Welcome to the InTouch podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, March 17th. The Bible tells us that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Today's podcast identifies 10 of the many reasons that the God of Scripture is a God you can count on. Who in your life Can you allow them? But you trust him.
Don't have to worry about it. If they say they're going to do it, they're going to do it. More than likely, not many people.
So let's clarify a few terms here when we talk about the idea of. who you can count on. We're talking about the faithfulness of God. Listen, faithful means reliable. unchanging, unswerving.
unfaltering, unfailing. He's always the same. That is, he's reliable and trustworthy. You can put your trust in Him. You can rely on Him.
You can count on Him. He's a God you can count on. And when you think about the idea of a God you can count on, what are we simply saying? That is that he will always do what he has said and he will always fulfill his promises. You never have to worry about God.
saying one thing and then saying and doing something else. It means that he will do exactly what he says, and he'll do it exactly when he says, Do it.
Now, when I think about all that, and I think about how does that apply to my life, and the truth is, if what you and I talk about, is not applic applicable to our life, it's sort of meaningless.
So here's what I want to ask. And I want you to be sure to write these things down. Let's think about this for a moment. On the basis that we say we have a God, the only true God, Jehovah God Elohim, infinite in power, absolute in faithfulness, Jesus Christ being His Son. on the basis of who he says he is.
What assurances do you and I have every single day of our life? No matter what the circumstance, no matter how long, how deep you're in, how long, what you've been in in life, where you've been, what's going on, what are the absolute, unwavering, unquestionable, doubtless assurances I have and you have as a believer. every single day that you and I get up.
So listen to this. Number one, Every single morning when you wake up, here's what you have. You have the loving kindness and the compassion of God to clothe you. And I want you to turn, if you're not too familiar, maybe, turn Isaiah, Jeremiah, and then to Lamentations. Guess what he says?
You can count on him for this. When you wake up every morning, guess what you can count on? Verse Chapter 3 of Lamentations, verse 22. The Lord's loving kindnesses. indeed never cease.
You know why? Because he doesn't change. And watch this. For His compassions never fail. You know why?
It doesn't change. They are new every morning. They never run out. And what's that next phrase? Great is your faithfulness.
That's the anchor that you and I can get up with every morning. His loving kindness, his steadfast, unchangeable, unconditional love is ours for the receiving and the living in all day long, no matter what. You see, sometimes we carry our burdens from yesterday to today. He doesn't. When you confessed your sin before you went to sleep last night and you asked him to forgive you and to cleanse you, and you said to him, draw me to yourself.
Show me the truth. Give me a clean heart, clear mind, balanced schedule, healthy body, right relationships. Lord, give me the courage to take whatever risks are necessary. You know, every single morning you wake up, what? Fresh.
You say, I don't feel very fresh. I didn't say anything about feelings. I'm talking about. Who God is in your life. And here's what He says: It's new every single morning.
You wake up to the newness. Of His presence in your life, loving kindness, compassion, tender mercy, unconditional love. Secondly, That is that whatever he requires of you in any given day, he says he will be there to help you. Turn back, if you will, to 1 Thessalonians in the 5th chapter and the 24th verse, and listen to what he says. He says, faithful is he who calls you, and he will also bring it to pass.
You know what? Here is what you can count on. that on Monday morning And all the other six days of the week, and all the other six afternoons and the nights. Whatever He calls upon you to do, He says He will enable you to do it.
So it doesn't make difference if you're going to an occupation, a job that's tough. And you're having to learn, it's a little difficult for you. You can get up every morning and say, Lord, I want to thank you that I can count on you. Father, I can count on you to enable me today to do not just well, but to do my best today. That is the assurance that you and I have because we can count on him.
A third way we can count on him is this. For example, I can count on him, you can count on him to limit the pressures and the temptations of the day. All of us face difficulties. All of us face pressures during the day. And one of the reasons that He lets us go through situations and circumstances is to prove how great He is.
And listen, if everything just went your way and it was nice and sweet and oozy and so forth, you'd never know how great God is. Nor would you ever discover in your life what you can achieve and what you can do, what you can survive in life. Listen, when God's working in your behalf.
So look at the tenth verse, 13th verse, this 10th chapter of 1 Corinthians. No temptation or trial has overtaken you, but such as come unto man. We all face them. Listen, and God is what? Faithful, trustworthy.
You can count on him. who will not allow you because he's omnipotent and omniscient knows what you're going through. He will not allow you to be tempted or tried beyond what you're able, but with the temptation or trial, make a way of escape so that you'll be able to endure it.
