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The Faithfulness of God 1Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Not too much is taught on the faithfulness of God. Most of the sermons one hears is on our faithfulness and how we should be faithful. Yet God is the One who is Faithful-- even when we are not. He is faithful, unchanging and He never wavers. Our salvation does not rest upon our faithfulness but rather GOD'S FAITHFULNESS. God sees every Believer in Christ. It was Jesus who finished the work of redemption for us and we are secure because of His faithfulness. He promised eternal life to "whosoever" will believe in Him. Believers in Christ rest in Him today. The Lord Jesus is our righteousness; and we do not have a righteousness of our own. Hebrews 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Knowing that God is faithful and that He changes not, gives the Christian confidence that He will perform what He has promised. We rest in the Finished Work of our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, and trust that He will see us through until we reach the Golden Side. He promised us eternal life and we stand upon His promises. How do we remain faithful? By ever looking to Jesus. 2Thess 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep you from evil. Notice that it is the Lord who is faithful and who shall establish us. In our own strength, we are weak. Only God can establish us. Isaiah 25:1 O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Psalm 89:5 And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. Psalm 36:5 Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Psalm 119:90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. Psalm 121:3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How wonderfully broad the faithfulness of God is, so that it reaches every human need. So often we associate God's faithfulness with the supplying of our physical or financial requirements, and no more. But it is far more comprehensive than that. In a world of wickedness, it is His faithfulness that confirms us through the Word, and keeps us from evil. (2Thess. 3:3). In the moment of testing, He is faithful in not allowing us to be tempted above what we are able to bear, and in making a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13). During a period of pride or disobedience, it is in faithfulness that He allows us to be afflicted (Psalm 119:75), that we might be drawn back to Himself. Though we were born in sin, and though we come short of the glory of God, He is merciful and faithful to make reconciliation as our High Priest (Hebrews 2:17). In the hour of broken fellowship, due to our having sinned against His righteousness, through our confession He is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Lamentations 3:23 "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness." ~ Taken from "By Life and By Death" by E. Schuyler English. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 2Thess 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. 1Cor 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr. A.C. Gaebelein wrote concerning 1 Corinthians 1:9: "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Cor. 1:9). A blessed word this is. By nature, the Corinthians were in another fellowship. The same Epistle (6:9-11) tells us what some of them were. Like ourselves by nature they were in the fellowship of sin and death and in fellowship with him, who is the author of sin and the enemy of God, Satan. But a faithful God called them and has called us by the Gospel into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. If we have obeyed the Gospel and accepted the gift of God we are brought through the Grace of God into the fellowship of the Son of God. All believers are in the same fellowship, one with the Lord. But that is a truth and a blessed revelation far deeper than our mind can fathom or our pen could describe. No saint has ever sounded the depths of this wonderful call of God nor can God's saints fully know what that fellowship all means, until the blessed day comes when we shall see Him as He is and when joined to Him we shall be like Him. And yet we can remind ourselves of the little we know and through it encourage our hearts. Faith loves to dwell upon the blessed Person, whom faith alone through the Spirit's power can make a living reality. And God, the faithful God, loves to hear His children speak much of Him, whom He loves, the Son of His Love, the Lord Jesus Christ. Fellowship means to have things in common. And that is what God has done. He has taken us through His Grace out of the fellowship in which we are by nature, the things we have in common as enemies and children of wrath and has called us into the fellowship of His Son. And now called of God into this fellowship we have things in common with His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. This brings before us once more the old story, which never grows old, but is eternally new and becomes more blessed the more we hear it. The Son of God, He who is the true God and the eternal Life, came to this earth and appeared in the form of Man. "The Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us" (1 John 1:2). And He who is the true God and the eternal life, by whom the worlds were made, gave Himself for our sins. He came to give His life as a ransom for many, to make propitiation for the whole world. He who knew no sin was made sin for us and on the Cross peace was made. There in His own body on the tree He bore our sins. All who believe on Him, who have accepted Jesus as their Saviour, are taken out of that in which they are by nature and are brought into Christ. And here we can with praising hearts and full assurance sing of our blessed position in Him. . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "We have failed, but God is faithful, and His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting." "The finished work of Christ and the faithful word of God are the basis and the authority of full forgiveness of sins." ~C.H. Mackintosh Psalm 57:2 I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ C.H. Spurgeon preached: "What a consolation it is that our God never changes! What he was yesterday he is today. What we find him today we shall find him for ever. Are you struggling against sin? Don't struggle in your own strength: it is God who performeth all things for you...In the hand of Jesus all his people are, and in that hand they shall be for ever and ever. 'None shall pluck them out of my hand,' saith He. Their preservation shall be perfected. So, too, their sanctification. Every child of God is set apart by Christ, and in Christ, and the work of the Spirit has commenced which shall subdue sin, and extirpate the very roots of corruption; and this work shall be perfected; nay, is being perfected at this very moment... He is perfecting us in all things for himself. He has promised to bring us to glory. We have the earnest of that great glory in us now. The new life is there; all the elements of heaven are within us. Now He will perfect all these. He will not suffer one good thing that He has planted within us to die. It is a living and incorruptible seed, which liveth and abideth for ever. He will perfect all things for us. There is nothing that makes the saints complete but what God will give to us. There shall be lacking us no one trait of loveliness that is needful for the courtiers of the skies; no one virtue that is necessary in us. What a marvellous thing is a Christian! How mean; how noble! How abject; how august! How near to hell; how close to heaven! How fallen, yet lifted up! Able to do nothing; yet doing all things! Doing nothing; yet accomplishing all things; because herein it is that, in the man, and with the man, there is God, and He performeth all things for us. God, give us grace to look away entirely, evermore, from ourselves, and to depend entirely upon Him." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Let prayer be our portion. Let prayer be our pastime. Let prayer be our passion. Let prayer be our practice. Let us be found at the throne of grace, not only with holy boldness, but with serene confidence-- knowing that God is faithful to perform that which He has promised and that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that in us worketh." ~ R.G. Lee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "If we cannot believe God when circumstances seem be against us, we do not believe Him at all." ~ C.H. Spurgeon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading." ~ Oswald Chambers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. "God is faithful to His purpose, and His purpose is to save and keep all those who put their trust in Him. He never departs from this. He has it always before Him. It is the end to which He makes everything subordinate. He is never off His guard, never asleep, never too busily engaged to attend to the wants of the very least of His children. Sin can lurk nowhere without being detected by His all-seeing eye. It can devise no stratagem without being clearly visible to Him. Still less can it strike down or fatally wound any who look to Him for help." ~Quote by James Hastings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [King] David praised also the faithfulness of God. He says, "For thy word's sake." Is not that the ground upon which all mercy is received by the child of God? God has promised it and will keep His word." ~C.H. Spurgeon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "When you were first saved, God began a new work in you; but you were certainly not a finished product. You had a lot of growing to do. God started something in you, and He is the one that will complete it. The Bible says in Philippians 1:6, "...He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it..." ~ Adrian Rogers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Great is Your faithfulness," (Lam 3:23) - So great that there has never been an exception. Through the ages, our God has had billions of people to deal with. Yet there does not stand under heaven's cover, or above the stars, or in hell itself a single soul who can say that God is not absolutely faithful. No item in the list of our divine promises is unfulfilled. God remembers every promise that He ever made, and He honors each in the experience of those who believe in Him. They who trust in the Lord will find Him faithful, not only in great things, but also in little things. His faintest word will stand firm and steadfast. His least truth will never grow dim. The glory of God's faithfulness is that no sin of ours has ever made Him unfaithful. Unbelief is a damning thing, yet even when we do not believe, God is faithful. His children might rebel. They might wander far from His statutes and be chastened with many stripes. Nevertheless, He says, "My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail. My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips" (Psalm. 89:33–34). ~C.H. Spurgeon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONCLUSION: Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Let us understand that God keeps ALL of His promises. He is faithful in all! We can count on Him, depend upon Him and KNOW that His mercies are new every morning! We Christians can do absolutely nothing to warrant God's faithfulness. He does not change. His faithfulness does not depend upon our faithfulness. Apart from the Lord Jesus, we can do nothing. It was Christ who finished the work of redemption. We cannot earn forgiveness. God's grace is offered freely to all who will receive Jesus Christ as personal Savior. It was Christ who was faithful-- even unto death. And we are in Him-- complete in Him.We cannot operate apart from the Holy Spirit. It is God who performs the good work in and through us. God is faithful-- forever! Hebrews 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 1Thess 5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Copyright ©2008 Cobblestone Road Ministries All Rights Reserved Further Reading: In Him - The Treasures Of Wisdom and Knowledge In Christ Jesus - By F.W. 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