Astounded | Faithful (Aug 8, 2021) Mike Armstrong

Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast.

We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the Spirit of the Great Commandment.

Thanks for joining us today.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, you can go ahead and take your seat there.

And I gotta say, it is great to be back with you.

My name is Mike.

I feel like we need to reintroduce ourselves here.

And I'm the lead pastor at Redemption here, and it's great to be back after a month away.

Some of it was vacation.

Got to preach at uh Harvest Muskoka one of the Sundays, and then last Sunday actually did my nephew's uh wedding, uh, which was a lot of fun, of course.

But uh as they say, no place like home.

And so it's been cool to uh to be back, even just this morning, run into some of you and catch up and chat.

Trust that you're getting some uh good time uh away and some time with your family as well, as I have.

Uh, really grateful for that and excited to be back uh with you here.

Our text this morning is Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy uh chapter seven, okay, fifth book in to the Bible, in the Old Testament, uh Deuteronomy seven.

Uh as you're getting yourself uh flipped over there, there's this uh there's this guy across the street from our house.

I I want to say he's 77 years old.

I've chatted with him about it, I've heard his age before, but he's in his late 70s, and his name is his name's Jim.

Okay, and Jim uh reminds me a lot of, you know the the actor Sam Elliott?

I think we got a we got a picture of him here, right?

Uh that we're gonna put up on the screen here.

Sam Elliott, there he is.

You guys have seen this guy before, the the deep voice, did the Ford commercials for years and all that kind of stuff.

Um I don't know why exactly I gave you that picture, just to give you a sense of what Jim uh is like.

Looks exactly like him, sweet stash uh and all.

Um but you would just ask my wife, ask Ange.

I love Jim.

Okay, Jim is the man.

He's the kind of guy who would like, he would just lend you a wheelbarrow.

You know how we just like you kind of always need a guy like that around you, just help you out and lend you that type of thing.

He actually did lend me a wheelbarrow once, very helpful, very handy.

Uh he's the kind of guy who would uh do that.

Now, uh to be fair, Jim actually doesn't live across the street from from us.

It's actually his his daughter and her young teenage sons who do, but but Jim seems to be over there like every day.

Like without fail, he is at their house.

We always see him uh walking their dog, right?

He he walks their dog more than they do.

I think we run out to him uh with him uh on the trails and we see them out there uh all the time.

He's you know he's hanging out with his grandsons, you know, watching them skateboard, taking them to the skate park, that type of thing, or just having you know a coffee with his daughter on uh the front step.

Now, the word that comes to mind when I think about Jim, okay, besides legend, obviously, is the word faithful.

Okay, Jim is faithful.

You can you can just tell how much his family loves and adores him.

They value him so much.

They count on him, he's there for them, he's dependable.

Okay, he helps out a ton.

And it just seems like he's such a steady support uh in their lives in all kinds of ways.

Okay, now, faithful, that word there, just so happens to also be uh one of God's attributes.

And a definition, we'll have this on the screen for you as well.

It means this it means steadfast in affection or allegiance.

Okay, steadfast in a let in in affection or allegiance, that's the dictionary definition.

But the Hebrew word we're gonna look at here in just a second, it actually carries with it this idea of being a support.

Okay, or or or nourishing.

Okay, so you picture a mom caring for her baby, right?

And this idea of nourishing the baby, supporting the baby, being there for the child day in and day out, not giving up, right?

So faithful to the task.

And of course, uh, those of us who are familiar with the scriptures uh know that our God is like the ultimate example, the ultimate picture of this.

Okay, and so our big idea this morning is simply this that I'm astounded as I consider that God is faithful.

We've been going through this series over the last couple of months, at least when I'm with you, um, and we're going through the attributes of God, just kind of picking apart each one of those uh Sunday by Sunday and looking at who our God is.

Isn't it amazing how often, if we admit it, it's shameful, but how often we kind of get bored with who God is.

We find ourselves not very wowed, we find ourselves not very astonished by all of that, and and and honestly, if we're if we're even a little more honest than that, we don't really view him as clearly as he really is.

We often view him just as people are.

Right?

So we know that people can be faithful.

I just talked about my neighbor Jim, right?

He can be faithful, but but God is is is perfectly faithful.

He's perfect in all of his attributes.

And it's just so, so important as we want to be taken by who our God is, blown away by him, that we understand him and see him for who he really is.

And so, again, that's really what the series is about.

And so, again, like I said, we're in Deuteronomy 7 today, verse 9.

Hopefully you're there.

Read along with me now.

It says this it says, uh, know, therefore, okay, I love that word know, okay, very first word, okay, because what what Moses is saying here is he's like he's like he's like, believe what I'm about to say.

He's like, know it, believe it deep down.

Hold it dearly in your soul when you're tempted to doubt, okay, or when you're tempted to forget.

