He is Faithful

[0:00] So, Lord Jesus, I ask that you would speak to us this morning. I ask you, Holy Spirit, to speak through me and that we would hear from you, Jesus. Amen. You may be seated.

[0:15] How's this work, George? Do I stand behind the table or do I sort of walk around? I just don't want to fall off. This is pretty high. I'm kind of nervous up here.

[0:28] It's all good. It's all good. Okay. Hey, my name is Jess. Jess Cantillon. Some of you know my parents, Jim and Kathy Cantillon.

[0:40] And my mom was Kathy Kerr. She spent a lot of her life in Ottawa, daughter of Howard and Kay Kerr. I'm about a fourth generation Pentecostal in the ministry, but I'm an Anglican now.

[0:54] I married Bishop Charlie's niece, and so I married into the clan. And I've known George since about 2002, and it's been an amazing journey.

[1:06] I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself. We prayed before the service, and George said, you know, Lord, we just pray that it would be our desire that this would be about you and not about us.

[1:17] And even Jesse's sermon, that it would be about you and not about him. And then I told him afterwards, well, I better rewrite my sermon because at least half of it is about me. So we'll try and get to Jesus as well.

[1:30] I'm kidding, of course. Oh, no. Who brought the heretic? Okay. My name's Jess. I'm 39. I am married to Erica.

[1:42] We've been married 17 years, almost 18. Whoa. And four boys. We know how to make boys. I grew up in Israel. In 81, my parents were invited by the Israeli government to plant a church in Jerusalem.

[1:56] And so I joined them, not knowing that that was a big deal, and experiencing the favor of God for the formative years of my Christian life.

[2:08] I went to Hebrew public school. I learned math first in Hebrew, and so on. Returned to Canada in 88, encountered Christian culture for the first time.

[2:22] I didn't know there was such a thing. And then I lived a life in Canada for a good portion. We returned to Israel in 2004.

[2:33] My wife and I and Jonah, who was then just over a year and a half. He's now 13. And we went to work at this church that my parents had planted in the 80s.

[2:45] And I went as a young adult pastor, as a worship leader. But first and foremost, to do worship gatherings, where we rented clubs and theaters across the country and worshiped Jesus.

[2:59] The point being that I really believe that as we spend time in the presence of God, we then are equipped to go out.

[3:11] But only then are we equipped to go out. Because if we go out in our own strength, it's going to come to nothing. It's going to fall flat. So the mission of this was kind of like pre-evangelism. Let's spend time in the presence of God together in the very places where we need to be light in the darkness.

[3:26] And then come back the next Friday and shine as light in the darkness. And it was awesome. It was really an amazing time. It was a thing that the whole community, which is pretty fractured in Israel, Messianic community, they all gathered around and did this together.

[3:42] It was a really great thing. And it was awesome. We then became Anglicans officially through the process. A strange and long story.

[3:54] But I ended up doing my curacy at Christ Church in Jerusalem with David Pileggi. But then, through international pressure, I faced the Anglican problem that sees you guys here today in this theater and not where you began.

[4:13] And so we had to leave Israel. And we came back. And we found ourselves in the last place we expected to ever go. And that's Lenoxville, Quebec. It's a town of maybe 5,000 people.

[4:24] 7,000 when school's in session. And there are already eight churches there. And the Lord said, I want you to plant a church here. It made no sense.

[4:35] But we did it because we felt strongly like the Lord said to do it. And about every third week, it was what we call a cantaloupe service. It was just us and our kids. And we just did the service.

[4:46] And then we went on to the next week and the next week. And, of course, every week I would lose my faith and then regain it. And then every week I would lose my faith again and then regain it.

[4:57] But ultimately, I felt like the Lord said to do it. And so we just did it. And the Lord brought the people. And the Lord built a house.

[5:09] And then we got called to go to Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. And you're wondering, why are you in Ottawa then? Because our visa to Atlanta has not come through yet.

[5:22] In fact, it fell through. And we're waiting for it to come through. And that was a year ago that we got the call. So we are literally waiting right now. And such is the way of following God, I think.

[5:43] That you follow Him, you're going to end up wandering a little bit. And wondering why you're wandering. And you all go through these moments, I'm sure.

