Sermon Tone Analysis

We have gathered this morning to celebrate God’s perfect faithfulness to His Church specifically this church Cornerstone.

Cornerstone began with four families five years ago in a living room in a house in Waretown.

The purpose of coming together was to learn about God and how we can know Him more deeply.

The thing is the church was not an idea that germinated in my mind and heart.

The church is God’s plan and the church is God’s.

God has made a promise and God has kept it and He will keep it.

We are here this morning to celebrate the fact that God not only made this promise but He has kept it, and He is keeping it and He will keep.

This service is not a service focused on man and what we do, it is not focused on the future of Cornerstone and how Cornerstone is to impact this and that.

No this service is about Glorifying the One who never changes and because He never changes no matter what happens in this world and no matter what happens to people God never changes.

We live in a world that is constantly changing, it is always in flux.

Just for example the weather is always changing from day to day and year to year.

You may be able to predict trends but you can’t really know what will happen.

People are always changing as well.

People no longer look at morality as a standard but in turn they base everything on their own opinion and their opinion becomes the standard of how to live.

The problem with basing your standards on opinions is that opinions are always changing.

With so little consistency in the world it makes it difficult to know what truth is and who we can trust.

This morning I want us to take a look at the only One who is constant and the only One that is faithful and as we look at the Scripture this morning I would like us to see how God’s faithfulness has spread through all of created history.

We will see how God’s faithfulness to the church stems from His own character and has been consistent for all eternity.

Let’s take a look at God’s faithfulness

Great Is God’s Faithfulness

God’s Faithfulness to His church doesn’t start where you would think.

If you look at the Bible it is divided into two parts.

What has been called the Old Testament, which I call the Hebrew Scriptures.

These books consist of the history of the nation of Israel.

Then there is the second part of the Bible called the New Testament.

This is where we find the gospels, the accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry and His death, burial and resurrection.

We also find the letters that have been written to the first century churches.

Those letters contain different teaching on church governance and how Christians should live in respect to what God has done through out all of Salvation History.

I’m sure you would think since we are focusing this morning on God’s faithfulness and in particular His faithfulness to His church, that we would be focusing on a passage in the New Testament.

But for us to have a fuller understanding of God’s faithfulness we need to look at His character through out time and this extends far beyond the New Testament.

In order for us to take a look at God’s faithfulness we need to look at His unchanging nature and character.

We need to see Him as trustworthy.

One of my favorite passages that teach this is in Genesis 15, Genesis 15.

In the very first verse of this chapter we see something that we need to explore.

There is something here that can’t be overlooked.

God has made a promise to Abram when God called Abram to leave his home country of Ur.

God told Abram in Genesis 12:1-3 that He would make Him a great nation and all the families of the earth would be blessed through Abram.

Look with me at Genesis 12:1-3

God calls Abram and tells Abram to go, Abram is told to leave his place of birth and to go where God leads him and God will bless him with a great name and a great nation and possession of a great land.

Everything Abram is to have is to be given to him by God all God asks of Abram is to ‘Go.’

As long as Abram listens and does just what God asks Abram will be blessed and so will every family of the earth.

So Abram trusted in God’s word and followed the word of God and he left and went on his way.

God’s Faithful Plan

God brought Abram to the land his descendants would inherit and this is where we are in Genesis 15.

In the beginning of the chapter we need to know that Abram is a very old man and he has no children.

So here in lies the problem Abram is to be a great nation but he is old and has no heir of his own.

So as we open this passage here we find a conversation between Abram and God.

God once again calls on Abram and it for the purpose here of assuring Abram he will be greatly blessed we see this in verse 1. “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.”

So you see God has come to Abram and again just like in chapter 12, God initiates the conversation.

He calls out to Abram in a vision and He calms him down so he can assure Abram he will be rewarded.

Abram has no children and he is old and so is his wife so Abram thinking he is in a hopeless situation decides to provide a compromise to God’s plan.

