God’s Faithfulness to Himself

A friend was recently telling me about a holiday that they'd taken in Los Angeles.

There's one thing in particular that fascinated me, and indeed fascinated them, that was a highlight,

and that was a lift that they'd had in a car.

Several times, they summoned this lift with an app on their phone.

They got in the car, they went to their destination, they paid via the app, and then they got out.

You might think, what's so unusual about that?

Well, it was the actual nature of the car itself.

It wasn't a taxi, it wasn't an Uber, it was what they call a robo-taxi.

It didn't have a driver.

And they described how this, they called AVs, autonomous vehicles,

how this empty car drove up, sure enough, as ordered, and then they got in.

Didn't quite know whether they were going to say hello to anybody, but they drove off,

and then they watched on the phone as this car took them to different places.

It stopped when it needed to, it started when it needed to, it slowed down, it sped up,

and all the while the steering wheel is just turning by itself.

And then eventually, they got out.

Now, if you're thinking that, well, that's in America, we're safe here.

May last year, there was a law passed in the UK Parliament,

the automated vehicle law, an act, sorry, passed in May 2024,

and these things are expected to be on the UK streets in 2026.

Now, we might have mixed feelings about this,

but those that argue in favour of driverless cars

say that there's a sense in which they are much, much safer.

Why? Well, because you don't have the human error behind the wheel.

Because these things are controlled by computers,

then assuming that the computers themselves don't have any human error in them,

and that, I guess, is the point.

But these things are consistent.

They don't get tired.

They're not distracted.

They don't get emotionally engaged in the driving experience.

I want you to imagine your life as a journey in a car.

As followers of Jesus, we're called to entrust our lives to God completely.

Staying with that image of life as a journey in a car,

which would you prefer, honestly?

To be driven by a machine, a robot,

that's completely consistent,

free of human error?

Or would you rather that there be a person behind the wheel

that's taking you through your life?

We are called to entrust our lives to God.

When we talk about entrusting our lives in him,

we are talking about the one who is unique,

in that he is perfect.

Perfectly free from human error.

He's not going to get tired.

He's not going to get distracted.

But he's not a machine.

He's also perfectly personal.

God is perfectly faithful.

And only God is perfectly faithful.

And as we begin this series,

thinking about what we mean by that word,

faithful,

faithful,

it's helpful to begin by what we mean by God's faithfulness to God's own self,

to his own being,

his own character.

See,

God,

and only God,

is completely,

perfectly,

absolutely faithful and consistent to his own character,

to his promises,

to his word,

to his glory.

And that's important.

Because if we understand that,

then we can understand the nature of what we mean by faithfulness,

as we come to apply that in our own lives.

So let's just unpack that a little bit more,

over these next few minutes,

as we dip into this story,

from the book of Exodus.

Let's just recap the background leading up to this moment in the story.

The people of God have been held in captivity in Egypt.

God will not see his people suffer any longer.

And so under the leadership of Moses,

those people leave Egypt.

Miraculously,

God opens the way for them to go.

They are pursued by the Egyptian army.

They want to bring them back as slaves,

or kill them.

But they're pursued by them.

But when the people are caught between the army that is chasing after them,

and the sea,

God miraculously parts the waters,

and they can travel through to safe land.

As the army are pursuing them,

then the waters close.

The enemy is stopped.

But God,

having landed them safe on the other side of the water,

doesn't leave them to it there.

He says,

I will be with you.

I will feed you.

I will take care of you.

It only begins here.

I lead you into freedom.

And so he gives them the law

in order to protect them.

And to say,

I'm with you.

I'm not going to abandon you now I've set you free.

I'm always with you.

And as that law is given,

Moses,

their leader,

is taken up onto the mountain,

and he receives what we refer to as the Ten Commandments.

They're written on tablets of stone.

He's up on that mountaintop for quite a while.

And while he was up there,

the people of God,

who have been set free and protected and saved

and gone through all of this,

now decide

that in fact they're going to build another God

and worship that instead.

So they have a bit of a whip round.

They take out their gold.

They throw it in together.

They melt it together.

And they craft a golden calf.

And they start to circle around this thing

and bow down and worship it.

Moses comes down from the mountain,

sees what's going on,

and throws the Ten Commandments written on the stone,

throws them down in his anger,

and they smash.

It's a sober reminder

of how very quickly

we can forget about the glory of God.

These people had been through all of that,

and yet it only seems to take

a very short period

to be able to turn your back on God

and forget all about him.

It's a story that is there within our scriptures

to remind us in our own humanity

of how easy it is to do that

as human beings.

And it is there to remind us

of the stark contrast that exists

between the faithfulness of God

and the faithlessness of human beings.

You see, if people can be so quick

so quick to forget about

how good and faithful God is,

in that situation,

how much more easy is it for us

in our own lives

to forget about God

and to turn our back on him?

