Dr Charles Stanley - He Keeps His Word - Part 1

0:00Day or night, VerboCare is here 24-7 to help make every part of your stay seamless. If anything comes up or you simply need a little guidance, support is ready whenever you reach out. From the moment you book to the moment you had home, we're here to help things run smoothly. Because a great trip starts with the right support. And hey, a good playlist doesn't hurt either. When God says, I will. And when God says I have, in the mind of God, it's a done deal. Watch this. You and I do not have to worry or be concerned about how God's going to do what. When God says, I have, when God says, I will, it's all planned, it's all done. All we have to do is follow instructions. Have you ever had someone break a promise? It's irritating and frustrating to have a person go back on a commitment.

1:00And it spotlights the reality that every one of us is flawed and inconsistent. Thankfully, God is perfect and reliable. Today's message on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, continues his series on The Ways of God to remind us that our Heavenly Father always keeps His Word. I will begin at the beginning of the Word of God. And I want to take you through a series of incidences in which God says, I will. What I want you to conclude at the end of this message is simply this. When God says, I will, God will. He will do what He says He will do, which is what most people do not believe. That they are an exception to the will and purpose and plan of God. There are no exceptions. So let's begin in the beginning of the Word of God. And that is in Genesis chapter 2. Listen to what He says in this passage. You know it by heart, certainly by now, if you're a believer.

2:01And you recall in the second chapter having created, first man, first woman, listen to what He says. Verse 16 of chapter 2. The Lord God commanded the man saying, from any tree of the garden, you may eat freely. Now watch this. But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die. Now, think about this for a moment. God gave them a very clear warning. That if you disobey me, you're going to die. So think about what happened. When God came looking for, so to speak, as if He didn't know where they were, God came looking for Adam. And He asked the question, where are you? Well, he knew exactly where Adam was. What happened as a result of his specific disobedience to the very simple plan of God? Here's what happened. First of all, there was separation.

3:01Now he's hiding from God. There is shame. He knows that he's naked. Something's wrong. He's sent against God. Thirdly, he has expressed pride. Adam and Eve expressed pride. I want to be like God. I know he said, don't do it. But, you know, I heard what he said, but. And so he rebelled against God's law, against God's rule. And what was the end result? The consequence was death. Remember this. The consequence of disobeying God deliberately, willfully, knowingly disobeying God. There is separation. The fellowship is broken. There is shame because you're going to feel guilty. There is suffering and could be in all kinds of ways. And ultimately, there is death. Physical death is going to come upon all of us because all of us have sinned. But spiritual death.

4:01Spiritual death is that ultimate death. That's second death. When God says, here's what I'm going to do, God is going to do exactly what he said. Think about this. His first man and woman in this awesome, beautiful creation. And what happened? Death had to come. Separation. He drove them out of the garden in shame away from under his awesome canopy of protection and watch care and beauty and all the rest. Now they have to work for a living in a way that they'd never known before. Before it was keeping the garden as a wonderful privilege. Now it's labor. Here's what I want you to see. When God says, I will, God means I will. When He says, I will, He will. When He says, I will keep my word, He will keep His word. So in the very beginning, it had to grieve the heart of God. In a degree of the heart of God to see this perfect environment, this perfect man and woman, and they chose to be disobedient to Him.

5:02When you are not disobedient to God, somebody else gets hurt. When we disobey God, it grieves His heart. The Bible says the Spirit of God is grieved over our sin. So as you look at the very first family, you say, well, the first family, I can understand that. But ask yourself the question, should that not be an indication to us if Adam and Eve in the very perfect garden, deliberately, willfully chose to disobey God, and what were the consequences? Separation. Shame. Suffering. Death. You name it. Has God changed His law? No. You said, we're on the grace, we are on the grace. Deliberately, willfully choose to disobey God their consequences that cannot and will not be erased. Will God forgive us? Yes, He will. Does He erase the consequences? Not necessarily. Most of the time He does not. So if you look at the first man and woman, you say, well, I see what happened in their life.

