Resting in the Faithfulness of God – Dr. Charles Stanley

god is a faithful god if he makes a promise he's going to keep it if he gives us a warning he's going to fulfill it and so when you think about your faith we're talking about the basis of your faith when you think about the basis of your faith your whole faith is based on your understanding of who god is today on in touch resting in the faithfulness of god and jesus came up and spoke to them saying me baptizing them in the name of the fall of the son of the holy spirit when you find that your faith's being tested and you don't know what god's doing in your life and your prayers seem to go unanswered for some reason and the devil just harasses you and your plans are frustrated and your friends have all deserted you and somehow between you and god there seems to be this cloud what do you do where do you turn how do you respond well some people respond by simply saying god doesn't answer my prayer god isn't who he says he is if he were this wouldn't be happening to me and so you get into that victim mode or you just trust the lord when you don't see your way clear and you keep moving forward probably in all of our lives at some point or the other there are those seasons when we go through situations and circumstances that we will almost be willing to say god really and truly is not genuinely faithful now we he we we believe that he is but look what's happening in my life and so we are prone to judge god by our environment by the circumstances that we're facing and so in the process of doing so we think about all the things that we've learned and then when it comes to the reality of the time of testing that's when we decide whether we really and truly believe it or not what i want to talk about in this message i want to talk about an attribute of the lord god i want to talk about something that affects every single one of us every day every time you pray every time you find yourself in a spiritual battle or whatever it might be you're affected by what we want to talk about because all of us face those times when we genuinely not that we want to but we genuinely question that god is faithful to me in this incident in this situation in this circumstance whatever it might be so i want you to turn to first corinthians chapter one and they just want us to read these uh first nine verses together and it's the ninth verse i want us to note primarily so he begins by saying paul as an apostle of jesus christ by the will of god and sophomores our brother to the church of god which is at christ to those who have been sanctified in christ jesus saints by calling with all who in every place call on the name of the lord jesus christ our lord and ours grace to you and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ then he says i thank my god always concerning you for the grace of god which was given you in christ jesus that in everything you were enriched in him in all speech and all 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 also confirm you to the end blameless in the day of our lord jesus christ god is faithful through whom you are called into fellowship with his son jesus christ our lord so what i want to talk about is simply this resting in the faithfulness of god now i can repeat this all of us will meet those situations and circumstances at times that'll cause us to at least doubt for a moment god where are you as we said that be like some dark cloud hanging between you and him so paul is encouraging his listeners and readers at this point and i want us to think about for a few moments all through the scriptures how god is reminding us of his faithfulness and so i want us to begin in deuteronomy chapter 7. let's begin in the old testament just for a few passages in deuteronomy chapter 7 and i want you to look at if you will verse 9 and i just want to take you through a few of these throughout the scripture just to remind you of how often he tells us this he says in verse 9 know therefore that the lord your god he is god the faithful god who keeps his covenant and his loving kindness to a thousandth generation with those who love him and keep his commandments then if you flip over to the 119th psalm just want a few of these 119th psalm and the 89th verse look what he says he says forever o lord your word is settled in heaven your faithfulness continues throughout all generations you establish the earth and it stands then move all the way over to first thessalonians and the fifth chapter and all through the scriptures first thessalonians the fifth chapter the 24th verse of this chapter and notice here again the emphasis on trusting him his faithfulness he says faithful is he who calls you and he also will bring it to pass then if you move over the second timothy the second chapter and look if you will in this um second chapter and the 13th verse notice what he says he says if we are faithless that is we don't believe he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself and then the first peter for example in chapter 4 and look if you will in this 19th verse and again here's what he says he says therefore those also who suffer according to the will of god shall entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right and everybody knows the first john chapter 1 and verse 9. if we confess our sins he's what faithful and just righteous and forgiving us of our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness now what does it mean when we talk about the faithfulness of god it means that he always does what is right he always does the right thing about everything in every single situation not only does he do what he says he'll do he