But you know this story

is it holds up the contrasts.

Yes, it's about our own human faithlessness,

but it is about

as much God's faithfulness

to these people.

because what we see

and as that contrast is held before us

is God does not give up on them then.

Moses is called back up onto the mountain

and God says,

I'm going to write it down again.

I'm going to give you a second copy

of these commands.

And my glory is going to pass over you.

And we have this image

how the presence of God,

we can barely imagine what this is like,

but the presence of God

passes over Moses.

And Moses himself cannot look upon God

because God is so perfectly loving,

so perfectly faithful,

so absolutely holy

that nobody,

no human person

can look on him and live.

This is a theme that is carried

right through the Old Testament.

We see, for example,

the prophet Isaiah

in Isaiah chapter 6

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

when he has that vision

of the presence of God before him,

but he can't actually see God,

he just sees this bright light

and he sees the heavenly angelic host

and they're winged creatures

and with one set of wings

they're actually covering their eyes

because even the heavenly beings

cannot look upon God

in his holiness

and survive.

I guess all of us

will have different experiences

of encountering God,

God's holiness.

For me,

it was when I was,

the earliest I suppose

the most foundational experience

was when I was 12 years old

and went along with a number

of our youth group

to a Christian gathering

and I'd never experienced

anything like this before

but we went into,

I grew up in a church

that was a very,

very traditional church

which had an organ

and hymns out of a book

and we went along

and we got really bored

every Sunday

and cold every Sunday.

Well,

some things don't change

but hopefully you're not bored

even if we're cold.

And we were taken along

to this meeting,

this gathering

where this Christian speaker

that I'd never heard of before

was speaking

and was told

to expect amazing things

to happen.

I thought,

well,

what amazing thing can happen

when you're sitting together

in what is a church service

that's not in a church

and not on a Sunday.

But anyway,

I went along with it

because all my friends

at the youth group

were going along to it

and we were sat there

and I remember sitting there

in this,

as a 12 year old,

in this hall

and listening to this guy

talk for what seemed like

about 12 hours.

It wasn't.

But I was bored,

senseless.

I couldn't remember what,

I can't remember to this day

anything that he said.

But then afterwards

a music group got together

and they started leading

in a time of worship

and started singing these songs

that I didn't know

but I thought,

these are great,

these are really kind of

really contemporary.

It was the 1980s.

But as people were worshipping,

they started to worship God

in a way that I'd never seen before.

Their arms were going up in the air,

people were weeping,

people were smiling,

happiness.

People didn't seem upset

but people were flowing with tears

and something was going on

and I thought,

what is this?

I'd never experienced

people worship God

in this way,

sort of way before.

So you can imagine

I was really freaked out

when somebody

in a member of our youth group

was standing next to me,

his arms went up in the air

and I thought,

what's happened to him?

And then he turned over,

he turns to me

and he placed his hand

on the top of my head.

And I remember thinking,

whoa, what are you doing?

This is my personal space.

But before I had a chance

to object,

something happened.

And it changed everything for me.

Now I was only 12

but I can remember it now

as clear as day.

Now I don't know,

I can't say this categorically,

but I've got a feeling

I probably wouldn't be

standing here right now

had that not happened.

Because over those next few moments,

I felt this sense

of what I can only describe

as the holy otherness of God

come upon me.

I didn't have the language

to describe it

in those days.

I was 12.

But all of a sudden

I started to well up with tears.

I started to shake.

My heart started to beat

like I'd never experienced.

And I felt something

of the living presence of God.

Which was later explained to me

by our,

I wasn't the only one

this happened to,

this was our whole youth group

suddenly went down.

I suddenly realised

if I didn't sit down

I was literally going to be

blown off my feet.

And over the next few weeks

our youth leaders,

God bless them,

had the challenge

of trying to explain to us

what it means

to experience the Holy Spirit.

But you know,

however,

however we experience it,

for Moses it was

in the cleft of a rock,

maybe in a church on Sunday,

maybe in a home group.

It can be anywhere.

You know,

my old superintendent minister

when I was a probationer

told me that it happened to him

when he was in the bath

one evening.

But it's there for all of us.

Absolutely every one of us.

Now why am I sharing that with you?

Well,

it's because we get

such the wrong idea

of what holiness means.

When we're talking about

the holiness of God,

it's the holy otherness of God.

But it's not a horrid thing,

it's not a bad thing

that casts us aside.

What we are talking about

is this radical otherness

that contrasts so starkly

with our own humanity.

Such that,

in his grace,

God chooses

to allow us

to encounter him.

And such that

when that happens,

that which is so perfectly

faithful

and consistent,

but not like a machine,

like a computer,

in a profoundly,

perfectly personal way,

meets with our humanity

and all of our imperfection

and all of our weakness

and everything that is wrong

with us as humans,

when we meet with that,

we can't stare him in the face

because we go up in a puff of smoke.

