Okay, we come to part 16, the faithfulness of God. This is, if I can use this expression, one of the most endearing attributes of God, at least it is to me. And hopefully it will be to all of you as well as we meditate upon God's covenant loyalty, His faithfulness, His loving kindness toward us. It's a precious attribute. All of God's attributes are that way, but some of them seem to resonate more than others, although they're all equally important. But let me begin with a quotation by Louis Burkhoff, a noted theologian. We know that all theology is practical, but he makes this point at the very outset. He said, the faithfulness of God is of the utmost practical significance to the people of God. I would say amen to that. It is the ground of their confidence, the foundation of their hope, and the cause of their rejoicing. It saves them from the despair to which their own unfaithfulness might easily lead. It gives them courage to carry on in spite of their failures. and fills their hearts with joyful anticipation, even when they are deeply conscious of the fact that they have forfeited all the blessings of God." He didn't mean forfeited permanently, eternally. He's just talking about those times when our fellowship with God is is not what it should be because of our own sin, because of our own unbelief, because of the way we live our lives. And we all do this. We all fall short of the glory of God, every single one of us in our day-to-day lives. And the faithfulness of God should be an attribute that really gives us great confidence and gives us great encouragement and gives us great hope. In terms of God's character, these are just a sampling of some of the passages of Scripture, and I've reproduced them here. for you. Isaiah 49, the intrinsic nature of God is His faithfulness because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you. It's His very nature. He is a faithful God. It is inexhaustible. The psalmist says, Your loving kindness, O God, extends to the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. There's no limitation. It's simply inexhaustible. Our God is a promise-keeping God. 1 Kings, blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel according to all that he has promised. Not one word has failed. Of all of his good promise, which he promised through Moses his servant, not one word would fail. It speaks of his covenant faithfulness, his covenant loyalty. Deuteronomy 7 and Deuteronomy 9, know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant in His loving kindness to a thousand generations, to those who love Him and keep His commandments. There is, if I can use the term, a dark side, if I can use it, of the faithfulness of God, those who are outside of Christ, God is faithful to perform His judgment. He is faithful to forgive those who turn to him, but he is also faithful to judge the unrepentant. He repays those who hate him to their faces. God's moral character is immutable. His justice, as we will explore at a later date, is immutable. So he repays those who hate him to their faces to destroy them. He will not delay with him who hates him, but he will repay him. So God's faithfulness cuts both ways. To the children of God, it is a source of great comfort, great consolation to those who are outside of Christ. It should bring trepidation and fear. Deuteronomy 9 speaks of the Lord and to confirm the oath which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the covenant keeping God. When he makes a promise, he enters into a covenant. He performs his covenant. It is always his nature to do what he has said. And that leads us to Psalm 89, which speaks of the Davidic covenant, but because of his covenant faithfulness, because of his loyal love is another way of translating this. Psalm 89 speaks of the Davidic covenant. He's worthy of our praise. He is worthy of exultation because of his faithfulness. I will sing of your loving kindness forever. To all generations I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth. For I have said loving kindness will be built up forever in the heavens, you will establish your faithfulness." God's faithfulness is His covenant keeping loyal love. Psalm 105 on page 2 of your handout. He has remembered His covenant forever. The word which He commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant that He made with Abraham, His oath to Isaac, He confirmed it. He confirms His covenants. as an everlasting covenant. It is God's nature, His intrinsic nature, His loyal love, His everlasting loyal love to be a covenant-keeping God. And related to that, of course, is the immutability. We've looked at the immutability of God and you can see that His attributes are all inextricably related to each other. They are tightly knit together. the immutable character of God, the unchangeableness of His purpose. It is impossible for God to lie. When He makes a promise, He always keeps His promise. And in the New Testament, every aspect, brothers and sisters, of your Christian life, every aspect without exception, is tied to the faithfulness of God. 1 Corinthians 1.9, I thank my God concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, that is in Christ, in all speech and knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you're not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's a promise. He will confirm you to the end. blameless in Christ. God is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So God is faithful. He causes all of these things to happen without fail, without any exception. There are none who belong to Him who are lost, who will not be confirmed blameless on that day. 1 Thessalonians 5, it's related to the previous verse, at least in content, 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. Look at these precious words. Faithful is he who calls you and he also will bring it to pass. You will be sanctified, spirit and soul and body. You will be complete. He has promised and he will bring it to pass. Not because we're faithful, but because He's faithful. Because He has an eternal purpose for His children, and He will fulfill that purpose. 