fulfills every single promise that he makes all of us have those promises in the word of god that we treasure those promises especially meaningful to us because of what's going on in our life and god brings us to a passage of scripture in that passage god somehow comforts us with it so when he says that he is faithful it means that in all times in all things in all circumstances god is always the same he never changes he doesn't falter he doesn't forget he always is there to fulfill his promise and if you think about what your favorite promise in the word of god would be he's there every single time and probably all of us have seen those situations and circumstances we when we come to that verse and say lord here's what you promised why isn't it happening well is it happening or is it not is god doing it a different way than what we expect does he always keep his promise he says for example he cannot lie he cannot fail because he is god and he is a god who is faithful in every single circumstance of life now it's one thing to say that and if somebody said well why do you believe that god is faithful and we'll be faithful every single time for example we go through situations and circumstances and we cry out to him for god to help us and strengthen us enable us to face it so what's what is our proof it's one thing to say that is but when you look at the whole idea of god's faithfulness there are five attributes of god that are absolutely necessary in order for god to say that he's faithful the many attributes of god he's holy for example and all powerful and many of the attributes you know but there are five of them that are absolutely essential if god is going to be faithful to me and to you in every circumstance of our life and the first one is simply this he must be omniscient in order for him to be faithful to me that is he must know everything there is to know about me he must know things ahead of time he knows present past and future he knows about every single need that we have our wants our desires our weaknesses our frailties he knows everything if he did not know every single thing about us he could not be faithful to meet all of their needs whatever they might be so his omniscience he knows everything one of his attributes is that he's omniscient the second attribute is that he is omnipotent he cannot promise me to be i'll promise you to be faithful in every circumstance of life if he's not all-powerful because there could be some situation some circumstance well what would god do if he's not all-powerful then that means he cannot under any situation or circumstance fulfill every single need or protect us in every situation so he not only knows everything and he is all-powerful but likewise he must be on the present which means that he listen he is always within reach and we are always within his reach that is we'll never see a situation whereby he's not present ready and able to do whatever is needed in your life so when you take those three attributes along somebody says is god faithful yes he is well how can he be faithful in every circumstance because he knows everything he has all power to change anything he desires to change a move and he is always present now those three we can possibly accept and say well i i i cannot i can understand that but that demands something else he must always be truthful in every circumstance for god to be faithful he must be truthful because if he's not truthful then i have a problem and so when we think about his truthfulness i want you to look at a couple of passages of scripture one of which is in titus and look if you will in this first chapter the second verse says in the hope of eternal life which god who cannot lie promised long ages ago would god ever lie no he cannot lie because if he lied he would be violating his own character and the very character and nature of god is such that he cannot lie he is always going to show us and tell us the truth and if you move uh back over to ii timothy look if you will in chapter 2 and if you look in verse 13 he says if we're faithless he remains faithful he for he cannot deny himself he's always truthful that he god would never mislead us he would never say anything that would cause us to head in the wrong direction in life he is all-knowing all-powerful always present and when you look in these passages he's always truthful so whatever he promises for example he says i'll never leave you nor forsake you is that the truth or is it not and so when we talk about the faithfulness of god every single promise that he makes he is going to fulfill if he's not fulfilling some promise in your life to suit you for example you have to ask yourself the question is this a promise of god or is this something i conjured up if it's a promise of god you have listen the very nature of god is that he cannot prove to be unfaithful untruthful inadequate unknowing mistaken in error about anything so the very basis of my belief that he is a faithful god is his very nature and he says as he cannot lie and even when you and i are unfaithful to him he says for example that he's still going to be faithful no matter what and over and over and over again he says for example in in first peter chapter 4 therefore those also who suffer according to the will of god shall entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right so ask yourself the question do i really and truly believe that god is absolutely unquestionably always without exception faithful to his word and faithful to us as followers of jesus christ now we'll come to this a few moments later but he's also faithful to the unbeliever i'll show you why in a moment but what i want