In the time of Moses, he was raised by God to be the hero of the people of Israel. He was called by God to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt. And you probably have heard or read the story in the Bible. It is in Exodus where God has sent His plagues to Egypt and so He has shown His power and He has shown His love also for the love for the people of Israel and it is called as you know, the Exodus, right; hence, the title of the book. Now, in Genesis chapter 46, we are seeing here like a reversed Exodus, right. They are already… Jacob and his family were already in the land of Canaan, the promised land but God is telling them they have to go to Egypt. So it’s again, like reversed Exodus. The Reversed Exodus before the actual Exodus. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 46 and we will read the first four verses. Genesis chapter 46 verses 1 to 4. Babasahin ko po siya sa English Standard Version. So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” The grass withers, the flower fades but the word of our God will stand forever.
So Israel or Jacob has decided to go to Egypt. His reason was to see his beloved son whom he has lost for many years, Joseph. But before they go to Egypt, he makes his first stop at Beersheba. He first came to to to Beersheba. It says here that they offered sacrifices there and they worshiped the Lord. And then we see, we see here in Beersheba where God showed Himself to Israel or to Jacob just how He showed Himself also in Beersheba to his father Isaac many years ago. So here in chapter 46, God delivers a message to Israel right before he goes to Egypt, telling him to not be afraid and then He assures Israel with His three “I will” statements. You see here I will make you into a great nation, firstly, I will make you into a great nation, that Israel’s descendants will indeed grow in number like the sand of the sea and the stars. Second, it says I Myself will go down with you to Egypt, that Israel being the foreigners in the land of Egypt. While they foreigners there they will not be alone, the Creator of the world will be with them. And thirdly, it tells us I will also bring you up again. And Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes, that Israel’s descendants after a while will go back to Canaan. After their stay in Egypt, they will, God said, I will.. I, myself will go down with you to Egypt. And then He says I will also bring you up again, you’ll be back, right. Of course we know it’s not going to be.. they’re not going to be back next week. They’re going to be… they’re not going to be back after the 5 years of famine, no. In fact, 400 years, 400 plus years, right. But the promise, I mean God promises that He will bring them up again, it says. And then He promises
specifically to Jacob, Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes, right. God tells him that he will be with Israel not just in in this journey, but the whole time he will be there, and the one who will close his eyes— meaning the one you last see before you die, was the one that you were looking for, that you’ve been missing all this time who is Joseph. Now remember, Genesis chapter 46 was written at a time when God brought the people out of Egypt. When God used Moses for the people of Israel to be exodused out of Egypt, Moses wrote Genesis. So the original readers of Genesis were the Israelites who got out of Egypt. And now they’re learning that the one who has put them in Egypt in the first place was none other than God. God put them in Egypt 400 plus years. But see, it says here, God placed them in Egypt because there was severe famine during that time, right. They were called to go to Egypt so that they can be fed, because Egypt has had plenty of food during that time. And in fact, during that time as well, false religion has been growing in Canaan. It has been groaning, that it’ growing rather; people are groaning… is growing. And you’ll see the growth of religion when the people of Israel in the time of Joshua when they tried to conquer the the Canaanites, the Canaan was a known pagan land already. So during this time, nag-grow ang false religion. So see the protection of God. Not just from the severe famine, but also because of the religion that was in Canaan as well. God has.. now if you’re an Israelite and you were reading this and you just got out of Egypt, you’re not going to blame God, it was God pala who has put us in Egypt, no! You’ll see oh, God has protected us before. Well God has placed us in Egypt to protect us from the famine, from the religions of Canaan. God has protected the Israelites before. So God will protect us now. Now that we’re in the wilderness, now that we’re on our way to the promised land and God has promised us that we will be in the promised land, if God has protected our forefathers in Genesis chapter 46, (of course there’s no chapters before) God will protect us now, right. If you were an Israelite reading this, God promised Jacob and his father Isaac and Abraham that He will indeed give Canaan to them. So what happened before Jacob got to Egypt, he went first to Beersheba. It could be that Jacob wanted assurance first, right. I mean he’s already solved to the idea that he had to go to Egypt to see Joseph. But he had to make a stop. He went to Beersheba first, It could be that Jacob wanted assurance because he knew that the Promised Land was Canaan and yet the famine drives them far away. God says this is what He’s going to give us, Canaan, and yet we’re going to leave? Let me check with God. Let me go to Beersheba and offer sacrifices there.