1 Peter 4, those who suffer according to the will of God, what do we do here? We entrust our souls to our faithful Creator. There is no aspect of our Christian life, our calling, our sanctification, our growth in Christ, how we endure the trials and afflictions of everyday life. Every single aspect of our life in Christ is related to the faithfulness of God. The faithfulness of God is declared to be great. You know this passage. The Lord's loving kindnesses never cease. His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Absolutely true. Great is the faithfulness of God. It is incomparable. Page three of your handout. Psalm 89, who is like you? There is none like you. None is comparable to God. God is unique. Your faithfulness surrounds you. It is part and parcel of who He is. And He is unique in that way. God is infinitely, immutably, eternally faithful. God is faithful. He is infinite in His faithfulness. Your loving kindness extends to the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. There's a worship song that goes along with these words. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains of the mountains of God. You probably know that worship song. You've probably sung it at various points. Psalm 89 is faithfulness is established. It is permanent. It is never changing. It is fixed. It is enduring. Your faithfulness is in the heavens, I will establish. And it's everlasting. Psalm 119, verse 90, Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations. There's never an end to the faithfulness of God because God never changes. It's part of his intrinsic nature. It's unfailing. I will not break off my loving kindness from him nor deal falsely in my faithfulness. It is impossible for God to violate his own character. We talked earlier about the truthfulness of God and part of that was he always operates in the sphere of truth. And he never violates his word. And so when we speak of his enduring, eternal, unchanging faithfulness, it's obviously related to who he is as God. Second Timothy, I think we can all relate to this, if we are faithful, faithless, what do we say about God? He remains faithful. He cannot deny himself. It is impossible for God to be anything other than who he is. Page four in your handouts. His faithfulness applies to those day-to-day blessings, the temporal blessings, the everyday aspect of his care for his people. Psalm 84, the Lord God is a sun and a shield. The Lord gives grace and glory. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in you. All of those daily gifts, I'm reminded of James when it speaks about the fact that every good and perfect gift is from the father of lights with whom there is no shifting or turning. It is part of who he is. Every temporal blessing, every good gift comes from God. He never changes. Everything that we have should lead us to a benediction, a word of thankfulness to God, to recognize that all that we have, every good gift is from his hand. We should be those who are constantly filled with thankfulness to our God. Not only the temporal blessings, but those spiritual blessings. First Corinthians 1.9, we looked at this passage earlier. But we are called by Him, we are kept by Him, we are preserved by Him, sanctified by Him. The fellowship that we have with God is preserved because He preserves us. Our salvation is secure because He keeps us. He never lets us wander away because we're His children. We are enduring because His faithfulness toward us is enduring. He supports us in temptation. You know this passage. No temptation has overtaken you but such is as common to man. And what? And God is faithful. This is talking about those everyday occasions when we encounter temptation, when we are drawn by our own indwelling sin to walk in a way that dishonors God, that walks in a way that is in violation of God's law. And what happens? Every time, God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide a way of escape that you may be able to endure it. He always provides a way. I wish I could say we always capitalized on that way, but he always provides a way for his children. He always provides a path for obedience, for us to walk rightly before him. And when we fail, when we sin, what does he do? If we confess our sins, he is what? Faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There is literally no aspect of our Christian life that isn't touched by the faithfulness of God. He sanctifies us. The word faithfulness doesn't occur in this passage in Hebrews 12, but the author of Hebrews is speaking about the inevitable work of God in shaping our lives and in chastening, disciplining us rightly for our good with perfect wisdom, with perfect care. There is no legitimate child of God who is not disciplined by God, and he does this rightly for us. And so implicit in this passage in Hebrews is the faithfulness of God, because we belong to him, because he calls us his own children, because he has a purpose for us, and that is ultimately to conform us to the very image of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is faithful to chasten us, to discipline us, to shape us after Christ. And in the difficult times when we need wisdom, Psalm 32, I will instruct you and teach you in the way in which you would go. I will counsel you with my eye on you. Who