Faithfulness & Faith

Before we look into the Word today, let's pray. Father, open our ears to hear and our hearts to desire, and our hearts to turn to You in faith. we confess to you that we struggle in believing your promises we struggle in trusting you and yet Father you have proved yourself faithful century after century after century remind us of that great faithfulness today Father we thank you for your work in our lives continue that work today in the preaching of your word for our good and your glory and we thank you in Jesus name Amen well it's the beginning of the new year and everyone seems optimistic including you I mean that's just the way New Year's is, isn't it? We're all optimistic.

You're hoping that this year might be different, maybe even better. Maybe there'll be less fighting in the world. Maybe we'll get a new kind of president. Maybe the economy will be better. But you're just hoping that things will be brighter. Like last year, you have hope that things will be different.

But then you have this nagging thought hanging around the back of your mind. You know for a fact that man is corrupted to the very core of his being with the rot of sin. And you know that this year won't prove to me much different than last year because of it. What hope can you possibly entertain with that in mind? What hope can you have when you realize that man is corrupt?

He's going to continue his fighting. He's going to continue his bickering. that things aren't going to get better at work necessarily. What reason do I have for optimism when it boils right down to it with all the corruption of sin and the wickedness that surrounds us that never seems to end? How in the world can we have hope? Well, I believe that hope can be found and must be found in God himself and not in any things will be different this year, I just know it kind of optimism.

There's no foundation for that. It's baseless. Where can I find hope? And I would say you must find it in God Himself. You can look in hope to God because when corruption began its destructive ways, God was right there with a promise. So let's take our Bibles and let's turn to Genesis 3.

Genesis chapter 3 I might add that as you look at your bulletin and it says God's word to us, Genesis that's not a misprint so be prepared Genesis chapter 3 will begin in verse 14 the Lord God said to the serpent because you've done this cursed are you above all livestock and above all feasts of the field on your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.

To the woman he said, I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you. And to Adam he said, because you've listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you.

In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. And you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

You see here, as we look at what's happened, as sin has begun its way, you see these cursings from God. And corruption of sin has already had its way immediately after Adam and Eve gave in to the serpent. Immediately there were effects. There was corrupting effects that just rippled through human relationships. Their relationship with God was such that once when they walked with Him with pleasure, now they hid from Him in fear.

You remember that God said, on the day you eat this fruit, you will die. And so when God confronted him, what did Adam do? He said, her, she's the one who did it, implied what? Deal with her. Don't kill her, not me. Boy, you talk about sin messing up a marriage relationship?

This guy's throwing his wife under the bus. Right? The corruption of sin has already made its way into human relationship. It makes its way into the relationship of man to his environment. We're out of touch with, we're out of sync with the environment. And so now God brings judgment in the form of these cursings.

What possible reason can anyone have for hope in this cursed, corrupt world? There's a little glimmer of hope, a tiny glimmer of hope in verse 15. I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel he will crush you the only thing you'll be able to do is to bruise his heel however in the midst of a corrupt world you can see that your hope can rest in the promise but the promise depends on God being faithful to it I can make you a promise.

It doesn't seal the deal, does it? I got to be faithful in keeping that promise. Is God going to be faithful in keeping his promise? there is hope and that's what the book of Genesis tells us at least for the opening chapters of human history we see God is faithful put your hope then in a faithful God don't put your hope in I know this year will be different I can just feel it don't put your hope in the political system don't put your hope in anywhere else but God who is faithful.

How do I know God is faithful? Well, I have a whole history of his faithfulness. And what we're going to look at today is just a sliver of that history, but enough to show us the character of God. Here's the first thing we see. Put your hope in God's faithfulness in the face of the unstoppable growth of corruption. You remember what happens.

We come to chapter 4 after the curse and that one little promise. We come to the chapter and we find this. Chapter 4, verse 8. Cain spoke to Abel, his brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, where is Abel, your brother? He said, I don't know.

Am I my brother's keeper? And the Lord said, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. Within one generation, we find murder. We find a brother murdering a brother.

I remember several years ago, I had the funeral of a young man who'd been killed by his brother. You talk about the effects of sin. and you talk about what that does to be in a front row seat on that is really an incredible experience. But within one generation, within one generation, you already see this deep-seated murder of a man killing his brother.

But that's not all. Look at verses 23 and 24. Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice. You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say. I've killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.

Now you add to the mix the perversion of marriage and bloody revenge. You find humanity then gripped by growing corruption. Marriage is debased and desire is elevated. Human life is disdained and brutality. is exalted. Hatred of peace. There's a hatred of peace and a love of power.

