By
Rev. Juliet Schimpf
Rev. Juliet Schimpf is the Minister of
First Baptist Church in Perth, Ontario:
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LINK to CFRA broadcast of
Sunday, May 4th, 2014)
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Broadcast
Notes:
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'God is always faithful'
God’s Promises Part 1
Today, we are looking at a very
special promise--namely that God is always, always faithful.
I want to look at three things:
Ø The heart of a promise
Ø The hope of a promise
Ø The habit of a promise
We will look at these in relation
to God’s faithfulness and the definition of faithfulness. There are three interesting definitions of
faithfulness
The Heart of a Promise: Faithfulness Defined as “Worthy of Trust”
Did you know that faithfulness is
defined in many dictionaries as “worthy of trust.” When we think of the word ‘politicians,’ we
don’t really think of the definition of “worthy of trust.”
There’s been an interesting
website developed and published in print, Politifact, that tracks the promises
of politicians and rates them on whether or not they have been accomplished
and, as a result, whether or not they are worthy of trust.
I looked up Obama’s scorecard
because in the 2008 election, he made approximately 500 promises.
Ø Promises kept - 241, or 45%
Ø Promises compromises - 131, or 25%
Ø Promises broken - 117, or 22%
Ø Promises stalled - 5
Ø Promises in the works - 32
Based on these statistics, Obama
is deemed as ‘unworthy of trust,’ according to Politifact. They do this for all political parties.
Indeed, it is hard to find
somebody to trust. Harry S. Truman said,
“You want to find a friend in this city (Washington, DC), get a dog.”
We as humans are fickle, we are
frail, we are fallen and we are forgetful.
As a result, it is hard to keep our promises. Proverbs
20 says, “Many
claim to have unfailing love. But, a
faithful person who can find?” A faithful person is hard
to find.
Let’s contrast that with God is Psalms 36, “Your love, Lord, reaches to the
heavens; Your faithfulness to the skies because His faithfulness is so good.” He is constantly faithful. The reason is that, at the heart of His
promises, is the desire to earn, or receive, your trust.
He made His very first promise in
Genesis 3 when we humans,
fallen and fickle, mess up. Adam and Eve
sinned and along came God. He promises
that a Messiah will come and crush the head of a serpent. This flowed from the heart of His
promise.
The heart of a God, or a father,
who wants to make promises to His precious children, just like your fathers and
mothers make promises to you, because He loves you. He constantly makes promises because He has a
heart that yearns for your trust.
God is fully faithful and fully
worthy of our trust because, unlike humans, He is not fickle, not fallen, not
forgetful, nor fragile. Instead, His
character makes Him faithful.
First, God is unchanging. Malachi
3:6 says, “I,
the Lord, do not change.”
In contrast, we humans can’t always keep our promises because we
constantly change our minds or the circumstances change.
God is also truthful, this is why
He is faithful. Numbers 23 says, “God is not a man that He should lie. Nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He said and will He not do it? Has He spoken and will He not make it good?” God is not a liar. In contrast to humans, He is always telling
the truth when He makes a promise and He is more than able to fulfill it.
He is also omnipotent. 1 Thessalonians says, “The One who
calls you is always faithful and He will do it.”
He is eternal. Deuteronomy
7 says, “Know, therefore, that God is
faithful, keeping His covenant promises to 1000 generations.”
Therefore, God can be trusted; He
is worthy of our trust. He is faithful
because, at the heart of His promise, is the desire of a father to receive your
trust and He is more than able to fulfill it.
The Hope of a Promise: Faithfulness Defined as “True to the
Original”
I want to talk about how
faithfulness is defined as “true to the original.”
Example
Here is a story about how I have
been unfaithful in a promise. I was a
teenager when I made an original promise to my dad and I was not true to the
original promise.
We had spelling contests and we
had friendly bets. I had a bet with him
at the table, that I knew how to spell the word ‘Onamonapia’ correctly. He said, “Ok, let’s have a friendly bet. I would like to bet you a breakfast in bed.”
I was very confident in my
spelling prowess, and so I took him up on his bet. I spelled the word, and lo and behold, I was
wrong. What’s interesting is that he
said “Next Sunday, I would like my breakfast in bed at 6 a.m.” Ouch!
Suddenly, I was unfaithful to the
original promise. Six a.m. and teenagers
don’t mix well together. I did not
deliver on my promise.
Two years later, I wanted to earn
his trust. I said, “Dad, bet me a
breakfast in bed.”
We had a bet about the capital
city of a country in Europe. Again, I
was wrong. But, I was happy because I
could then earn my dad’s trust. I could
deliver on the promise of breakfast in bed.
He asked for kippered herring,
which is his favorite breakfast in bed.
I was grossed out and said, “I don’t do kippered herring.” To this day, my dad has not received his
breakfast in bed. Wouldn’t it be great
if, this Christmas, I showed up a 6 a.m. with kippered herring?
I was not true to the original
promise.
God is faithful because He is
true to the original promise. The reason
is that Jesus Christ was true to the original.
2 Corinthians 1 says, “All of God’s
promises are, Yes and Amen!, in Jesus Christ.”
The reason why every promise is
in Jesus Christ is because He is true to the original. Jesus is God Himself. Jesus is divine; He is omnipotent, He is
eternal, He is truthful, He is unchanging.
He reflects all the same properties of God the Father. He is true to the original.
At this beautiful Advent season,
we are anticipating the arrival of Christ.
The Old Testament makes over 300 prophecies related to Jesus. Scholars have pointed out all 300 prophecies
were fulfilled by Jesus Christ. God is
so faithful because, when He made those prophecies, Israel was unfaithful and
had abandoned God. But, God came to
them, around 650 BC, and said, ‘I am sending a promise to be born in
Bethlehem. I am sending a promised one
who is to become a shepherd of the flock.
