To put your faith in someone means you trust that they will do as they say. Faith means “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” It is interesting that another definition of faith states, “strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion.” Sadly, for most in the church it is the latter as we talked about the other day. Faith in people and objects always fall short. I have faith in my van to get me from point A to point B but every once in a while, the van says not today, and a tow truck is needed. Or you depend on a person and there are times when that person just can’t be there for you. Many times, someone may say, I will always be there for you, but they can’t always keep that promise as finances may change, they may get sick or even die. Trusting in God is not the same as trusting in an object or a person. When we yield to the word of God and trust Him with everything we have, God will never let us down. Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.  8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” Psalm 62:5 “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. 6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. 8 Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. 10 But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him. 11 Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.” Deuteronomy 32:4 “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” Many sing the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness, but can His people also say they are faithful to God. God’s faithfulness is never the problem.

    This week we are looking at a few of the many passages where God says, “I will” and “I tell you the truth.” Every word of God is trustworthy and true. Psalm 33:4 “For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does,” but there are times where something is emphasized by these statements. When we are faithful, we believe God will do as He said He would do. Romans 4:1 “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” Abraham was fully persuaded that God would do as He said He would do. 

    Since the church is nowhere near what the church is supposed to be, much of the power we read about in scripture is not happening. The church adapted to the lack of power and created a church that could operate with minimal or no power at all and call it normal though it is no longer the true church. They were as Paul said to the Galatians. Galatians 1:1 “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” The church decided not to walk by faith like Abraham and decided to foolishly finish by means of the flesh. Paul started Galatians by talking about being persuaded by other gospels. Miracles were just part of the church at that point and did not need to be mentioned specifically. I read one person’s views who basically downplayed the miracle part of the verse because it doesn‘t line up with their doctrines. This person said it was probably referring to the miracles of Jesus. Paul starts his letter “To the churches in Galatia.” The churches were established later and the same power that Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons was also in Paul. Acts 19:11 “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.” Later in Galatians Paul was actually sick. Galatians 4:13 “As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, 14 and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn.” They foolishly say because Paul was sick, this power was no longer available to the church from that point on. They think that Paul could no longer do miracles if he himself was sick. Luke 4:23 “Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” Matthew 27:42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.” That is what they are saying about Paul. Yes, the power of God diminished because of rebellion but not because God decided the church no longer needed the power and authority Jesus started the church with. Nowhere does the bible say that power and authority were temporary. That is why indoctrination is so deadly and why doctrines like cessationism are doctrines of demons. They teach that the power was only used to start the church, which is about the dumbest thing ever, but that is how satan works especially when God’s people stop believing God’s word. 

    King Saul lost the kingdom because he refused to obey. Solomon lost the kingdom his father David had because he refused to obey. Moses did not get to enter the Promised Land because he failed to obey God in his anger. This time God had told him to speak to the rock and water would be provided. The last time God said strike the rock. Psalm 106:32 “By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord, and trouble came to Moses because of them; 33 for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses’ lips.” It is no wonder as the people were constantly grumbling and wanting to stone him, but even though the people were rebellious, he should not have disobeyed God’s command. Numbers 20:12 “But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” The promised land would end up being taken from Israel and Judah because they refused to obey God’s word. 

    All this because they did not believe God meant what He said. 2 Kings 17:13 “The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.” 14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. Even one of the Babylonians said to Jeremiah this happened because the people did not obey. Jeremiah 40:2 “When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The Lord your God decreed this disaster for this place. 3 And now the Lord has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey him.” Nowhere in the bible does it say that God’s people can go their own way, follow their own words and worship what their hands have made and not feel God’s wrath. Yet the church seems to think that rebellion is somehow fine with God now. They falsely think God is love no matter what, therefore free to live as they please. The church has done exactly as Israel and Judah and refuses to believe God’s word. Not only that, they refuse to believe the church looks nothing like Jesus other than they mention His name. Because of the rebellion, God has allowed our enemies to decimate the church and there is only a remnant of people left. In a couple of days we will look at God’s promise to David that there would always be a remnant.

