YOU MUST TAKE GOD AT HIS WORD

Have you ever heard the saying, "A man is only as good as his word?"  Another way of saying it, is "A man's word is his bond."  I can remember the day when my dad shook hands with a bicycle shop owner, as a guarantee that I, his son, would pay for a new bike weekly, until the debt was paid.  There was no contract; there was no collateral; there was just my dad's word.  It took me about two months to pay for that bike; there never was a though in my head that I could "get out of it," because my father had given his word!

Unfortunately, that kind of transaction is no longer the norm.  In fact, I do not know of a single example of a "hand-shake promise" today!  The problem is, human beings lie!  And because we lie, lawyers and courts are continuously dealing with lawsuits over broken contracts.  We cannot trust others.  Theft, adultery, and even murder has become more frequent in the churches; there are "a whole bunch of wolves in sheep's clothing!"

Such is not the case with God.  Because He is holy, He cannot lie; He cannot break His promises:
 
*   Titus 1:1-2 says, "Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." 
*   Numbers 23:19 says, "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?" 
*   Hebrews 6:17-18 says, "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath:  that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie...."

That is why the Psalmist wrote:  "I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy loving kindness and for Thy truth: for Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name" (Ps. 138:2)!  

God is only as good as His Word:  JESUS!

*   "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (Jn. 1:1).
*   "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (Jn. 1:14).
*   "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life" (1 Jn. 1:1).
*   "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" (1 Jn. 5:7).
*   "And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God" (Rev. 19:13).

 

Salvation results from believing in God's Word:  JESUS!