Have you ever said, this is too great. I can’t handle this anymore. I can’t cope with it anymore. It’s greater than I can bear. No, it’s not. No, it’s not. Do you know why God sometimes doesn’t bring any relief? Because he knows that you’re struggling against this. You’re still fighting it. You haven’t admitted that you can’t do it. When you finally say, I’ve had it. God says, amen. Praise God. Now maybe we can do something.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, welcome to our midweek edition of Hope for Today. Yesterday, we began looking at the faithfulness of God, not as a religious phrase and not as a comforting slogan, but as one of the great attributes of God revealed in Scripture. Today, Bible teacher David Hawking continues his message on the faithfulness of God. When men fail, when circumstances shift, and when the ground under your feet feels anything but steady, God remains faithful. He keeps his word. He honors his covenants. He does exactly what he said. Well, stay with us as we go back to the Bible and behold the God who cannot fail. First, a quick request. We’d like to hear from you. There might be a burden you’ve been carrying, a prayer need that you haven’t shared. Or maybe there’s a testimony you’d like to share of how God has used His Word in your life, particularly how you’re growing in faith as you study the Word with us. We’d be encouraged to hear from you. So write us, call us, or use the contact form on our website at davidhawking.org. That’s davidhawking.org. By the way, when you get in touch, would you also remember to pray for hope for today? Pray that the Word of God will continue to go out clearly, faithfully, and without compromise. Contact us online at davidhawking.org or call us at 800-75-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Bible by the numbers is 24253. And we’ll have our mailing addresses for you later in the program. Stay tuned for that. Right now, though, here’s David.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank God for His mercy, and He has been very tolerant of a lot of gross people in this world. But that doesn’t mean He won’t judge us. He will. You can depend on God to keep His Word, and you can depend on God to extend His compassion to you when you don’t deserve it. Number three, turn to Isaiah 49. Isaiah 49, I like this. You can depend on God to restore His people through His chosen servant, the Messiah. Do you believe in restoration? Boy, I sure do. As a matter of fact, I don’t think we could go on another day without it. Look at Isaiah 49, verse 5. It says, Now the Lord says, who formed me from the womb. This is the Messiah talking, the servant of the Lord. Who formed me from the womb to be a servant, to bring Jacob back to him, so that Israel is gathered to him, for I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. Indeed, he says, it’s a too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the world. We’re all the beneficiaries of that today. The Messiah not only has restored Israel, he’s also been a light to the Gentiles. Verse 7, thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to him, namely the Messiah, whom man despises, and they did, and still do, and to him whom the nation abhors, to the servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord who is what? God. faithful, the Holy One of Israel, and He has chosen you. Thus says the Lord in acceptable time, I have heard you. In the day of salvation, I’ve helped you. I’ll preserve you and give you as a covenant to the people to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages. That you may say to the prisoners, go forth. To those who are in darkness, show yourselves. They shall feed along the roads. Their pastor shall be on all desolate heights. I like this. Words that are in the book of Revelation of hope for the believer. They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them. For he who has mercy on them will lead them. Even by the springs of water he will guide them. I will make each of my mountains a road. My highways shall be elevated. Surely these shall come from afar. Look, those from the north and the west and these from the land of Sinai. Sing, O heavens. Be joyful, O earth. Break out in singing, O mountains. For the Lord has comforted his people and will have mercy on his afflicted. Aren’t you glad that God’s a God of restoration? I hear a lot of stuff that makes me wonder if we believe in it. You ever heard somebody say, we can’t use him. I remember 10 years ago what he did. Hey, I just want you to know that God uses even rocks if he needs to. Bible says he can use stones, make them cry out. He can use little babies and infants if he wants to. He used Balaam’s donkey once. And I like that story. If he used him, he can use me. Amen. I tell you, God will use anything, man. Stop being enamored with yourself or anybody who is used. Be enamored with the living God, the faithful God who can restore, who can take all the broken pieces of somebody’s life and put them all back together and say, I’ll use them. You’re not a throwaway. You’re not a meaningless thing. No matter what tragedy has happened to you, no matter what sin has corrupted your life, no matter what problems or struggles you have, our God is a faithful God and he will restore. I like that. I depend upon that and so do you. A key verse, verse 7, because the Lord who is faithful. Turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. You can not only depend upon God to keep His word and to extend His compassion to you when you don’t deserve it, and to restore us through His chosen servant, the Messiah, but you can also depend on God to protect you from the enemy. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, Paul wrote to this new church and said this, Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified. just as it is with you. And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for not all have faith. But the Lord is what? What does it say? Faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. It came to my attention recently, an individual was living in an environment of satanic oppression and demonism. And because of the situation, it was impossible to geographically relocate out of it. This person was a believer and really scared about what impact the enemy could have in their life. And I read him this passage from 2 Thessalonians 3. Our Lord is faithful who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. What a wonderful passage that is. Nothing’s going to happen to you that God doesn’t want to happen. That’s what God’s protection is all about. Take the case of Job. Here’s a man who walked with God in his generation, and boy, did he get blasted. He lost everything he had. He was a wealthy man. He lost his family. He’s got boils and sores all over his body from the top of his head down to his foot. He’s got three friends who come by to try to tell him why it all happened, and he finally concluded, miserable comforters are you all. They didn’t know, and neither did Job know. Why is it happening to you? His own wife said to Job, why don’t you curse God and die? I mean, how can you keep on with this? Look at what’s happening. Job said, you speak as one of the foolish women speak. Do we receive good from the hand of God and not receive evil? Bible says in all of this, Job did not sin. Job didn’t understand. He had a lot of questions just like anybody else. They were deeper with him. He was being affected. But he finally came to the conclusion on the basis of who God is. He said, though he slay me, I will trust him. Is that what the faithfulness of God means to you? If he decides to take my life, I’ll trust him. I’ll never turn my back on him. You can depend on who he is. He’s a faithful God. Yet a lot of us cop out, drama out, bomb out for the silliest things. We’re out of here. Because our trust is not in the faithful God. How about you? Why, God, in discussing this with Satan, Satan argued, look, God, he only trusts you because everything’s going great. Take it all away and then we’ll see. God even said he would put a hedge around Job and the devil couldn’t do any more than God permitted. My dear friends, don’t let anyone tell you any different. The Bible says he’ll give his angels charge over you lest you dash your foot against a stone. God has promised protection to the believer. And if something awful and tragic happens to you, Understand that God knows all about it and wants it to occur for his own purpose and his glory. Relax. Besides, the good things are not in this life. Did you know that? Doesn’t it seem a little difficult to understand how Christians want to go to heaven so bad but do everything to keep out of the place? You know what I mean? It just kind of bothers me. Paul said, I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. We say, I have a desire to stay here. Hey, I want to go home when I die, okay? But I want to stay here. Give me some more years. Really. Hey, the good times are not here, folks. Good times are in glory. In his presence, there’s fullness of joy, and in his right hand, there are pleasures forevermore. Our God is faithful, faithful to protect us from the enemy. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. We can depend on God not only to keep his word and to extend his compassion to us when we don’t deserve it, and to restore us through his chosen servant, the Messiah, even when we have bombed out so badly, and to protect us from the enemy. But number five, we can depend on God to help us in times of temptation and suffering. Because God’s faithful, He’s not going to leave you alone. He will help you in times of temptation and suffering. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 11, it says, “…now all these things happened to them, the nation of Israel, as examples. They were written for our admonition on whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. Sometimes people say, well, you don’t know what I’m going through. Well, I may not now, but I probably will. Like the fellow who came up to me one day, I preached a sermon on suffering. Young man in his 20s, he said, I don’t think I’ve ever suffered. I said, cheer up, you will. It’s only a question of time. There’s no temptation taken you, but such as is common. But who is faithful? God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you’re able, but with the temptation will also make the way to escape that you may be able to bear it. Have you ever said, this is too great. I can’t handle this anymore. I can’t cope with it anymore. It’s greater than I can bear. No, it’s not. Do you know why God sometimes doesn’t bring any relief? Because he knows that you’re struggling against this. You’re still fighting it. You haven’t admitted that you can’t do it. When you finally say, I’ve had it, God says, Amen. Praise God. Now maybe we can do something. See, a lot of us have down deep, whether we know it or not, in our human nature, we’re fighters, boy. We’re real fighters. We hang in there, even in the midst of despair and depression. And we’re fighting it because we believe we can handle it. And then there’s some counselor who comes along and tells us we can. You can do it. Hey, why don’t you just realize you can’t? You’ll be happier. I say, let’s give up earlier. Why don’t we start with our depravity and the fact I can’t handle this. Great. Maybe you’ll call on the name of the Lord and stop trusting yourself and even your words saying that you can’t handle it. Which is like a smoke screen for you’re still fighting, are you? You still think somehow, even maybe by your crying out, that somebody will come up with a solution. Listen, you get on your knees and trust God. You might see some things change. God knows us better than we know ourselves. Maybe it’d be better that we recognize that we can’t handle it at all to begin with. and that we need the Lord. Turn to 1 Peter 4. You’ll see much of the same thing. 