[5:56] I'm sure I'm not the only one. Where you wonder what the Lord is doing. And why He's doing what He's doing. And if He's actually trustworthy. Because we wonder, don't we?

[6:10] Lord, are you really in control? Do you really know what you're doing? Are you sure I was supposed to lose that job, God? Can I really trust you with my kids in this ever-increasing secular world?

[6:26] Are you sure that I should be taking my wife and children to Israel right now? With Isis on the border? Stabbings every day?

[6:38] I know two personally who have been stabbed. Since I was there in September. How do I know you're going to provide, Lord? How do I know you're going to show up, Lord?

[6:52] But precisely in these moments. The moments that cause us to trust in chariots and horses. That cause us to trust in our money and in our influence.

[7:05] These moments that cause us to fall into old habits of trusting and worshiping the works of our hands. That we have to trust Him. That we have to say, your will be done, not mine.

[7:22] Even if we don't know how it's going to work out. Even if I don't end up in Atlanta. Because I may not end up in Atlanta. But whether or not it works out.

[7:33] The psalmist today, because I'm preaching from the Psalms. I love preaching from the Psalms. He assures us that God is faithful regardless. Which should leave us in a posture of open hands.

[7:50] Trusting Him for our hopes and our dreams. And for the future.

[8:01] And this applies to our children as well. Which is difficult. The propensity you see to try and solve these things ourselves.

[8:12] In self-righteousness or in unrighteous social justice. That means social justice without righteousness. The propensity to try and self-medicate.

[8:25] To blame others in these moments. Are all signs that we've forgotten that He is faithful. And I really believe that the Lord is in this process.

[8:36] That Erica and I and our kids are going through right now. Even though we're not there yet. I've just been having a hard time remembering that He's faithful.

[8:48] Well Psalm 85 today says that He is faithful. And that we can know this no clearer than the coming of the newborn baby Jesus. Which we just celebrated a few weeks ago.

[9:01] So Psalm 85. If you have a Bible you should open it. And you should follow along. Because we're going to be sort of going through it chunk by chunk. And it will be helpful to you if you can follow along. It was written by the sons of Korah.

[9:17] Who above all else knew the grace and the mercy of God. It's because their priestly line.

[9:29] Because they were Levites. Should have been wiped out centuries earlier. When their forefather Korah. And they said. And they said. And they said. And they said. And they said. And they said.

[9:39] And they said. And they said. And they said. And they said. Why should you Aaron. Be in charge of the high priestly duties.

[9:52] We're Levites as well. What makes you so special? And Moses and Aaron. You know. Hit the ground. And like. Oh Jesus. Oh Lord. God. Have mercy.

[10:03] They wouldn't have said Jesus yet. And God got angry. And said. Let's have a showdown. And I will show who I approve.

[10:14] And so Moses called. The Tan and Aviram and Korah. To a showdown. And said. Bring your incense censers. To the tent of meeting. And we're going to pray to the Lord.

[10:25] And whosoever incense censer lights. He is. The true. High priest. And the Tan.

[10:35] And Aviram. And their families. Didn't even show up. Who are you. To even call us. To the showdown. Aaron and Moses. But Korah did show up.

[10:47] So they had the showdown. And what happened? Aaron's incense. Censor lit. And Korah. And his people. Died. On the spot.

[10:58] While the Tan and Aviram. Thumbed their noses. At the whole event. From their tents. But then.

[11:09] The Lord said. Get away. From the tents. Of the Tan and Aviram. Because a big punishment. Is coming. And what happened. Is the earth. Opened up. And swallowed them. Whole.

[11:21] The entire line. Of the Tan and Aviram. Were finished. But not. Korah's line. Korah's line. Was spared. Because at least. He showed up.

[11:33] To battle. Korah's line. Spared. Though.

[11:44] They were relegated. To keep the door. At the tent of meeting. From wanting to be. The high priest. And the holy of holies. They were. At the farthest. Part possible. The way.

[11:54] That's the way. The Jews see. The presence of God. God lived in Jerusalem. He not only lived. In Jerusalem. He lived. In the holy of holies. Not just in the holy of holies.

[12:04] But between the wings. Of the cherubim. The closer you walked. To Jerusalem. The closer you were. To the presence of God. It was like a bullseye. That's why. Jonah. When he ran away.

