Listen to sermons at FreeGraceRadio.com

“He Abideth Faithful”

2 Timothy 2:13

The Lord our God is faithful, always faithful, in all things faithful. This is our confidence in him. We could have no faith in God, we could have no confidence in his Word, we could not believe his promises were he not faithful.

Essential Attribute

Faithfulness is an attribute essential to God, without which he would not be God. It is a most glorious attribute of his nature. — “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him” (Deuteronomy 7:9). God’s faithfulness is, like himself, great and infinite. In the teeth of great pain and sorrow, the weeping prophet cried, “Great is thy faithfulness!” Faithfulness is all around him, like a garment with which he is clothed and covered from head to foot. — “O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness round about thee?” (Psalm 89:8). God’s faithfulness is immutable, invariable, unchanging, and unchangeable. It has never failed and shall never fail. It is established in the heavens and will continue forever (Psalm 89:2, 24, 33; 119:90). “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). It is impossible for God to be unfaithful!

Foundation of Trust

God’s faithfulness is the foundation of our trust and confidence in him. He never forgets, never fails, never falters, never forsakes, and never forfeits his Word. Therefore, we may safely and confidently commit ourselves to him and depend upon him for all the mercies he has promised, both in this life and in the life to come (1 Peter 4:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). The faithfulness of God is seen, primarily, in the fact that he always performs his Word (Numbers 23:19). — “The foundation of God standeth sure.” And “there shall be a performance of those things which were told (us) from the Lord” (Luke 1:45).

Examples of Faithfulness

Examples of God’s faithfulness are scattered throughout the Bible. More than 4,000 years ago God said, “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). Every year furnishes a fresh witness to God’s faithfulness to his promise. He promised that he would never destroy the earth with the waters of a flood again. And he set the rainbow in the sky to remind us of his faithfulness to his promise (Genesis 9:8-15). In Genesis 15:13-16, God told Abraham that his seed would serve as strangers in a hostile land for four hundred years and afterward come out with great substance. As the centuries ran their course, Abraham’s descendants groaned beneath the load of their bitter affliction in Egypt. Had God forgotten his promise? Had God forgotten to be faithful? Not at all. — “It came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:41). And of Christ it was prophesied, “Righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness the girdle of his reins” (Isaiah 11:5). When Christ came, he faithfully fulfilled all the stipulations of his covenant with the Father as our Mediator and Surety. He brought in everlasting righteousness. He redeemed his people. He put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself. He ascended back into heaven. And there he took his place upon the throne of glory as the God-man, whose name is “Faithful and True!”

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s