I don't know, yeah, I guess I'm the
one who lives here.
Praise God!
If you get tired, you can leave.
I live here, so I can just keep
preaching, I guess.
Keep myself up.
Praise the Lord.
Well, we've heard some truth today.
Tonight, thank you brothers for sharing, Chris and
Jason.
I just have some scriptures to share this
evening, and I'm just blessed to have the
privilege to share these things.
You know, considering what Brother Chris shared, it's
a very heavy thing.
We need the Lord's help, because this is
the burden of the gospel.
I mean, really, not to call it a
burden, it's a blessing.
But preaching the gospel, there are so many
lost people, and we have an obligation.
And you know, it's not hard to feel
that, especially when we first convert, if you
remember, if you don't feel it as much
as you did then.
If you remember, you see, you realize just
how much darkness you were in.
You see those who are in that, and
you feel compelled.
It's true.
We need the Lord's help so that we
won't be overwhelmed.
He'll give us wisdom how to put those
things into practice.
He is faithful.
I'd like to share about that.
Psalm 108, let's start there.
If you know me at all, you're not
going to be surprised at what I'm sharing
this evening.
I was talking to a brother up in
Manistee, to Jordan, and he said, what's the
Lord been showing you?
And I shared with him this verse, and
he said, isn't that what the Lord was
showing you at your wedding too?
And I said, well, yeah, it does go
to the skies, and I just haven't figured
out how high it is yet.
So I'm just still learning about God's faithfulness.
Psalm 108, verse 4, For great is your
love, higher than the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
His faithfulness reaches to the skies.
There's a song we sing sometimes.
That faithfulness to the skies.
How high?
I want to know.
How high does it go?
How much can He provide for His people?
In the King James it says, Let's see,
where is it?
What verse was that again?
Verse 4, For thy mercy is great above
the heavens, and thy truth reaches unto the
clouds.
So we have the word truth translated in
the King James, faithfulness in the NIV, and
I was looking at that this week, and
just so blessed.
And some other scriptures to see that it's
two in one.
God's faithfulness, it's His truth.
Why can we count on God being faithful?
It's because whatever He says, it's truth.
It's truth.
Psalm 119, verse 60 says, All your words
are true.
So why is He a faithful God?
Because what He says, it's truth.
And I was looking in this, and it
says to the clouds or to the skies.
That's how high it reaches.
It made me think of creation.
And I know there are testimonies in the
Word connecting the two things.
God's faithfulness and His creation.
And so let's just look at a couple
of those scriptures.
Psalm 148, since it says that it reaches
to the skies, I guess His faithfulness goes
through all the earth and all of creation,
and it covers everything all the way up
to there.
That's one way to look at it I
suppose.
Psalm 148, I'm going to read 1-14.
And look how His faithfulness should produce praise
for Him because He's so good.
Look what nature should do.
This is what the Psalms are saying.
Praise the Lord.
Hallelujah is what He's saying.
Praise the Lord from the heavens.
Praise Him in the heights above.
Praise Him, all His angels.
Praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.
Praise Him, sun and moon.
Praise Him, all you shining stars.
Praise Him, you highest heavens and you waters
above the skies.
His faithfulness even goes up that high.
Let them praise the name of the Lord.
And it talks about His faithfulness.
Maybe this is part of why I said
it goes to the skies.
Let them praise the name of the Lord.
For He commanded and they were created.
He said, be light, do this.
He said it and they were created.
He set them in place for ever and
ever.
He gave a decree that will never pass
away.
Praise the Lord from the earth, you great
sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and
hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do
His bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit
trees and all cedars, wild animals and all
cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of
the earth and all nations, you princes and
all rulers on earth, young men and maidens,
old men and children.
Let them praise the name of the Lord.
For His name alone is exalted, His splendor
is above the earth and the heavens.
Praise the Lord.
Well, I want to focus on what He
said there in verse 5.
For He commanded and they were created.
You know, He said in the very beginning,
God said, let there be light.
He commanded it.
That was His Word.
And when He said it, it was truth.
That's God's nature.
That's what I'm trying to focus on tonight
so that we can look to Him for
how faithful He is.
He's so faithful.
This is how faithful He is.
We don't have to worry about it.
When He said something, this is how trustworthy
God is.
When He said something, it's truth.
Let there be light.
Bam.
It is light.
Right there.
It's not like some promise He has to
make and worry about keeping it.
When it comes out of His mouth, it's
truth.