makes that promise? God makes that promise. He will counsel us. He will guide us. He will direct our paths. How about support in trials? Do not fear, Isaiah 41, for I am with you. Don't look anxiously about, I am your God. I will strengthen you. This little word is often overlooked, surely. You know the significance of surely? It means you can bet on that. It means it is absolutely certain. That means that God is faithful. You could say, I will strengthen you, and in my faithfulness, I will help you. Surely, I will help you. Surely, certainly, inviolably, faithfully, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." It's his nature. That's how he supports his children. The most precious thing of all. If you're trusting in Christ, think about this, the most important thing of all, you're entrusting your eternal soul to the Lord Jesus Christ. You're believing that God is faithful to honor his word that when your days on earth are at an end, that he will take you unto himself and keep you in heaven forever. That's his promise. If we have trouble trusting God with the temporal affairs of life, how about the eternal aspects of our soul? He's faithful in every aspect, the temporal aspects and with our own eternal souls. This is the promise which He's made to us, eternal life. That's faithfulness. God says, I'm going to give you eternal life in my Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So what's our response to these things? First of all, we should proclaim them. We should not hide them under a bushel basket. We shouldn't just keep them quietly to ourselves and just, you know, hush, hush about the faithfulness of God. No, what do we do? I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great congregation. We need to be those who speak about the faithfulness of God. I'll give you an example. On November 24, 2001, our house burned. And Diane and I stood on our front lawn and we watched for hours as firefighters battled our fire that ultimately destroyed our house, earthly house, not our permanent home. But we lost our house and it was a painful time. And God, in His goodness, allowed us to... He preserved our lives. He preserved your pastor's life. He was away at school. On that Saturday morning, he would likely have been asleep. It was at 610 in the morning. And my wife was awake, and I was awake, and God saved every single one of our lives. And He kept us, because He wasn't finished with us yet. And rebuilding was a difficult process. It took two years. We don't live in a mansion. We live in an ordinary house. a disreputable contractor that we ultimately had to discharge and find somebody else to finish it. And God was faithful, and he kept us, and he allowed us to rebuild our house. And so we had a time when we wanted to celebrate that, and we wanted to give thanks. And so we wrote this. This goes back 16 years now, 15 years plus. We invited the firefighters, we invited the police, we invited the neighbors. We didn't call it a housewarming party. But we did call it an open house, and this is what we gave everybody. To this day, when you come in our house, the front door, we've got pictures, and they're a memorial there. Our house is not a shrine, but it's a tangible reminder to us and to others that God is faithful. And so we said, on behalf of our family, we want to convey our appreciation for your being here today to share in our open house. So we thank the firefighters, we thank the police, we thank the family, we thank our church, we thank the Manchester City Hall. But then most of all, this is what we said, we gave everybody a copy of this. To our ever faithful God, whose mercies are new every morning, Lamentation 323. and who loved us so much that he gave us his only son to provide a sure way to heaven, John 3, 16. We pray that you, oh God, will be honored by all that takes place in this house. So it says, please take a moment to see the inscription over the fireplace. And it's, as for me and our family, we will serve the Lord. As for me and our house, we will serve the Lord. We wanted to, and we've made a commitment every time We have a contractor that comes to work on our house. We tell him about the fire. And every time we talk about the fire, I don't think I've ever made an exception to this, we always talk about God's faithfulness in sparing our lives. I made, as God enables me, a promise to God that whenever I talk about the fire, I wouldn't just stop there, that I would always talk about God's faithfulness. Always. Always. Why? Because he's faithful. I don't want... him to not receive the credit, the praise, the honor for what he did. Do you have memorials in your life? Has God ever done anything for you of enduring meaning in your life that you can give thankful for? I suspect that's the case. I want to encourage all of us as an act of worship, as an act of obedience, whatever that is, Whatever that is, when you speak to your neighbors, when you speak to service providers, when you speak to your relatives, do you have something, your Ebenezer Stone, that thus far has the Lord delivered us, do you have something that you can use to acclaim the faithfulness of God? I hope you do. I hope that there has been something in your life that you can say, look, there's an example, it's a tangible aspect of God's covenant faithfulness, of God's never-ending loyal love towards our family. I bet you do. I bet you every single person here is some way, some aspect that they can use as an aspect of giving praise to God. That's what the psalmist says. I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation. What else do we do? The faithfulness of God should absolutely fuel your prayer life. If you have trouble trusting God, your