1 Peter 4, verse 12. God is faithful, and I can depend on Him to help me in my time of temptation and suffering, which will come. 1 Peter 4, 12. Beloved, do not think it strange, don’t think it’s weird or unusual, concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. Don’t say to your friends, boy, I don’t understand why that happened. But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings. That when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you’re reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you. For the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part, of course, he’s blasphemed. But on your part, he is glorified. Let none of you suffer as a murderer or thief or evildoer or a busybody in other people’s matters. If you do that, you deserve what you’re getting. If anyone suffers as a Christian, just because of what you believe in your commitment to Christ, it says, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. If it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now, if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? It’s a miracle that any of us are going to be in heaven. Why are we complaining? Think of what’s going to happen to those who don’t believe in Christ. The whole point of this passage is, why are we so bent out of shape over suffering? The big deal is not what’s happening now. Part of a depression and discouragement that a lot of us feel is because what is big to us is what is happening now. Hey, it’s not important, okay? Well, it’s important to me. Well, it’s not important. Look, if you die in the next minute, who cares? Well, I know that. Well, why don’t you live in the light of it? Why don’t you live in the light of the fact that this may be the last breath you take? A lot of us live in the past and worry about the future. The truth is, the only time you’ve got is right now. And that one’s gone. Look at the conclusion. In the light of all this, understanding the consequences of the gospel, and even though you’re a believer who is suffering, understand that because you are a believer, you’re not going to suffer the judgment of the ungodly. You’re not going to be in hell, you’re going to be in heaven. So why are you so discouraged? Therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good as to what kind of creator? What’s it say? Faithful creator. You see, because God is faithful, you can count on Him to help you in times of temptation and suffering. Turn over to 1 John 1, please, verse 9. We can depend on God to keep His Word, to extend His compassion to us though we don’t deserve it, to restore us through His chosen servant, the Messiah, to protect us from the enemy, to help us in times of temptation and suffering, and also, and I like this, to forgive our sins. To forgive our sins. 1 John 1, 9. If we confess our sins, the Greek word confession means to say the same thing. It means to agree with God about your sin. You don’t say, I made a little boo-boo. You don’t say, I did this thing. You tell the God what God says is your sin. If we confess our sins, notice the word sin is plural, not singular. People say, you know, I have this fault. No, you don’t. You’ve got a lot of them. You know, I got this one sin that really… No, you’ve got so many of them. Why, that’s a smoke screen for your other stuff. If we confess our sins, He is what? Faithful and just or righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Because of what Jesus did at the cross, God is faithful. The moment you confess your sins, He says, Hey, forgiven. Cleansed. It’s too easy. Depends on your viewpoint. Once you learn about what He did, you realize the sacrifice of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Salvation is not of man or of his performance. It’s based on who God is because he’s faithful. One last thing. Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. You can also depend on God to preserve you blameless at the second coming of Jesus Christ. Boy, we do enough to prove the opposite, don’t we? How in the world would we be preserved blameless unto the coming of Jesus Christ? 1 Corinthians 1. Look at verse 4. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is what? faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. It’s the faithfulness of God that will cause me to be preserved blameless at the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to 1 Thessalonians 5. He says it more than once. 1 Thessalonians 5, and look at verse 23 and 24. You can depend on God to preserve you blameless at the coming of Jesus Christ, even though all of your present circumstances may cause people to blame you for something. God can be counted on. He’s faithful. He will preserve you blameless until the second coming of Christ. In 1 Thessalonians 5.23, Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is what? Faithful, who also will do it. It is not you that do it. It’s not your performance. It’s God that does it.
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s David Hawking laying down some heavy biblical truth here on Hope for Today. David will be back in a bit to close out our time in the Word. Some additional teaching is just ahead, so do stay tuned for that. Right now, though, David’s son Matt’s here, and Matt and I are going to tell you about a resource that might just change the way you or someone you know looks at the creation of the world.
SPEAKER 01 :
Take a moment and consider the momentous events of the first 11 chapters of God’s Word. Our triune God… announces his intention to create our world, the universe, and all life therein. Matt, the incredible complexity of DNA, the design of humans in our environment. The fellowship of mankind with God, the fallen and painful introduction of sin into the world, and the early prophecy regarding redemption, and the picture of God’s justice and grace for believers as pictured in the flood. All of this and more are covered in an exciting study of Genesis 1-11 by your dad, David Hawking, titled The Beginning from Creation 1. to the flood. You know, Jim, the biblical phrase, as it was in the days of Noah, is familiar. And my dad’s study of this period really grants great insight into our day and time.