That’s what Isaac did, that’s what my father did. Let’s see. And so God spoke to him; and when God spoke to him, he was told indeed, yes leave Canaan. But before he goes to a foreign land, God gives him His word, just like a modern, in their time, Israel was assured, wow! God has protected the people of Israel for 400 years. Jacob is also receiving the same kind of assurance when he spoke with God here before he goes to Egypt. What’s more important is the word of God that tells him, I will be with you, don’t fear. God assures him that this was part of God’s plan.
You know sometimes we think also that we are in a situation where you think the Lord doesn’t want you to be in.. the Lord, you think that the Lord doesn’t want you to be there. But in fact, that’s where God wants you to be. I mean you don’t like your job because you don’t like the people. But maybe that’s where God wants you because that’s where you are sanctified. Or maybe you are in a house, in a home where you think you are persecuted; and you think.. and you think of Christian life or I’m a Christian now, I shouldn’t be experiencing such afflictions in my life. But in fact have you thought of the fact that maybe God actually wants you to be there? Like Jonah who didn’t want to be in Nineveh, but in fact God wants him there. There are times when God would want us to be in a situation probably a trial, an affliction, and you don’t want to be in that situation. But it’s the very situation where God wants us to be. And Jacob, wait… this is the promised land, I’m already here. Now I’m going to a foreign land. Yes, there’s plenty. There’s 5 years of famine yes, we will be fed. But there will be affliction in Egypt afterwards. We know what happened. And he’s going there and yet that’s exactly where God wants Jacob and his descendants to go.
So how about us? When we are in a situation and we think God doesn’t want us here, but in fact this is His very purpose. You are here because God wants you here, whatever that situation is. During those times, what should we do? What does our text say as to what believers of today can do? Well just like Jacob, what did Jacob do? When he heard the word of God spoke to him, when he heard God spoke to him, he just trusted God and he went! It’s the same message for everyone. We must trust God. And remember that God is with us and that God provides for us. In fact our message this afternoon is That We Are Called To Trust God In Any Circumstance We Are In. Tayo’y tinatawag ng Diyos na magtiwala sa Kaniya saan man tayo Niya dalhin. Magtiwala tayo. Tingin ba natin, yung promise Niya kay Jacob ay hindi nag-a-apply a isang kristiyano? Magtiwala tayo sa ating Panginoon. This is what Jacob did. Although he already wanted to go to Egypt because he wanted to see his son Joseph, he went first again to Beersheba because to he wants to seek God. And because of this, Jacob or Israel went to Egypt together with his family, because of what God has said. He trusted God. When he went to Canaan, he trusted God again when he was about to leave Canaan. So same is true for all of us. We are called to trust God in any circumstance we are in. Why? Firstly, this is my first point, because God Assures and secondly because God Accomplishes. So those are my two points for today: God assures and God accomplishes.
