Faithfulness of God

Aug 12, 2024

Sunday I was blessed to preach on the Faithfulness of God. Below you’ll find a YouTube link if you would like to watch the sermon, an Apple podcast link if you would prefer to listen, and the full manuscript if you prefer to read. I pray you’ll be blessed by the message as I have been. I would love to hear how you experienced the sermon, and how God has been faithful in your life.

If you wish to jump straight to the sermon, it begins at the 28-minute mark in the YouTube video:

Link to sermon audio:

Good morning! My name is Heath Cummings, I’m an elder here at Hammock Street Church. This morning I would like to talk with you about the faithfulness of God. I’m going to start by asking you to read Psalm 100 with me. It’s a short one, but it will help get us in the right mindset for today’s message. I’ll be reading from the NIV:

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people,

the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good

and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Amen!

Last week we talked about waking up with a mentality that He is God and we are not. We talked about knowing the wise thing to do, what God would have us do, and then submitting to Him and doing it. This Psalm justifies waking up with that attitude. Our God is good, His love endures forever, and his faithfulness continues through all generations. You can submit to Him knowing those things. And as the psalmist makes clear, you can do it with joy.

This is not some kind of joy you have to fake. This is a joy that comes from recognizing that we serve a God who is good, loving, and faithful.

I want to tell you, I wrote this sermon this past Spring for a Theology class I was taking. Now from my experience, writing a sermon for a professor can feel a little bit different than writing a sermon to share with a congregation. It’s not supposed to be that way, but it’s the way it seems to work. Writing for a professor, my emphasis can get stuck on citing the right kinds of sources, showing that I know the information, formatting everything correctly. Now there are benefits to all those things, but after going through the series we have this summer here at Hammock Street, I have seen this sermon in a little different light.

While God’s faithfulness is a reason for worship and joy, it’s also a reason to follow what we talked about last week: To know God and submit to God. It’s also a reason for us to be full of faith, as we talked about earlier this summer in the Faith Full series. There were some concepts in those two series that are difficult for me. They might be difficult for you. Submitting? That does not come naturally for me. Putting myself out there to do something I know I cannot do on my own? That sounds like potential embarrassment. Disciplining myself? I’ve got a pretty terrible history of that.

If you’re anything like me, you need a reason to submit. At least partially, that’s because we cannot count on the faithfulness of people in this world. We cannot trust that they have our best interests in mind, or that they will do what they say they will. We need a reason to walk in faith, to be faith full. Thankfully we have that reason, and it’s the faithfulness of God. Knowing His faithfulness makes it possible to submit to that faithfulness. And I’m praying that by the end of today we all know His faithfulness a little bit better, and we all find it a little easier to submit to Him and be more Faith full people.

Now, preaching a sermon about faithfulness is a little difficult. After all, we’d generally like to have illustrations in a sermon, pictures from our current world that we can look to to better understand concepts from the Bible. But what should I use as an illustration of God’s faithfulness? Who in your life is completely faithful? Not just in marriage, or in truth-telling, but in every small detail? The obvious answer is no one. While the faithfulness of God is one of those attributes that can be found, at least in part, in humans, the glimpses we get of faithfulness in this life are not the faithfulness of God. Paul might say they are mere shadows.

Thankfully, we do not have to rely on illustrations from this life, because we have a book full of illustrations, poems, and letters that tell us all about our God and His faithfulness. Today I would like to dive into a few stories that highlight the faithfulness of God. One good reason to do this is so that we may know God better. After all, as the psalmist wrote, “It is He who made us” and we learned last week, “He is God, not me” and as A.W. Tozer wrote, “What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

What comes to your mind when you think about God?

As we discussed last week, Solomon wrote in Proverb 9:10:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

So knowing God better is a very worthwhile reason to investigate His faithfulness, but it is not the only reason. A better understanding of His faithfulness should change how we live today.

Our knowledge of His faithfulness should change our behavior.

This happens in a few ways. First, we can trust that we are not responsible for our own salvation. We do not have to live in a posture of self defense, or self interest, because we can trust that He has our best interests in mind. Instead we can live for His glory. We can also live, as His image bearers, reflecting His faithfulness to the world. Imagine what a difference that might make. What if we gave the world, Boca Raton, Palm Beach and Broward County, the internet, a better glimpse of the faithfulness of God by being a more faithful people ourselves? We’ve got kids and teachers heading back to school this week. How could your school be changed by your reflection of His faithfulness?

Let’s pray and then we’ll dig deeper.

Before we get to the Bible stories, I want to make sure we are all on the same page as to what faithfulness means. The original Hebrew word for faithfulness in Psalm 100 is 'ĕmûnâ.

This word appears 49 times in the Old Testament, most often translated as faithful or faithfulness but also as truth, steady, and stability. Strongs defines it as “literally firmness; figuratively security; morally fidelity.” Are you getting the picture? Think of it as a promise that cannot be broken. A reliability that cannot be questioned. As I said, it’s kind of hard to imagine in our world. Here on earth, we see faithfulness in glimpses maybe, if we’re lucky. Let’s dive into the Word and find it there.