Community has been ruptured. And no matter how much culture advances, human corruption seems unstoppable. No matter what the technology, no matter how sophisticated we become in our knowledge, human corruption seems unstoppable. With sin's corruption so widespread, will the conquering seed be destroyed? Verses 25 and 26, and Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth.

For she said, God has appointed for me another offspring, another seed, instead of Abel, for Cain killed him. To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord. See, Seth bears the name appointed. God has appointed someone else. So there is hope in God's work.

Cain's murder of Abel is not the last word. Another son is born. He is appointed. And Seth has a son, Enosh, which means weakness. And out of that weakness comes a people who worship God. They are distinct from Cain's line.

Cain's line of powerful people who do not respond in faith. Instead, God raises up a people who out of weakness serve the living God. God will see that nothing stops his promise from fulfillment. Even this early on. Do you seem to think that this unstoppable corruption that we see around us that seems to grow every day and cannot be stopped by anything it appears, is that a reason for pessimism?

The answer is no. Why? Why? Because God remains faithful. And that conquering seed arrives in Jesus, the one appointed to his great work, the great task of defeating Satan and corruption. And he fulfills that task while weak and powerless.

Isn't that amazing? He crushes the serpent's head in his weakest point, humanly speaking. God proves himself faithful so you have reason for hope in this coming year but that's not all put your hope in God's faithfulness in the face of triumphant corruption the next recorded chapter of our history reveals a world in which corruption seems not just to grow but actually to triumph to take over look at chapter 6 with me Let's look at verses 5-7. of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and the Lord was sorry that he had made man in the earth and it grieved him to his heart.

So the Lord said, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens for I am sorry that I have made them. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Drop down to verse 11. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on earth.

And God said to Noah, I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Here is corruption that is extensive, inward, absolute, and continuous. Wickedness and corruption of the human race have reached an unbelievable stage. And God responds with a worldwide judgment.

Chapter 7, verse 21. Verse 21. and all flesh died that moved on the earth birds livestock beasts all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth and all mankind everything on the dry land and whose nostrils was the breath of life died he blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens they were blotted out from the earth only noah was left and those who are with him in the ark and the waters prevailed on the earth for 150 days. Has human corruption reached such a level that all hope is lost?

Is there any reason for hope with the triumph of wickedness and the horrific nature of God's response? Is there any hope? Has the promise ended? If God wipes out all mankind and I remember as I preached through this one of the young, I think one of the young junior high boys ask the question, why didn't God just wipe out everybody and start over again?

Because if he did that, what? Then he would not remain faithful to the promise he had made back in Genesis. He couldn't wipe everybody out and remain faithful. So what happened? He saved a man in his family. God had a man.

One man who represented all of humanity who brought us into another age who kept alive the promise. God was faithful. His name is Noah. We all know this, right? There isn't anybody in this room, not one person in this room who doesn't know that name. Look at chapter 5.

Chapter 5, verses 28 and 29. When Lamech had lived 182 years, now this is a different Lamech than the one we read about earlier. This is a succeeding generation. When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.

Now what's going on here? Lamech has a man a son his name is Noah which means rest his father believed the promise of God that one would come and one would deliver us from the sin and the misery of the corruption of human wickedness and Noah appears to be that deliverer and in fact he does prove to be a deliverer although not the deliverer Noah is a stone in the pathway to the ultimate fulfillment of this promise of one who would destroy Satan, who would wipe out corruption. And notice that God actively pursues that promise.

When you come to chapter 8, verse 1, it said, but God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark, and God made a wind blow over the earth and the water subsided. Now when it says God remembered Noah, it's not saying that God was so busy that suddenly he said, oh yeah, there's that guy and his family floating around on that ark. I forgot about that.

We got to deal with that. That's not what remembered means. It's acting towards someone because of a previous commitment. To remember means I remembered what I said to you and I'm going to act on it. Because earlier he had made a commitment to Noah that Noah and his family would not be destroyed. It combines the idea of faithful love and timely intervention.

I love you, I won't forget to love you, and when it's necessary, I intervene. That's what's involved in that word remember. When God remembered Noah, he remained faithful to his promise to keep him and his family from destruction. And in keeping that promise, what happened? He keeps the promise of sending a deliverer. And then God makes another promise.

Chapter 9, verse 8. Again, we know this story. Do we even have to read it? Yes. Verse 8. Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, behold, I established my covenant with you and your offspring after you and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.

It is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, this is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all future generations. I've set my bow in the cloud and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh.

