Robert Houk Hitchcock

Numbers 23:19
   God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

God is always faithful.  God is not like men: whatever He says is, is.  Whatever He says He will do, He will do.  God absolutely makes good on everything that He has said.  That is what I'd like to share with you in this teaching- God's faithfulness and His integrity to His Word.

Deuteronomy 7:6-9
   For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
   The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
   But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
   Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

God declares Himself to be "the Faithful God" to Israel!   He didn't choose them because they were so numerous, He chose them because of the promises, the covenants, that He had made with their fathers (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob).  God is so faithful to His promises that He said He would keep it to a 1,000 generations.

Now, I am not a math major, but I think that biblical history puts Adam at about 4000 BC, or about 6000 years ago.  If we, for convenience sake, put a generation every 25 years, that's only 240 generations since Adam, not to mention only 80 since Pentecost!  We've got a long, long way to go to 1,000 generations.  God was Faithful to Adam, even though Adam wasn't faithful to God.  God was faithful to Noah- He saved him from the flood.  God was faithful to Abraham- Isaac was born.  God was faithful to Moses- the children of Israel escaped Egypt.  God was faithful to Joshua- some walls came falling down.  The list goes on and on, but it's no where near the 1,000 generation mark.  God's record is 100% faithfulness to every generation.  Every generation has had its opportunity to believe God.  I hope this is the last generation before the Gathering Together, but if not, God will be faithful to the next generation, too.

1 Chronicles 17:23
   Therefore now, LORD, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said.

What God had spoken is "established," which is the same Hebrew word as the word "faithful."  The thing that God has promised is established, it is faithful, and He will do as He has said.  That's integrity. Absolute, 100% integrity.  What God has says is, is.  What God has says He will do, He will do.

Psalm 19:7
   The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

There are many, many examples of this truth in God's Word.  I'd like to give you just a few of them so we can see God's commitment to His Word.  The word "sure" here is same word "faithful."  The testimony of the LORD is faithful.

Psalm 119:89-90
   For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
   Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.

The Word liveth and abideth FOREVER- ( I guess that's even longer than the 1,000 generation promise!) God faithfulness is unto ALL generations.  Just like He established the earth, and it abideth, so also His Word.

Psalm 119:138
   Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.

God's Word is righteous: it is always good and right.  His righteous Word is also very faithful.  Let's have a look at some other scriptures in the gospels and the Church epistles.

John 10:35
   If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

Throughout history, God has given His Word to men, and they could believe it, or they could not believe it.  Belief or unbelief hasn't changed that which was spoken.  "The scripture cannot be broken."  It cannot be broken, or changed, or mutated, or scratched, or dented, or wrecked....or anything.  Simply, God's Word abides, and men come and go.  If men believe God's Word, they are blessed; and if not, they do not break the Word.  How silly to imagine that some man speaking as an authority in a magazine or newspaper or TV program is arrogant enough to think that his words will cancel God's Word and do away with the Word of God.  I think you may remember a record in the Old Testament of a King with a penknife cutting up the scrolls.  Not only did he not get rid of God's Word, but even more revelation was given in addition to that which was already written that he cut up!  God's Word to all the generations before us, and to all the generations after us, will be faithful, and it just cannot be broken.

John 17:17
   Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

This should be the headlines of every newspaper and TV show: Thy Word is Truth.  God's Word is true and unchanging.  Truth needs no improvement.  The laws of nature and physics and science don't change.  God's Word will last longer than the present earth!

Speaking of nature, have you ever heard the expression, "Once in a blue moon?" You probably have,  and learned that it meant "once in a long, long while."  What exactly is a "blue moon" you might ask?  When there are two full moons in the same calendar month, the second full moon is called a "blue" moon.  Since the lunar month is about 29.2 days, the first full moon has to be right at the very beginning of the month in order for the second full moon to occur in the same calendar month. This year in 1999, there is a blue moon in January, no full moon in February, and another blue moon in March!  Incredible, and I guess the "once in a blue moon" meaning doesn't apply this year.

God's Word is not "once in a blue moon" either.  It is truth and He is Faithful.

1 Corinthians 1:9
   God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

God is faithful and He called us to fellowship with Him and His son.  Although a Christian may not always be faithful in his fellowship with God, God is always present to fellowship with his children.  He does not withdraw His fellowship from us when we sin; we remove ourselves from fellowship with Him.

1 Corinthians 10:13
   There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

There are, and will be, many temptations in this life.  God does not send them, but Satan makes sure that they abound.  Look at this promise: that God is Faithful and will not suffer [allow] us to be tempted above what we are able to handle.  God's makes a way out.  Sure, life can be pretty rough, things can get pretty bad.  Situations can be awful.  Circumstances may become dire.  BUT-  God makes a way when there is no way.  I can remember a wonderful contemporary Christian song that inspired me many times called "God makes a way when there is no way."  Even at this very moment, God has a way to overcome the negative situation that you may be involved in.  We are more than conquerors through him who loved us and He is faithful.

2 Corinthians 1:18-20
  But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.
  For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
   For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

God is true [faithful] and all the promises of God in Christ Jesus are sure.  There is no variableness with God. There is no wavering of His promises.  What was available yesterday is available today.  Believe God's Word today, walk out on His promises with absolute confidence.

1 John 1:9
   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

God knows that every son or daughter of His will not always be faithful to walk and to believe His Word, but He is faithful to forgive.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from that sin.  What a great big wonderful God!

1 Thessalonians 5:23,24
   And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
   Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

The context of God's Faithfulness here is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  No only is God faithful now, but He will be faithful also concerning His promise of the return of His son.  No matter what men may say or not say, the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back.  There will be a Gathering Together.  There will be an end to this life and it will be a victorious end!  God is faithful all the way to the end.

Philippians 1:6
   Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

God began His good work in us when we received the new birth by confessing Romans 10:9,10 and He will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ, which is our Gathering Together unto him.  God is at work within us both to will and to do of His good pleasure, and He will be faithful to do that as we believe.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
   For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
   For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
   Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
   Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

How comforting it is to know that Jesus Christ, the son of God, is returning for the Body of Christ.  How comforting it is to know that God is faithful to His Word and we will all be changed at the day.  How comforting it is to know that God will perform His good work in us until the day of Jesus Christ.  How comforting it is to know that God is faithful to forgive us our sin.  How comforting it is to know that God can make a way when there is no way.  How comforting it is to know that God is faithful.