Okay, we'll know what exactly.

It says, know therefore that the Lord your God is God.

Okay, now what kind of God?

Well, it says, the faithful God, okay, there's our word, the faithful God who keeps covenant.

Okay, the faithful God who keeps covenant.

That you know, a covenant is uh is a binding agreement, yeah, binding uh a contract.

Okay, so we as believers now, you fast forward you know past the New Testament, we're on the other side of the cross in resurrection, right?

We, you know, our salvation has been purchased.

Our salvation has been secured, it has been ratified through through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Right?

It is it is bought by his blood.

Okay, and he's faithful to this covenant, he will forever be faithful to this covenant that he has called believers to.

How amazing is that?

Okay, so it says that he's a faithful God who keeps covenant.

Look at this, and steadfast love.

Okay, steadfast is really just another word for faithful.

Steadfast, steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.

Just really meaning a long time, right?

Forever.

God will keep his covenant.

Now, maybe you kind of read that, the first part sounds real great to you, but you're kind of looking at the second part and thinking to yourself a little bit, and you're thinking, well, yeah, what about that last part of that verse?

So it says that he's faithful, notice, to those who love him and keep his commandments.

Okay, but maybe for you, you the the tape's replaying, even as I say this, of the last week that you've just had, right?

And you're thinking, man, I I haven't been that faithful to him.

I've been kind of a train wreck spiritually in the last seven days, if I'm if I'm truly honest, if I had some some brutal moments.

I was the furthest thing from faithful to God.

You know, surely after that, time and time again, over and over again, surely he's gotten tired of my act.

Surely he's he's turned his face by now.

I haven't been faithful to him.

Surely he's not going to continue to be faithful to me.

Okay, but I'll remind you, for those of us who tuned in last Sunday or or listened to Todd's message, what he said, remember how we talked about how there are essentially two you's, right?

Two you's inside of you.

That part of you that loves God, okay, that part of you that loves the Lord and and wants to do the right thing, and sometimes, hopefully more as you grow, uh, does do those right things.

Okay, that's what the Bible describes as the new man, right?

You are a new creation.

You have been justified by Jesus Christ, where he declares you, God declares you righteous because of what Jesus has done for you.

You have trusted in what Jesus has done by faith, his actions in living the perfect life, dying, and resurrecting.

You're you're believing that that was enough to save you from sin.

Okay, they so it's so that you are a new creation now and you love God, right?

That is that is you.

But then, of course, you also know this, if again, if you're honest here, and we're always trying to be honest, there's also the old man that still resides in you.

He's in there, isn't he?

And that's the part of you that just hasn't been sanctified yet.

So, yes, you have been declared righteous.

God sees you and treats you as though you are righteous.

You are through Christ, but practically speaking, in you know, everyday life, we still fail.

Right?

We still trip up, we still fall, we still do all kinds of wrong things.

Right?

And we need to be sanctified, we need to grow, and that is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as he convicts us of sin, as he gives us power to defeat sin, as he humbles us, as we have ups and as we have downs.

There's still that part of you, that other part of you that frankly loves you, loves yourself more than anything or more than anyone.

And you know there's that old man part of you that will constantly step over God's loving boundaries, right?

To pursue whatever it is that your pride wants.

Okay, so when the author here, again, it was Moses, when he writes this verse and says there that those who love God and keep his commandments, he's referring to Israel who is in covenant relationship with God, which again we are now too through Christ.

Okay, so if you are a genuine believer, you do love God.

It's just that it gets messy sometimes.

Okay, it really does by the fact that you're not fully sanctified yet.

Meaning you will be faithless at times.

Okay, many times, actually.

But notice what Paul says about that in 2 Timothy 2.13.

What a verse this is.

If we are faithless, he remains, what's the word?

Faithful.

Right?

If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

Okay, and this is where we see how how helpful it is to know that we should never, we can never fully isolate any one of God's attributes from any of the others.

Okay, we can't just look at one because all of his attributes are informed by and qualified by all the other attributes.

Okay, remember that in the case of God's faithfulness, I think it's helpful for us to realize his immutability.

Remember that word?

What's his immutability means?

It means that he does not change.

He never changes.

So when we consider God's faithfulness here, as we look at these verses, I think it's we have to we have to simultaneously remember here that his faithfulness will never change.

Does that make sense?

It's never ever going to waver whatsoever in one iota.

Right?

Paul said there in that verse in 2 Timothy that he cannot deny himself.

He can't do it, he cannot act in conflict with his own nature.

He can't go against himself, against who he actually is.

Okay, meaning that he will he will never, never, ever toss you aside.

He's never gonna be like, I'm I'm done with that person after all their failings.

I'm I'm sick of them.

I'm gonna move on to a more worthy restoration project.

Okay, that's not our God.

Okay, that's not what he does.

He's amazing.

He's so faithful.