[12:15] From God. Ran to the farthest. Parts of the earth. Because he assumed. As a prophet. That he wouldn't. Get the reception. The further he was.

[12:27] From Jerusalem. So in the economy. Of the priesthood. The further you were away. From the holy of holies.

[12:38] The lower down. The ladder you were. And so. Korah. And his sons. Were relegated. To keep. The door. Door. In Jesus' day.

[12:50] The centurions. Even kept the door. So it was really. The bum job. Of bum jobs. Though one of them. I guess. Had a good. Poetic.

[13:00] Side to him. So he wrote. Some psalms. As well. But this. Son of Korah. Who would be aware. Of his history. And his shame. And the redemption.

[13:12] And faithfulness. Of God. Wrote. In Psalm 84. Better is one day. In your courts. Than a thousand. Elsewhere. I would rather. Be a doorkeeper.

[13:23] In the house. Of my God. Than dwell. In the tents. Of the wicked. And get swallowed up. By the earth. That's our context. That was Psalm 84.

[13:33] Now we're in Psalm 85. And. This son of Korah. Is thanking God. For his. Faithfulness. Somebody certainly knows. A thing or two.

[13:44] About being grateful. To God's faithfulness. And I think it's important. To remember that. Psalm 85. Is a song. That's something.

[13:59] That gets missed. In our English translations. Even though. Shakespeare. Did a. Good job. Because. In the Hebrew. It's full of meter. It's full of rhyme. In wordplay.

[14:10] And it's really. Quite something. I'm going to read you. Just a little portion. Of it in Hebrew. Just so you can hear. Hear the poetry. And then that way. You can see. Okay. Well this is. Clearly. A song.

[14:21] Okay. So here we go. Did you hear that?

[14:47] You heard the rhyming? Song. So if you're reading this. In the Hebrew. You know it's a song. You also know it's a prayer. Because this is what. The Jews pray. They pray the Psalms. Why is it important.

[14:58] To remember that it's a song? Because songs have structure. Simply. We sang songs. With verses. Pre-choruses. Choruses. And. Bridges.

[15:10] The bridges. When you know. Daniel started. Hitting the drum. And getting louder. And louder. And louder. And louder. And louder. And louder. Boom. You know. That's the bridge. And then you go back. Into the chorus. We know how it works.

[15:22] But if you know. That there's structure. To this. Psalm. You're going to start. Trying to understand. What those sections. Are. And your Bible. Will probably have.

[15:33] Divided it already. I'm going to divide it. Like this. I'm going to say that. The sections are. Verses one to four. Five to seven. Eight.

[15:44] And nine. And ten to thirteen. So four sections. Okay. One to four. Five to seven. Eight and nine. And then ten to thirteen.

[15:55] Four sections. I'm not sure which is the verse. And which is the chorus. I'm not going to go there. But I could see that there are sections. At least. Excuse me. Okay.

[16:06] So the entire psalm. Deals with the question. As to whether or not. God is faithful. That same question. That I'm asking. That many of you have asked. And you might be asking today.

[16:17] As well. God. Are you faithful? Are you really going to show up? Is the Lord faithful? And in this first section. Verses one through four. The psalmist. Introduces.

[16:28] That there's a problem. We're going to focus on the. Y. O. U's. The use. Okay. The Y. O. U's. Lord. You have been favorable. To your land.

[16:40] You. Have brought back. The captivity of Jacob. You have forgiven. The iniquity of your people. You have covered. All their sin. You have taken away. All your wrath.

[16:51] You have turned. From the fierceness. Of your anger. Restore us. O God. Of our salvation. And cause your anger. Towards us. To cease. There's a problem.

[17:02] He's saying. While you have done. All these things. God. Verses one to three. Verse four. Says we still. Need. To be restored.

[17:13] We still. Need. To be saved. Can you relate. To that? I can. I know.

[17:23] You've brought me. This far. But I still feel. Lost. I feel. Angry. And afraid. This is basically. Dealing with. Losing your faith. Mid journey.

[17:34] Which happens. Like I said. When I was planting. In churches. About every Sunday. I'm sure you feel the same. I'm sure I'm not alone. Then he asks.