6:06Well, let's just, what I want to do is to go through some other scriptures here. And let's just watch and see if there is a pattern here in the way God operates. So let's move over to the flood, for example, in the sixth chapter of Genesis. And notice what happens here. God said in the sixth chapter, the world was corrupt. In fact, He said, I'm sorry I even made this outfit. I'm sorry I made them. Look what's happened. And He says in verse seven, I will blood out, man, whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals, the creeping things, the birds of the sky from sorry that I've made them. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. And so, I will say, He walked with God. And then verse 18, but I will establish my covenant with you speaking to Noah. And you shall enter the ark and you and your sons and your wife and your sons lives with them. And then He begins in chapter seven, verse one, then the Lord said to Noah, end of the ark, you and all your household, for you alone, I have seen to be righteous before me in all this time.

7:07Verse five, note that according to all that the Lord God told Him. If you look in the seventh chapter and the 21st verse, all flesh that moved on the earth, perished, birds, cattle, beast, every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind, and all that was on the dry land. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the Spirit of the life died. Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals, the creeping things, and the birds of the sky, they were blotted out from the earth. And all in Noah was left together with those that were with Him in the ark. What did God say? He says, I'm going to destroy it all. He didn't say, now, I'm thinking about it. He said, I'm going to destroy all of it. What did He do? Exactly what He said He would do. The sin of mankind, the response and the consequence was absolute, total eradication of humanity, except those whom God had chosen to put in the ark. Does God keep His Word? Yes, He did. He kept His Word in the first couple.

8:11He kept His Word now, and a time when God was going to destroy everything He kept His Word. I want you to turn to chapter 12 of Genesis. Now we're not going all the way through the Bible, so relax. But I want you to see what the pattern is here, and the pattern is so crystal clear. Chapter 12 in the life of Abraham. Listen to what God said. Now watch this carefully, because God has said some of these things to you. Maybe you weren't listening, but so watch with me this whole time. Verse 1. Now the Lord said to Abraham, go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you. And I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make you a name great. And so you will be a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse. And in all the families of the earth will be blessed.

9:11Now here's what I want you to see. When God makes an absolute statement, an absolute declaration, I will do this and so, He will do exactly what He says, because His, listen. His unconditional declarations have no conditions to them. This is God speaking, this is what I'm going to do. So if you'll think about what happened in these chapters, I want you to notice also that He made another statement. He said in the 17th chapter, look at this for a moment, and remember now that Sarah is about 90 and he's close to 100 at this time. Verse 15 of the 17th chapter, then God said Abraham, as for Sarah, your wife, you'll not call her Sarah, but Sarah, she'll be her name. I will bless her and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations, kings of peoples will come from her. Then Abraham fell on this face and laughed.

10:11If you ever thought about laughing at God, he fell on this face. He was laughing about what God said in his heart. He says, well, a child will be born to a man a hundred years old and will Sarah, who is 90 years old, bear a child? Abraham said, he got old and Ishmael might live before you, but God said no. Sarah, your wife will bear you a son. You shall call his name, Ozzy, and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. Now, there's a reason sometime that you and I might question what God is saying. She's 90 and he's 100 and God's telling her that she's going to bear a son and Abraham laughs and later on, she's laughing about the whole idea. Verse 12 of this 18th chapter, Sarah laughed to herself saying, after I've become old, she'll have pleasure in my Lord being old also. And the Lord said, Abraham, why did Sarah laugh saying, shall I indeed bear a child when I'm so old? Is anything too difficult for the Lord at the appointed time? I'll return to you at this time next year and Sarah will have a son.

11:16Well, what happened? Exactly what God said was going to happen. The 21st chapter, look, then the Lord took note of Sarah as he had said and the Lord did for Sarah. He had promised. So Sarah conceived in Borosan, Abraham and his old age and the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham was 100. She was 90. Now, one of the reasons sometime we will not believe God is because it looks impossible. We say, my Lord, I know what you said, but only God has the right to put a butt behind something when he said something. When he says, I will give you a son, 100 and at 90 years of age, a son. Sometimes we don't listen very carefully because what God says to us seems to be impossible, seems to be very impractical. And so our response is, I just must have thought he said doesn't so. God gives very clear instruction. It's going to happen because God said it will happen. There may be times that it looks like it can't. There may be times that look like there's absolutely no possibility.