Let us consider the first point — God Assures. So while Israel has decided to go to Egypt already to see his son, again, he wanted to consult God by going to Beersheba. Imagine if he didn’t. Imagine if he didn’t. He just went there to live just because of his urge to see Joseph. So for him, it was important to be able to talk to God. He wanted assurance if this is the right thing to do. He wanted assurance that if he goes there, he’s not sinning against God. ‘Cause he remembers the promise of God. The promise of God says: “you shall be in Canaan and I will give Canaan to you.” And now there’s a rerouting. And so it’s just right to consult God. And it was so gracious for God to just speak to a human being like Jacob and affirm.. oh yes, go there. He want an assurance. I mean that’s a foreign country with foreign culture, different people. What assurance does he have that they will be fine, right. The only assurance that he has now is the word of God. And so Jacob, knowing this, again goes to Beersheba to seek God, and as he sought God, God spoke to him. Jacob wanted assurance, he sought God and God gave him what he wanted. God gave him the assurance. He assured him in verse three, it says there: “..for there I will make you into a great nation. Do you remember God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12? God talked to Abraham and told Abraham that he will be a great nation. That also extends to Isaac and to Jacob now as we know as Israel. They will become a great nation. That, that has been the promise of God to Abraham if we trace that to Genesis chapter 12. Now, God is saying there, it will happen; being a great nation will happen. But this time, there in Egypt, right. You will grow in number there. God’s promise to Abraham now reiterated to Jacob now made clear. It will also happen in Egypt. And God Himself he said to Jacob assuring him, don’t worry I will go down with you.. wow, what an assurance! I mean God tells you to go to a foreign land and He tells you I will be with you.. I will go down with you to Egypt. Again, repeating, for there and then to Egypt, right. You really have to go there Jacob, assuring Jacob that he will be safe. And there’s no need to fear. And also God assured him that it will be temporary, by the way. Canaan was still their Promised Land. God told them I will bring you up again, right. You’ll be back. So see, Jacob needed a push. He needed that assurance and rightly. So if there’s anyone who should give him a go signal, it’s none other than God. Tama lang na kulang yung “oh, buhay si Joseph, yes, I’ll go there”, right. Pero hindi sapat iyon. What makes you go, what should convince you to go, is God telling you: “go and I will be with you.” He heard God’s word audibly and that is enough for him to go together with his family. You know brethren, same is true for all of us. We need such push. We need such assurance as we are not yet in the place where we call our home. We are in a sense in our Egypt; we are not yet in our promised land.
And here, as we live here, we need that push, we need that constant assurance that comes from God that tells us ‘I am with you, I am with you.’
Remember Abraham Hebrews 11:10 when he was promised the land of Canaan, in fact Abraham wasn’t looking forward to be in that physical land. He says in Hebrews 11 verse 10 for Abraham was looking forward to the city that has foundations whose designer and builder is God. We’re looking for a heavenly city here. And we know, if we study the New Testament, the heavenly city refers to the church. But by extension it also involves what comes when Christ returns…the heavens. Abraham was looking forward to the heavenly city. He’s looking for something more future in our times. Yes, it refers also to the people of God, but it also refers to the actual place where the people of God will be. It is in the new Heaven and the new Earth. And we’re not there yet. We are in a sense, pilgrims currently in Egypt, all of us. In fact, Paul says in Philippians chap 3: 20, our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are all pilgrims here on Earth. We are citizens of heaven. There is a sense we can say this is not our home. Oh yes we can say this is our home, God has given us creation and we must be good stewards of God’s creation. So we can say yes, this is our home, but there’s another sense we can say spiritually, this is not our home. Remember what Paul says when we die? He said we will be away from the body and at home with the Lord. This is not our home. We live in Egypt. Huwag niyo ilagay sa address nyo yung Egypt. We live in Egypt. We’re not yet in our promised land. And what would enable us? What would encourage us? What would push us? Give us assurance. Give us fuel to live on this Earth. It is but the word of God. What enables us to continue having hope in this world is the word of God. What pushed Jacob to really go to Egypt to live there was God’s assurance that He will be with him. That is also what we need here on Earth. The word of God that confirms, affirm us that we are in Christ. God is with us. Of course, especially in our time, we have that kind of assurance. Especially in our time. Compared to Jacob and to all the Old Testament saints, we have seen God’s assurance in His word. God has sent His Son to assure us that sin, that death and Satan will be defeated and His name is Jesus Christ. His cross is our assurance that we can live here on Earth with hope in our hearts. That should push us to live with joy in our hearts. Being in Christ, we are reminded that God is indeed with us. If not for Christ, we will be living here on Earth guilty and separated from our God. But because Christ became our substitute, and He died on the cross and He rose again from the dead, we were brought near to Him. When we say that God is with us, what we mean is that we have been reconciled to God and we can never separate from God. His love will never separate us anymore, that is what we mean.