First, let’s turn to the book of Genesis, chapter 12, verses 1-3:

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

This is the beginning of a famous story, right? Abram, who will become Abraham, is the father of Israel, the great nation in this promise. We are a part of the extension of that promise, the “all peoples on earth” who are blessed by the coming of Jesus, the fulfillment of Israel’s purpose. Here, at the very beginning of their relationship, God makes promises to Abram, promises that will be fulfilled because of God’s faithfulness.

We don’t have time to go through the entire story of Abraham’s life here. But I do want to hit on some of the highlights, or lowlights if you will. I want to do this to illustrate a very important point: God’s faithfulness was not based on Abraham being equally faithful… thank goodness. God’s faithfulness is unconditional.

Or, as Tozer wrote, “God, being who he is, cannot cease to be what He is, and being what He is, He cannot act out of character with Himself. He is at once faithful and immutable, so all His words and acts must be and must remain faithful.”

There’s not anything you can do to make God unfaithful. Can we take a moment here to thank God that His faithfulness does not rest on our faithfulness?

Because if God’s faithfulness was based on Abraham’s faithfulness, things would have turned out much differently. Abraham was not exactly faithful. Before we get to the end of Chapter 12, he is lying to the Egyptians about his wife, telling them she is his sister because he’s afraid that they will kill him. Later in life, God promises Abram and his wife a son, despite their old age. But they lose patience and agree that Abram should father a son with his concubine, Hagar. This creates drama for all involved, but you know what it doesn’t do? It doesn’t impact God’s promise that they will have a son together, Isaac will come just as promised. Before Isaac arrives, Abraham again lies to another king about his wife, causing a curse to come on the king’s household.

The first thing I want you to take from this abbreviated history of Abraham and God is to recognize that your lack of faithfulness in the past can not damage God’s faithfulness to you. This is illustrated in the fact that God delivers on His promise to Abraham despite Abraham’s treachery. It is illustrated in the story of Israel in the Old Testament. Time after time Israel is unfaithful: in the wilderness, in the book of Judges, in the histories of their kings. Through all of that, God remained faithful to bless the entire world through the seed of Abraham, the nation of Israel, and ultimately His Son. No matter how unfaithful you have been, God’s faithfulness is to all generations, and His promises will be fulfilled.

I want to tell you that this principle is not just one you can find in the Bible. If it wasn’t for God’s faithfulness I wouldn't be here in front of you. I wouldn’t have been in a Theology class this past spring writing this sermon.

Like Abraham, I made all kinds of foolish decisions. Despite the fact that I was raised in the church, despite the fact that I cannot remember a time in my life that I didn’t know Jesus, I made many choices in my 20s and 30s that did not reflect what I said I believed. That’s pretty much the definition of unfaithfulness. And yet, here I am.

God called me back into His will because of His faithfulness. I don’t want that to sound like I am a finished product. He’s probably going to have to call me back into His will later today. While he is changing me, it is still an ongoing process. But the only reason it’s still ongoing is because His faithfulness was not, is not, dependent on mine. I thank God for that, because as we discussed earlier, none of us can match His faithfulness. Not on our own.

So if you’re sitting there, hearing about the faithfulness of God, but feeling bad about your own lack of faithfulness, I invite you to read Psalm 100 again and again today. Rejoice in a God who is calling you back. Know Him and submit to Him. Praise Him and glorify Him. It is not too late and you have not been too unfaithful.

As Paul wrote to the Romans, “God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). For us it’s even more incredible. Long before we were ever born, before we ever sinned, Christ died for us, even though God knew we would sin. Like I said, it’s hard for us to understand God’s faithfulness, because it is so much different than anything we see in this world…but we can rejoice in it.

And another thing: it’s not just that our unfaithfulness has no impact on the faithfulness of God. The world’s doesn’t either, not even the leaders. I think we’ll all agree there are plenty of powerful people making terrible decisions today. We may not all agree on which powerful people I’m talking about right now, but there are plenty to choose from. Evil still exists in this world and it can seem like evil is in charge of this world at times. That’s nothing new.

Remember Joseph? The grandson of Abraham, sold into slavery by his brothers. Falsely imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. God was still faithful, still accomplished his intentions through Joseph. What about Daniel? Thrown into a lion’s den for praying, but God was still faithful, we can still read Daniel’s words today. Or Daniel’s friends? In the blazing furnace. God was right there with them, faithful.

In the New Testament, Paul wrote many of his letters from prison and not because he was a violent criminal or a crook on the side. God was faithful to not only do His good work through Paul’s imprisonment, but also to preserve those letters for us today. No matter how unfaithful you think the world is today, no matter how unfaithful its leaders, you can still count on the faithfulness of God to accomplish His will in it. And that should have a big impact on how you respond to the unfaithfulness of this world.

We have no reason to fear an unfaithful world, we serve a faithful God! We know how the story ends, and we can trust that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

While the faithfulness of God is not dependent on the faithfulness of man, the faithfulness of God was visible in one man: Jesus. In the garden of Gethsemane, before He was betrayed, we see the faithfulness of Christ:

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” Matthew 26:36-42

I think it’s important to remember that throughout the book of Matthew, Jesus tries to prepare his disciples for what is coming on the cross. He knew the agony and despair that awaited Him.