All your words are truth.
And so He deserves praise for it.
And it says, He commanded and they were
created.
So we see His truth, His faithfulness in
creation.
Psalm 33 says a similar thing.
I'm not going to turn there.
You can look at that.
Psalm 33, 4-11.
But it says, He commanded and it came
to be.
That's what happened.
He said this was His Word.
He set it forth and it just came
to be.
That's how faithful He is.
When He says this, it comes to be.
I was so blessed studying this out.
I was like a little kid digging through
and you wouldn't think that I've been on
this topic for 10 months now or longer.
But I found this verse and I'd never
seen it before.
It says, the Word of the Lord runs
swiftly.
And I was like, I got out of
my seat, started jumping up and down.
I was like, praise God.
Isn't that true though?
How we can fret and wonder, is God
going to provide?
Is He going to show me what to
do?
Yes, He's going to.
The reason you don't know yet is because
He hasn't said it yet or you're not
listening because when He speaks, man, it runs
swiftly.
Here comes the Word of God.
Let there be light.
How long did it take, man?
Bam.
He's faithful.
We're just looking at the creation and looking
at nature right now just to see the
character of God.
That's what I'm just trying to bring out.
The character of God.
His faithfulness.
How trustworthy He is.
And it's just called truth.
It can be translated truth, faithfulness.
It's just truth.
In Job 38, it's when the Lord speaks
to Job and He just says some things
that show His character also and how His
Word is powerful.
His truth is powerful.
He's so able to be faithful because He's
powerful.
When He says it, it's power.
Verse 4, Where were you when I laid
the earth's foundation?
Tell me if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions?
Surely you know.
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set?
Or who laid its cornerstone while the morning
stars sang together and all the angels shouted
for joy?
They praised God.
They were seeing His faithfulness.
He was saying things that were just happening,
falling into place.
They're blessing Him.
I don't understand how all that looked, but
the angels and the morning stars were singing
together and shouting for joy when God was
doing this, when He was being faithful.
Join with all nature in manifold witness to
Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
That's what the hymn says.
I think the hymn writer was looking into
some of these things.
Join with all nature.
They're testifying.
He says, Who shut up the sea behind
doors when it burst forth from the womb?
When I made the clouds its garment and
wrapped it in thick darkness?
When I fixed limits for it and set
doors and bars in place?
When I said, and this is the Word
of God, This far you may come and
no further.
So God says, He drew the line.
That's what happened.
The angels saw that and they're like, Wow!
Kind of like the disciples.
Who is this?
Even the wind and the waves obey Him.
That's what they say.
Just join.
Join with creation.
Testifying.
Look at God's Word.
It's true.
It's faithful.
He is able to be faithful.
We just see that.
Let's jump down to verse 12.
Have you ever given orders to the morning
or shown the dawn its place that it
might take the earth by the edges and
shake the wicked out of it?
So God's Word.
Powerful.
God told the sun to come up every
morning and it's been coming up every morning
since then.
This is God's faithfulness.
This is His Word.
The power of His character to be faithful
to what He is.
Verse 34 and 35.
He asks Job, Can you raise your voice
to the clouds and cover yourself with the
flood of water?
Do you send the lightning bolts on their
way?
Do they report to you, Here we are?
He asked Job, Do the thunderbolts remind me?
Do the thunderbolts come to you?
Do the lightning bolts come to you and
say, Here we are?
No, they come to me because I tell
them what to do.
All the things.
God calls them fixed laws.
That's something science.
They say, Oh, it's just a fixed law.
That's just what happens.
They treat it like it's just...
I mean, it's just this set in stone
thing.
It's not something you would think of when
you think of someone's word that has the
ability to falter and things.
These things are like laws.
God established them.
He just spoke it.
It was.
The lightning comes to Him and says, Here
we are.
Where do you want us to go?
This is nature we're talking about.
It's not even people.
But we're seeing the testimony.
So, should we be surprised now?
With all that said, and there's more, you
can look into that yourself.
God's character.
Now we see, and we should not be
surprised, when Moses said, What if they say,
What's God's name?
What do I tell them?
And he said, I am that I am.
That's what my name is.
I am.
Whatever I say I am, that's what I
am.
I'm truth.
He could have said, My name is I
will.
Whatever I say I will do, I will
do that thing.
He could have just said, I'm faithful.
I'm truth.
And Jesus did come and say that.
So we aren't surprised when we see God's
own testimony of Himself.