Now because of Christ, because of what we have in Christ, we can go to Beersheba, consult our God in prayer and call Him our Father. Because of Christ, we can consult the word of God and know His purpose. If Jacob was assured of what God told him that he will be a great nation, in Christ, we are assured that God’s people will be great in number despite the evil that progresses in this world. If Jacob was assured of God’s presence, God said, I will be going down with you in Egypt. Oh, we too brothers and sisters, are assured that God will bring him, that God is with us. If God told Jacob that He will be with him in Egypt, we are assured in Christ also that God is with us. His name is Emmanuel, God With Us. Jesus Christ in fact has come for us, in our place. If Jacob was assured that God will bring him up to Canaan again, we too brothers and sisters are assured that there will be a better promised land to come, a new heaven and a new Earth where sin is no more, well, where all of us will be brought up. And if Jacob was assured that his son, Jacob shall close his eyes, our assurance is that when we close our eyes, the one who immediately opens them is Christ. What better assurance do we have? If we have better assurance, then we have more reasons to live in our current Egypt while waiting for the coming Christ who will bring the promised land to us.
But see, not everyone has this assurance of life. Not everyone has this assurance of salvation. But this is offered to you today. Salvation is offered to you today. Assurance of being saved is offered to you today. You don’t have any assurance in life. Assurance… what’s going to happen to you after life. You’re not sure. But you can be sure because God said there will be forgiveness of sins, there will be eternal joy with your Creator, you will be alive to be with Him. Those are great blessings that you will be missing out if you are not in Jesus Christ.
Unless you repent of your sins and come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Kung tingin mo ay okay ka na sa buhay mo ngayon, kaibigan, temporary lang yan. Ang Panginoon ay kayang magbigay ng buhay na walang hanggan. Ang Panginoon ay kayang magbigay ng buhay na punung-puno ng joy, punung-puno ng holiness.
Wala nang kasalanan..kaya Niya yung ibigay. Hindi mo yun kayang gawin para sa sarili mo, hindi mo yun kayang i-accomplish para sa sarili mo dahil lahat tayo nagkasala. Walang sinuman sa atin ang kayang ma-accomplish ang ginawa ni Kristo. Si Kristo na namuhay nang walang kasalanan. Ikaw at ako, ngayon pa lang, nagkasala na tayo sa ating isipan. Hindi tayo perpekto. Nagkakasala tayo sa ating mga salita, sa ating mga gawa. At ang sabi ng Panginoon, isang kasalanan lang ay sapat na para ikaw ay mapunta at malayo in eternity sa Diyos. Na hindi mo maranasan ang grasya; wala kang mararanasang grasya, wala kang mararanasang kahabagan. Ito ay eternity ng karanasan mo at ang poot ng Diyos.
Ang kabaligtaran nito ang ino-offer sa iyo ng Panginoon ngayon ay eternity na punung-puno ng pagmamahal na kung saan, lahat ng mga bagay ang nagpapahirap sa iyo ngayon, kasalanan, kamatayan, si satanas, eternity na itong mga kaaway ng Diyos ay wala na. Kung saan merong tunay na ligaya sa iyong puso kasama ang Diyos; ito ang ino-offer sa iyo ng Panginoon ngayon. At meroong nag-accomplish nun. At yun ay si Kristo. Ito ay hindi mo kayang i- accomplish. Si Kristo, na-accomplish Niya iyon. Nabuhay Siyang walang kasalanan at Siya rin ang tumanggap ng poot ng Diyos sa krus kaya Siya’y namatay. At kaya ko sinasabi na may eternity na punung-puno ng ligaya sa ating mga puso kasama ang Diyos kasi buhay si Kristo. Hindi balewala ang Kaniyang ginawa.
So kung ikaw ay wala kay Kristo ngayon, ngayundin, pag-isipan mo ito.