Here is the natural human condition raring its ugly little head.

Instead of just saying to God, “yes, Lord, thank you for calling me as your servant and being my protector and provider and I wait to see what you will do.”

No instead Abram makes a deal with God and we find this in verse 2. “Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus.’

And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.”

This is cool, this is interesting did you catch what Abram said to God, ‘you have given no offspring to me.’ Oh you can say look Abram understands God is in control and he understands God is the one who gives life and takes life.

You could say that but if you look at the context it is this but at the same time a bit of a complaint as well.

Abram is not just acknowledging God’s power, he is at the same time blaming God for not providing him with a child up to this point.

Abram knows God’s power but even though he knows God’s power doesn’t mean he fully trusts yet.

Abram turns and blames God but as Abram does this we find God is merciful and God is gracious and God has a plan.

Here is God demonstrating to Abram His perfect character and Abram instead of trusting right away in God’s plan he is playing let’s make a deal with God.

Abram is thinking I’m old and my wife is old how can we have kids now so he believes this to be a viable option for being rewarded by God in having a future line it is through naming a distant relative who was born in his house as heir of all his possessions.

God has provided His word to Abram and God has told Abram what He would do for him but Abram provides his own solution.

This is not God’s plan, God is the creator of all things and the One who has Authority over life and death.

God is going to bring about a child from Abram and Sarai.

That is what God tells Abram in verse 4, “Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”

God has made a promise to Abram in Genesis 12 and now God’s promise hasn’t changed He is keeping His promise to Abram and then God wants to make two things very clear to Abram.

In order for God to make His point He brings Abram outside and tells him to look at the stars.

Verse 5, “And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.”

And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.””

God is not only using the stars as a means to illustrate for Abram how many descendants will come from Abram.

There will be so many that no one will be able to count them.

Have you ever tried to count the stars.

There are so many and they are so vast and the spread so far out that you will never be able to count them all.

I mean even scientists agree there are so many out there you can never count them all.

So God wants Abram to understand his descendents will be so vast in number they will never be able to be counted.

This is not the only reason why God wants Abram to look at the heavens and count the stars.

God also wants Abram to take a look at the sky as a means for Abram to understand God vast creative power.

You look at the night sky and glance at the beauty of God’s creation how He placed ever star in the sky in just the right spot at just the right distance and for just the right purpose.

Look Abram was long before Darwin Abram lived in a time when evolution didn’t exist and people looked at the night sky and they knew it was painted with the hand of a glorious and powerful God.

God wanted Abram to realize if God can place all of these stars in the sky then God can make this possible for him as well.

With man things are impossible but with God nothing is impossible and God wanted Abram to trust in Him and trust in His plan.

That is exactly what happened verse 6 we have Abram’s faith, “Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”

Abram believed God.

This was not just a passing belief it was an unconditional belief.

It was a trust in God, His power and His plan and that God would bring it to fruition.

This belief was reckoned or counted toward Abram as righteousness.

Abram was not righteous not by a long shot I mean seriously he just played let’s make a deal with God and lost big time.

He blamed God for not have any children so Abram is not a righteous man still God saw Abram as righteous because Abram trusted in God’s promise.

I have said this so many times in the passed five years.

Christian’s love to say how they don’t like the God of the Old Testament, Hebrew Scriptures, because He is such a wrathful God.

I like the God of the New Testament because He is a merciful God a gracious God.

Then you don’t know the God of the Hebrew Scriptures.

This right here is the God of the Universe He is the God of the Hebrew Scriptures and the God of the New Testament also, and as you can see He is being very merciful and very gracious to a man God has called to be a part of God’s own plan for the world.

Also I would like to point out here that when it comes to God’s plan, it is God’s plan.

Notice Abram didn’t do anything to become a part of this plan.

It had nothing to do with what Abram did.

There was no work involved for Abram all he had to do was trust God 100% and unconditionally.

That is it trust in God’s plan.

Once Abram trusted in His plan that is when God credited Abram as righteous.