you to see is the very basis of your believing that he is faithful to you that he's he's all he'll always be there is his his very nature that cannot change that's who he is but there's one other thing another one of his attributes and um that attribute is simply this his immutability which means he cannot change that god does not change now i know what some of you may be thinking about some passive scripture we'll come to that in a moment but he cannot change if god is a changing god then he may change something about himself or about some situation that it would prove to be unfaithful but he's a faithful god and he is a god who only tells the truth he's a god of truth fitness but he's also a god he does not change for example in malachi the third chapter and the sixth verse he said he says for example i do not change he's always been the same he is the same now he and he will always be the same it is his nature that he's unchanging and apart from those five attributes you can't have a god who is faithful he must know all things he must have all power he must be available at all times he must be a god only of truthfulness and one who does not change many things in life around this change but he doesn't he treats us just as he's treated people all throughout eternity to pass and eternity future he'll never change it is his nature it cannot change if he changed everything would be uncertain if god changed anything about his promises then we we would have uncertainty if he changed anything about the way he operates we we would feel uncertain so you and i come to him in prayer we make our case for him our needs whatever the needs may be and the issue is do i believe it or do i not and so we know that the scripture says for example he says this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us and if we know that he hears us we know that we have the petition that we desired of him if he is a faithful god he cannot change that if he's a faithful god then he's not going to say well exception if sins and buts notice what he says he says when we call upon him if we ask anything according to his will he hears us and if he hears us then we know that we have the petition that we desired of him so can god change that no because if he changed that he would change his truthfulness and he cannot change his truthfulness this is a promise he's made and the promises of god are powerful and if he did not have promises we would be walking in uncertainty all the time he promises for example to heal does he promise to heal every person no he does not and so he is truthful notice what he says this is the confidence this is the basis of my confidence that if i ask anything according to his will who knows all things has all power who loves me unconditionally if i ask anything about his will he's going to hear me and if i know that he hears me i know that i have the petition that i deserve of him if i ask something that's not his will then he is under no obligation answer so somebody says well god isn't truthful because here's what he said i made this request god says he answers prayer asking it shall be given you seek and you shall find knocking that shall be opened unto you but what what's the issue if i ask according to his will he does not change he does not falter he does not hesitate he does not fail to keep his word he's a god of truthfulness and a god who does not change and the fact that he is unchangeable is a great source of comfort and assurance for every single one of us for example he says if thou shall confess without mouth jesus as lord you will be saved confessing him is lord and you mean that you'll be saved now is that sometimes or all the times all the time if i confess i agree with him that he is the lord and master of my life i will be saved now is that all the time is that just certain people believe on the lord jesus christ thou shalt be saved what does that mean and when somebody says oh i believe in jesus christ but they believe that he was that he is that he's somebody that he's a savior but not believing unto the point of accepting him as atoning for their sin and acknowledging him is the lord of their life it's a whole different story so somebody says well i believe in jesus you mean to tell me i'm not going to heaven if you do not believe in jesus christ with the meaning of what that word means to it is a word of action something must take place if you believe in jesus christ as your savior something has to take place the forgiveness of your sins repentance of your sins and accepting the lord jesus christ as the lord master of your life he's truthful in every single aspect and so when somebody says yes but god this no no no no he can't change his truthfulness because it's his nature it's his nature to be all-knowing his nature to be all-powerful his nature to be always present his nature to be always truthful and his nature continually always there doing exactly what he promised to do he's unchanging let's eliminate all five of those attributes of god and what kind of god do you have if he doesn't know everything if he doesn't have all power and if he's not always in reach and if he's not always truthful and if he's changing what confidence do you have see what an awesome god we have and if any of that's missing you don't have any assurance about anything in life you say well i've trusted jesus as my savior i'm going to heaven when i die well but suppose god's changed the whole plan he hadn't changed the plan everything is the same god doesn't change and if he did we would be hopelessly and helplessly confounded in every single area of our life every promise would be up for grabs every promise