god’s faithfulness
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God’s Faithfulness. Lamentations 3:23. Introduction. Lam. 3:23. “They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness .”. 1. Meaning of faithfulness. Being honest to one’s word Committed Constant Loyal True. 2. God is faithful. Deut. 7:9 - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
God’s Faithfulness
Lamentations 3:23
•Introduction
Lam. 3:23
• “They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
1. Meaning of faithfulness
• Being honest to one’s word• Committed• Constant• Loyal• True
2. God is faithful
• Deut. 7:9• “Know therefore that the LORD thy
God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations”
Ps. 89:1-2
• I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.
1 Cor. 10:13
• There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
• God’s faithfulness helps Christians to endure the trials of life and know that our home in heaven is secure if we continue faithful• Our text from Lam. 3 speaks of God’s
faithfulness
3. Background of Lamentations
• In this book Jeremiah writes about the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon• Over 150 years earlier the Northern
Kingdom of Israel had fallen to Assyria • Now Judah – because of idolatry – was
taken into captivity by the Babylonians
• The final siege of Jerusalem lasted some 18 months • Many of the people were sent off
into captivity• The city lay in ruins for many years
• Lamentations records Jeremiah’s feelings as he surveyed the remains of this once great city• Lam. 1:1; 3:8-9, 18, 19-23
• Jeremiah changed his outlook when he remembered God’s faithfulness• He remembered that God was
always present• Lam. 3:22-24
I. God’s faithfulness: The answer to disasters
• God’s faithfulness is mankind’s answer to the world’s problems and disasters• Look at the Prodigal son of Lk. 15
Rom. 8:35
• Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom. 8:37-39
• 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. • 38 For I am persuaded, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,…
• 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• When disaster comes, God’s faithfulness remains• When you fail, God’s faithfulness is
there
II. How to have this assurance when trials come
• 1. Wait patiently• 3:25– “The LORD is good unto them
that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him”• Patience is not a popular quality in
our impatient world
• Jeremiah’s advice to Christians is to wait for God – whose faithfulness never fails
• 2. Sit silently • 3:28– “He sitteth alone and keepeth
silence, because he hath borne it upon him”• We need to meditate on God’s
faithfulness – it will give us strength to persevere in the trials we face
• 3. Submit willingly• 3:29-30• 29 “He putteth his mouth in the dust;
if so be there may be hope. • 30 He giveth his cheek to him that
smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach”
• When problems overtake us – we tend to react without trusting God’s strength• We try to overcome our despair and
discouragement with our own strength – when that fails we become more discouraged
• A trust in God will answer life’s trials• As we struggle with adversity in life
we need to remember that God’s mercies have never stopped
Lam. 3:31-32
• 31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever:• 32 But though he cause grief, yet will
he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
Conclusion
• God’s faithfulness is new every day• We may become faint and weary but
God will not• The greatness of God’s faithfulness
allows us to renew our strength
PS. 119:90
• Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.