[17:48] Similar questions. In the next section. But are. There more. To deal with the future. You have done this. In the past. But are you going. To be faithful. In the future. So the second section.

[17:59] Verses five to seven. Start with this. We're going to focus. On the will you. Will you. Be angry. With us forever. Will you. Prolong. Your anger. To all generations. Will you not.

[18:10] Revive us again. That your people. May rejoice in you. Show us your mercy. Lord. And grant us. Your salvation. Now. I don't know. The entire context.

[18:21] Of this psalm. I focused mostly. On the context. Of the writer. So. Some might suggest. The psalmist. The psalmist. Is either dealing. With another. Enemy at the gate. Or with the drought.

[18:32] Which was always seen. As a curse from God. If there's a drought. If there's no rain. It's a curse. If there's rain. That comes in the middle. Of the summer. It's a curse.

[18:43] Because that will wreck. The crops. The rain has to come. Between October. And. April. And that's it. In Israel.

[18:53] Now. Former. And latter. Reigns. So. Who knows. What they're dealing with. But either way. They're dealing.

[19:03] With the problem. But I do think. That. Above all these things. The psalmist. Is going beyond. Just like when. The prophets. Say. They render heart. And not your garments. I think that the.

[19:14] Psalmist. Is dealing with. The state of the heart. I think he's thinking. Bigger. In this sense. More than just. What's going on. At the gates. And thinking smaller. At his heart.

[19:28] You see. The Jews. Above everything else. Even a rebuilt temple. Are waiting. For. Tikkun. Olam. The fixing.

[19:39] Of the universe. For God. So loved the. World. In the Greek. It's the. Cosmos. Which means.

[19:51] All things. That he created. For God. So loved the universe. That he gave. His one. And only son. That's why the Jews.

[20:03] Have a problem. With Jesus. Because they don't see. That the fixing. Of the universe. Began. In the hearts. Of men. With Jesus.

[20:15] Dying. And giving himself. For us. Paying our price. And changing. Our hearts. From hearts. Of stone. To hearts. Of flesh. Circumcised.

[20:30] Bodies. To circumcised. Hearts. But that's. The business. Of tikkun olam. Beginning.

[20:41] In our hearts. See our world. And universe. Has been critically. Wounded. By man's rebellion. Against God. The creator. Doing our own thing. Controlling. Our own destiny.

[20:52] Fixing our own problems. Over submitting. Ourselves. To God. And God. Who let us. Go our own way. Very well.

[21:02] If you want to do this. Go ahead. Subjected us. To the fruit. Of our rebellion. Which is ultimately. Broken bodies. Broken relationships.

[21:14] And death. The Jews are waiting. For the Messiah. To come and fix it. And this psalmist. Is singing about it. And perhaps. Without knowing it.

[21:24] He's even prophesying. And we get the first. Hint of it. At the end. Of the second section. In verse 7. Har'enu Adonai Chazdecha. Ve'yishuecha. Titen lanu.

[21:36] Show us. O Lord. Your grace. And give us. Your salvation. The word. For salvation. Is. Yeshuecha. Jesus' name.

[21:47] Is Yeshua. Show us. O Lord. Your grace. And give us. Jesus. Amen.

[21:59] Now he doesn't say. Give us Jesus. He says. Show us your salvation. Give us salvation. But we know. Because we have the benefit of hindsight.

[22:11] That that's exactly what he's saying. Give us Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. So the first section says.

[22:22] What? There's a problem. The second section says. Are you going to be faithful in the future? And we get a hint. That the proof will be in the pudding.

[22:32] Which is Jesus. And now in this third section. After hinting at Jesus. The psalmist goes into prayer. Prayer. Because we know. That prayer is what?

[22:42] 90% listening. And maybe 10% talking. And he says this in verse 8. I will hear. What God the Lord will speak.

[22:53] For he. Will speak. Peace. The word for peace. Is shalom. Which refers to the tikkun olam.

[23:06] Shalom. In Hebrew. Is how you say hi. To one another. But it's also. It means full. Complete. Settled. Peace. And he will speak.

[23:23] Shalom. Because only the Lord. Can fix. The broken state of humanity. He's going to speak peace. To our souls. At war against us.

[23:33] He's going to speak peace. To our bodies. Which are deteriorating. By the heartbeat. He will speak peace. To our failing marriages. He will speak peace. To our broken families.