Why He would say to Moses, This is
my name.
I am.
I am that I am.
Fill in the blank.
If I say I am it, I am
it.
I'm faithful.
That's just what I am.
And we have that testimony.
Hebrews 6.18 It's talking about the promise
to Abraham.
It says, By two something things, which it
is impossible for God to lie.
It just bears witness.
You can look it up.
6.18 in Hebrews.
It just says, It is impossible for God
to lie.
He gave His promise to Abraham.
He couldn't lie.
Even Balaam in Numbers.
Balaam is this wicked guy who is prophesying.
He uses divination and Balak I think calls
him in and he wants him to pronounce
a curse.
And even Balaam knew.
He knew about God's character.
He knew some things about God.
He wasn't dealing the right way with all
of this.
But even those who don't have fellowship and
communion with God, if they just take a
look, they will see and they will know
and be able to testify to God's character
in this area.
Look at Numbers 23.
I haven't read this in a while except
this passage this week.
But I think he's starting to think, man,
I brought you here to curse them and
you're blessing them.
What's going on here?
And he says in verse 19 of 23,
God is not a man that He should
lie, nor a son of man that He
should change His mind.
Does He speak and then not act?
Does He promise and not fulfill?
I have received the command to bless.
He has blessed.
I can't change it.
What can I do?
And this is Balaam.
I mean, he gets rebuked by a donkey.
Not that we should get proud or something
looking at where he is, but look, even
this guy, he can see God's character and
he can testify to it.
Hey, God, He can't change.
In Titus, it also refers to in chapter
1 at the very beginning, God who does
not lie.
So we have this witness and this testimony.
And I know these aren't new things to
us, but I'm just trying to stir us
up like I was stirred up this week
to just see how faithful God is.
Because I've been saying and I'm learning and
I want to know how high does His
faithfulness go?
How far will He go to provide for
us?
And I was so blessed looking and seeing
the greater depth of His character in that
in the Old Testament, they gave testimonies under
the Old Covenant.
They were giving testimonies to one another to
encourage one another just like I'm doing right
now.
I'm trying to stir us up.
God's faithfulness.
He's faithful.
Remember, we know it's true.
But how many times in the Psalms were
they like, okay, remember?
Like they'd ever forget this.
But in Psalms, they're like, okay, remember?
God parted the Red Sea.
Remember that?
And He took us through and they tell
the whole story again.
Like they're ever going to forget.
Something like that.
But they felt compelled to like remind us
so that they wouldn't forget about God's faithfulness.
So we have in Joshua 23, Joshua says,
look, none of God's promises, not one of
them at all has failed.
Joshua reminds the people, God's faithful.
You know, he's thinking just like he told
Moses, I am.
That's God.
He is so able to be faithful and
to do it.
In Psalm 105 8, I'm just going to
turn there.
Psalm 105 8, because I don't remember the
Scripture.
It says, He remembers His covenant forever, the
word He commanded for a thousand generations.
One thing I was really blessed by when
I was studying this was the connection between
His faithfulness and the word command.
Like that it's that set in stone.
That His faithfulness is so set in stone.
Words like laws, statutes, command are used also.
Because when He says it, He commands it.
It is.
Let there be light.
Bam.
It is.
And these things are all, I mean we've
been looking mostly in the Old Covenant.
We know what it says, brothers.
And we'll get to that about the New
Covenant.
These are things we were looking at about
God in the Old Covenant.
And then Jeremiah 33.
This is under the Old Covenant here.
Jeremiah 33.
Jeremiah is encouraging them.
He's telling them.
He's just reminding them these covenants, these things
that God has done and has promised for
these people.
And you see the connection again with nature,
with creation being a testimony of God's truth
and His faithfulness and His ability to provide
and to keep His Word.
Jeremiah 33.
The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
Have you not noticed that these people are
saying the Lord has rejected the two kingdoms
He chose?
So they despise My people and no longer
regard them as a nation.
This is what the Lord says.
If I have not established My covenant with
day and night and the fixed laws of
heaven and earth, then I will reject the
descendants of Jacob and David My servant and
will not choose one of his sons to
rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob.
So He remembered His promise to Abraham.
And the way Jeremiah compares it to remind
them is look.
And this is what God speaks to Jeremiah.
Look.
Tell them about what I did with creation.
Look at this.
This is how it will be broken.
If My covenant with day and night is
broken and the fixed laws that's what the
term is the fixed laws of heaven and
earth.
