THE FAlTHFULNESS OF GO
“Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful
God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love
him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
“(Deu. 7:9).
Faithfulness is one of the sweetest and most comforting of the
divine attributes. Faithfulness belongs to God; fickleness
characterizes sinful men. The faithfulness of God is a practical
truth for the believer. It is a pillow for his weary head, a
stimulant for his fainting heart, and a brace for his feeble
knees. In all the exigencies of life God can be safely relied
upon. He will never disappoint the trusting soul. He will never
suffer His faithfulness to fail. The faithfulness of God coupled
with His mighty power is our everlasting hope. Men disappoint
us because they are lacking either in faithfulness or power.
But we can look above the wreck and ruin caused by the
unfaithfulness of men and behold One who is great in
faithfulness. “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith
without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)”(Heb.
10:23).
Unfaithfulness is one of the outstanding characteristics of
these evil days. Who has not suffered at the hands of
unfaithful men? And where is the man who has not been
guilty, in some measure at least, of this very sin? In the
economic world nearly all failures are the results of unfaithful
debtors or employees. In the social realm marital infidelity has
become a terrible scourge; the sacred bonds of wedlock are
broken with the ease of discarding an old garment. In the
political world pre- election promises are broken as flippantly
as they are made. In international affairs treaties between
nations are treated as mere scraps of paper. There is fear and
alarm everywhere as men learn that they cannot trust one
another. And in the religious realm unfaithfulness is as evident
as anywhere else. Multitudes who profess to believe the Bible
are ignoring great portions of it, pronouncing other parts out of
date, and withal seeking to explain much of it away.
SICK OF HUMANITY
A reporter for one of the big American dailies, who, witnessed
the battle of the Alcazar in war torn, bullet riddled and blood
soaked Spain, lying upon his hospital bed in France, spoke to
his manager across the ocean, and said, “I’m sick of
humanity!” The human race began its downward career in the
garden of plenty by unfaithfulness to its Creator, and by the
same sin is destroying itself. Here is a question for heart
searching: Have we been the cause of grief to others by our
unfaithfulness? Has wife, husband, child, parent, neighbor,
pastor, brother, or anyone else been brought to grief by our
unfaithfulness? Remember the tears caused by wrong doing
are kept in God’s bottle to be brought as evidence in the day
of judgment.
THE FAITHFUL GOD
There is One who is great in faithfulness. Faithfulness is a
perfection in God by which He is true to His word and to all
His covenant engagements. He never breaks a contract with
Himself or with His creatures. What He has purposed that will
He do, and what He has promised that will He perform. Lying
is one of the most prevalent sins of all times. It was the belief
of a lie that caused the ruin of the human race. Adam and Eve
turned away from God’s word and followed the father of lies.
And all their children have followed in their steps. The children
of Israel, in the long ago, would actually beg their prophets to
preach lies to them. “Which say to the seers, See not; and to
the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us
smooth things, prophesy deceits:” (Isa. 30:10). In our day
Iying has been camouflaged with the big word propaganda.
It is said that in Siam they have a law, that when man lies his
mouth is sewed up for three days. Bro. R. G. Lee says that if
such law were in effect in this country many business men
would not be able to answer the telephone and some of the
women would be going around with pretty embroidered
mouths.
The proneness to tell and believe lies is one of the most
startling facts of human history. Of only one man has it ever
been truthfully said that there was no deceit in His mouth. And
this was the God man, Christ Jesus, the Truth incarnate. “And
he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his
death; because he had done no violence, neither was any
deceit in his mouth” (Isa. 53:9).
GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIMSELF
Of God we read “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he
cannot deny himself” (II Tim. 2:13). This means that He will
faithfully perform all that He has purposed. “And we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom.
8:28). Back in eternity there was a people foreknown and
predestinated whom God purposed to call and justify and
glorify. This was a secret purpose known only to God and not
a promise made to men, for as yet man had no actual being.
Now, if God should fail to call and justify and glorify the
foreknown and predestinated, He would not be faithful or true
to Himself. It would be as if a man purposed to do something
and then failed through lack of constancy or ability. God is
faithful to His own purpose, and has ample power to execute
all His plans. “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed
as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of
heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can
stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Dan. 4:35).
GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIS SON
There were certain promises made to Jesus Christ, the
spiritual David, on condition that He perform His duties as
Mediator of the better covenant. And God has sworn that He
will not lie unto David, that is, Christ, the spiritual David. He
was to see His seed and the travail of His soul and be
satisfied. “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be
satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many; for he shall bear their iniquities” (Isa. 53:11).
Concerning the covenant of grace entered into by the three
persons of the Godhead, we can do no better than to quote B.
H. Carroll: “Before there was any world, a covenant of grace
and mercy was entered into between Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, the evidences of which covenant are abundant in the
New Testament and the parts to be performed by each
Person of the Godhead are clearly expressed, viz: The
Father’s grace and love in agreeing to send the Son, His
covenant obligations to give the Son a seed, His
foreknowledge of this seed, His predestination concerning this
seed, His justification and adoption of them in time. The Son’s
covenant was the obligation to assume human nature in His
incarnation, voluntarily renouncing the glory He had with the
Father before the world was, to become obedient to the death
of the cross. The consideration held out to Him, as a hope set
before Him, inducing Him to endure the shame of the cross,
and the reward bestowed upon Him because of that
obedience, was His resurrection, His glorification, His
exaltation to the royal priestly throne and His investment with
the right of judgment. And the Spirit’s covenant- obligations
were to apply this work of redemption in calling, convincing,
regenerating, sanctifying, and raising from the dead the seed
promised to the Son, the whole of it showing that the plan of
salvation was not an afterthought; that the roots of it in
election and predestination are both in eternity before the
world was, and the fruits of it are in eternity after the
judgment. The believer is asked to consider this chain, test
each link, shake it and hear it rattle, connected from eternity to
eternity. Everyone that God chose in Christ is drawn by the
Spirit to Christ. Everyone predestinated is called by the Spirit
in time, justified in time, and will be glorified when the Lord
comes.”
THE DEATH OF CHRIST NO EXPERIMENT
The death of Christ was not an experiment, uncertain in its
results. The work of the Holy Spirit is not a mere trial to see
what can be accomplished. We cannot subscribe to the
doctrine of an unfaithful Father, a defeated Holy Spirit, and a
disappointed Son. We believe in a faithful God, an invincible
Spirit, and a victorious Christ. Spurgeon says: “That every
soul for whom Christ shed His blood as a substitute He will
claim as His own and have as His right, I firmly believe. I love
to hold and I delight to proclaim this precious truth. Not all the
powers of earth or hell, not the obstinacy of the human will,
nor the deep depravity of the human mind, can ever prevent
Christ seeing the travail of His soul and being satisfied.”
But better still are the words from the lips of incarnate Truth;
Hear ye Him: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me;
and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I
came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will
of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath
sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is
the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the
Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will
raise him up at the last day” (John 6:37-40). And again He
said, “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he
should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him”
(John 17:2).
THE GROUND OF OUR SECURITY
The ground of our security is God’s faithfulness to His Son.
“God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of
his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (I Cor.r 1:9). According to
covenant engagements Jesus Christ was to have fellows or
companions. Now, by the calling of God (the effectual call of
the Spirit by the word) we were first admitted into fellowship
with Christ, and the ultimate objective is our presence with
Him in glory. And this is guaranteed by the faithfulness of
God, “Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may
be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 1:8),
for the called are to be justified and glorified. The called and
justified are safe as long as God keeps His word to His Son.
Freedom from chastisement depends upon the believer’s
good behavior, but certainty of glory rests upon God’s
faithfulness to His Son.
“If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;
If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;
Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their
iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not
utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My
covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of
my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie
unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as
the sun before me” (Ps. 89:30-36).
What a firm foundation for our faith! Our safety does not rest
upon our faithfulness to God, but upon God’s faithfulness to
His Son. HALLELUJAH!
GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIS SAINTS
God has made promises to poor, helpless, mourning believers
in Christ and He will faithfully perform every promise He has
made. “For the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance” (Rom. 11:29). This means that God is true to His
covenant promises, and will not fail to glorify all the called.
“For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen,
unto the glory of God by us” (II Cor. 1:20).