12:21Ultimately, God will do what God says he will do. And when he makes that a declaration that is unconditional, it's going to happen at some time of the other. And naturally they had some reason. Of course, the doubt will happen. The world can we have a child at this age? And God didn't say, now, you know, you're fully understand at all. It's all going to be very simple clear to you what I'm going to do. He didn't say that. He understands. Now watch this. He understands when he speaks to your heart and my heart that oftentimes here's what we do. We suddenly we listen to God. We look at the circumstances. But you know, the circumstances, no way. And time goes by. See, I knew God wouldn't get it. I knew I just hurt thought I heard God. When God speaks, that's the time to listen. We listen to too many other people far too often rather than listening to God. And somebody says, but God's never spoken to me. Yes, he has. If you're a believer, certainly he spoke to you when he convicted you of your sin and showed you that you needed to be saved and conveyed to you the faith and assured you that you could be saved from your sin.

13:30If you place your trust in him and what Jesus did at the cross, yes, you have heard. That's why you saved. There have been times when he's spoken to you about other things. And so he said, ask me and you ask him and what did he do? He answered your prayer. But so often we look at situations and circumstances and life say, that's not even in use praying about that. That's absolutely impossible. Or you've said, well, God couldn't do that in my life. So you know what? God couldn't do that. God will do exactly what he says he will do. And you and I should open our ears and be sensitive to the voice of God in that life because he has spoken to all of us and he will continue to speak to us. We just need to listen. Well, let's just move on from Abraham and let's think about somebody else here that we've seen God work in his life also. And let's look in the third chapter of Exodus from moment. And let's look to see what God said to Moses who likewise said no way. And there's not only the pattern in the Scripture here of God speaking and doing what he says.

14:39There's also the pattern for us questioning and not believing what he says. So notice what he says beginning in this third chapter of Exodus. What's happened is God after 40 years in the backs out of the desert finally got Moses attention at the burning bush. You remember me telling the takeoff issues because he was on holy ground. And notice what happens. Verse 10, therefore come now. And I will send you watch that I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring my people the sons of Israel out of Egypt period. He didn't say I will send you I hope you will legal. He didn't say I will send you and a few more. He said I'm sending you and not only did he say I will bring my people the sons of Israel out of Egypt. He didn't say you may be successful. You may not God says I will send you you will bring them out period. Now watch what happens. Verse 31 of the 12th chapter of verse 30 Pharaoh rose and then after all these things that have happened all these plagues.

15:46Verse 30, Pharaoh rose in the night. He and all of his servants and all the Egyptians and there was a great cry in Egypt for there is no home where there was not someone dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said rise up get out from among my people both you and the sons of Israel and go worship the Lord as you said. Take your flocks your herds as you said and go and listen. And bless me also not me directly. My mom. After 10 plagues and death of his own son. He says get going but bless me also now watch what happens look at the next verse the Egyptians themselves urged the people to send them out of the land in haste but they said we will all be dead. Here's what I want you to see. There's a lot of things that happen between these verses God said I will send you. I will be with you and I will be with your mouth and you will bring them out. There's not going to be any warfare because you see this had to be on Moses mind. Well has all that going to happen. You and I have to learn the lesson to be obedient to God.

16:57Don't expect him to give us all the details because you know what you know why it's no point in giving us details we wouldn't believe half of it anyway. We wouldn't believe the details there's so intricate sometimes God doesn't make up his mind as he goes. He doesn't take this step and say what am I going to do next. Then has this going to happen the plans all laid out when God says to you I will do thus and so that is exactly what he's going to do. He keeps his word and the awesome assurance that you and I have because he's a God who keeps his word. We say he's faithful but sometimes we say I know God is faithful faithful to do what he's faithful to keep his word. He will do exactly what he says he will do. If it's conditioned upon something then I must be obedient. If it's an absolute statement I can rest in in fact it's going to happen no matter what. So here's the first couple in the garden. He says here's what's going to happen and it happened. The flood he says here's what's going to happen and it happened Abraham here's what's going to happen to happen. Moses's life here's what's going to happen and it happened.

