Where is the promise, Lord? Jeremiah in the midst of affliction says, Your compassions fail not.

They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Always faithful to afflict you. And lastly, He's faithful to keep you persevering to the end.

1 Corinthians 8 and 9. He, that is the Lord Jesus, will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God who called you into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful. That's a long sentence. If you cut out the middle, it says God is faithful. God who called you into fellowship with His Son is faithful.

He's going to bring you all the way safely to the end. He's going to keep you in the way. When you stray, He'll bring you back. God is faithful. There's our assurance of salvation.

It doesn't rest on our faithfulness. It rests on God is faithful. So let us hold unswervingly, brethren, to the hope that we profess. For He who promised is faithful.

The hope of eternal life, which God who does not lie promised before the beginning of time. And may God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.

And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful. And He will do it.

Let's pray. Our faithful Lord, we've thought along with you and your words this morning about your great faithfulness.

And we, I confess, I've not considered just how important this is to me. Indeed, my life, my eternal life hangs on it. How blessed I am to have you as my faithful God.

Thank you for all the things you've promised to me. Oh, make me a man of the book. Make me a man hungry for a promise. Make me a man strong in faith. Make us people who glorify you by hope and joy and peace in the midst of our trials and temptations.

Because God is faithful. Make us a people who may doubt everything else, but not doubt the faithfulness of God. May doubt ourselves, but not doubt you.

So wash us and cleanse us afresh, Lord. We've uncovered our own sins. And how thankful we are that you are faithful. And just to forgive us our sins.

Thank you for Calvary. Surely the cross declares God is faithful. Here is faithfulness. All those promises of having our sins forgiven.

They come to light at the cross. Our Savior dying in our place. That you might be just and still be the justifier of those who believe in Jesus. So thank you for our Lord.

And we pray in his name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.