would be questionable well here's what he said but god does change his mind no he doesn't somebody says yes he does and so i want to bring up a passage of scripture let's go back let's just take jonah for example this is a good example god said to jonah i want you to go to nineveh and and preach the message that judgment is coming judgment is coming so he goes and he preaches judgment is coming and the scripture says they turn to the lord the king calls for fast they turn to god and so there is no judgment somebody says see there god changed his mind no he didn't now listen carefully it's one thing for god to make a statement that is conditional and though it is not spoken here this is exactly it was conditional because why would god have them have him preach the truth of the message of god's imminent judgment and they all at least a big large part of the city enough of them repented of their sins turn to the lord and then god wipe them out what was his purpose his purpose wasn't to destroy him his purpose was to bring about a a repentance and a revival throughout nineveh and that is exactly what happened so god didn't change his mind it was conditioned upon that and he says he doesn't change his mind what listen why would god change his mind first of all when he knows past present and future so he already knows so he has to change his mind he makes some promises conditioned upon certain things he makes some that are unconditional and many things for example what he said to abraham i'm going to make you a great nation he didn't say if you obey me or if you do not he said i'm going to make you a great nation and all the nations of the earth will be blessed period unconditional when he said to jonah the preacher there in nineveh what happened they repented was what god's goal was not to destroy them but to bring them to repentance and the reason the ladies and gentlemen didn't want to go to begin with is because he didn't like him he didn't want him to be saved and you remember he ends up sitting under a tree and moaning and groaning and complaining to god the very last part of the book because god did what he said he would do did god change his mind no god accomplished his purpose and jonah was the person through whom god spoke so he doesn't change his mind so i ask you again and the reason i emphasize this is because i think we believe a lot of things but we don't have any basis for it but i want you to say again the character of god cannot change if he's perfect how would it change he is the ultimate of every single thing the ultimate in knowledge and wisdom and power what what how could you change perfection the very ultimate and so therefore you and i have a god when he says that he is going to be faithful he is faithful and he cannot change because it's his nature not to change and so when these things happen in scripture that's just one answer we can give you some more he said for example in first samuel chapter 15 when samuel said to saul so god is he is ripping the kingdom from your hands and you will no longer be king and the passage simply says god will not lie or change his mind that's what he told him and he didn't of course so when you think about what's the basis of your faith why do you believe him why do you trust him what is it about god that you can absolutely think about this you're trusting your whole eternal life on the promise and the reason you're trusting your holy eternal life on the promise is because you believe that the god who made that promise is not going to change his mind and when he says it's through the shed blood of his son jesus you don't believe he's you don't think he's going to change his mind you accept his promises based on the fact that he is god and that he's a god who doesn't change his mind who knows all things and has all power everything is just within his reach and it would be absolutely totally completely unacceptable to try to describe god as one who changes his mind and who thinks this today and that tomorrow so you have to look at all five of those attributes that's the basis by which you and i can say god is a faithful god if he makes a promise he's going to keep it if he gives us a warning he's going to fulfill it and so when you think about your faith we're talking about the basis of your faith when you think about the basis of your faith your whole faith is based on your understanding of who god is what is he like and when people say to you well i don't believe all that stuff well what do you believe and you listen to somebody who doesn't believe in god and it sort of tickles me at times i'm thinking they're just going round and round and round and round nothing is certain nothing is nothing is really solid it's just it's just gibberish because when you eliminate the one true god and you eliminate the character of god there is no assurance of anything and no hope and so when it comes to life and death you either believe he's faithful when he says absent from the body present with the lord is that once in a while is that an exception no it is the promise to every single believer and jesus said he would come for us receive us unto himself that where he is that's where we're going we're going to be how many of you are expecting one day to die and go to heaven on the basis of what one simple thing the promise of the son of god who never changes his mind and who listen who has all power to make it a reality when i think of people who are not believers and they talk about what assurance they have which is none and think about if they would just stop and think well now now what what what what is it out there how am i and they just hem her around they have no