prayer life will show that. To the extent that you see God as faithful, your prayer life will be bold. It will be energetic. It will be fueled with the promises of God. The more you see God as faithful, the more you will come to Him, the more you will recognize that everything that you need You come to Him and He provides. He always does, not always in the way or the time or the form or fashion that we in our own fallen human wisdom would desire these things, but He always provides. There's never been a time that God has failed to provide for me or for you, ever. There's never been a time when God is a debtor to us. He's always been the one who provides for us. And so our prayer life, hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications, answer me in, not my faithfulness, I don't have, I'm not the one who's faithful, answer me in your faithfulness, in your righteousness. Consider these words by A.W. Pink, they're there in your handout, page 5. God is true, period. His word of promise is sure. In all his relations with his people, God is faithful. All of his relations, there is no aspect of God's relationship with you in which he is not faithful. He may be safely relied upon. No one ever yet really trusted him in vain. We find this precious truth expressed almost everywhere in the scriptures. His people need to know that faithfulness is an essential part of the divine character. This is the basis for our confidence in Him. It is one thing to accept the faithfulness of God as a divine truth. It is another to act upon it. Sometimes I talk about our confessional theology, those things that we would affirm, the Apostles' Creed, these affirmations. Do I believe that God is sovereign? Yes, I believe God is sovereign. Do I believe He's faithful? Yes, I'm teaching you that God is faithful. There are things that we confess with our lips. And then there is what I call our functional theology, our day-to-day theology. It is one thing to affirm these things as a divine truth. It is another to act upon it. God has indeed given us many exceeding great and precious promises, but are we really counting on His fulfillment on them? Are we seeing God as faithful? Are we actually expecting Him to do for us all that He said? Are we resting with implicit assurance on these words, He is faithful, that has promised, Hebrews 10.23. To the extent that we see God as faithful, to the extent that we see ourselves as a needy people coming before the throne of God. He tells us, you know, even before there's a word on my lips, behold, O Lord, you do know it all, Psalm 139. But what does He say to us in Hebrews? He says, to come boldly to the throne of grace. Does God need to be informed about our needs? He already knows everything. But He tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace that we may find mercy and help in time of need. So that we will recognize our need, our inability, our incompetence, and that we will affirm Him as a faithful God. And we will claim His promises. The Puritans often spoke of pleading the promises of God. God loves to hear His word prayed back to Him. It honors Him. to come boldly to the throne of grace and to remind him of what he has said. God knows what he said. It's never changed. But he loves to hear his word coming back to him because it honors him when we say, God, you're faithful. I'm not doubting your word. I'm saying you have made these promises. I'm looking forward to seeing how you will, in your covenant faithfulness to me and your loyal love to me, do what is good and right and good for me and honorable to you. Show me, oh God, how you will answer this prayer. I'm coming to you. God always hears our prayers. Our faithfulness should fuel our prayers. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, faith is holding on to the faithfulness of God. We talk about faith, you've seen these bumper stickers, believe, and it's all it says is believe. I don't know what that means, but for the Christian, faith is fixed on, anchored in, rooted in the unchanging, faithful, truthful character of God. Faith does not look at the difficulties. Faith does not look at itself or at the person who is exercising it. Faith looks at God. Faith is interested in God only and talks about God and it praises God and it extols the virtues of God. The measure of the strength of a man's faith ultimately is the measure of his knowledge of God. That's why we spend time going through the doctrine of God. It fuels our faith. It shows us who he is. How would we know all of these things about God if he hadn't revealed them to us in the scriptures and given us a spirit so that we might understand them and they might be written upon our hearts? The measure of the strength of a man's faith always, Martin Lloyd-Jones says, is ultimately the measure of the knowledge of God. He knows God so well that he can rest on that knowledge, and it is the prayers of such a man that are answered." There's a fairly long article by Thomas Manton, a Puritan, page 6. I'm just going to hit some high points here for you, but I would encourage you to go back and read through this. The Puritans were really the masters at taking a text and unpacking And they would begin with a doctrinal observation, and then they would have what they called uses, which we would call applications. And so they would take a passage of scripture, and they would take a theological truth, and they'd say, what doctrine do we derive from this? And Thomas Manton was one of the best at doing this. But he looked at a passage of scripture, thy faithfulness is unto all generations. Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. Psalm 119, verse 90. And then he proceeded to preach on on that one verse. What's the doctrinal observation? That's the way they taught. That's the way they preach. That in all ages, forever, God has shown himself to be a true God. We talked about the truthfulness of God. We talked about the veracity of God. And he's faithful in all his promises. And so he relates these promises. He's engaged himself to his people. And what's interesting, he quotes a passage related to Sarah. You know this, Abraham and Sarah, they were well advanced in years. From a human perspective, they were well beyond childbearing years. They were, practically speaking, infertile at that point in their lives. And there was a child of promise that was given to them, and God said, I'm going to bring forth children. And there was a great promise that was given. Your lineage should be innumerable. And here's Sarah, and here's Abraham. at a very old age, 90 years of age or so, the promises of God are meant to be pleaded to God and they're meant to be acted upon. Okay? And so, I mean, she obeyed God. He promised he would give her a child. And she acted upon that promise. Not at first. At first she had trouble believing it, but she ultimately acted upon that promise. And Isaac, of course, came out of that. She judged him. Sarah judged him, faithful to the promise. Look at this next statement. I think this is really helpful. It is the mercy of God to make promises. It is His faithfulness and truth to fulfill them. God is not obligated to make promises to us. It is His mercy that moves Him to make promises to us. But once He promises, those promises are inviolable. Why? Because He's a faithful God. So He is merciful in extending His goodness toward us and making these promises. And oh, so many promises. There are books that you can buy. You can easily do this on your own just to go through and catalog all of the promises of God. And if you need help, I can point you in the direction. There's a book by Robert Lee, L-E-I-G-H, that did this. It cataloged the promises of God. There's any number of books that you can find, and you can look them up in the scriptures. But it is God's mercy that moves him to make these promises, and they are for our good and for his glory. But once he makes that promise, brothers and sisters, he faithfully always, always fulfills them. He never denies himself. He never violates his own word. Number two is truth depends upon his immutable character, so that the faithfulness of God is obviously related to the immutability of God, but it's confirmed to us by experience. And so we have these tangible evidences of God's faithfulness to us. For Sarah, it was, what was the tangible evidence of the promise of God? It was a boy walking around, a little boy crying, a little baby that was born. And ultimately, this lineage that came, there was tangible evidence that God had made a promise and he fulfilled his promise. Isaac, the child of promise, preserved. When Abraham went up on Mount Moriah, he was told God preserved his child. Abraham believed that God was going to resurrect his son. You can see that in Hebrews. He believed that God was going to, first of all, require complete, unmitigated obedience. And he was prepared to do that. And his hand was stopped at just the right moment before it plunged into the chest of his only son, his covenant son, Isaac. And God provided a substitute for that sacrifice. You know that. Genesis 22. And so here's this, God honors obedience, but he preserves his promise, sometimes through the most remarkable set of circumstances, sometimes the most unlikely set of circumstances. But God is never late, and he never changes his promises. He always performs his promises, even when they look most unlikely to us. It is true, number three, that God is known by his mercy and his fidelity, he has never performed never failed to perform any part of the covenant with any. Number four, this is interesting, the experience of generations, this confirms God's faithfulness in all generations, literally from one generation to another. And so interestingly enough, some promises are made to one generation and that generation doesn't live to see them. Does that mean that God is not going to perform His promise? No. What was the promise that that Israel would be in captivity and bondage for 400 years, remember that? And did the people to whom that was given, did they live to see the fulfillment of that promise and ultimately the deliverance? No, not 400 years. Did he perform his promise? Yes, to the day. He absolutely performed his promise to the day. Sometimes God makes a promise in one generation, but he may fulfill it in another generation. But he fulfills it. He always fulfills His promise and He's always faithful in every generation. Page 7 of your notes. Consider the promises that God made starting in Genesis 3.15 of a Messiah to Adam and Eve after sin entered the world, a promise that the seed of the woman would destroy the seed of the serpent. that Messiah would come. Did they live to see Messiah? They did not. Did Messiah come? Absolutely. In Galatians 4.4, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem those who are under the law in the fullness of time. In the fullness of time. In exactly the right time, God fulfilled Genesis 3.15. And there are hundreds of prophecies in the scriptures, many of whom relate, of which I should say, relate specifically to Messiah. Some of which have been fulfilled in history and some of which have yet to be fulfilled. The millennial kingdom, we haven't seen that. But do we believe that? Yes, of course we believe that. We believe that it will be fulfilled exactly like every other promise has been made. So when God makes a promise, he always fulfills it because