[23:44] He will speak peace. To our crooked sexuality. And he will speak peace. To our self-righteousness. And to our feeble efforts. He will speak peace. I will hear the Lord.

[23:56] I will hear the Lord. In verse 8. I will hear the Lord. And what the God. I'll hear what God the Lord will speak. For he will speak peace. To his people. And to his saints. But let them not turn back to folly.

[24:09] Surely. Verse 9. He's salvation. Surely. His Jesus. Is near. To those who fear him. That glory. May dwell.

[24:20] In our land. This is the peace. About which the psalmist. Is singing. Cosmic peace. Complete.

[24:31] And total. And utter peace. Just like John the Baptist's dad. Zechariah. And I mean. This Christmas. I couldn't read.

[24:41] Any of these. These sections. Where the old men. Are blessing the babies. I just couldn't do it. So I might not be able to do it now. I don't know. But just like John the Baptist's dad.

[24:55] When he. Zechariah. When he prophesied. While holding his newborn son. In his hands. The newborn. Who would be the forerunner. For a much more marvelous newborn.

[25:07] Soon to follow. He said this. Blessed. Is the Lord God of Israel. For he has visited. And redeemed his people.

[25:17] And he has raised up. A horn of salvation. For us. In the house. Of his servant David. And he spoke. By the mouth. By. Of his holy prophets. Who have been.

[25:29] Since the beginning. Of the world. That we should be saved. From our enemies. And from the hand. Of all who hate us. To perform the mercy promise. To our fathers. And to remember his holy covenant.

[25:41] The oath. Which he swore. To our father Abraham. To grant us. That we. Being delivered. From the hand of our enemies. Might serve him. Without fear. In holiness. And righteousness.

[25:53] Before him. All the days of our life. And you child. Will be called. The prophet of the highest. For you will go.

[26:03] Before the face of the Lord. To prepare. His ways. To give knowledge. Of salvation. To his people. By the remission. Of their sins. Through the tender mercy.

[26:13] Of our God. With which the day spring. From on high. Has visited us. To give light. To those who sit. In darkness. And the shadow of death. To guide our feet. Into the way.

[26:24] Of peace. Jesus. Jesus. This is our fourth section.

[26:36] Jesus. The first section. Deals with the fact. That there is a problem. The second one. Are you going to be faithful. In the future God.

[26:48] The third one. We pray. Because only God. Can bring peace. And so hearing. The psalmist prayer.

[26:59] God responds. In speaking. Of the birth. Of the Savior. Verse 10. Mercy.

[27:11] Or grace. And truth. Have met together. Righteousness. And peace. Have kissed. Christ. Now.

[27:21] You should be thinking. Sex here. Because this is an intimate union. Between grace. And truth. Righteousness.

[27:32] And peace. They. Have. Produced. Fruit. Truth. Shall spring up. Out of the earth.

[27:43] And righteousness. Shall look down. From heaven. Yes. The Lord. Will give. What is good. And our land. Will yield. Its increase. And that fruit. Is.

[27:54] Jesus. Righteousness. In verse 13. Righteousness. Will go before him. And shall make. His footsteps. Our pathway. So the problem.

[28:09] Presented at the outset. Despite the doubting. And the worry. Has been solved. And in Jesus.

[28:20] We have peace. In Jesus. We have hope. In Jesus. We have joy. Because he's made true.

[28:36] On his promises. Because he loves us. Because righteousness. And truth. And truth.

[28:47] Have kissed. And so here we are now. Without worry. With our eyes fixed on Jesus.

[28:59] The author and the finisher of their faith. Trusting him. Even when it seems impossible to trust.

[29:11] Let's pray. Lord Jesus. We. We thank you for your word.

[29:22] Written. We ask you God. That you would. Open up our hearts. To receive Jesus today. For those of us. Who don't know you. This morning. I pray God.

[29:33] That you would invite us. To know you. You'd open up our hearts. To know you today. And if you're in that. Position. All you have to do. Is say. Jesus. I want to follow you. Understand.

[29:44] But I want to follow you. And he will speak peace. Into your life. This morning. And forever. So God. Our hearts are yours.

[29:55] Our lives are yours. And we trust you. With everything we have. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.