hope no that is they may have a hope but it's totally unfounded our hope isn't just a hope it is a hope with the assurance given to us by god whose very character is such that he does not change and every single promise he's given us in the scripture he's going to keep now this is demonstrated throughout the scripture let's just take for example run through a few of them quickly when he said to adam and eve in the garden in the day that you eat of the fruit of this tree you're going to die did god want them to die no did he change his mind though he did not he made a provision for them through the shedding of blood that's why they had skins they have skins you got to have death and you got to have blood so he said you're going to surely die they didn't die physically but they died spiritually for example when he said to noah noah here's what i'm going to do i'm going to destroy every living thing on the face of this earth i want you to build this ark you take you and your family and all these animals and i'm gonna put you in the ark and i'm gonna destroy everything on the earth that's exactly what he did then he says i'll never do it again that way and he hasn't that's why he gave us a rainbow you see god hasn't missed anything god is a god of promise and assurance and confidence he wants his people to be confident that's why our testimony ought to be bold listen the reason most people don't have a bold testimony is they can't defend their faith and they say well here's what i believe but why do you believe it why do you believe that god will answer your prayer why do you believe that he's going to take you home to heaven why do you believe that he'll empower you why do you believe there was because you believe the promises of god well watch this you can believe those things but then when you get in the midst of a big trial and things are tough and looks like you're not going to make it you're going to lose everything or your family's falling apart do you still believe it he hasn't changed watch this our emotions oftentimes sort of run counter to the promises of god and we have to decide am i going to believe what i feel am i going to believe what god said and that's where faith and doubt crash so i think also about what he said to abraham the 12th chapter of genesis he said abraham i'm going to make you the father of a nation that will be like the sands of the sea and he says all the earth is going to be blessed out of your loins is that what he did that's exactly what he did and so you have the nation of israel you have the coming of the messiah everything that god promised and notice that he didn't say if you do this and so that was an unconditional promise of god here's what i'm going to do now watch this when god makes a conditional promise it's conditioned upon something we do or do not do when he makes an absolute unconditional promise nothing can change it because it is unconditionally the word of the living god i think for example in his promise of the virgin birth in isaiah that's what he said and that's who jesus was born of a virgin i think about for example what what uh jesus said in the 16th chapter of matthew when he was talking to his disciples and he said to them he said um i'm going to be i'm going to be persecuted i'm going to be crucified and i'm going to rise in the dead well that didn't make any sense at all to them but he was stated and he didn't say he was conditioned upon anything he's this is what's going to happen and that is exactly what happened no one can point to anything god's ever said and said god lied he's the god of truth and power and knowledge and understanding and unconditional love he wants us to believe him because believing him is our entrance into life eternal and so god doesn't just simply give us some light-hearted promise or lighthearted invitational if you'll just believe this that other put your trust in me he says for the gift of eternal life and our eternal life is conditioned upon our acceptance of jesus christ for the forgiveness of our sins past present and future we have hope that's not just hope but it's hope grounded in the very nature of god himself so let's think about for example if god is not a faithful god with all these attributes when you get down to pray what would you think you think i hope so i hope so if all these things are not true you pray well lord i hope so and the truth is our relationship would be meaningless how can you have a relationship with somebody you don't trust and if god's changing his mind not exercising his power you don't know how he's going to operate then there is no assurance no confidence in our life and how would we respond to life if we do not have unconditional promises of god and you face storms in life when you and i go through storms in life what gets us through them the pr listen the promises of god is what gets us through them lord you said here's what you would do if i would pray and trust you if i yielded my life to you it is the unconditional promises of god that gets us through the storms of life and if he's changing if he alters his course somehow then what happens we have no assurance none whatsoever of what's going to happen so it's all based on his faithfulness that god is who he says is and that it does not change it would certainly be impossible to have any kind of real true genuine assurance and confidence if god was not absolutely faithful so let's think about why we can rest in his faithfulness for a few moments we said we're talking about resting in the faithfulness of god how can we rest in that no matter what we are facing well first of all turn to lamentation chapter 3 for a moment just turn