But you can still meet with him.

Moses did.

Countless people

throughout history have

and still do today.

And still do today.

God's faithfulness

is perfect.

And his faithfulness

and his holiness

and his perfection,

these are all things

that all converge

when we come to think

of the character

of God.

Ah,

what I hear you say,

how can you talk of God

being so perfect

when you read

these very verses

from Exodus

that we've looked at

this morning?

Let me read them back to you.

I'm referring to verse 7

of chapter 34.

It says,

God does not leave

the guilty unpunished.

He punishes the children

and their children,

their children

for the sin of the parents

to the third

and fourth generation.

Surely,

is that not where God

at best sounds

like a cold

clinical machine

or at worst

like some resentful

unforgiving person?

Well,

I'm not going to pretend

that these verses,

these passages

are easy

and I don't want to

just skate over them

lightly or casually

but I would say

a couple of points.

Firstly,

if we are to read

those verses,

do not read them

without reading first

the verses

that precede them

which say

the compassionate

and gracious God

slow to anger,

abounding in love

and faithfulness,

maintaining love

to thousands

and forgiving wickedness,

rebellion and sin.

That is who God is.

So however we make sense

of themes of justice

and punishment

they must be read

through that lens.

But the second thing

and this is perhaps

more complex

and again

I don't pretend

that it's easy to understand

but in the revelatory

history of God

we need to remember

that the Bible

is not one book

it's a whole library

written over many,

many centuries.

but in that story

that is told

by the time

Jesus is teaching

he says quite something

that makes it quite clear.

Let's look from

look at John chapter 9

John 9 · chapter mention

first three verses

when Jesus encounters

a man who is blind

he makes it quite clear

that generations

are not cursed.

as Jesus went along

he saw a man

blind from birth

his disciples

asked him

Rabbi

who sinned

this man

or his parents

that he was born blind?

Neither this man

nor his parents

sinned

said Jesus

but this happened

so that the works

of God

may be displayed

in him.

so clearly

Jesus is saying

that

we're not talking

about a kind

of lasting curse

but likewise

we need to remember

that there is

the reality of sin

so

how do we piece

all of this together?

well

when we piece

these things together

the reality of sin

but the reality

of God's love

and forgiveness

we see a theme

emerge.