There's that word remember again. And the water shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on earth. God said to Noah, this is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.

God makes another promise that sets the stage for the ultimate fulfillment of his promise of a conquering seed. He sets the stage so that we won't be wiped out ever again by a flood, but that there will be again, because of that, a promised deliverer. Do you give up hope and retreat to pessimism when the corruption around you seems triumphant? When it seems to triumph?

How do you respond to that? Know that God remembers. And that He actively pursues His promise. He has remembered you in sending His Son. He has remembered you in giving the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son who will take you into a new world.

Do you lose hope when it seems that God's promises are being so slowly fulfilled, if at all? When corruption all around triumphs? Is God not going to keep His promise? You know He will. God proves Himself faithful so you have reason for hope in this coming year. put your hope in God's faithfulness in the face of defiant corruption. Now we come to chapter 11.

The very, very familiar passage. The very familiar story. The narrative of the Tower of Babel. Once more, we're dealing with all of humanity in the same kind of situation, almost, as Noah found. All of humanity now. All of humanity in one place with one language seeking to glorify themselves.

And they're going to build this city and particularly this tower to preserve their identity in defiance of God. This is the point of the Tower of Babel. The point is not that they're going to make a tower that leads to heaven and God's going to have an invading force of human beings accosting his throne. That is not the point. Remember, as we went through this before, let's build us a temple that reaches to the sky, right?

That doesn't mean it reaches into heaven. What's that mean, essentially? Put it in today's word, let's build a skyscraper. All right? Do skyscrapers actually scrape the sky? You all look befuddled. have you ever seen the sky rip from the tower on the top of the empire state building because it's getting scraped no what do we mean by skyscraper what we mean by that is where this building is so tall it looks like it can scrape the sky that's what they meant it's a hyperbolic thing god's not afraid that he's going to have a human army stepping off this is what you thought as a kid, wasn't it?

Stepping off the top of that temple and storming the gates of heaven. That's not the point. The point is that they're proud and defiant. God had said, spread out, and they refused to do it. And they're going to build this monument to their pride, and they're going to fortify themselves, that is, find security in their numbers rather than obey God. That's the issue.

Verses 6 and 7, God responds. And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language so that they may not understand one another. By the way, that's God coming down is an ironic, sarcastic statement. you guys think you're building something so great I have to come down just to see it that's the point of that ironic statement there but the point here is this this is not the voice of a frightened monarch this is the voice of a savior king if he does not intervene humanity will be united in apostasy the corruption will again grow with nothing nothing to stop it there will be no stopping this corruption There will be no checks.

And it will continue with one language, with one people, all of humanity united against God in an apostate religion. So what happens? That would be the end of the conquering seed, wouldn't it? But God remains faithful. Now he's already made a promise not to use catastrophe to deal with man's wickedness. So now he uses confusion.

He uses confusion. That is, they're not going to have a united apostate religion if they have different languages, different cultures, all the things that grow out of that. That's how God dealt with that corruption. But yet what's interesting, unlike all the other stories in Genesis, This story ends in judgment without a word of grace. You remember, Adam and Eve, what happens?

They're judged, but then God provides for them covering. Cain murders, but then what happens? God protects him from vengeance. Right? We see the growing perversity and we see Seth and Enosh. We see that there's a judgment of the flood, but then there's grace and Noah.

But this ends with no word of grace. Do you see that? There's nothing here until you get to chapter 12. Here's the word of grace that now explodes into the rest of Scripture. verses 12 1 through 3 now the Lord said to Abram go from your country and your kindred and your father's house into the land that I will show you and I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed you see that all the nations are now scattered is that the end is that the last word no God now says the seed is going to come through one family of all the nations now all the nations that are scattered all the nations that there are they will be blessed through this seed that's going to come through Abraham God will send his conquering seed by means of this particular family And that's how he keeps his promise.

You see, God conquers pride not by force of judgment. Right? Did God conquer pride by judging Babel? The answer is no. You still struggle with pride? Yeah, he doesn't conquer pride by that judgment.

He conquers pride by actually humiliating his son. in death and shame. The conquering seed conquers our pride by being humiliated. And only through Jesus is pride conquered. But through the confusion of languages, God proves himself faithful. So you have reason for hope in this new year. now there's one more corruption we have to deal with put your hope in God's faithfulness in the reality of remaining corruption remaining corruption what are we talking about here God irresistibly works in his people and changes them if you're a believer you will be changed there's no doubt about that but we will always do battle against the remaining corruption of sin.