there for a moment go past isaiah and jeremiah and look at this third chapter he says verse 22 the lord's kindnesses indeed never cease his compassions never fail they're new every morning great is your what faithfulness great is your faithfulness so first of all we can rest in his faithfulness simply because he's not going to change and he's a faithful god in first thessalonians 5 24 one of the reasons we can rest in his faithfulness is because he here's what he says he says whatever he calls us to do he will empower us to do it that is a promise of god that's an unfailing promise whatever he calls us to do he will empower us to do it so for example you say well maybe god is calling me to be a sunday school teacher what's my promise my promise is this he says if i call you to do it i will empower you i will enable you watch this it wouldn't even be honest with god if he called you to do something and then did not enable you or to help you bring it to pass likewise he says if we confess our sins he's faithful and just the forgiveness of our sins if if you don't believe that he's faithful then how will you ever know and i've heard people say this i said okay we deal with something about sin in their life it's okay let's ask god right now to forgive you of your sins are you willing to ask him to forgive me yes i am let's let's ask him so they pray and i say well has he forgiven you well i hope so wait a minute read that verse and sometimes i've had people read that verse up to 10 times because every time before that they would say well i think so well i hope so maybe so i'm not sure now wait a minute if god is who he says is and he says if we confess our sins that is we agree with him about it he says he's faithful and just righteous that he has the right to forgive me for my sins because of what christ did at the cross he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness if god is not faithful i would never know where i am the only reason you and i know that we are saved is because we believe that he's true to what he says likewise i think about uh first corinthians chapter 10 verse 13. he says maybe you should turn to this one first corinthians 10 13 it's all about temptation and you'll recall the promise the awesome promise he makes in this passage listen to what he says he says no temptation whatever the nature of it is no temptation has taken you but such is it's common to man that is all of us attempt to like in many many ways no temptation taken you but such is common to man but god look at this but god is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able able to bear but will with the temptation he will provide the way of escape also so that you'll be able to endure it here's what he's saying he has put a limitation on your temptation now if that passage of scripture were not in the bible we'd say well god listen that temptation is so strong that you knew how god you're the one who tempted me no god doesn't tempt us he says he doesn't and here's what else he says this is his promise he says i will not allow you to be tempted more than you can bear if we'll trust him he puts a limitation on temptation and trials in life not just temptation or temptation to do wrong but trials in life he he has a limit why because he loves you and me unconditionally and he would be he would listen it wouldn't it wouldn't even be righteous in the eyes of god to require us to do something that he knows that there's no possible way for us to do it and he doesn't come to our rescue and help us do it he says he will make a way to escape that whatever we are dealing with he will help us to marry he says for example in psalm 119 look at this passage a moment in psalm 119 in the 75th verse i want you to notice of what the psalmist says he says i know o lord that your judgments are righteous that is they're always right and then he says i also know that in faithfulness you have afflicted me that is sometimes the affliction that comes upon us is god doing what he's being faithful to his word and so he loves us enough that he doesn't want us sinning against him and living disobediently before him and so what does he do he sends enough affliction to get our attention to change your attitude change our mind to start living obediently before him and so what he's saying he says i'm grateful that you love me enough that you're faithful listen to that he says you're faithful i'm glad you're faithful in afflicting me and sometimes we we think afflictions and difficulties and hardships are all bad none of it's from god yes it is discipline is from god and it is an act of his faithfulness to get us back in line doing what he would have us to do and of course we've talked about his answer in prayer and let's think about what what jesus said in the sermon of the mount he said in the sixth chapter he says our heavenly father knows our needs before we even have them and that he'll meet our needs is that a promise yes it is a promise and you say well is it conditioned i think it is conditioned it's conditioned if a person is lazy and slothful and doesn't care there's a whole different issue but god is willing to he's willing to meet our every single need because he's a god who loves us unconditionally and that's that's the kind of love he has his love is unconditional for his children and therefore he's going to meet every single need that we have and he says for example that uh in romans 8 28 you know that by heart god causes all things to work together for good to those who love him to those who call it on this purpose is that a promise yes it is and if we didn't have that promise think about the frustration we would have in