He is unchanging and is ancient of all days. I am sending one who is born of a
virgin.’
We know this is Jesus
Christ. He is true to the original. Fast forward from 650 BC to that wonderful
first Christmas. When, in the small town
of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ was born. He
grew up to be a man and people were still unfaithful to Him.
Christ is always true to the
original. There’s a beautiful passage in
the Bible that says, ‘If we deny God, He cannot deny us for He is
faithful.’ Christ went to the cross and
gave us this great promise: that, if we are willing to repent of our sins, He
is faithful to forgive us every time.
This is the hope of a promise,
the hope of Advent. Christ is coming to
make Yes and Amen! of every Old Testament promise.
The Habit of a Promise: Faithfulness Defined as “Consistency”
This is faithfulness defined as
consistency.
How did Old Faithful get that
name? Old Faithful is in Yellowstone
National Park. In my research, I’ve
discovered that every 91 minutes, Old Faithful spouts and erupts. Therefore, Old Faithful is predictable and
consistent. Likewise, God is consistent every
time.
Life Application
We are to emulate and imitate God
our Father. He calls us to be faithful.
How do we, as frail, fickle,
fallen humans, be consistent and predictable in our daily living? The Word of God is helpful.
A Few Principles I Have Learned
First, the Bible tells us, in Matthew 5, not to make promises with people. Instead,
“Let your yes be yes and your no be no.” This is the first way to cultivate
consistency.
I had to learn this the hard way
at university. I was late for a few
dates with my girlfriends and even for an exam.
My girlfriend, who led me to Christ, said, “Juliet, you need to let you
yes be yes and your no be no.” You see,
I also changed at date on her.
We do this frequently in
society. We set something up and, if
something else more interesting comes along, we cancel it or if we are even
slightly inconvenienced, we postpone.
My parents have struggled with
one of my brothers and he’s been learning this principle. My brother and his family would consistently
make a Sunday dinner appointment with my mom.
They live in Cambridge and my parents live in Hamilton. My mom would prepare a full roast, potatoes,
salad, and dessert. At 4 p.m. the phone
would ring. “Hi Mom. I’m sorry, Emily has too much homework.” But my dad, lovingly and gently and after
about 4 years of this, took my brother aside and said, “Jamie, let your yes be
yes and your no be no.”
Jamie’s been practicing that and
the phone no longer rings at 4 p.m. He’s
starting to become consistent and predictable.
He’s starting to become faithful.
Second, Galatians
5 says that I, in my own flesh, cannot muster up faithfulness. It’s not like I can wake up and say, “Today
I’m going to be faithful. I, Juliet, am
a good person and I’m going to knock the socks off everyone. I’m going to show up for every
appointment. I’m going to answer every
question. I’m going to solve every
problem.”
No. What I’ve learned from Galatians 5 is that faithfulness is the fruit of the Holy
Spirit. Galatians 5 says, very clearly, that the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness.
This actually means that I need
to start my day by filling up on the Holy Spirit. If I want to be faithful, I need to fill up
on the Spirit, which is like a balloon.
I fill up a little bit each day and the Spirit in me gets bigger and
bigger, such that I can’t help but be faithful because God is faithful and His
Spirit is filling up in me. Some of my
faithfulness will leak out to others.
It’s called Contagious Christianity.
If you see me as consistent, predictable and faithful, you’re going to
want to be that way too.
Sometimes, I confess, I don’t
fill up on the Spirit. So, I head to
work and all I’ve got is my flesh – fragile, fickle, fallen.
We need the Spirit, friends.
Third, Matthew
25 says that, “If you are faithful with a few things and
small things, God will then give you bigger things, grander things to be
faithful in.”
I try to practice faithfulness in
the small things and when no one is watching, this is hard.
For example, I come from a big
city where, when you go grocery shopping and you take your cart to the car, you
leave your cart, get in your car and drive away. I come to Perth, a polite and dignified town,
and I notice that everyone returns their cart.
I’ve been tempted to leave my cart at the car door. But then I remember faithfulness in the small
things and that people are watching. I
hope no one has heard, “Pastor Juliet doesn’t take her cart back to the
store.” If you see me at metro, remind
me to take my cart back to the front entrance.
If we’re faithful in the small
things, He will then promote us to bigger things.
Be faithful in the thing when no
one is watching and in the very small things, and He will promote you.
It is hard to cultivate a habit
of faithfulness. We sometimes fall off
the horse. If that is you, remain
hopeful because if we are unfaithful, says the Word of God, Christ will remain
faithful to us.
If you have fallen off this week
and sinned, come to the Communion Table ready to repent because the Word says
that if you repent, God will be faithful to forgive you.
If you’re in the midst of
temptation, God will be faithful if you turn to Him to provide a way out.
The good news is, we serve a
faithful God. And at the heart of
our God is a promise. And the hope
of our God is a promise lived out by Jesus Christ.
Friends, let’s pray:
Lord, we thank you that you are a faithful God; and we thank you that you
are worthy of our trust; and we thank you that your son, Jesus Christ is true
to the original. And we just ask that we could live out such faithfulness,
ourselves, so we ask that you would help us to cultivate faithfulness in our
own lives. To that end, fill us with your Holy Spirit.
I pray for the listener who is perhaps discouraged, this morning.
Encourage them that you are a faithful God who will never leave them nor
forsake them.
And for the person who has never, yet, accepted Christ into their heart, I
pray today would be the day; they put it off no longer; and they trust that you
would be the Father they have been looking for their whole lives, and just come
to you and say, “I surrender”.
In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
Rev. Juliet Schimpf
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To listen to
the above broadcast, click on the following link:
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