                    [Times Square Church Pulpit Series]

                  God Is Faithful - Even When We Are Not!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Plain Text File + Related Bible Study + Home Page + Subscribe + Copyright
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

By David Wilkerson
January 22, 1996
__________

          Abraham is known to the church as a man of faith.
          Indeed, the Bible holds him up to us as an example of
          faith: "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was
          accounted to him for righteousness" (Galatians 3:6).
          "So then they which be of faith are blessed with
          faithful Abraham" (verse 9).

          God had appeared to Abram (as he was called then) and
          said: "...Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy
          exceeding great reward" (Genesis 15:1). The Lord also
          promised Abram he would be "...buried in a good old
          age" (verse 15). In addition, God pledged that anyone
          who tried to harm or curse him would himself be cursed:
          "And I will...curse him that curseth thee..." (12:3).

          Beloved, these are some incredible promises -
          protection, a long life, heavenly intervention. And God
          had spoken these things to Abram personally!

          Scripture testifies that Abram "...believed in the
          Lord; and (God) counted it to him for righteousness"
          (verse 6). It also says Abram was a "friend of God."

          Here was a pious, believing servant of God - a man
          visited by the Lord Himself and promised personal
          protection and a long life without fear of harm. And
          Abram believed God. He trusted that the Lord would
          shelter, protect and shield him from all danger.

          You remember Abram's story from this point. He left his
          country at God's command - totally by faith. God told
          him, "Everywhere you put your foot will be your land."

          Now, Abram was living peacefully on a mountain between
          Bethel and Hai when a famine struck. Evidently he had a
          lot of cattle, and he needed pastures and water to feed
          them. So he decided to pick up and move: "...and Abram
          went down into Egypt to sojourn there [live for a
          while]..." (verse 10).

          This was Abram's first mistake. He never should have
          left the land to which God had sent him. When Abram
          left the Promised land, he was about seventy years old,
          and his wife, Sarai, was about sixty. And as they
          entered pagan Egypt, Abram looked at his beautiful wife
          and asked her to join him in a subterfuge:

          "...I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
          therefore...when the Egyptians shall see thee, that
          they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill
          me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee,
          thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy
          sake; and my soul shall live because of thee" (verses
          11-13).

          Abram was saying, "When we get to Egypt, the men will
          see how beautiful you are - and they'll lust after you
          and try to kill me! Please - tell everyone you're my
          sister. I'm putting my life into your hands!"

          This was a half-truth. Abram and Sarai had the same
          father but different mothers, so Sarai was his
          half-sister. She would only be telling "half a lie" -
          all to save Abram's skin!

          Here was a man who is known to us as the father of
          faith. God had appeared to him, promising him great
          protection. But, suddenly, he no longer took the Lord
          at His Word! Abram knew Egypt was a place of lust,
          idolatry, confusion - yet he was ready to go there and
          put his family at extreme risk.

          Sure enough, when they got to Egypt, word spread about
          Sarai's great beauty. Every prince and leader around
          found out about her. Abram sensed this, so he reminded
          Sarai: "Remember, you're my sister. We have a deal. My
          life is in your hands!"

          This was absolute cowardice - absolute lack of faith!
          Abram was subjecting his life to his wife's protection,
          not God's - to his own human strategy. What a shameful,
          faithless act! This great man of faith was willing to
          let his wife be taken from him and put into a heathen
          harem, where she might be defiled by wicked rulers.

          And she was taken by Pharaoh. Scripture says, "The
          princes...of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before
          Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
          And he entreated Abram well for her sake..." (verses
          15-16).

          Do you understand what was happening here? The promised
          seed was to come through Sarai - and she could have
          been defiled by heathen men!

          Shame on both of them for entering into this
          subterfuge! There was no excuse for Abram's behavior.
          Can you imagine any godly man placing his wife in the
          hands of a heathen reprobate? I can only wonder what
          went through Sarai's mind as she was taken from her
          husband.

          Yet Pharaoh gave Abram a great dowry for Sarai, pouring
          out all kinds of blessings on him - sheep, oxen,
          donkeys, camels, servants. Overnight Abram became
          wealthy. But I wonder if he even slept that night! I
          would hope he spent his nights on his face before God,
          questioning his cowardice and lack of faith. How could
          he sleep when he knew his wife was in the hands of a
          heathen? She could be defiled - corrupting the seed of
          God's promise.

          I ask you - how could such a man of faith let this
          happen? Had Abram completely forgotten God's promises?
          Why didn't he realize, "They can't kill me. God said I
          would live to a ripe, old age. He promised to be my
          shield, my protection!"