Ngayon, tinatawag ka talaga ng Diyos. Tumalikod ka sa kasalanan mo at manampalataya ka sa probisyon ng Panginoon na si Kristo na Siyang Tagapag- ligtas….Siya lamang. He is the source of the forgiveness of sins. In Him, redemption is given.
At kung ikaw ay kay Kristo, if you are in Christ while you are in Egypt, God assures you He’s with you in every circumstance you are in. In any and every circumstance, whether it is difficult or not. If you are in Christ, God is with you.
and God will be with you. What Grace and what mercy that comes from our Lord. Does He need to be with us? I mean just imagine the days when we continue to sin against God and yet there will not be a time when God will not be with us.
Nothing can change your citizenship. You are assured by God that you are His child if you are in Christ. Tandaan mo yan kapatid.
You know when someone goes to a different country, he brings his passport with him. And going there does not immediately make him a citizen of that country. But he must adapt, he must live there, he must abide the rules of the country. But what assures him that he’s not really from there, what reminds him that he can go back to his previous country is his passport. Same is true for us. Your passport here in our.. in Egypt, ang passport mo ay si Kristo. Siya’ng nagpapatunay kung saan ka talaga citizen. You are a citizen of heaven. So challenge ko sa lahat is to Find Your Assurance In Christ Through The Ministry Of The Word. Just as Jacob found assurance in the word of God and he, it indeed gave him that push to to live in Egypt. What he has is the word of God. We can also find assurance in the word of God. To be specific… oh we know the story…
God has given us His assurance. And His assurance has become flesh. Find your assurance in Christ. Those in Christ are but pilgrims who temporarily live here on Earth. We are citizens not of this world, but of heaven. In Christ, we have assurance that Christ will never leave us. We have assurance that God loves us, we have assurance that God has defeated our sins, we have assurance that we will end up in heaven. All of these things can be found alone in Christ. Like when you go to the Lord’s Day worship, you’re coming here to get to be assured and God will give you assurance. That’s what’s happening here. Doubtful Christians come to worship and their God assures them. And then you leave, go back to your doubts. Go back to doubting again. That’s why you need the ministry of the word. Don’t live here in Egypt with that assurance in Christ. And you know we will encounter lots of trials here on Earth because sin still exists. We’re still waiting for that time when sin will be gone. The problem at times is we find our assurance yes, but on our works, on our ability. We are more assured by our own ability to defeat our own sin. We think we don’t have to rely on God anymore, that we don’t pray anymore, we don’t look at the word of God anymore, we don’t worship anymore. This is a problem, a sin problem. We must all mortify brethren.
See, if Jacob did not rely on God, he could have just gone to Goshan without consulting God, knowing that Goshan was a rich region, but see, he did not rely on his own. He sought assurance from the Lord. Lord, is this the right thing to do? Go there and I will be with you. Brethren, we too must seek assurance. Of course it’s not like in the time of Jacob where God will speak to you in visions. That is why God has given us His complete Word, His Bible. It is through the Bible that God speaks to us now. It is through the Bible where you can find Christ who is our assurance. For there is no assurance in life apart from Christ.
Do you know that the Lord’s day is a day of assurance? You are assured by the word that you are reminded, that you are in Christ. You are assured by the fellowship of the saints, assured that you are now in the body of Christ. You are assured in worship, for in worship we all we also receive Him. You are assured in the Lord’s supper, lalo na, right. That’s the most assuring thing by the way, the Lord’s Supper. Because God gives you the bread and wine directly, right. Not like the word of God that is preached, right. I mean it will be preached, whether pwede mo yung hindi tanggapin or not..pero yung bread, no…tatanggapin mo iyon heh. That’s assuring. This is what happens also when you receive the benediction. The benediction is in fact not just the closing of the service, but rather it is the sending of God. You are on Zion during worship. Zion, Canaan, Promised Land, Israel, same, you are on Zion during worship. And God blesses you as He sends you back to Egypt with assurance that He blesses you, that He keeps you, that He makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you, that He lifts up His countenance upon you and give you peace in Christ. It is God’s reminder that you can start this new week with such blessings. It is God’s assurance that when you go back to Egypt, you have Jesus Christ. So while you are living here on Earth, are you assured that God is with you brethren? How does that assurance manifest in your life? Brothers and sisters, let us trust God in every circumstance we are in. Trust Him for He continues to assure us with His word. Not only that brethren, trust Him because God also accomplishes His word. And that is my last point, God Accomplishes.