SPEAKER 02 :
Matt, I also appreciate the careful study of the fall of mankind and what it teaches us about how we can be deceived ourselves. And the strategies of the devil mix a little bit of truth with a heap of fiction to mislead and misdirect. To get us to doubt the Lord. That’s it. And Matt, we mentioned God’s wonderful design for marriage.
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s clearly articulated in these chapters. And we see God’s mercy, justice, love, and power all clearly demonstrated here as well. Indeed. Amen. And Matt, the beginning from creation to the flood by David Hawking is just $15. And you’ll find faith fortifying, understanding of creation, the fall, early civilization, the flood, and a lot more.
SPEAKER 02 :
But also outstanding encouragement and insights for your life today. So get a copy of the beginning from creation to the flood. today. And please pray for hope for today. And to order any of these Bible study resources, visit our website, davidhawking.org, or call us at 800-75-BIBLE. That’s in the U.S. That’s 800-75-242-53. In Canada, call 888-75-BIBLE, 888-75-BIBLE. 242-53. And by the way, if you’d like to send a special donation to help keep Hope for Today on the air and online, listen, we would be truly grateful because we are a listener-sponsored broadcast. Every gift helps us continue bringing the Word of God to listeners who need truth, encouragement, correction, and hope from the Scriptures. Your support helps keep these Bible teaching messages going out clearly and faithfully. You can send a gift on our website, davidhawking.org, by phone at 875-BIBLE, or in Canada, 888-75-BIBLE. And if you prefer to write, write to us at Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, That’s in the U.S. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO, Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S, 8P1. And thank you for listening, thank you for praying, and thank you for standing with us as we continue pointing people back to the Word of God. Amen. Right now, let’s get back to David.
SPEAKER 03 :
Philippians 1, 6 says, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you, he will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Turn to 2 Timothy, please, chapter 2. There’s some of you out there that are not quite sure you can hang on. Well, God’s not going to waste much time trying to prove whether you can hang on or not. He never depends on you to hang on from the start. See, he knows you better than you know yourself. This is a faithful saying. If we died with him, we’ll live with him. If we endure, we’ll reign with Him. If you deny Him, statement of fact about an unbeliever, well, understand, He will deny you. There are consequences to denial and unbelief. Is that talking about a believer who already knows the Lord and then denies Him? No. That’s in the next verse. If we are faithless, He remains what? Faithless. faithful, he cannot deny himself. Now, I have seen this in life, people. I’ve seen people who’ve known the Lord and walked with God for years, all of a sudden had a physical tragedy happen to them that has affected their minds. And you have to use your memory system to remember what they once were like so you don’t get bent out of shape over what they are now. I saw that happen to a friend of mine who turned into a mentally handicapped person. And you would never have known that he was once on the ball for God and loved God with all his heart. Listen, God knows all about that. Even if you become faithless, he remains faithful. He won’t deny himself. Salvation is of God, not man. Boy, I’m thankful God is faithful. Are you? Let’s close with prayer. Thank you, Lord, for your love for us, for your faithfulness to us. When we’re so unfaithful, I pray for those in our audience who know that they need you desperately right now. Some of us are so messed up, we wonder if restoration could ever take place. God, thank you for your love and your grace and your mercy, because you’re a faithful God. We can count on you to keep your word and to trust you. You’ve said if we’d believe in you, if we’d put our trust in Jesus Christ, we’d be saved and have everlasting life. Thank you that we can count on your word, that the hope we have in Christ is an anchor of our soul. Lord, I pray for those that are in our audience that are not sure if they died now they’d be in heaven. God, help them in this moment to know that they must put their trust and their faith in Jesus Christ, your Son and our Savior. Thank you that you’re a compassionate, merciful God. Though some of us have ignored you for a long time now, you’re so merciful, so compassionate. It never fails. Your faithfulness is so great. Help us not to presume that it’ll go on another day, for you are a righteous God. Oh, God, help us to make the commitments we know we ought to make before it’s too late. We thank you in Jesus’ name. Amen.
SPEAKER 02 :
Amen. Amen. Well, just before we go, we want to remind you that if you’re not sure you’re a Christian, or you’re not even sure what it means to be a Christian, or if you’re a new believer. In either case, we want to help you understand the foundations of the Christian life according to God’s Word, and we’d love to send you David’s booklet, What is Christianity? Absolutely free. We’d also like to send you a free Bible study by mail, and again, free means free. If you’re not yet a Christian, or if you’re new to the Christian faith, call us at 800-75-BIBLE in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And Bible by the numbers is 24253. The ticket’s yours. Well, tomorrow, David begins a message on the mercy of God. We’ll see that the God of the Bible is not only holy and righteous, he is rich in mercy. Wow. Join us next time as we continue our study of the attributes of God right here on Hope for Today.