Certainly there's corruption all around us. As we march through the book of Genesis, we see corruption around us all over the place. But there's especially another kind of corruption. It's the corruption within us. It's the corruption within us. We still struggle to be what God wants us to be. so the question is will God remain faithful with such people as that and this is where I think we struggle the most we say oh God I can see corruption all around me but what really bothers me what really makes me think that this year won't be much different is there's corruption in me is God going to remain faithful even with corruption in his people well I see that God keeps his promise even when his people abandon their trust in him again Genesis chapter 12 do we know this story yes now there was a verse 10 now there was a famine in the land so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there for the famine was severe in the land when he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife, I know that you're a woman, beautiful in appearance.

And when the Egyptians see you, they will say, this is his wife. Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you're my sister, that it may go well with me because of you and that my life may be spared for your sake. When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman was very beautiful. And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

And for her sake, he dealt well with Abram, and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. Verses 1 through 9, we see this incredible faith on the part of Abram. Abraham leaves, leaves everything that's familiar just on the basis of what God says. He believes the promise of God. But then, right, God promises him a land as well. if you look up at verse 17 or 7 to your offspring I will give this land but the land isn producing anything And so Abraham thinks boy I got to get out of here And so it looks like he abandons the project even as it begins.

He abandons the project and in the process loses his wife. He loses Sarah to Pharaoh's harem. What happens to the conquering seed now that's going to bless all the nations that are supposed to come through this family when your wife is in another man's harem. There's no way for the seed to come now. It's not going to come through you. Your wife is in another guy's household.

You see the problem? So what does God do? He intervenes. And He keeps that promise. Pharaoh's not going to touch that woman and she's going to be returned to Abraham. Now, again, we can look at all the ins and outs of what happened there, but here's the point.

God remained faithful. That seed was going to come in the way that he said. And when his people, when you, don't seem to trust God, he'll not abandon you and he won't abandon his promises. Now again, notice, God intervenes. Abraham learns a lesson and we see him grow in faith but let's face it there are times when you just don't trust God don't look surprised at me I know that's the case it's the case with me there are times I just don't trust God but God does not abandon his promises nor his people God keeps his promise even in the face of doubt here we have I'm abandon it for a while what about doubt chapter 15 after these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision fear not Abram I am your shield your reward shall be very great but Abram said oh Lord God what shall you give me for I continue childless.

And the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, This man shall not be your heir. Your very own son shall be your heir. And he brought him outside and said, Look toward the heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them.

Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. and he believed the Lord and he counted it to him as righteousness. Abram's doubting. He says, well, it must be Eliezer. And God says, no, no. And so he makes a covenant to guarantee the promise. And you remember in the rest of the chapter how the animals are split in a sacrificial way in the way you made covenants back then And God alone walked through it saying, I alone take on the obligations of this covenant.

And so in the face of childlessness, when it appears that the seed will not ever appear, God initiates a covenant guaranteeing that he will remain true to that promise. By the way, God's initiated the covenant with us. And the sacrifice that guarantees that covenant is his son himself. And God has taken upon Himself the obligation of conquering Satan and of producing the seed that will save you.

God remains faithful even when all appears lost and virtually impossible. Have you ever been in those situations? When everything appears lost and virtually impossible? What are we going to do, God? Have you ever laid in your bed and cried? God, I have no idea what to do.

Oh God, help. Look at chapter 17. Verse 15. And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai, your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her. and she shall and I will bless her and moreover I will give you a son by her I will bless her and she shall become nations kings of people shall come from her then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself shall a child be born to a man who's a hundred years old shall Sarah who's a ninety year old ninety year old bear a child and Abraham said to God oh that Ishmael might live before you God said No But Sarah your wife shall bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac.

Hebrew, Yitzhak, which means what? Laughter. Abraham laughs. Let's look at Sarah. Verses chapter 18, beginning in verse 9. Remember, these are the angels and the Lord himself as they come towards Sodom and Gomorrah.

And Abraham invites them to stay for a meal. And they said to him, where is Sarah, your wife? And he said, she's in the tent. The Lord said, I will surely return to you about this time next year. And Sarah, your wife, shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.

Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, after I'm worn out and my Lord is old, shall I have pleasure? The Lord said to Abram, why did Sarah laugh and say, shall I indeed bear a child now that I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.

But Sarah denied it, saying, I didn't laugh, for she was afraid. He said, no, but you did laugh. I love that story. You've got Abraham laughing. You've got Sarah laughing. What else are you going to name this child, right?