So here's what we know. No matter what you face, who does what to you, what they say, how they slander you, how they gossip about you, or what the trial or the temptation may be, here's what you know for absolute certain. You can rely upon God. Whose omnipotent hand will control the degree of pressure you feel. Did you get that?
He did say amen. He will control the degree of pressure. And temptation you face every single day because He's a loving God and for His children.
Now, if you've never trusted Jesus as your Savior and you're living your life on your own, you don't have that promise. You have no promise. Of his control of Satan's pressure and temptations in your life. You don't have it. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in you who will enable you.
It's the work of the Holy Spirit in you. That's how God operates in the life of the believer. He enables and strengthens and teaches us and guides us and strengthens us. And he says, You know, they that wait upon the Lord shall mount up with wings like eagles. Listen, run and not be weary, walk and not faint, and face the troubles and trials and pressures of life.
And you know what? We'll be able to survive them. Why? Because we are rooted and bound by the anchor. Our reliable, trustworthy God, Jehovah Elohim, Jesus.
Every single day we have that promise. And then I want you to notice something else he says here. And that is, somebody says, well, Now, I know about this forgiveness of sin, but You see, one of the things that you and I know about God is that He forgives sin. Because he saved us. But isn't it interesting that sometimes a person will come to some situation and he'll say, Well, you know, now he's forgiven me in the past.
But Listen, most of the time when you're talking about God and you put a butt in it, it's the wrong thing to do. Do you know the reason God can forgive you of your sins? Do you know the reason that he can be holy and righteous and say, That if you sin against him, he shall surely die. Here's the reason he can say that and still be just because. When Adam and Eve sinned against God, God had already planned it.
You remember what He did? He covered them with skins, which means he killed something and shed blood. Every sacrifice from that moment to the very sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, whom John identified as the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world, all those sacrifices were a foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice, after which there'd be no need for any other sacrifice because God Himself laid down His life and the life of His Son at Calvary. And listen, the reason He can say to you and me as sinners, You're forgiven and let us still live, is because His Son Jesus Christ paid our sin debt in full forever. Therefore, that makes God a just God who says one thing, listen, and doesn't just do something else, but listen, but paid the debt of our sin Himself.
That's the reason he says, if you confess your sin, Agree with him about it. He's faithful. You can trust him to forgive your sins and to cleanse, listen, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness because he's already paid the debt. In the death of his Son, that's what makes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ the central focus of the entire Bible. From the very beginning of it to the end, it is the death of Jesus.
It's that blood-red cord that runs from the beginning of the Bible to the end, which says that everything is wrapped up in the crucifixion, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, I want you to turn to Psalm 119 for a moment. That's the big psalm. 119, and I want you to turn to a verse. I'm going to give it to you in just a moment, but I want you to get the psalm first.
So look if you will. Let me ask you this question. How many of you want God to be absolutely reliable, unfailing in every circumstance of life, no matter what? You want Him to be a God you can count on every single day and with every single promise, amen. Are you sure about that?
Say amen.
Now let's read this 75th verse. 75th verse, listen to this. I know, O Lord, that your judgments are righteous. and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. Wait a minute, I didn't count on that one.
Oh yes. You know what he's saying? By affliction, he's saying, as a believer, and David certainly was, that God disciplined him for his sin.
Sometimes we can just confess it to Him, and He listen, He always forgives us.
Somebody says, Well, Are there any consequences even after I confess it to him? There are. You know what it depends upon? It depends upon the nature of the sin. And so sometimes there are real, genuine, very difficult, painful consequences to our sin.
But what does he say? He says he's faithful. He's faithful to do what? Discipline us.
Now why is that? Because he loves us too much. Listen, he loves us too much to allow us to get away with something that ultimately will destroy us. Every single morning. We get up and what does he say?
His loving kindness, his tender mercy, all that we need to enable us. He puts limits on the things that cause us difficulty and hardship, strengthens us, forgives us, disciplines us, and I want you to remember one last one. In 1 Corinthians, look if you will for a moment in the first chapter, what he says. And that's this, that every single morning when you and I wake up, Every single believer wakes up, listen, sealed. By the Holy Spirit as a child of God forever and ever and ever.
Now, Listen to what he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. He says it in a different way. Verse 7. Yeah listen. You are not lacking in any gift.
Waiting eagerly the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will also listen, confirm you to the end, blameless. In the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, confirm you to the end. Confirmed your sword, one of his children, listen. God is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son. Jesus Christ our Lord, called Seal confirmed.
to the end.