difficulty in hardship if god is allowing us to go through difficulty he's a god of purpose he is a righteous god in other words he isn't just sitting back and watching things happen in your life and mine he is involved in our life he has we have been indwelt by the spirit of the living god and indwelled by the spirit of the living god we have been sealed forever as a child of god so when somebody says well i know i've been saved and i know i've been sealed but i think i think you can still be lost then what you're saying is that god who indwelt you and said that he saved you for all eternity he lied now you tell somebody who believes you can fall from grace then they don't like that at all i can tell you they don't but that's what they're saying i know that's i know that's what it says but i believe that you sent against god you're going to be lost then what you're saying is that god did not tell the truth now i know that it's a misconception they have but that's ultimately that's what it says either he's righteous in everything or he's an unrighteous god this is an awesome god for example in the first verse of the first chapter of the bible when it says in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth the god word there is elohim infinite in power infinite in power absolute in his faithfulness has all power infinite in power absolute in his faithfulness that's the god who is unchanging who has all power all knowledge all understanding who loves us unconditionally who has the best for us who comes there rescuing any in every situation who limits the trials and heartaches he allows in our life and he has promised us a resurrection body well so you say well i i don't know about that part well let me ask you this if you're willing to watch this if you're willing to trust your salvation on a single promise of god based on the cross but it's a single promise of god would you not trust what he said about your resurrection body and i think people sometimes they get their emotions all mixed up in it all and they stop they don't stop to think wait a minute i'm trusting my whole when i come to death i'm either going to be screaming in fear i'm going to be rejoicing in the lord that i'm about to meet him now if you don't have any certainty about it you know it's going to be a sad time you base your whole eternity on what you believe about god that he is faithful to keep every single promise he's made without fail and here's the issue you can look at this book you can go from genesis to revelation and you're not going to find any verses in here or anything god does that he makes a mistake or he is an error or he forgot god never says oh i thought he never says oh i see he doesn't say any of that why because he's this infinite indescribable awesome god who loves his children and who is committed to us for all eternity now there's one last thing i want to say about that he's also faithful to the unbeliever no wait a minute how can that be true we'll turn to matthew chapter 7 for a moment turn to matthew chapter 7 and let's look at this 21st verse now remember what he said what we said he is a god of truth he does not lie not everyone who verse 21 chapter 7 not everyone who says to me lord lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven will enter many will say to me in that day lord lord did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles and then i will declare to them i never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness what is he saying he says listen he is a faithful god who keeps his word people who pretend to be christians and pretend good works and think that's sufficient and boast that it is he says they're going to be separated from god for all eternity look if you will in john chapter 3 and look in this if you will we know john chapter 3 16 and all that but when it comes down to verse 36 he said he who believes in the son has eternal life but he who does not obey the son will not see life but the wrath of god watch this not will but is abiding in him or on him that is people who are lost are under the wrath of god and listen this is what he says he's a god of truth and so he's going to be faithful to that look in the 20th chapter of the revelation for a moment and look at this terrible passage of scripture because it is terrible of what's going to happen to people who die without christ and the 20th chapter beginning in that 11th verse and notice notice what he says he says then i saw a great white throne and him who sat on it from whose presence earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them and i saw the dead the great and small standing before the throne and the books were opened another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds and the sea gave up the dead which were in it death and hades gave up the dead which are in them and they were judged every one of them according to their deeds then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire and if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire you say do you believe all that let me ask you a question does god lie no he doesn't what i want you to see having never trusted jesus as your savior do you understand that it has nothing to do with the love of god god loves you unconditionally but he is a god of truthfulness he's the god who keeps his promise listen he is a god who keeps his promise and his warnings that if you disobey me there will be consequences you obey me there are great wonderful consequences you must choose what to believe or not to believe a god who is a god of truth who does not change his mind who has all power all knowledge always present and a god who loves you