                      -------------------------------

                   The Truth Is, Abram Was In No Danger!

                      -------------------------------

          Had Abram trusted God - had he stood up boldly and
          declared, "This woman is my wife. Hands off!" - God
          would have honored him. The Lord would have protected
          both him and Sarai. "If we believe not, yet he abideth
          faithful: he cannot deny himself" (2 Timothy 2:13). The
          actual Greek reading of this verse is: "If we are
          faithless, yet He remains faithful...."

          If you had been on the scene that day with Abram, you
          probably would have said to this man, "Abram, you are
          really messed up! You're supposed to be a man of faith.
          God has personally appeared to you and given you all
          His promises. But now you've missed it completely.
          You've manipulated and mistreated your lovely wife.
          You've sinned against the light, Abram. You are
          unworthy of the blessings God promised you. You're
          finished!"

          No! This was never in God's mind about Abram. God is
          faithful - even when we are not! The moment Abram
          committed his life to the Lord, God had a plan for him.
          And God wasn't going to allow some present circumstance
          or failure to stop His eternal purpose for Abram's
          life.

          The Lord had promised him, "I will be your shield!" And
          now God moved in to make good on His promise: He
          plagued Pharaoh's house! I believe the disease He sent
          on them made it impossible for any man even to touch
          Sarai. God shut every womb by shutting down every man.
          Pharaoh didn't lay a hand on Sarai!

          So God did shield Abram and his wife. And now there was
          no possibility of any heathen person in Egypt to say,
          "The seed was polluted!" No - God was faithful, even
          when His people were not!

          Somehow Pharaoh realized what had happened. We don't
          know whether Sarai confessed to him, or whether the
          Lord revealed it to him. But when he found out she was
          married, he rebuked Abram, saying, "Why did you do
          this?" "...take her, and go thy way" (verse 19). "And
          Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent
          him away, and his wife, and all that he had" (Genesis
          12:17-20).

          God's plan for Abram continued uninterrupted. It was
          not thwarted by Abram's lack of faith, even though he
          had failed God miserably. Likewise, beloved, whatever
          God determines for your life, you cannot stop, if you
          simply put your life in His hands. He is faithful
          concerning His purposes for our lives - even when we
          are not!

          Twenty-four years later Abraham (as he was now known)
          moved south and encamped between Kadesh and Shur,
          settling down in Gerar. Again he apparently had to move
          about to feed and water his huge herds of livestock.

          Abraham was now ninety-nine years old, and Sarah (as
          she was called now) was almost ninety. Over the years
          Abram had seen God's faithfulness in every area of his
          life. He had defeated the kings who had invaded Sodom.
          He had rescued Lot and his family. He had met
          Melchizedek, king of Salem. He had given birth to a
          son, Ishmael.

          Wouldn't you suppose that in those twenty-four years,
          Abraham had learned to fully trust the Lord? He'd had
          this many more years of seeing God's keeping power at
          work in his life - of seeing God's leading and
          intervention in all his ways.

          But in Gerar, something similar happened. King
          Abimelech, who ruled over that land, set his eyes on
          Sarah - and he wanted her for his harem! (This must
          have been one striking woman. I'd like to know what
          kind of soap Sarah used - what kind of diet she was on,
          what kind of exercises she did - to be so desired at
          the age of ninety. Everywhere she went, her reputation
          of beauty spread - such that kings sent for her!)

          What did Abraham do now? He went to Sarah, saying, "I'm
          asking you to help me again. You're going to have to
          say you're my sister. Sarah, my life is in your hands!"

          Can you believe it? He was still a coward, after
          twenty-four years! "...and [Abimelech] took Sarah"
          (Genesis 20:2). Sarah went into yet another pagan's
          harem - but God's seed had not yet been born. Once
          again, Abraham put his wife, his family and the future
          Israel in jeopardy.

          If you had stood by and witnessed this, no doubt you
          would have asked yourself, "What kind of man is this?
          Is he really supposed to be an example of faith, a
          picture of a man who believes God? He's telling
          outright lies!"

          Yet what was God's response? He didn't deal with
          Abraham the way we would have. He didn't say, "Now
          you've really done it! I delivered you out of a mess
          like this once before, but now you've gone straight
          back to your old compromise. Will you ever grow up in
          Me, Abraham?

          "Now I'm going to have to chastise you. You need to
          understand how you have failed Me, grieved Me,
          mistrusted Me. I'm going to step aside and let you pay
          the consequences. Now you'll reap what you have sown!"