you see

it doesn't take long

for sin

and evil

to set its claws

in us as individuals

and as a society

and surely

we don't have to think

too long and hard

to see

how this happens

generationally

that when a generation

turns its back

on God

there are consequences

it is not that

God

hates us

and wants

wants us

to suffer

the very opposite

but these are words

of warning

that when one generation

turns its back

on God

there will be consequences

because a life

without God

is a life

that is not worth

living

when a society

and a culture

turns its back

on God

its values

and its cultural

norms

change very quickly

indeed

when different

moral values

become enshrined

in law

societal values

change rapidly

you know what

I'm talking about

John Wesley

said

what one generation

tolerates

the next

will embrace

it doesn't

take long

for the cultural

norms

of

any society

to change

when we forget

about the goodness

of God

and we're warned

about this

centuries later

Paul picks up

the theme

in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

it's coming up

on the screen

where he refers

specifically to this

story from Exodus

that we're looking

at today

Paul writes this

for I do not

want you to be

ignorant

of the fact

brothers and

sisters

that our

ancestors

were all

under the

cloud

that they

passed through

and that they

passed through

the sea

they were all

baptized into

Moses in the

cloud

and in the

sea

they all

ate the same

spiritual food

and drank the

same spiritual

drink

for they drank

from the

spiritual rock

that accompanied

them

and that rock

was Christ

nevertheless

God was not

pleased with most

of them

their bodies

were scattered

in the wilderness

now these things

occurred as examples

to keep us from

setting our hearts

on evil things

as they did

do not be

idolaters

as some of them

were

as it is written

the people sat

down to eat

and drink

and got up

to indulge

in revelry

we should not

commit sexual

immorality

as some of them

did

and in one

day 23,000

of them

died

we should not

test Christ

as some of them

did

and were killed

by snakes

and do not grumble

as some of them

did

and were killed

by the destroying

angel

these things

happened to them

as examples

and were written

down as warnings

for us

on whom

the culmination

of the angels

has come

so if you

think you

are standing

firm

be careful

that you

don't fall

no temptation

has overtaken

you

except what

is common

to mankind

and God

is faithful

he will not

let you be

tempted beyond

what you can

bear

but when you

are tempted

he will also

provide a way

out

so that you

can endure

it

a few years

ago

I think it was

New York

I'm not sure

it was an

American city

it doesn't really

matter which one

it was

there was a

city

and a car

had been

stolen

and the police

went out of

their way

to suddenly

draw attention

to the fact

that this car

had been

stolen

everybody

was put

on high

alert

they were

trying to

put it

out

everywhere

posters

they were

putting it

out on

radio

they were

putting it

out on

TV

everywhere

desperately

trying to

salvage

the car

and more

importantly

the person

that had

stolen

this car

why so

much

fuss

well it

wasn't because

of the car

itself

it was what

was in the

glove compartment

of this car

you see in that

glove compartment

there was a

pack of

biscuits

the biscuits

contained

rat poison

the owner

of the car

had a problem

with rats

at home

and they

had been

told to

get some

biscuits

and to

get some

rat poison

and to

infuse the

biscuits

with the

rat poison

and put

them out

they'd done

this and for

some reason

they were

being stored

in the glove

compartment

of the car

and the

reason why

so much

fuss was

being made

we've got

to find

whoever stole

that car

we've got

to bring

them in

is because

who knows

what's going

to happen

to those

poisoned

biscuits

biscuits

sometimes

our

understanding

of themes

such as

law

rules

urgency

warning

can be so

profoundly

misunderstood

you see the

reason God

sets before us

rules and

laws is not

because he

wants to stop

us from living

life fully

the very

opposite

God is

faithful to

us as

individuals

and as

a society

and he

wants us

to live

life fully

and that

is why

he sets

out

this is

how to

live

not because

he wants

us to

stop having

fun

but because

he wants

to set

us free

and you

know we

need

laws

we need

rules

we need

structure

1993

I was a

student and

I spent

three weeks

of that

summer

working in

Canning Town

in East

London

with an

organisation

called

Youth for

Christ

it was a

sort of a

the project

was called

Street

Invaders

there was

about a

hundred of

us young

people from

all over

the country

and we

stayed in

that part of

East London

for those

few weeks

and during

the day

we were out

on the

streets

meeting young

people in

the parks

and going up

with leaflets

and inviting

them to the

stuff that the

church was

doing in the

evenings

and in the

evenings

we had a

number of

things going

on at the

church

we had

various

different

sports going

on and

games and

stuff like

that

and then

there was a

moment where

the young

people were

gathered together

and we gave

them a message

about Christ

I have no

idea how this

happened but

somehow I

ended up in

a sports

hall that was

part of this

church complex

in which a

load of

14 year old

lads were

playing football

the reason I

said I don't

know why that

happened is

those of you

who know me

know that I

can't do

anything with

a ball

I just can't

in fact I

can't do

anything with

any sports

at all

it's not

only the fact

that I don't

know I'm not

very good at

actually controlling

a ball it's

just I never

understand the

rules either I

never have been

able to I

was always the

last kid at

school to be

picked for the

team you know

so you can

imagine how

terrified as

though it

wasn't terrifying

enough for me

already how

terrified I

was when I

found myself

in this hall

surrounded by a

load of teenage

lads and the

guy who was

meant to be

refereeing this

football match

was called away

and handed me

his whistle

let me just say

that that was the

closest to dying

that I think I've

ever become

several minutes

in and there

was absolute

chaos

why

because there

were no rules

I didn't

understand this

game at all

I still don't

and as such

I had absolutely

no sense of

authority in that

situation I

didn't know what

was going on

and absolute

chaos broke out

thankfully

thankfully

before either the

police or an

ambulance had to

be called

the youth worker

in charge came

back in

and peace was

restored

without rules

there's chaos

when we don't

live by those

codes

as a society

when we forget

about God

and his

moral laws

for our lives

it doesn't

take long

for things

to change

but as

sobering as

that thought

may be

let's remember

that this

story in

Exodus is

there to

remind us

yeah of

our own

human

unfaithfulness

but more

fundamentally

of God's

faithfulness

you see

this story

here

doesn't

end with

us

just

you know

with the

people's

faces

just being

rubbed

in their

own

sin

but rather

things are

restored

God does

not give

up on

those who

give up

on him

and the

law is

written out

again

the ten

commandments

are written

again

on stone

for Moses

to share

with his

people and

to pass

on down

the

generations

but it

doesn't

even end

there

because God

is not

just a

machine

in his

consistency

God is

so profoundly

personal

and so as

the law

is given

yes the

law is

given

but with

it

an almighty

dose

of the

loving

presence

of God

as

Moses

encounters

him

in all

his

wonderful

loveliness

Lord you

are

endlessly

compassionate

and faithful

and loving

that you

will not

give up

on your

people

and we

thank you

for that

that for

those many

times that we

have turned

our backs

on you

and let

you down

and lived

lives that

have been

self-focused

thank you

that you

don't give

up on us

because you

are relentless

in your

love

Holy Spirit

come and

fill our

hearts now

Holy Spirit

come

continue to

move in

our hearts

in Jesus

name

to

pack

through

isters