18:02God keeps his word. Then if you return to the book of Joshua for a moment and I want you to notice how this book starts beginning the first chapter notice what happens here. Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of none Moses servants saying Moses my servant is dead. Now watch this. Now therefore arise across this Jordan you and all this people to the land which I am giving to them to the sons of Israel every place in which the soul of your son is going to be with the Lord. I will not fail you or forsake you. Now watch this. Joshua was wise enough to have observed how God worked in the life of Moses. This is why you and I. Now I will not fail you or forsake you. I will not fail you or forsake you. Now watch this. Joshua was wise enough to have observed how God worked in the life of Moses.

19:04Now watch this. Joshua was wise enough to have observed you and I. If we are wise and if God so see fit to do it in your life when you find someone in your life who is walking with God following him obeying him and watching the blessings of God watching the difficult and the hardship of the trials that that person goes through. And how God blesses them and makes their life and influence in somebody else's life. You need to watch carefully and ask the question God how is it that you are working in that person's life in that fashion. Pattern your life your spirit your life listen after somebody who is following Jesus it may be your grandparent it may be your grandmother it may be your father your mother whoever it may be. Joshua faced a situation that looked absolutely ridiculous. Watch this. He learned from Moses to obey God. Leave all the consequences to him. He watched him work. He observed how God worked in the life of this man who followed him and chose to believe him no matter what.

20:11What's the story. Still was very simple and that is obey God watch him work whatever he says he will do he will do if he says to you here this is the job I want you to take trust me. It looks like you're not going to make as much money it looks like things are not going to go very well for you when God says this is my will for your life follow his will do what God says do because God will do what he says he will do. Don't underestimate what God will do in your life that you've got to learn to listen and start obeying him in the simple things if you want to speak to the crucial things you have to learn the simple things. And I think God must smile when he sees all that he has in store for you and he just waiting for you to say yes.

21:14Thanks for joining us today for in touch the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley obeying God will always put believers on the right path. Even when that includes difficulty and hardship we face those things with the promise of the Lord's strength and presence. We'll hear more tomorrow about God's faithfulness to keep his word. In the meantime you can listen again with just a click on the link to today on radio at ntouch.org. And if you go to the bookstore page you can order a copy of today's complete message he keeps his word or order the entire teaching set titled The Ways of God. Again that's ntouch.org or call or text 1-800-INTouch. You can write to us at ntouch post office box 7900 Atlanta, Georgia 3-0-3-57. We can learn a lot about the faithfulness of God by observing how he works in other believers and example is on the way in today's moment with Charles Stanley.

22:20Are you living a life of preferences or one that's based on God's word to enjoy a strong life one that makes an eternal impact we have to break free from the factors that make us weak. And Dr. Charles Stanley's book, Standing Strong Believers will find encouragement to construct a life based on the strength of enduring faith built on uncompromised biblical convictions to order your copy of Standing Strong call 1-800-INTouch or visit ntouch.org. You're listening to ntouch. Are you in a tough spot with insight for believers here's a moment with Charles Stanley. What do you think Joshua thought about or what's that wall if God can open the red sea he can take care of a punital wall called Jericho. He didn't forget that God made a promise before and he kept his promise. He also remembered that God said I'm giving you this land and he also remembered that God said to him, be strong enough of a good courage.

23:27Fear not need to be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with you wherever you go. Now this book of the law you're to read it day and night. You to keep the law and you to observe it and you're not to depart from it. You're not to turn to the right nor to the left. Now that was his instruction but God was simply telling him this is a way I choose this way I want you to live. I've ordered this out of what I'm going to accomplish. This is the way you to live and because he was obedient to all the rest of Joshua's life he went from victory to victory to victory to victory which says to me about Joshua. He learned from Moses. Watch this. He learned from Moses to obey God. Leave all the consequences to him. Visit us at intouch.org to learn more about the trustworthiness of God. And if you are encouraged and equipped today to boldly live out your faith in Christ we'd like to know. Tomorrow on Intouch whenever you wonder about what will happen in the future remember God has given us promises we can count on.

24:35I hope you'll join us Thursday for our continuing series The Ways of God on Intouch the Teaching Ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of Intouch Ministries at Latter Georgia and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.