god’s faithfulness lamentations 3:23. introduction

26
God’s Faithfulness Lamentations 3:23

Upload: ginger-poole

Post on 22-Dec-2015

219 views

Category:

Documents


3 download

TRANSCRIPT

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.