I mean if those things break, we're all
done for.
What if the earth just stops spinning?
Sober.
Sun.
Forget it.
It doesn't come up.
Dead.
We're done.
I mean that's how far this goes.
I mean these are fixed things.
If those things aren't going on, we're all
done for.
It doesn't work.
Scientists could tell you that and God is
going back to those things.
The most set in stone things we know
of.
And He says that.
That's My faithfulness.
That's how good I am to My Word.
I am Moses.
That's who I am.
I am.
It's what I am.
He's faithful.
And in James 1.16 it says God
does not change like shifting shadows.
He doesn't change.
So the old covenant and now the new
covenant so we have Jesus.
God doesn't change.
It says in John 1 In the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with
God and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Who?
Jesus.
Jesus was with God.
It says through Jesus.
By Him and through Him and for Him
and to Him it says a bunch of
places where all things were created.
So these can be mysteries.
But we see Jesus coming in flesh and
He was called the Word.
And this we're talking about.
God keeps His Word.
And then we get Jesus called the Word.
John 1.14 says The law came through
Moses and we're looking at the old covenant
but grace and truth came through Jesus.
Truth came through Jesus.
Jesus testified I'm the way.
I'm the truth.
And I'm the light.
Hebrews 1 and we shouldn't be surprised by
this Scripture talking about Jesus in Hebrews 1
and just seeing God's faithfulness and it comes
through Jesus.
We have Jesus.
God doesn't change.
He sent His Word.
He sent His Word through Christ in the
flesh came to us under the new covenant.
Hebrews 1 says In the past, God spoke
to our forefathers through the prophets at many
times and in various ways.
And He was faithful back then.
We talked about that.
This isn't something we say, oh, back then,
you know.
They didn't have it all very great.
That was just back then.
He spoke to them.
He was speaking to them back then.
He was faithful.
We just can pour through these testimonies.
They could see God's faithfulness.
But more so now.
But in the last days, He has spoken
to us by His Son whom He appointed
heir of all things and through whom He
made the universe.
So we're seeing this connection there with that.
The Son is the radiance of God's glory
and the exact representation of His being sustaining
all things by His powerful Word.
So in Jesus, we also see the powerful
Word, the faithfulness of God that we saw
in His Word that He's commanding.
It's in Jesus.
In the flesh.
He came and He dwelt among us.
He was the Word.
From the beginning, He was with God.
He was the Word.
And then He came in the flesh.
He was here.
His Word is so powerful in Christ.
He sustains all things by His powerful Word.
It's like we've been talking about.
So praise the Lord.
And in John, and this is how far
it goes with Jesus.
Jesus knew, and He's walking in this in
humility.
But He's talking to them in John 8.
And they're talking about truth.
They're talking about truth in the context, if
you read it.
But when it all comes down, it's a
scripture I'm sure we're familiar with.
If not, you can take a look at
that.
But when it all comes down to it,
they're talking about truth, lying.
Your father's the devil.
He's the father of lies.
I speak what is true.
I speak what my Father says.
And when it all comes down, they're all
going crazy, and Jesus finally says, I am.
That's what He says.
He just, it's over.
That's how far it goes.
So, He comes down to the final thing,
and He just says, you're going back to
Abraham, but you don't understand.
I'm the one who gave Abraham the promise.
That's what He's telling them.
I am.
Just like God said, I am.
That's me too.
I am.
I'm in the flesh.
But it's me.
I'm faithful.
And we know what it says in Hebrews.
It says, what does it say?
Better promises?
I mean, better?
Jesus dwelt among us.
Here's just a little interesting thing that I
think will encourage you also.
I looked up the word, verily, verily.
You know, Jesus says, truly, I say unto
you.
verily, verily, I say unto you a lot.
In the Gospel.
It's the Greek word is, Amen.
So be it.
Truth.
That's the word.
Jesus might as well have been saying, truth.
I'm saying truth.
He might as well.
He was so wanting the people to realize
he was truth.
He was I am.
That he said that 101 times.
It just, that's recorded.
Probably more.
But it's neat.
In the book of John, I'll just share
this with you to encourage you.
In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he says it
a lot.
Truly I say unto you.
Always once.
Always.
Every single time in the Greek, it's one
time.
Amen.
Once.
Truly I say unto you.
In John, the Gospel of John, every single
time, Truly, truly, I say unto you.