And so in Jacob’s time, it seems as if they’re being rerouted to a different location. But the plan of God was never changed. It’s not like God changed His mind. In Genesis chapter 46, no, God never changes. In fact, this was promised to Abraham before in Genesis 15: 13-14. We read that in our scripture reading. It says Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. This is in fact Genesis chapter 46 1-4. God is telling Abraham your descendants will go to a nation for 400 years. They will be there and then afterwards, they will come out of it. This has been prophesied by God Himself to Abraham. So God now in Genesis chapter 46, God is telling Jacob: “Jacob, do not fear. If you go there, Jacob, you are not thwarting my purpose. In fact, yes, I told you that you have to be in Canaan. Now, you have to go to Egypt. But don’t worry, you’re not changing My purpose, in fact, you’re promoting My purpose. This is part of my plan for you to be a better holy nation. You have to be in Egypt. Because in Egypt, it is where Israel will become a great nation, because in Egypt it is where God will perform many miracles. It is where God will show His true self, His hatred towards sin, when He sends plagues to the Egyptians. Now, you know God better. It is where God will show His true self, His mercy toward sinful Israelites and His grace toward them. Jacob, yes, I told your fathers that I will give them Canaan the promised land, but now there’s famine in Canaan, you can’t be there. You must be in Egypt because there’s plenty of food in Egypt. But that’s not the only reason why you’ll be going to Egypt. You also need to see who I really am. You need to see God through trials. You will undergo many trials in Egypt for 400 years. But I will be there with you, and I will bring you up to the promised land again. But before that happens, you need to be in Egypt now and after the 5 years of plenty for 400 years, you will encounter the trials. So don’t be afraid Jacob, for this is part of of My plan.
Same is true for us brethren. Trials in life, at times, we think that they’re not part of the plan of God but they are trials in life are part of God’s plan. In a believer’s life in trials, we see the work of God. We see His grace in providing strength for us in trials. We see His love in being with us in trials. We see His mercy in not giving us trials that we cannot overcome. But ultimately, in this great plan of God in including trials in our lives, we see why Christ is better, for Christ has endured trials. And because of Christ trials, have its purpose in our lives.. and that is to sanctify us. And that difficult times just like Israel, may we also not fear. May we have confidence that God is with His people. May we have confidence because we know that God has been faithful to His word. That should give us strength, knowing that such trials the 400 years that will come, it is the plan of God. It is the plan of God. Just look at His faithfulness. If you are again an Israelite in that time, and you reading this for the first time after your Exodus, I mean you should realise how faithful God was for your people for 400 years. This is what God said before and He did it. Oh, He told Abraham, our forefather, that this would happen. And now, we’re just out of Egypt, and we’re reading this, wow! God is indeed faithful. He was indeed with us during the 400 years.
You know, sometimes too when we talk to people, yung trust natin depends on the track record of the person kung how trustworthy that person is. If the person is known to be not trustworthy, I mean, obviously, we don’t usually trust people that like that, right. But we, if we’re just looking at the record of God, right. If we’re looking at his track record from Genesis and to the subsequent revelation, I mean we must trust His faithfulness. We must rely and that is our challenge.. last challenge for today. To rely on the faithfulness of God. God has been faithful in a global scale. When sin entered the world, God was faithful to His word, by providing Christ who will reverse everything. That’s what He said in Genesis chapter 3:15, and He did it, right. But He’s also faithful not just in such scale, but also in every aspect of our individual lives. In Romans 8: 29-30, if He chose you, this will happen to you. And this, and this, at the end will happen to you. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
God is faithful. If He has chosen you, He will justify you. And if you’re a Christian, you have been justified. And it says here that He will also sanctify you. It says, He predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son.. that’s sanctification. Sanctifying means you will be going through a lot of trials in life. And you know what? After that, God will bring.. God will glorify you with Him.