          No - never! "If we believe not, yet he abideth
          faithful..." (2 Timothy 2:13). God did not chide
          Abraham or abandon him to work things out for himself.
          On the contrary, God's plan for Abraham went on
          unhindered - and right on schedule!

          The Lord did the same thing with Abimelech he had done
          with Pharaoh: He shut every womb! Nobody could touch
          Sarah. God told Abimelech: "...I withheld thee from
          sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to
          touch her" (Genesis 20:6).

                      -------------------------------

               Here Is a Picture of God's Restraining Hand!

                      -------------------------------

          God restrained Abimelech from acting foolishly to
          thwart His purposes. He actually kept Abimelech from
          sinning!

          I know all about the restraining hand of the Lord. As I
          look back over the years of my walk with God, I realize
          I would not be here today if He hadn't had His
          restraining hand upon me. He will let His children go
          only so far - but no further!

          I remember awful discouragements in my early days of
          ministry. At times I felt overwhelmed by all the
          financial responsibilities. Often I felt like a failure
          as a husband and father as well. I would get so low, I
          thought my faith would shatter completely.

          On a few occasions, I was convinced there was no use in
          going on. I never considered suicide or giving up
          completely on my Lord. But I was tired of all the
          obligations - tired of not understanding why my life
          had so many struggles. During those times, I would go
          to the bank, withdraw some cash, hop in my car and
          drive away, thinking, "That's it - I've had it! I'm
          just going to disappear. God will have to take care of
          my family and this ministry. I can't take any more!"

          One particular time, I was driving along, halfway to
          Mexico from Dallas. But God was sitting in the
          backseat. He kindly said, "David, where are you going?"

          Like Jonah, I answered, "I've had it, Lord. I can't
          take any more! I'm going to Mexico. Nobody will know me
          there, and I can witness freely without all these
          obligations. I'm not running away from You, Lord - I
          love You. Nor am I running from my family. I love them
          too. I just don't feel like I'm the man of God I should
          be."

          The Lord said, "Turn the car around now, David, before
          you do something stupid." But I kept driving. Then,
          suddenly, I heard His voice saying clearly, "Now, David
          - turn around now! If you drive another five miles,
          you're on your own!"

          The fear of God hit me - and it shook me up! I have
          never wanted God to take His Spirit from me. And that
          warning was His loving hand, restraining me!

          Tell me - how many times have you been on the brink of
          making a foolish, horrible mistake? But then God's
          restraining Spirit came upon you, telling you, "Hold it
          - stop right there!" Even when we are faithless, He
          remains faithful. He comes to restrain us, to hold us -
          to keep us from doing stupid things!

                      -------------------------------

                    What About David's Unfaithfulness?

                      -------------------------------

          When Samuel anointed David to be Israel's king, the
          young man was given a new heart: "...Samuel took the
          horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his
          brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David
          from that day forward...." (1 Samuel 16:13).

          David became a man who was godly, wise, loved, full of
          the fear of God: "And David behaved himself wisely in
          all his ways; and the Lord was with him" (18:14).

          He was a man of much prayer. He praised the Lord as few
          people ever have, blessing the heart of God with his
          songs and psalms. Nobody could have been more intimate
          with the Lord than David.

          David was also a man of great faith. He went on to slay
          Goliath and become a mighty warrior for Saul. Women
          sang of his exploits on the battlefield. God's Spirit
          clearly was upon this man, and the Lord obviously had a
          plan for his life.

          But then Saul came after David with wrath, and David
          had to flee. He ran for his life, hiding in caves.
          After a while, David simply got tired of the battle. He
          grew weary, unable to take any more. He must have
          thought, "If I'm so special to the Lord - if I'm His
          anointed, chosen man for this hour - then why am I in
          such deep trouble? Why are so many against me?"

          So, David took 400 of his men and fled to Gath - the
          very hometown of the giant Goliath, whom he had slain.
          Talk about an unfaithful act! David hadn't asked the
          Lord about this move. On the contrary - he had decided
          to put his life in the hands of King Achish of Gath,
          seeking refuge from him.

          But in Gath, hostility arose against David. Everybody
          whispered, "Isn't this the man people sing about?
          Hasn't he killed thousands of Philistines? He's the one
          who killed our giant!"

          David was captured and taken to the king. He knew he
          was trapped, in trouble - so he put on an act of
          insanity! He pretended to be a madman, raving
          incoherently, scratching the walls, spittle running
          down his beard. He hoped that somehow his "insanity"
          would deliver him from the clutches of King Achish.