PRESERVATION
God is faithful in preserving His people. “For the LORD loveth
judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for
ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off” (Ps. 37:28).
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never
perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My
Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man
is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:27-
29). Whatever is preserved is helpless to keep itself. The
saints are weak, but they are kept by the power of God: “Who
are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time” (I Peter 1:5). God’s
promise to the believer is everlasting life. And this is not
everlasting existence, but everlasting favor or justification so
that he will never come under condemnation again. “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come
into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John
5:24).
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray
God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful
is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” (I Thess. 5:23,24).
Here the believer’s complete sanctification and deliverance
from sin is made to depend upon the faithfulness of God. The
called are not only justified; they will also be glorified, for God
is faithful. God is not going to call sinners with the effectual,
life giving call and then leave them stranded on the highway to
glory. There is no “coffin corner” for the souls of the saints.
Neither will their evacuation be a “Dunkirk.” Those who have
fled to Jesus Christ as a refuge from the storm of Divine wrath
have God’s word and His oath, “That by two immutable things,
in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a
strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon
the hope set before us” (Heb. 6:18).
“There’s never a heartache and never a groan,
Never a tear drop, and never a moan;
Never a danger, but there on His throne,
Moment by moment He thinks of His own.”
DISCIPLINE
God is faithful in disciplining His people. The psalmist cries: “I
know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in
faithfulness hast afflicted me” (Ps. 119:75). Here David
submits to God’s dealings with him and acknowledges that
they are right and good. In David’s creed there was no place
for luck or chance. He believed that God ordered all that befell
him. His afflictions were most painful, but He saw God’s hand
in them and believed they were for his good. But he goes
further and says that God was faithful in sending them. God
was acting in the best interests of David and knew what he
needed. God was as faithful to His own in chastening as He is
in preserving then. God is no unfaithful and indulgent Eli. He
will not allow His children to sin without correction. “He that
spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him
chasteneth him betimes” (Prov. 13:24).
We ought to praise God for His faithfulness in using the rod to
bring us back to Himself and into the path of obedience. The
saints have the wayward nature of a sheep and are prone to
go astray. God is a faithful Shepherd who knows how to use
the rod to bring us back. Hear David again: “Before I was
afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” (Ps.
119:67). And the doctrine is the same whether in the Old
Testament or the New Testament. In Heb. 12:11 we read,
“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but
grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit
of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” This
glorious truth is put in verse by one of the Puritans, Thomas
Washburn (1606- 1687).
“The saint like a silly sheep doth often stray,
Not knowing of his way—
Blind deserts and the wilderness of sin
He daily travels in.
There’s nothing will seduce him sooner than Afflictions to his
pen.
He wanders in the sunshine, but in rain
And stormy weather hastens home again.
“Thou, the great Shepherd of my soul,
O keep me, Thy unworthy sheep from gadding:
If fair means will not do it,
Let foul, then, bring me to it.
Rather than I should perish in my error, Lord, bring me back
with terror;
Better I be chastened with Thy rod and shepherd’s staff,
Than stray from Thee, my God.
“Though for the present stripes do grieve me sore
At the last they profit more
And make me to observe Thy word,
Which I neglected heretofore;
Let me come home by weeping cross
Than still be at a loss.
For health I’d rather take a bitter pill
Than eating sweet meats to be always ill.”
As the saint grows in knowledge of the truth about God and
man, he will become more and more sick of self and fond of
Him. When the truth about God and self reaches the inward
parts, then will we do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly
before God. “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and
what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to
love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Mic. 6:8).
Oh, how much do we, His blood-bought people, need to be
more faithful to Him who never suffers His faithfulness to fail
toward us! This is what He requires of us as stewards of His
goods. “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be
found faithful” (I Cor. 4:2). It will not matter much when we
come to die whether we have had much of this world’s goods
and honor or not, but it will matter much whether or not we
have been faithful to our Redeemer. May the faithfulness of
God become a spring in us from which shall flow waters of
faithful service to Him!
“O love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul on Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.”
“Only one life to live and soon is past
Only what’s done for Christ will last!”
Hoping to make the time I have left count for the glory of God.
THE FAlTHFULNESS OF GOD
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