    Again, this rebellion is because the church refuses to believe God at His word. Jesus said John 17:17 “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” When Ezekiel spoke, he said, this is what the Sovereign Lord says over a hundred times and other prophets said the same. Other translations say thus says the Lord. A true prophet only speaks the word of the Lord. There are many prophets who did not speak the word of the Lord and many today who do not speak the word of the Lord, even though they say, hear the word of the Lord. Jeremiah 23:16 “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 18 But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?” Jeremiah often told the people to hear what the Lord says. Jeremiah 19:3 “‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. 4 For they have forsaken me and made this a place of foreign gods; they have burned incense in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. 5 They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind. 6 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 “‘In this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds and the wild animals. 8 I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff because of all its wounds. 9 I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’” 

    Yes, that last verse is hard to read but that is the reality of what happened, and it can’t be sugar-coated. When a city was under siege there would be severe famine. When Babylon attacked Jerusalem 2 Kings 25:3 “By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.” You can read more about what happens to a city under siege in 2 Kings 6,7. This is what happens when God turns His face from His people. Ezekiel 39:23 “And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.” The church was also warned there would be famine. Amos 8:1 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.” This famine is so severe in the church that millions are dying without knowing the truth of the true gospel. The deception and delusion are so severe that people are dying thinking they have been saved. Jesus said, Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” So, when you read about what happened when a city is under siege, think about what happens when God turns His face away from His people and allows evil to reign. Daniel 9:27 “And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4 “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” We are that temple.

    When Jeremiah spoke, he said, hear the word of the Lord, this is what the Lord says. These words that he spoke were not his own, as he spoke for God since he was told Jeremiah 1:9 “I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” The people did not like it, so much so that they wanted to kill Jeremiah, but he spoke the truth. Jeremiah 26:15 “Be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it, for in truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.” When the people going to Egypt disobeyed the word from the Lord as spoken through Jeremiah and said he was lying, they went to Egypt even though they were told not to. Jeremiah said Jeremiah 44:27 “For I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed. 28 Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand—mine or theirs. Those words were directly from God, yet the people refused and treated the words as if they were only from a man.  After Jeremiah said, hear the word of the Lord, he began to say what God was going to do with words like “I am going to bring a disaster,” “I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem,” “I will make them fall by the sword,” “I will devastate this city,” “I will smash this nation.” When God says He will, He will! That is why repentance is so important.

    Somewhere along the line and quite quickly after the Apostle Paul, the church began to believe God won’t or wouldn’t instead of will and would. Yesterday we talked about the reality of hell. God said he would and now the church mostly believes he wouldn’t. The church has downgraded the authority of the bible and upgraded the words of man. When that happened, the power available to the church was diminished and the power of the enemy was upgraded and because the church has rebelled against God, the church has been decimated and is desolate. The bible is filled with words “I will.” Here is just one example. God said to Abraham Genesis 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.” God said I will give you this land and He did, but when the time came, the Israelites believed He wouldn’t and ended up rebelling against God and many died in the desert. Instead of believing God would, they said, Numbers 13:1 “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” Numbers 14:1 “That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” Even though God had said I will give you this land, they refused to believe. Exodus 6:6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”

    The bible is not just a book written by man but is the living word of God. There are only two choices to make: listen to God or listen to satan. Moses said Deuteronomy 30:15 “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” The people still chose not to believe even though God declared that they would certainly be destroyed and in the end, they were defeated. 2 Chronicles 36:19 “They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. 20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power.” 

    Right from the beginning man has rebelled against God’s word. Adam and Eve listened to satan and chose death by rejecting God’s word, even though God gave them everything. Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” The one thing they could not have was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16 “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” God said you will certainly die. This shows us why we must test the spirits because satan also uses the word will. Genesis 3:1 “He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” So they knew that God said you will die but satan said, 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.” They chose satan’s word over God’s word and death and sin entered the world. God said will and satan said won’t and they chose satan’s word. In Luke we see satan also say I will. Luke 4:5 “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Many in the church have fallen for this temptation thinking God is the one blessing them. satan even quoted scripture and said, “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” satan said he will, they will and you will not. Notice satan also said if you are the son of God? Questioning whether Jesus is the Son of God comes directly from satan. John 10:24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe.” John 8:44 “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” To this day the Jews refuse to believe Jesus is their Messiah and have listened to satan’s word over God’s word and have felt the wrath of God ever since. Many Gentiles have done the same which is why the church is desolate. 

    If we choose to listen to God, there is hope of restoration. That is what Easter is about but not just one day a year, but any time God’s people turn from their wicked ways and return to the Lord. Ezekiel called on the people to repent. Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” Mark 1:14 “Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” This is a summary of God’s people rejecting His word and God’s concern for His holy name. Ezekiel 36:16 “Again the word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman’s monthly uncleanness in my sight. 18 So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. 20 And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’ 21 I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone. 22 “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. 24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel! 33 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. 35 They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’ 37 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, 38 as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

    When God says I will do it, blessing or wrath, He means that He will just as scripture makes very clear to us.