unconditionally would you reject him you may still say i don't believe all that but let me just remind you your unbelief does not change the promise of the living god that puts you in a pretty bad spot you can change that you say well how by acknowledging that jesus christ is the son of god who went to the cross and when he went to the cross he laid down this life on the cross shed his blood for you and me that is he paid our sin that in full with his life and the moment you and i ask him to forgive us of our sins and surrender our life to him it isn't just something you say you yield your life to him and that moment your sins are forgiven the bible says you are sealed with a seal the holy spirit of promise your name is written in the lamb's book of life you are forever a child of god now you have this awesome faithful god indwelling you in the presence of the holy spirit to enable you to live a godly life to enable you to achieve and accomplish everything that god has in mind for you it's a choice you make but let me just say this it is an eternal choice to say no to god is an eternal disaster to say yes to god is an eternal blessing that is yours for the asking and the receiving and that's our prayer for you and father how grateful we are that you're who you are awesome indescribable holy god would you sink this message in every one of our hearts would you remind us daily who you are and let us live on the basis that we have you living within us trustworthy trustworthy god faithful god dependable reliable in every way what an awesome blessing i pray the spirit of god would enrich each one of us deepen our understanding of you and take this father and apply it to our hearts in such a way that our faith rises our sense of confidence increases everything about us begins to change when we recognize whose we are whom we serve and who loves us unconditionally in jesus name amen god is always faithful and by trusting in his promises believers can experience his perfect peace in every situation at intouch.org discover how you can develop an intimate relationship with god there you can watch today's message resting in the faithfulness of god and find a library of free and inspiring messages from dr stanley sermon notes and resources to help you understand the promises found in god's holy word download the intouch app to take the teaching of dr stanley on the go or follow us on youtube facebook and twitter the spirit-filled life is a life lived through us by the holy spirit and the goal is to demonstrate and to express the character of jesus christ an intimate look into the ministry of dr stanley the spirit-filled life a new edition of one of his classic books this biblical perspective on the work of the holy spirit can deepen your intimacy with god dad dad have we tried the drill i'm with you buddy nearly 2 000 years ago the apostle john recorded christ's great unveiling revelation god's climactic story of hope fulfilled warning the day of wrath and judgment blessed are those who will live forever in the new heaven and earth share a personal message on a beautiful note card from the lens of dr charles stanley enjoy six nautical designs featuring boats from around the world in this 18 card set many people see the bible as a collection of rules or as a road map to becoming a good person but was the bible meant to be a morality textbook though it contains wisdom unmatched by anything in the world god's word offers so much more today an in touch viewer ask about the standards god requires and they're right what is meant by james 1 27 it talks about other religions being acceptable to god many religions have the traits mentioned in this verse does that mean god accepts them well let me explain this verse to you first of all it does not refer to other religions at all it does not give us a definition of religion pure and undefiled means true and genuine life-changing it must be more than external and sprang from an inner spirit of compassion and holiness before god religion is more than superficial it's a genuine act of love living a godly life true worship more than buildings in ritual and formal religious activity the verse is not referring to other religions so the answer to your question is simply no for example in the ten commandments if you'll notice uh in this twentieth chapter of exodus if you'll notice for example what the lord says he said you shall not worship them speaking of other gods or serve them for i the lord your god i'm a jealous god visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me so he says we're to worship him and him or does he recognize other gods absolutely he does not and in james he warns us about this thing but jesus also for example he says in the 14th chapter and the sixth verse i am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father but by me james would be a contradiction to all of this well thank you for joining us for this broadcast of in touch and remember obey god leave all the consequences to him it's the only way to enjoy life at its very best touching the world with a passion for god and compassion for people in touch with dr charles stanley is a presentation of in touch ministries this program is made possible by the grace of god and your faithful prayers and gifts

Channel: In Touch Ministries

Views: 2,699,169

Rating: 4.7339973 out of 5

Keywords: Charles F. Stanley Dr. Charles Stanley Dr. Stanley In Touch InTouch God Jesus Holy Spirit Christian, Charles Stanley, Faithfulness (Quotation Subject), God (Deity), Religion (TV Genre), Christianity (Religion)

Id: neNE7pXtX24

Length: 56min 35sec (3395 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 24 2018