And if you look in 1st, 2nd, and
3rd John, you see that John learned a
lot about truth too.
And so, so he knew some things about
God's faithfulness also.
But that was just something I found that
was such a blessing to me.
Every single time, without exception, twice.
In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, every single time
without exception, one time.
Never twice.
And never once.
In John, I thought that was really neat.
Truth though, 101 times recorded.
Jesus said, and that counts the duplicates, I
think.
But it says, truly.
He's saying, truth.
I preach truth.
And that's what the context is there.
And I want us to realize here, sort
of in closing, that we need to realize
that's the way we've been talking about how
God commanded things in the universe.
How he set fixed laws.
That is how through Jesus Christ, the Word,
the Truth, He called us.
That's how He called us.
It says in 2 Corinthians, that God who
commanded and said, let there be light.
That's what it says.
He goes back to the beginning, Paul does
in 2 Corinthians.
And he uses that to just show how
strong the calling is.
How faithful God is to those He called
in 2 Corinthians 4, 6.
It says, for God who said, let light
shine out of darkness.
God who commanded.
It was totally dark.
The earth was empty and whatever it says,
void.
There was nothing.
And He said, let there be light out
of darkness.
That's what He did.
And that's basically the same command.
He's made His light shine in our hearts.
How did He do it?
In Proverbs, this Scripture is encouraging to me.
In Proverbs it says, something, let's turn there.
1020.
Proverbs 1020.
And if you just read this, you'd wonder
why is this part of this message here.
But Proverbs 1020, He says, the tongue of
the righteous is choice silver, but the heart
of the wicked is worthless.
Shouldn't it say that?
I mean, really, when I think of it,
what's good is a wicked heart.
We need to be converted.
It doesn't say that though.
I've always noticed this.
It says, it's of little value.
The heart of the wicked is of little
value.
I was thinking it was worthless, but God
created the heart.
He didn't intend it to be wicked, but
He made the heart.
So that heart, since God created it, it
has the ability to do this.
And this is what happened to you Chris
Walker, and to you Peter, and to me,
and to Scott, and to you Jason.
God pointed at your wicked heart and said,
let there be light.
And it had to obey.
Now we need to realize, you could go
with this and realize, well, see, God does
it all.
There's nothing we can do.
It's in the books.
He calls who He wants.
If He doesn't call, or maybe, I guess
everyone's going to be saved.
But we'll see.
I mean, we have a response.
When Jesus spoke to Paul on the road,
we have to realize, Paul could have been
like, no thanks, I'm going the other way.
He had a choice.
You know, when God calls on our wicked
heart, and it responds, and we get, you
know, convicted and pricked, you know, we have
a choice.
We can just say, ugh, I'm going the
other way, you know.
So we see that.
But, the wicked heart has little value, because
it's able to hear the command.
You know, because God created it.
That's what I was seeing, to me, why
it was of little value.
So, Hebrews 8.6 says, the covenant through
Jesus is better promises.
It's better.
And you know, let's look at Jeremiah 31,
because in Jeremiah, we have the context.
See, in Hebrews 8.6, it talks about
how the covenant, through Jesus, is founded on
better promises.
It's saying, we have a covenant that's superior
to theirs, I think is the wording it
uses.
It's better.
It's founded on better promises.
And we looked at those promises back there.
I mean, fixed laws, this and this.
And I think, I don't understand.
I mean, maybe the writer of Hebrews just
wanted them, or maybe they knew the book
of Jeremiah so well, that they would just
know where it came from.
But I did not know the context of
where this came from, what was right after
it.
I'm thinking, why didn't they just keep going
in Hebrews and write a couple more verses?
It would have been really edifying.
Because what we have, it starts in verse
31.
And this is what's in Hebrews.
The time is coming, declares the Lord, when
I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of
Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I
made with their forefathers when I took them
by the hand to lead them out of
Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I
was a husband to them, declares the Lord.
And then he says, this is the covenant
I will make with the house of Israel.
After that time, declares the Lord, I will
put my law on their mind and write
it on their hearts.
I will be their God and they will
be my people.
No longer will a man teach his neighbor
or a man his brother, saying, know the
Lord, because they will all know me from
the least to the greatest, declares the Lord.
For I will forgive their wickedness and remember
their sin no more.
And that's where it ends.
In Hebrews.
And praise God.
Look at that.
I think he's talking about the Holy Spirit
living in us, teaching us.