You will reach glorification, it says.
I’m reminded of Philippians chapter 1:6. he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. So we see God’s faithfulness from the time when you were born up to the time of your conversion and then now during your sanctification. I mean God has been providing, God has been faithful to you. And if you read read Romans 8: 29-30, you know what will happen: you will be glorified with Christ. And if God is faithful, then you know it will happen. In fact, Paul uses past tense when he said glorified. Those whom He justified (past), He also glorified. We’re not glorified yet, but there is surety in what God will do because God is a faithful God. Ultimately, we see God’s faithfulness in Jesus Christ. All the promises of Christ find their fulfillment, find their yes in Him.
I’ve shared this before. I’m reminded of Thomas Chisholm. Thomas Chisholm was a writer, composer. We usually, you know; usually when we preach, we share people or theologians who had encountered tragedies in life. Someone who’s dying, right. Someone who’s who’s sick, usually yun yung mga examples sa sermons. But Thomas Chisholm did not have any of those tragedies. Unlike the many examples that we share to you. Sometimes, one would undergo such big tragedies in life to say oh God is faithful, right. But for Thomas Chisholm, there were no such stories. But see, he delighted on the mundane things on the daily things, on the daily mercies of God. That God has continued to provide for his daily needs. But most importantly, that God has provided him Christ. And we hear a part of his song where he said: “all I have needed thy hand hath provided Great Is Thy Faithfulness Lord unto me.” Can we say that or can we sing that knowing that… I mean, even though there’s no tragedy that would lead you to think that God is faithful to you. I mean he didn’t, he did not have those situations in life and yet he’s assured that God has been faithful in his life, that he lived relying on the faithfulness of God.
So has God been faithful in your life as well? Has God been faithful firstly in providing for you? I mean I think all of us are guilty in.. by sinning, by always complaining about our resources, our material things. But let’s evaluate. Has God been faithful in providing for you for many years, for 20 plus years, 30 plus years, 40, 50, stop na tayo dun. 68. Has God been faithful for giving you a family? Has He been faithful for putting you in a church? Has He been faithful for forgiving your sins through Christ? Has He been faithful for strengthening you, for comforting you when you need strength? And if He is faithful, why do you worry about your daily life? Why do we worry about what will happen to us in Egypt if God is faithful to us by giving us Christ. In Christ, we know that God is with us. In Christ we know that God will be with us here, so there’s nothing to fear. So brethren, go and live for Christ is with us. Be assured because we have Christ. Be assured as well because God has been faithful and will always be faithful. And because His faithfulness is great, again, nothing to fear as we go through life because we have our Lord Jesus Christ will bring everything to completion. That is how faithful God is. May the word of God enrich our knowledge of Him and may it stir us to live in light of these truths.
Let us pray. Our great God and gracious Father, we are grateful for Your faithfulness, for giving us our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Lord, You know how our sins would condemn us. How we are worthy to receive eternal damnation, Lord. But because You are faithful and You have promised this before that You will send the Offspring of the woman to defeat sin and to defeat Satan and death, Lord you are faithful to give us Christ who indeed defeated sin death and Satan. So Lord, may we always cling to such truth. And whenever we struggle with sin and we will, Lord, may we remember to rely on Your faithfulness knowing oh Lord that since You have sent us Christ and You have been faithful, Lord we know that You will be with us in our sanctification. And You will bring our salvation to completion when He returns. So Lord, may we rely on Your faithfulness. And allow us Lord to see also, to always find assurance in Christ, to strengthen us as we live here, as we still live here as pilgrims here on Earth. And so Lord, may You allow us as we are ministered today by the gospel this whole day. Allow us Lord later as we fellowship with one another or with our family members. Lord, allow us to also minister to them with the same comfort that we have received today. So Lord, we praise You. We thank You for Your goodness to us. We bring back all the glory to You for You deserve it all in the Name of Christ, amen.