Now let me ask you a question. What is it? that I've missed. When you wake up every morning, what is it? that you need that we've not covered.
The truth is, if you'll read those verses, it's all covered. That is, every single solitary need you and I have, he says he will be there. Faithful, because he's omniscient knows it. Omnipotent, he has the power to do it. I'm the present, you're in his presence.
Truthfulness, listen, because he only tells the truth. And when you wake up, and people oftentimes wake up, and if it's cloudy and dreary, and they think, oh, you need to think about who you are. You're a child of the living God. who is absolutely eternal and who, listen, by his very nature cannot fail you.
Now here's another question. What can I be assured of? in the distant future. If you're a child of God, you can be assured that you're going to live after you die. We can count on this: when our heart stops beating for whatever the reason, that's not the end.
You know what that is? We're just getting ready to get catapulted. into the place that we talked about. To be with the God we've been believing in all these years, and don't you know that's going to be an exciting moment when everything you and I have believed becomes an awesome, eternal, living reality.
So that's what we can count on, God, in the future. A second thing we can count on, I want you to turn back to John chapter 6 for a moment. One thing we can count on is this. We can count on him raising us from the dead, just like he said he did for Lazarus.
Now, Lazarus ultimately died. But listen to the promise that you and I have, beginning in verse 39. What I want you to notice here. Is how many times Jesus makes the same statement in the same conversation. Verse 39.
He says, this is the will of him who sent me. That of all that he's given me I lose nothing. but raise it up on the last day. You and I have the distant promise. of the resurrection.
Now watch this, 40th verse, next verse. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day. Why did he say it twice? Then look in verse 44, same conversation. No one can come to me unless the Father.
Who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day three times. Look in verse 54. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. Talking about receiving him totally as Savior, I'll raise him up on the last day. If there's one thing I'm going to be able to count on, And that's this.
that when you and I come to the end of the way, When you're not breathing that last breath, absent from the body, present with the Lord. Not only that, we're going to leave these bodies down. And when I think about how much money people spend on putting away our bodies in these awesome, beautiful, expensive caskets and vaults and all these things, like we're going to be there for eternity, he says, I'm going to raise you up. First of all, you're not there. That's just the body.
The wonderful thing about God is, He's going to resurrect our physical bodies. He says it's going to be changed in the twinkling of an eye when He returns. We're going to be caught up together with the clouds with them in the air who have gone on before us.
So, one of the promises we have is this. No matter what condition these bodies are in, and no matter what they may look like, one thing for certain. There's going to be a moment in time when he says he's going to resurrect us and he says we're going to be in the likeness of the Son of God. Doesn't mean we're going to look like him, but here's what it does mean: we're going to look the best God can make us look. Listen for all eternity.
Is that encouraging to you? We're going to look the best we can look for all eternity.
So, what are we assured of in the distant future? We're going to have life eternal? He says we're going to be resurrected. And thirdly, he says, Listen, we're going to have a home in heaven. John 14, you remember that passage, you probably know it by heart.
Remember what he said the night before he was crucified? Here's what he said to his disciples. He says, in my father's house, There are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I told you, I'd tell you the truth. I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you, I'm coming again to receive you unto myself.
That where I am, there you may be also. What are we assured of? We can rest assured that we can count on God not only to have promised us a place in heaven, but also. We can count on the fact. That we have a place prepared for us.
Then I want you to think about something else, and that is. That one of these days Jesus is going to return. Matthew 25, 31. But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he'll sit on the glorious throne, and all the nations will be gathered before him. And he'll separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And he'll put his sheep on his right hand, goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. We know he's coming back. What do I know also? Not only is he coming back, but I know that as he says here, He says he's going to separate.
uh the uh evil from the righteous and uh He says in this um 41st verse of this 25th chapter. Then he will say also to those on his left, Depart from me, accursed ones, into eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. He says in verse 46, These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Here's what I know. The God of this Bible.
You can count on him. How do I know that? Because of his very nature. How do I know that? Past promises.
How do I know that? Because of every single promise that is yet to be fulfilled. A God, the God of the Scripture, the only true God. There are thousands of years of proof that he never failed a single promise. or upon what basis Would you have to believe?
that now after all these years All the promises. and all of his, listen, absolute unfailing faithfulness. Upon what basis do you have to doubt? a single promise of God. Not One.
Uh Thank you for listening to part two of A God You Can Count On. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our 24-7 online station. And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