Jesus said, I'll send the Spirit that will
teach you and lead you into all things
I have taught you.
This is the new covenant.
It's better.
Christ is there.
And that's where it stops, in Hebrews.
But in Jeremiah, it keeps going.
And what it says, this is what the
Lord says, He who appoints the sun to
shine by day, who decrees the moon and
stars to shine by night, who stirs up
the sea so that its waves roar, the
Lord Almighty is His name.
Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,
declares the Lord, will the descendants of Israel
ever cease to be a nation before me.
Praise God.
This is what the Lord says, Only if
the heavens above can be measured and the
foundations of the earth below be searched out,
will I reject all the descendants of Israel
because all they have done, declares the Lord.
So, in the context, they point to God's
faithfulness as seen in His creation.
How when He speaks, it is.
This is a new covenant.
Better promises.
Praise the Lord.
And we talked about how we must believe.
You know, God commands, you know, and His
Word is true.
It goes forth.
He is faithful.
But we need to realize, we have an
obligation.
I don't think it was God's plan for
the Israelites to wander around for 40 years.
I don't think it was.
You know, He wanted them to come in.
He wanted them to come in to the
Promised Land.
But it says they too had the Gospel
preached to them, but it was of no
value to them.
Why?
Because they didn't believe.
They didn't combine it with faith, with the
faith of Abraham.
They didn't believe.
If God commands something to be, it is
true.
But, that doesn't mean it automatically happens.
See, the stars and the sun and the
wind and the waves and the lightning and
all of creation that all testifies of God's
faithfulness, it's one-sided.
It's different than us.
The sun can't say, no, I'm not coming
up tomorrow.
See, the birds can't say, no God, I'm
not going to chirp.
They don't have that.
They don't have what we have like that.
It's a wonderful example for us because it
just magnifies God.
The tree can't say, no, I'm not going
to bear fruit.
I'm not going to grow.
God says grow, and it grows.
God says let there be light, and there's
light.
So we see, He did it that way
so we could see Him, His faithfulness magnified.
We don't see rebellion.
We see the pure truth of God and
I Am.
But then, we have to apply it to
us.
It's the same word.
The God who said let there be light
has made the light to shine in our
hearts.
But what does it say we need to
do?
In 2 Corinthians 1.20, it speaks exactly
of this.
We have an obligation.
God speaks to our hearts.
He opens our hearts.
It's a miracle.
Jesus said, no one can come unless My
Father draws them.
It's a miracle.
God has to look at a wicked heart
and say, wicked heart, praise God it's not
anymore Jason, wicked heart, come to Me, you
know.
See Jesus.
Desire Me.
I had no desire for Jesus Christ.
I had nothing.
I had selfishness.
That's all I had.
If God didn't speak to my wicked heart,
see Me, see My glory, see Jesus, desire
Me, I would have not even had the
desire.
He commanded that.
We can get into all things about that,
but we won't talk about that tonight.
But we know He did that with all
of us if we were born again.
He did that.
But we had to do something because it's
by faith we're saved.
Well, what's faith?
It's believing.
What's the work?
What did Jesus say?
This is the work.
To believe.
2 Corinthians 1, verse 20.
For no matter how many promises God has
made, He could have made a billion, it
doesn't matter.
He could have made a trillion, a gazillion,
whatever number you can think of that's not
even a real number, it's so big, a
googol, right?
So many promises, no matter how many He's
made, they're all yes in Christ Jesus.
Did that mean that it would all happen?
No matter what?
No matter what He promises to any person,
no matter what the circumstances is, they're yes
in Jesus, so they'll always come true no
matter what.
No, it isn't.
There's another part to this.
It says, And so through Him, the Amen
is spoken by us to the glory of
God.
How does the promise become fulfilled?
Not only by His faithfulness, which is truth,
it's true, but the Amen, the so be
it, the agreeing, true, that's what so be
it means, that's what Amen means, true.
We have to say, you are true, that
is true, what you said is true, it's
going to be true, you're going to do
that.
It's truth.
And then, then it comes to be.
Not without that.
See, God found fault with the people, the
old covenant.
He found fault with them.
There was no problem with His covenant.
It does say, if there had been no
problem with the first covenant, there would have
been no reason to get a new one.
But then it says, He found fault with
the people.
So it wasn't God's fault.
There was no problem.
God's Word is truth.
God's Word is faithful.
But He found fault with the people because
they didn't believe Him.
And, you know, they didn't believe Him.