He's faithful to you and I, and he always will be.

I mean, that is something to be astounded by, right?

It's so shocking and and incredible.

I think for us, what I want to do here is just before we let you go, is I want to leave you with three things that God's faithfulness means for you and I.

Okay, three things that God's faithfulness means for you and I.

First one, he is reassuringly reliable.

He's reliable.

You can be reassured of that.

You can be confident in that.

Okay, A.

W.

Pink was the theologian who wrote an amazing book, I would commend to you, on the attributes of God.

It's a great book to just have in your library at home.

Uh get it, have it, know it, read it.

Here's what he says about it.

He says, God is true.

Okay, his word of promise is sure.

In all his relations with his people, God is faithful.

He may be safely relied upon.

How good is that?

No one ever yet really trusted him in vain.

I love that line.

No one has ever trusted him in vain.

Interesting though how people will say it.

I I tried the God thing, it didn't work.

Right?

I tried the God thing and he just let me down.

That's actually not true.

He he never lets us down.

It's just that we give up, right?

And we quit, and we're the ones who tend to be faithless.

Remember, he is faithful, he cannot deny himself.

So listen, you can always put your trust in him, he will never let you down ever whatsoever.

He is perfect in that way.

But keep going here, he says we find this precious truth expressed almost everywhere in the scriptures.

For his people need to know that faithfulness is an essential part of the divine character.

This is the basis of our confidence in him.

Right?

We can be confident in the Lord that we worship, we can be confident in the Lord that we pray to, the confident in the Lord that we come before each and every day, because he is faithful.

He is reassuringly reliable.

Second thing, he is worthy of fearing.

He's worthy of fearing.

If he's faithful to us in all of the, I guess, quote unquote positive ways, and things like his patience with us and in his grace and his mercy and his kindness, all of those things he is.

We should also be re uh recognize that he will also be faithful to deal with sin.

Right?

He says that he will, so we can believe him on that.

We shouldn't be taking the Lord lightly in those things.

Right?

We need to know that that the Lord disciplines those he loves.

He's not messing around with that.

Right?

And so we should be mindful of it and fearful of, in a sense, not in not in a terrified, I can't go near him type way, but but fearful in like I this is the kind of God I'm dealing with here.

He will deal with my sin.

I gotta be careful of that.

I just can take his warning seriously when he teaches about the wreckage that our sin can create in us and around us.

Fearing him is definitely best.

Here's the third thing he is worth revealing to others.

Right?

God's faithfulness means he's worth revealing to others.

This is evangelism.

That God is faithful means that he is something rock solid to share with people.

Right?

You and I know this.

People everywhere, everywhere, literally every person is looking for something solid to put their hope in.

Something solid to put their faith in.

Some people are looking to sexuality and completely changing that because that is something rock solid that will finally make me feel secure as a person.

People look to money, people look to relationships, they look to things and toys and all of that kind of stuff.

All of those things are fleeting.

All of those things are some of them are straight up wrong.

God is faithful.

And you have a mission.

We all have a mission as the church to bring this faithful God to the nations, to our neighbors, to our friends, to our family, and show them who He is.

He is a God who they can trust, who they can believe.

I mean, what's more solid than him?

The answer is nothing and no one.

He will never let them down.

Ever.

Listen, if that message, that part of it right there is for you today.

You don't know him, know that Christ Jesus was faithful for you.

He was faithful to endure the punishment for sin that you deserved.

God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross, to take his wrath, his righteous, just, holy wrath that was meant to be poured out on us because we deserve it.

We've all sinned against him, but he poured it out on Jesus.

So that if we would just believe in him, that he took all of that for us, that he was the Son of God, then we could be forgiven, we could be set free, we could be in a relationship with the God of creation.

So listen, I would say that if you have questions about that, if you want to have a conversation about that, I would love to pray with you today.

I would love to chat with you right after the service.

If you're at home and you're watching this, get a hold of me.

Go on our website, find my email address, send me an email, I'll call you, and we'll talk about what it means to know the Lord Jesus Christ personally.

He is a good God, he is a faithful God.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for this time together, Lord, to get even in front of just a couple of verses and to see your kindness, to see your goodness, and Lord, to really see your faithfulness to us.

Lord, we pray, Lord, that our hearts would remember this, our minds would remember this this week and beyond.

That we would see as we're tempted to waver and doubt you, or as we're tempted to look to other things to be faithful for us.

Lord, I pray that we would see those things crumble.

Lord, it's a good thing to see our idols crumble.

It's a painful thing, but it's good.

And so, God, I pray that we would learn to put our trust in you, our faith in you.

God, help us in this, Lord.

We need your spirit, we need so much grace.

And Lord, I pray that we would rejoice as these things happen in our lives, Lord.

And to you, uh the glory would be, Lord, we pray all of that in the name of Jesus.

Amen.