he is faithful to his word. He is immutable in his character. He is truthful. He is unchanging. It endures from generation to generation. God's promises never fail. So from which I observed down at the end of page seven, that we should tell generations to come what we have found of God in our time. This is to, let me speak to the parents here. This is an opportunity, regardless of what age our children are, whether they're little or not so little, it's incumbent upon us as parents to speak of the faithfulness of God to our children, and to our children's children, and to our children's children's children, if we live to see those days, to testify of the faithfulness of God. Think about 1 Samuel 7, the stone of help, Ebenezer, It was a stone when God had delivered. Thus far has he helped us, 1 Samuel 7. Joshua 4, when Israel crossed the Jordan, remember what they were told? To gather stones and to set them there. Why? As a memorial that God stopped the waters in the Jordan River upstream. He literally stopped the waters and they crossed over the Jordan just like they had crossed the Red Sea. God wanted a memorial there so that when the children asked, what do these stones mean? that they would tell them exactly what it meant, that God in history, at a point in time, and you could set your watch by this, it was that specific, He stopped the waters and we walked across. And these stones were set there at that point in time, and they've been there. And it's a memorial to God's truthfulness. It's a memorial that God provides. It's a memorial that God fulfills His promises. We need to have those in our lives. We need to have that when we speak to our children. We need to cite specific examples to our children. God has done this in my life. Could be your testimony. That would be a great place to start. That God has saved me. This is how he did that. You don't need to dwell on all of the BC stuff. That's not always helpful. But the fact that he saved you is something that you need to give witness to. What else has he done in your life? Has he provided a job for you? Has he delivered you from any health issues? Has he saved your marriage? Has he rescued you from danger? Has he brought you through a trial that you thought was beyond help? Has he done any of those things in your life? then you should proclaim those things. You should testify that thus far has God kept me, and He will continue to keep me. We should bear witness of those things. It honors God. It testifies to His character. And that's the point that Thomas Manton is making. We should tell generations to come, and we're bound to transmit this knowledge to our children. And he quotes a psalm, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, with my mouth will I make known a faithfulness to all generations. It edifies, it builds up the saints. It honors God. Page 8. It's a help to faith. It bolsters not only our faith, but it bolsters the faith of those who hear. Number six, to be satisfied in God's faithfulness is of great importance, partly because of his Their fidelity to God is much encouraged by His fidelity to us. You can read this at some length, but this is of so much importance. This is critical. This is critical. Look at this. A wavering Christian is divided between God and some unlawful course for his safety. Divided between God's ways and his own, he cannot quietly depend on God's promises. He is tossed to and fro He does not trust himself in God's hands, but wholly leans upon his own carnal or fleshly or worldly wisdom. A wavering Christian is someone who cannot affirm the faithfulness of God, does not practically live their life believing that God is faithful. When you see someone who is constantly relying upon their own wisdom to extricate themselves from trouble, When you see someone who is emotionally unstable because they can't deal with the trials of life, not necessarily immediately we all struggle, but ultimately, ultimately we have to come to grips that God is faithful, that he holds us. When you see someone that has not made peace with the fact that God is true to his word, that he never abandons his children, then you will find someone who struggles with the faithfulness of God. And Thomas Manton is absolutely true. Here is a Christian's great security and support. This is the answer to instability. It is the answer to fear. It is the answer to anxiety. It is the answer to depending upon your own arm of flesh, your own worldly wisdom. It is the answer to all of those things, all of those ways in which we run aground in our Christian life. Here is a Christian's great security, God's faithfulness. God's faithfulness. Do you believe that God is faithful? If you do, then you will trust Him to provide a way of escape. You will trust Him to sustain you. You will trust Him to provide for you. You will trust Him in the darkness when you don't see light. We all find ourselves in that situation. Look, this is what A.W. Pink talks about. Look at the bottom of the page. There are seasons in the lives of all when it is not easy Not even for Christians to believe that God is faithful. We have to acknowledge that we struggle. There are seasons. Our faith is sorely tried. Our eyes are bedimmed with tears. And we can no longer trace the outworkings of his love. We don't see God's hand. Our ears are distracted by the noises of the world. They're harassed by the atheistic whisperings of Satan. and we can no longer hear the sweet accents of his still small voice. Cherished plans have been thwarted. Friends on whom we have relied have failed us. A professed brother of Christ has betrayed us. I've had all of those things happen in my life. We are staggered. We sought to be faithful