But through Jesus, the Amen is spoken to
by us.
We have an obligation of faith.
Just a reminder, in Luke chapter 1, you
can look at this.
This is a good example of this.
Of two cases right in a row of
God bringing His Word.
This is what happened.
The angel came to both Zechariah and to
Mary.
The angel came to Zechariah and said, this
is in Luke chapter 1, and said, Zechariah,
your wife is going to have a child.
Oh wait, I forgot something.
First, the angel came to both of them.
They both feared right away.
God spoke to them.
He spoke to their hearts.
He said, this is going to be My
will.
This is what I've decided and I'm telling
you it.
I'm revealing it to you.
You're going to have a child, both of
them.
Zechariah said, well, he feared.
The angel said, don't be afraid.
You're going to have a child.
They had questions.
I mean, obviously, Zechariah says, man, I'm really
old.
My wife's really old.
And he said, no, it's going to be.
And then with Mary, but I'm a virgin.
How's this going to happen?
Don't worry.
The Holy Spirit will come over you and
you'll be with child.
And we see, it looks like the same
situation.
They both feared.
They both were told not to be afraid.
They both had questions.
Right?
Both of them had questions.
It's not like Mary just didn't have, she
was just like, oh, so be it right
away.
No questions at all.
Or Zechariah.
They both had questions.
Zechariah must have had a bad answer because
to him it was, because you did not
believe, you will not be able to speak.
He had unbelief.
Now God still brought that one to pass
because that was the voice of one calling
in the desert, prepare a way for Jesus.
So God was faithful with that one.
But Zechariah, unbelief.
Now I'm sharing this to say, God knows
what's in our hearts.
Just because they both had questions, doesn't mean
they don't believe.
And I would encourage you, just because you
have a question for the Lord about something,
doesn't mean you don't have faith.
See, Mary needed some help.
And remember the guy, he said, I do
believe.
Help thou my unbelief.
I do believe, but I don't believe.
But I do, but I don't know how
to.
I really, I believe you, but I need
help.
Help my unbelief.
I think Mary was a similar thing.
And God saw her heart and He said,
and He encouraged her, He said, look, even
your cousin, I think, even Elizabeth with child,
see I can do this and I have
done it.
He encouraged her.
And then her heart came out, the fruit
of it, it came out, right while it
was in there, even though she needed a
little help, she said, I am the Lord's
servant.
May it be to me just as you
have said.
Now that's the Amen.
That's so be it.
That's the Amen spoken, right there by us
through Jesus Christ.
Jesus was in her too, right?
It was going to be.
And she spoke the Amen.
So praise the Lord.
Let's see here.
I'm just about done.
We need to realize the promises God has
for us.
All of that, you can let that be
the introduction to this five minute ending here
of being convinced of God's ability to be
faithful to what He says He will do.
He is faithful.
He will do it.
He's given us promises.
It says in 2 Peter, these great and
precious promises He's given us so we can
share in the divine nature, so we can
be partakers and escape the corruption that's in
the world.
And then it goes on to say all
the things how we say Amen to that.
How do we say truth?
How do we say these promises are awesome?
They keep us.
And they make us partake in the divine
nature is by adding to our faith.
Be careful that you do these things.
Then you'll be sure that you'll have an
inheritance and you'll never fall.
That's what it says.
We speak the Amen.
In 2 Corinthians 6.16, God had a
word for them.
He said, Come out from among them and
be separate and I will be a father
to you.
You will be my sons and daughters.
And then it says, it shows us, what
do we do?
How do we say the Amen?
Therefore, since we have these promises, let us
purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the
Lord.
So we have a promise.
We have an obligation.
We're the ones who say truth.
God, what you say is true.
And then it bears fruit in our life.
It's not like we're robots.
He commands it like creation.
He's the same faithfulness toward us as He
is toward that.
We have an obligation.
And if we see some of the things
that Chris was sharing about Christ, we realize
what a small thing.
And we should be convinced when God says
it, that's the best thing.
And that is truth.
And we have some promises in Philippians 1.
He who began a good work in you,
he will be faithful to complete it until
the day of Christ Jesus.
I would encourage us to come forward with
these promises and speak the Amen.
Know He's going to do it.
He has so much for us.
He's going to finish the work.
He's going to complete it.
We're lacking or we need help or we
need help to believe.
He will do it.
He's the one who called us.
He called us.
Just like He told the light to be
formed in darkness, He made the light to
shine in our hearts.
