Hope In The Faithfulness Of God
February 12, 2024

Harbinger = someone or something that announces or signals the approach of another, (Oxford) something that foreshadows a future event
Hope = confident expectation, anticipation of something, feeling of trust
- in this time of shaking, rapid changes in technology, political upheavals - when leaders say one thing but do another, wars and rumors of wars, stresses of business, growth or contraction, contracts, employee issues etc. etc When stresses of security, health or of finances come, when anxiety rises and peace seems to run away, our HOPE must be ESTABLISHED in the ONE WHO IS FAITHFUL!

HOPE MUST BE PLACED IN THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD.

FAITHFULNESS = trustworthy, stable, steadiness, conscientious, enduring - one who builds up and supports, who can be counted on and consistent. We often find hope through the faithful ones in our lives - the ones who can be counted on to be there, who build up and support. The ones who deliberately or inadvertently model the character of God.
From the time of creation God has revealed His Goodness and Faithfulness to all that are in our universe.

  1. * HOPE IN GOD’S DESIGN *

    • Genesis 1 - “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” He separated day from night when He said “Let there be light.” He declared the light good! Good because it reveals the beauty and faithfulness of God and from that time forward the Sun has risen and set day in and day out. FAITHFUL!!
      2.
    • “Let the earth sprout with vegetation - every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came…” And God saw it was good and every year since then we have had seedtime and harvest. FAITHFUL!!
    • “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days and years….” And God saw it was good! From that moment stars and orbits, lunar cycles and tides and planets with their moons have focused man’s attention upward and beyond the pressing immediacies of life. FAITHFUL!!
    • “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind” and from that time on each species followed the patterns of feeding, migration and mating - generation after generation knowing instinctively how to flourish. FAITHFUL!
    • Rainbow - Genesis 9 (NLT) -”I am giving you a sign as evidence of my permanent promise to you (Faithful!!) and to all the earth…when I see the rainbow in the cloud I will remember … it is a sign of my covenant with all creatures of the earth.” He creates the light and the water droplets so that light could be refracted through the droplets in such a way that the rainbow created would be a Harbinger of Hope in the Faithfulness of God.
  2. * HOPE IN THE TESTIMONY OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS *

Moses ### - Deuteronomy 7:9 “Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and consistently loves those who love Him and obey His commands.” – born into slavery with a death sentence at birth, raised in the enemies house as royalty, 40 years a

shepherd in the desert, God encounters unparalleled, 40 years of leading Israel in transition from slavery to promise.

DAVID ### Psalm 145:13 “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, You rule generation after generation. The Lord is faithful in all He says, He is gracious in all He does.” Psalm 89:2 “Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens… v8b Faithfulness is your very character.”

David’s journey - shepherd boy, warrior, king - worshiper with heart after God.

JOB ### Man of complete integrity, blameless, feared (deep respect for) God, richest person in the entire area of UZ - Arabian peninsula - 10 sons and daughters - faced a series of calamities that took everything he had - afflicted with a serious case of boils - pain inside and out -(wife - curse God and die) - HUGE INTERNAL BATTLE - WHY? - Wrestled with the concept of the GOODNESS AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD. - Internalized and vocalized his inner wrestling with his concept of God until he encountered Him. (You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13) “THOUGH HE SLAY ME YET WILL I TRUST HIM.(wait, hope, expect, be patient, be full of anticipation) Job 13:15 KJV God reveals His faithfulness and goodness & Job responds 42:1 “I know that you can do anything …” 5. “ I had heard about you before but now I have seen you with my own eyes.”

FAITHFUL!! - NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!

NOAH ### FAITHFUL! ### ABRAHAM ### FAITHFUL!

DANIEL #### - slave, faithful to serve Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius (lions den) and Cyrus FAITHFUL!!

Examples: Hebrews 11:30 - 40
4.
- Generation after generation have faced challenges, conflicts, tests
and trials, sometimes seemingly insurmountable - “Stuff happens!”
“The people who know their God will stand firm.” Sometimes it is not ours to know the“why” but to turn our hearts to him and trust His faithfulness and allow Him to build HOPE. FAITHFUL!!

* Romans 5:1 - 5 NLT “Therefore since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what the Lord Jesus has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice too, when we run into problems and trials for we know that they are good for us - they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.”
The faithfulness of God will be revealed to us by expressions of His love.

  1. * MODELING HOPE BY LIVING GOD’S FAITHFULNESS *

***Romans 1:4 “The just (righteous) shall live by faith.”
Living by faith is simply acting on and living out the faithfulness of God.

***JOHN 15:1 - 8 “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing…My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to My Father.”

                                                                                                  5.

Faithfulness = abiding or staying connected to our source of life - Jesus
### AVOID THE DISCONNECT ### NO VINE - NO GRAPES!

I must identify my thinking with faithfulness if I wish to be faithful. If I allow the voices of selfishness, short term benefit, thoughts of ‘you can’t do that’ or ‘you won’t make it’ to be my counselor and not the voice of God. I will not rise to the level of faithfulness that God has in mind for me if I don’t tap into His faithfulness.
We are often called on to be the demonstration of God’s faithfulness - to become someone’s answer to prayer.
- Called to be faithful in friendship, at our work, in marriage, in parenting, in school and in our church. - Called to be the demonstration of God’s faithfulness and become someone’s answer to prayer.
- - - Prayer for provision & God taps you (eg: ferry / blankets)
- - - Prayer for friendship & God asks you
- - - Need in a ministry & God plants it in your heart
SEE A NEED AND FILL IT - DEMONSTRATE HIS FAITHFULNESS

“BEING TAKEN FOR GRANTED” is inadvertently a compliment because it says you are reliable, faithful, consistent, dependable and able to get the job done. * Hebrews 6:10 “For God is not unfair. He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love for Him by caring for other Christians and you still do.”

1 THESSALONIANS 5:24 “HE WHO HAS CALLED YOU IS FAITHFUL.”

Call for prayer: Salvation
: Healing from unbelief in the faithfulness of God