to God and now a dark cloud hides him from us. We find it difficult. Yes, impossible for fleshly reason to harmonize his frowning providence with his gracious promises. So what do we do? Faltering soul, struggling believer, severely tried fellow pilgrim, seek grace to heed Isaiah 5010. Who is it among you that fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant that walks in darkness and has no light? Do what? Do what? Trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God. I'm reminded, these words aren't reproduced for you, but I'm reminded of a hymn by William Cooper. God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. He goes on to say, listen to these words carefully, you fearful saints, Fresh courage take. The clouds you so much dread are big with mercy and shall break with blessings on your head. Here's the word of exhortation. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense. In other words, when you don't understand, don't hold God accountable to your human understanding. Don't judge the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace. Behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face. His purposes were ripe and fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. Those words are written by a man who struggled with depression. William Cooper was a man who struggled with melancholy, and he knew that the only answer to extricating himself from the darkness of this world and melancholy, we call it depression, is not to let his emotions carry the day. Do not let the emotions carry the day. If emotions are carrying your life, you will be tossed to and fro, you will be unstable, you will be frail, and you will fail. There is only one who will not fail, and that is your God. And He is faithful. That's why I said at the beginning, this is to me one of the most endearing attributes because it's the one that sustains me. Because when I am faithless, He remains faithful. He cannot deny Himself. I am not a perfectly faithful man. I am an unfaithful man. But I know that God will never fail me. I know that because He said that. Jesus, I will never leave you or forsake you. Do you believe that? Do you believe that God will ultimately conform you to the character of His Son? Do you believe that God will provide to the extent that your life is rooted in the character of God and that you truly embrace the faithfulness of God, you will not be tossed to and fro? That's why Paul talks, the Apostle Paul talks about the purposes of teaching in the church. to equip the Saints for the work of service, ultimately that they not be tossed to and fro. That's why we go through the doctrine of God, so that you will be rooted in God's Word, so that you will not be tossed to and fro, so that you will not trust your emotions. We're all emotional, we're all emotional, but we want you to trust God. We want you to see Him as faithful, to depend upon Him, the One who never fails, to be so saturated with His Word that the Word of Christ may dwell richly within you, that the Word of God may be written upon your hearts by the Spirit of God, so that you walk strongly before Him. Obedience is an act of worship. It's we submit ourselves to the character of God and we say, if this is what you told me I should do, then I must do it because you are good and you are God. And we believe that God is sovereign and we believe that He is good. Both of those things at the same time. And we believe that because God is faithful. His character never changes. We do. We flip around like a flag in a breeze, but God never changes. And so because He never changes, that's where you have to go. That's true north for your soul. That's how you have to recalibrate your soul at all points in time is to flee to God and to say, help me in my unbelief. I am weak, but you are strong. My power is perfected. He says, in weakness. Paul prayed three times that the thorn in the flesh would be removed from him, and the Lord said, my strength, my power is perfected in your weakness. And that was the end of the discussion. Paul, okay, that's it. That's where I am. God has not abandoned me. I am weak, but He is strong. So Christians, rest in the faithfulness of God. Your walk in Christ will ebb and flow, or it will be strong and vibrant to the extent that you embrace experientially the faithfulness of God, that you believe that He is who He said He is, that His mercies are new every morning. Look, just at the end, I wanted to reproduce this for you, these precious words. This hymn hangs on a wall in our house because we like to be reminded of these words. Page 9, great is thy faithfulness. O God, my Father, there is no shadow of turning with Thee, immutability of God. Thou changest not, immutability. Thy compassions, they fail not, faithfulness. As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be. Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. Do you need a week's worth of mercies? No, you just need whatever you need for that day. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. Give me this day my daily bread. Give me this day the mercies I need to live for you this day. All I have needed, thy hand has provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me. Pardon for sin, the third stanza, and a peace and endurance. This is the most important faithfulness of all, not just temporal blessings. Pardon for sin. Do you believe your sins are forgiven? If you do, you better believe in the faithfulness of God. a peace that endureth thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Blessings all mine and ten thousand beside. Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand has provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.