1 Thessalonians 5, it also talks about one
of Brother Scott's songs.
It says...
I'm going to get two Scriptures mixed up
if I don't turn to it.
1 Thessalonians 5.
We have a promise.
May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify
you through and through.
May your whole spirit, soul, and body be
kept blameless at the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Then He tells them, the one who calls
you is faithful and He will do it.
He's faithful and He will do it.
And Jesus had that prayer.
He said, sanctify them by your truth.
Your Word is truth.
And just in closing, and there's so many
promises we have in this New Covenant.
So many.
God has so much for us.
And I know, I can just confess, I'll
be the first to fall on my face
and say, Lord, I'm coming short of all
You have for me.
I want more.
You have more.
You want a testimony of Your faithfulness.
And you're waiting for people to just speak
the Amen so that you can just go,
go, go, go with your faithfulness.
So people won't see me anymore.
They'll just see God being truth.
God being truth.
Then people won't have to say, what is
truth?
Because they'll see the testimony of that.
And in Hebrews, it's just the last promise
I just want to look at.
Just to say, we need to see this
and just not fall short.
God has so much for us.
And it's all wrapped up in His faithfulness.
He wants to provide for us in a
way where He'll get all the glory.
He wants us to not have worry, not
have anxiety, not have stress, not be laboring,
not striving, not concerned, not trying to do
it all of ourselves.
He saved us and brought us out so
that His faithfulness could reign through us.
He's so faithful.
Why do you think Jesus said, don't worry?
Look.
Where did He tell them to look?
Creation.
Look out there at the birds.
They don't sow or reap or store away
in barns.
But God feeds them.
You know, look at the lilies of the
field.
They don't labor or spin or try to
make their clothing and everything.
And even Solomon in all of his splendor
wasn't dressed as well as these.
That's how God takes care of His creation.
How much more us, if we would just
be still and allow Him to work that
true Word through us to get a testimony
for Himself.
It's Hebrews 4.
To me, I've been seeking this out as
just the greatest promise, the biggest one that
all the rest of them wrapped inside of
this one.
It says, Therefore, since the promise of entering
His rest still stands, let us be careful
that none of you be found to have
fallen short of it.
And I'm not going to expound and preach
on all of what that entails.
But what it says is that He who
enters God's rest ceases from His own labors.
That sounds like the birds.
That sounds like the lilies.
They don't labor or spin.
They don't store away.
They're not concerned and worried.
And you need the Lord to show you
in your hearts what that means.
I don't mean lay on the ground and
just wait and do nothing.
There are things we do.
But we know, I know, I can confess,
Lord, I can have more of this in
my life.
I am not to the point where every
single day I have a testimony of Your
faithfulness through me and I'm speaking the Amen
and I'm seeing You provide and I'm having
so much peace.
No anxiety.
No worry.
I'm not laboring or striving or wondering, how
is this going to fall into place?
How is this going to happen?
How is this going to work?
How is this?
This and this and this?
We were set free from all that.
We were.
The sun doesn't worry how it's going to
rise up there in the morning.
It just does it.
God told it to do it so it
doesn't think, oh, I don't think I'm going
to be strong enough.
You know?
When I was around the other side of
the world, I got really tired.
You know, it was 110 over in India.
That was shining pretty bright.
I don't know if I'm going to be
able to come up over there in Alaska
where it's 20.
No, there's none of that thinking.
God told me to come up tomorrow.
He must know that I can.
Right?
Amen.
That's His faithfulness.
So just to stir us up and encourage
us to see, you know, and have a
revival in our own hearts, understanding God's faithfulness.
He has so much for us concerning peace
and sanctifying us and making us more like
Jesus and really, the most important thing, bringing
us to a place and teaching us how
to rest in Him and wait on Him
and to see from our own labor so
that He can work it.
He can do it.
He can do it in a way where
it's Him doing it.
It's His faithfulness.
He provided.
People will see and they will know that
it's God who did that.
They don't see us.
They see Jesus.
This is what we want, Brother Chris.
We want people to see Jesus.
That's how it's going to happen.
Jesus said, Come to Me.
Put on My yoke.
Take your own one off.
Don't do it this way anymore.
Rest.
Wait.
Be still.
Be calm.
And watch the salvation.
That will work for you.
He is faithful.
He will do it.
So let all of creation be an example
to you and a reminder.
Just, He is so faithful.
He is I Am.
Amen.