He was beaten, mocked, abandoned by His closest friends, crucified. And that’s just the part that we can kind of understand. He took on the sins of the world and paid the price for all of them.

He marched straight into it. In the garden we see Jesus, “deeply grieved, to the point of death” …he knows what is coming.. and yet says to His father “may your will be done.” This is the faithfulness of God in the person of Jesus. It is also a picture of Jesus showing complete faith in the faithfulness of His Father.

This is a God you can submit to, knowing that He will deliver on His promises. You do not have to take things into your own hands nor do you have to count on your own abilities. You can submit to His will, trust His commands, and pray that even if hard things are ahead, ultimately His will be done.

This is the point in the sermon where we need to put the words into action. But we arrive back at the original problem. What can we do about the faithfulness of God? We cannot affect it at all, positively or negatively. God will be fully faithful no matter what we do. We cannot change God, but we can change the world around us. He can change it through us. I see it as a three-step process:

Step one, and I pray we have made some progress on this in the last half hour, is that we must fully accept and come to marvel at the faithfulness of God. We must fully believe that every promise He makes will be fulfilled. Just as nothing can change God, nothing can impact His faithfulness. This is the “Know Him” portion of last week’s sermon.

The Bible is a great place to see this in action, in stories like Abraham and David and Israel itself, we see the faithfulness of God. Israel had numerous festivals and celebrations to remember the faithfulness of God and what He had done for them. I’m not so sure we wouldn’t benefit from a few more of those ourselves. The more time we spend looking back at all the times God has remained faithful the easier it should get to trust that in the future, come what may, He will be faithful.

I would also suggest that we search for evidence of this in our own lives. How has God been faithful to you already? What promises have you seen Him fulfill? Don’t hesitate to ask family members, community members the same question. Tell them your story.

I’ll tell you, when I need a reminder about the faithfulness of God, I can look right over there. My son was diagnosed with Mastocytosis at six months old. We went months struggling to even get a diagnosis. Thousands of people were praying for him. It was all we had for a while. While he’s not fully healed, he takes a fraction of the medicine he used to, he’s my size at 14 years old, and his doctors think the disease may be gone soon. Praise God for His faithfulness.

Step two may still be a bit of a mystery until you get past step one. Step two is that we can grow in faithfulness only after we fully accept God’s faithfulness. For us to do as Jesus asks and set our minds on eternal rewards as opposed to earthly rewards (Matt. 6:20-21) we must be wholly convinced that His eternal promises will be fulfilled. Fully believing in God’s promises opens the door for you to live as if God is faithful. Paul illustrates this in Philippians Chapter 1.

He is rejoicing, in prison, because of the progress of the gospel and the fact that Christ is proclaimed. He even wrote “for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). That type of attitude can only grow out of a complete faith in the faithfulness of God.

I remember hearing that type of faithfulness in my grandfather’s voice. I was able to talk to him towards the very end. He was surrounded by family, in his hospital room. He knew he had very little time left on this earth, and he was full of joy. He was ready to be with Jesus. His joy in that moment changed me a little bit. He had no doubt where he was going next and he was ready.

I saw it again at yesterday’s celebration of life. It was a beautiful ceremony that was also a celebration of her faith. From the worship team singing “I’m gonna see a victory” to the word from Paul about our house in heaven that awaits us. It was exactly what you would expect in response to the faithfulness of God, an assuredness that His promises will be kept.

This leads to the submission that we talked about last week. The more we believe in God’s faithfulness and try to live in that faithfulness daily, the easier it becomes to submit to His will. And the more we submit to His will, the more faithful we will appear to the world around us. That gets us to step three.

Step three is where we begin to change the world around us as we grow in faith. As we talked about earlier, faithfulness is not common in our world today. You will stand out as you grow in faithfulness. People will ask you about it. And that will give you a chance to tell them about the faithfulness of your God.

The God.

The same God who promised Abraham a son, and a nation. The same God who “so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The same God who became man, and walked to the cross in faithfulness, so that we could be forgiven.

The best example I’ve seen of this type of transformation is in my dad. He was given a few weeks to live back in 2020, and he’s here today watching. While I thank God for the healing regularly, the example I’m talking about is the change that happened in him. Before his battle, he was not a man who talked about faith or God much at all. Today he works part time at a local golf course and I’m pretty sure everybody who works there and most of the people who play there have heard about his story and how God saved him. I’d guess a few people have heard it twice.

Now he’s been a man who more often than most did what he said he was going to do. Even before he was healed. But the difference is in who he gives the credit for that. You see it doesn’t do a whole lot of Kingdom good to live as someone who appears faithful in this world if you’re taking the credit for that way of being yourself. It makes all the difference if you’re pointing to God as the reason you’re able to do it.

As we leave here today, I challenge you to truly believe in Him. Believe in His faithfulness. Know it. Submit to it. Show His faithfulness to everyone you encounter this week. Give Him the credit for it. And expect to see His promises fulfilled in your life and in the life to come. To close I invite you to read Psalm 100 with me once more, this time with feeling: