January 31, 2021

 

THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD
January 31, 2021
Pastor Jonathan Falwell

Who is the most faithful friend that you’ve had for a very long time? What has made your friendship with them so special?

Open: 

Reading the Bible through sometimes means reading with concentration those books you normally gloss over or skip, doesn’t it? This past week, Numbers made dedicated reading a challenge, so today’s sermon will help bring some clarity and lucidity to passages, and probably pay dividends the rest of your life. In Numbers, we are shown many attributes of God as He interacts with Israel. His mercy, love, patience, goodness, provision, and many more qualities unfold as we journey through this beautiful book.

Focal Passage: Numbers 23.

Background

    • Until now, how had the people of Israel been acting after they had been saved from slavery and led toward the Promised Land? What miracles had they seen
    • Read Numbers 11:1. What were some of the things they had been complaining about as they were traveling?

Regardless of what others might say, if God is for you, who can be against you?

    • Read Num. 23:8. Can someone paraphrase the setting that has occurred since the 21st chapter? What do you think of Balaam and his actions in these chapters?
    • Had God not intervened, what do you think Balaam would have done? Have you—or someone you know well—been under attack, yet saved by an act of God? Can you share?

Regardless of our disobedience, God can always be trusted

    • Read Num. 23:19. How have you been able to minister to someone who feels they have strayed too far from God in their sin? What Scriptures did you use?
    • Read Hosea 14:1-2, 4. How does this passage illustrate the hope the backslider has in being reconciled to God?
    • Read Micah 7:18-19. How is it possible for us to have this confidence?

Regardless of the ugliness of our actions, God still sees beauty

    • Read Num. 24:5-6. What is the hardest truth for you to grasp that God still loves you unconditionally when you have sinned? Do you see yourself as “beautiful” in His sight? Why or why not?
    • Read Lamentations 3:22-23. How is the overwhelming beauty of God’s love for you evident in Jeremiah’s words in these verses?

Regardless of our past, God has secured our future

    • Read Num. 24:7-8. What did Balaam prophecy for Israel? What possibilities does God see when He looks at you?
    • Read 1 Peter 1:3-4. What does God give us when He saves us? What part of the promise is for us now, and what is for heaven?
    • Read Colossians 2:13-15. What did Christ do for you when you were saved? Will He take any of it back?

Close:

Were you able to see more clearly some of the attributes of God, as you read through these passages in Numbers? It is difficult for us who live in this world to grasp just how perfect He is, and also how incredibly much He loves us. By concentrating on His character qualities, we begin to understand that He has known us from eternity past, and desires to see us persevere until He calls us home. As we travel through the time we have on earth, we see the past decade bringing changes we never thought possible. It is imperative that we are solid in our beliefs of what God has done for us—and continues to do—as the teachings we hear in the world are filled more and more with apostasy. The Bible has to be our “fact checker” so that we do not believe what we read on social media. In fact, we need to take a stand when a post is false. Above all, let the word of God so permeate your being that it seeps into your dreams at night. You’ll wake with a sense of joy that His word is truly a lamp to your soul!

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