          Yet, what a poor testimony it was before all of his
          men! Achish merely looked at David and said, "Why did
          you bring me a madman? This man has lost his mind. Get
          him out of here!"

          Now, what if we had been on that scene? We would have
          seen this godly, pious, gentle man raving incoherently,
          crawling on the grass, screaming and scratching. And
          we'd have said, "You're not the king of Israel. You
          blew it, David. You played the fool!"

          Indeed, David was unfaithful at that moment. But God
          was still faithful! He didn't write David off. No -
          while David was playing the madman, acting foolish,
          God's eternal purpose for him went onward. Saul's
          kingdom was growing weaker every day. God was moving
          everything into place to ensure David's blessing!

          If you had gone to the Lord and pointed out all of
          David's foolishness, I believe God would have answered:
          "I anointed David king - and he will be king! I know
          his heart. He will repent quickly, running back to Me -
          because he has a contrite heart! He is still under My
          favor and blessing. And My plan for him is still on
          schedule!"

          Perhaps, like David, you have gone through some kind of
          insane period in your life. You faced utter chaos - and
          you gave up, saying, "I can't handle it anymore!" So
          you acted according to your flesh, playing the fool,
          getting ahead of God.

          You ended up angry at yourself, disappointed, ashamed.
          You thought, "How could an anointed, Spirit-filled
          person like me have failed God so badly? Surely His
          blessing has to be taken from me now. I've been so
          vile, manipulative, dishonest, faithless. God can't use
          me anymore. He can't still be working on my behalf!"

          You are so wrong! God will not allow some present
          struggle of yours to upset His call, plan and purpose
          for your life. You may have gotten off track - but
          God's plan is still on track. It is moving full speed
          ahead!

          Whenever I pray, I keep nearby what I call my "crying
          towel." At times I am under such a heavy burden that I
          weep into that towel until there are no more tears
          left. I'll pray for months about certain overwhelming
          needs - and yet at times my prayers go unanswered.

          On one occasion I cried a river of tears - and I got up
          from prayer without any peace, without any sense of
          having broken through. I rolled up that towel and flung
          it across the room, screaming, "Oh, God - I've cried a
          river of tears! I have pleaded and prayed for so long.
          But You don't answer! Lord, what do You want from me?"

          I walked away heavy-hearted. And yet the very next
          week, one prayer after another was answered!

          The whole time I had been raging at God - throwing my
          towel against the wall, thinking He had failed me - He
          had been at work behind the scenes! He was moving
          people's hearts, arranging things - bringing about the
          plan He had in mind all along.

          I had to run back to Him in repentance - crying like a
          baby over my unfaithfulness. "I'm sorry, Lord - forgive
          me! Oh, that I had held on for just one more day!"

          I was not faithful in trusting - but He remained
          faithful!

                      -------------------------------

                       What About Peter - the Apostle
                      Who Cursed and Denied His Lord?

                      -------------------------------

          This was the man who said he would never desert Jesus.
          Yet, not only did Peter deny he knew Him - but he did
          it with a stream of profanities pouring from his mouth!

          What if you had been standing near the fire, listening
          to Peter? You would have thought, "Is this the man who
          was on the Mount of Transfiguration? the one who laid
          hands on the sick, and they recovered? the one
          entrusted with the keys to the kingdom? Listen to
          what's coming out of his mouth!

          "How could this man walk so intimately with the Lord,
          confessing, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living
          God' - and then blow up like this, lying, cursing and
          denying Him? It's all over for Peter. He might as well
          go back to his fishing nets. He'll never be heard of
          again."

          No - never! The eternal purpose of God in Peter's life
          was not thwarted. True, Peter was terribly unfaithful.
          But God remained faithful. He could not deny who He is!

          Had you run to the Lord, crying, "Didn't You see Peter
          cursing You?", He would have answered, "Yes, Peter has
          failed Me. But I know his heart. He's going to be on a
          hill in a few hours, weeping and crying. He's coming
          back to Me. In fact, he's on his way to Pentecost - to
          a life of ministry for Me!" "If we believe not, yet he
          abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself" (2 Timothy
          2:13).

          No matter what you've been through this past year, God
          looks on your heart! If you have a broken and contrite
          spirit, He will be there for you. His eternal purpose
          for you will not be thwarted. He will see it through!

          This brings me to God's warning:

                      -------------------------------

                   There Is Only One Thing That Can Cause
                     the Lord To Turn Aside From You!

                      -------------------------------

          Only one thing can abort God's wonderful purpose for
          you - and that is the sin of stubborn pride! We see
          this in the life of Saul. Scripture tells us God's
          Spirit was on this man, from the day Samuel saw him
          coming down the road. God had called Saul, and He was
          using him.

          But there was something in Saul that emerged quickly -
          an arrogant pride! Saul would not confess or admit his
          sin. Instead, he blamed others to justify his actions.
          He was more concerned with keeping up appearances than
          with what God thought of him.

          Beloved, this was the difference between David and Saul
          - pride! Think about it: David sinned as grievously as
          Saul did. After all, Saul never killed another woman's
          husband.

          But David quickly repented of his sin. When Nathan
          pointed out his grievous act, David didn't justify it.
          Rather, he immediately cried out, "God, don't take Your
          Holy Spirit from me! All I want is to please You. I
          don't want to live for myself. I know I have failed
          You. But, please, forgive me - cleanse my heart!"

          When Saul was caught in sin, however, he grabbed hold
          of Samuel's skirt and cried, "Don't take my kingdom
          from me! Please, stand with me. Don't let me look bad
          in front of my people."

          Saul went through the motions. He was more interested
          in what the people thought about him than in having
          grieved the Holy Spirit!

          Beloved, it is pride - a haughty, unmoveable spirit -
          which brings men down! But a broken heart, a contrite
          spirit, captures the heart of the Lord. It doesn't
          matter what you've been through, or how you've failed
          the almighty God; if you're like Peter - if you run to
          weep it all out before Him after you've failed - He
          will stand with you. He always stands with those who
          have a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

          Just before I wrote this message, I prayed, "Lord, make
          me a voice for You in these last days. I know I can't
          be a voice for You unless You keep changing me. I can't
          speak for You until the things of this world mean
          nothing to me - until I am the image of Jesus Christ.
          Please, Lord - change me."

          Even as I prayed, I felt so inadequate - so far from
          what God wants of me. I thought, "I don't think I'll
          ever make it. I'll never be worthy enough."

          That's when the Lord gave me this very message! He
          said, "You're right, David - you'll never be holy
          enough, by your own standards and works. But right now
          I'm not looking for you to do some great thing for Me.
          I want you to know that, even as you're lying here
          praying, I'm at work being faithful to you, for My
          eternal purpose. And I'm going to see My purpose
          through in your life!"

          Beloved, the Lord is going to do that for every one of
          us! He uses the weak, foolish things of the world to
          accomplish His purposes. We all fail the Lord; no one
          in His church is perfect. Yet every time we are
          unfaithful to Him, He remains faithful to us!

          So, take your eyes off of your failures and weaknesses,
          and fix them on His faithfulness. He cannot deny
          Himself. He is utterly faithful to His Word - and He is
          going to see you through all your battles! Hallelujah!

          ---
          Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O.
          Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771, USA.

          This material is solely for personal use and is not to
          be posted publicly on other web pages. The Lorain
          County Free-Net Chapel holds exclusive rights from
          World Challenge, Inc. to publicly post these messages
          on its web page. You are free to download, copy, print
          and distribute this material, so long as you do not
          post it on a different Internet site. You may, however,
          link this site to reference these messages.

                 ------------------------------------------
Plain Text File + Related Bible Study + Home Page + Subscribe + Copyright +
                               Cover Letter
                 ------------------------------------------

         Times Square Church Information | New Reader Information

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

COPYRIGHT/REPRODUCTION LIMITATIONS:

This data file is the sole property of World Challenge. It may not be
altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for
circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data
file must contain the copyright notice [i.e., "Copyright  1998 by World
Challenge"]. This data file may not be used without the permission World
Challenge for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This
includes all of its content with the exception of a few brief quotations.
Please give the following source credit: Copyright  1998 by World
Challenge, Lindale, Texas, USA.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       This web site is a service of
                          The Missing Link, Inc.
       Linking Troubled Youth and Adults with Life-Changing Programs
                       Web Site - http://misslink.org
               Chapel Site - http://misslink.org/chapel2.html
  Home of David Wilkerson's Times Square Church Pulpit Series Multilingual
                                  Web Site
             http://misslink.org/chapel/teacher/multilan.html

                                ------------

            Copyright  1998 - The Lorain County Free-Net Chapel
                         North Central Ohio, U.S.A.

                                TOP OF PAGE

           Our webmaster welcomes your comments and suggestions.
                This page was last updated August 24, 1998.

  Why Revival Tarries/ "Help!"/ What's Here/ Sponsor/ Statement of Faith/
   Bible Study/ Around the Piano/ Bulletin Board/ Library/ Pulpit Series