Laughter. Here's the point. God's faithful even when it's virtually impossible. The way of women had ceased with her. There's no way she was going to have a child. She's 90 years old, for goodness sake, and he's 100.

Even back in those days, that was way too old for children. Right? My goodness. But God kept His promise. There's a reason why God waited until they were 190. You know why?

So that He would be the center of the drama. What do you got to learn from that? They waited for 25 long years. and God remained faithful to His promise. Have any of you waited that long for anything from God? Here's another time. God keeps His promise when His people act foolishly.

God still keeps His promise when you just do dumb stuff. Alright? Really dumb stuff. Like chapter 16. Alright, I'm not going to read it this time, okay? You remember the story.

Abraham says, we must not, or Sarah says, looks like we're not going to have any children. So I'll tell you what, you take Hagar and you have a son through her. You remember that? Okay, we've got to have a seed here. This must be what God says. You talk about acting foolishly.

What's the problem there? They're reading their circumstances, or they're reading God's will. They're reading the promise of God through their circumstances. They're not just believing what God says. They're reading that promise through their circumstances. And they get it all out of joint.

And they mess up royally. But does God keep his promise? Yes. because as we heard in scripture reading today, Isaac was eventually born when she was 90 years old. But then there's chapter 20 as well. Chapter 20, verses 1 through 5. From there, Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negev and lived between Kedesh and Shur.

And he sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, she is my sister. And Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. but God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him behold you're a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken for she is a man's wife now Abimelech had not approached her so he said Lord will you kill an innocent people did he not himself say to me she is my sister and she herself said he is my brother in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this and God said to him in the dream yes I know that you've done this in the integrity of your heart and it was i who kept you from sinning against me therefore i did not let you touch her now then return to abraham because he's a prophet and he'll pray for you but look also over at um verses 10 and 11 gives them a back story here and then bimlic said to abraham what did what did you see that you did this thing abraham said i did it because i thought there is no fear of God at all in this place and they will kill me because of my wife Aha When it all looks bad right And I use my wisdom and I say I can trust God in this one because there no fear of God in this place I'm a dead man if I go with what God says.

Right? Well, he's not a dead man and he acts foolishly, operating on unaided human wisdom, trying to figure it all out. But does God dump him? No. He remains faithful to his promise and he intervenes again. Again, what's the problem?

Here is Sarah in a king's harem. Where is the seed going to come now? So he intervenes and she is released. You see, God will not allow his promise to be sidetracked. And so all the way through this book, what do we see? God is faithful to his promise.

God is faithful to his promise. Have you lost hope in God's promises because of you? That's the toughest one, isn't it? Have you lost hope because of you? You see, that promised seed of Jesus will change even you. Isn't that what God promised ultimately in dealing with the serpent?

Isn't that what God promised? He said this, he will bruise his heel, but this conquering seed will crush him, will bruise his head, or will kill him. That is the ultimate promise that things will be different. it's interesting that the apostle paul in romans chapter 16 talking to people who have believed the gospel said you are trampling satan you're destroying satan under your heel isn't that interesting the conquering seed is at work in us as we crush the serpent by change lives god will keep his promise so what am i saying to you this morning god proves himself faithful so you have reason for hope in the coming year god proves himself faithful so you have hope in the coming year you see he made that promise at the very very beginning and nothing will keep him from fulfilling it nothing there isn't a thing in this world that can keep God from being faithful.

How do you know that? Because He gave His Son as the guarantee. If He gave His Son, Romans chapter 8, how will He not also with Him give us all things? You see that? And that conquering seed is going to destroy Satan. he dethroned him at the cross he will crush him completely when he comes again god will remain faithful if he remains faithful in this he'll remain faithful in everything else you have reason for hope and that hope can be found only in a god who is faithful father thank you for your word this morning.

We pray that you would remind us of these things. Lord, we don't want to learn these stories so we know stories. Because these stories, these narratives, reveal you. They reveal your faithfulness to the promise you made long ago. Help us by your grace to put our hope in nothing else but you. Father, we get discouraged, we get depressed because our hopes are crushed.

But they will never be crushed when they rest in you. Make us a people who rest in the promises of God. Make us a people who rest in the faithful God so that we will have hope. Oh God, I earnestly pray. pray, make us a people of hope. In a world of darkness, hope is almost non-existent. Help us, your people, to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ by being a people of hope rather than despair.

Help us, Lord, so that we do not go along with the rest of the world and look at circumstances and say there is no hope. help us instead to shine forth the light of hope as we trust in our faithful God who gave his son we thank you in Jesus name Amen