About the Author

Thomas Ray Floyd was born in 1953 in Simpson County, Mississippi, the son of Roy Thomas Floyd and Lina Sue Shows Floyd. Thomas Ray's mother was a member of a Primitive Baptist church, and he cut his teeth on the doctrines of distinguishing grace.

When he was a small boy, his father was converted to Christ and became a member of a Missionary Baptist Church. Thomas Ray joined the church of his father when he was 13 years old, and thought of himself as a Christian. The doctrines of grace that he had heard as a child continued to be precious to him and when he became an adult, he joined a Primitive Baptist Church. When he was 27, Thomas Ray made his first effort to preach the gospel in public and was ordained to the full functions of the ministry in 1985. In 1986 he was convinced under the preaching of Rolfe Barnard (by tapes from Mt. Olive Tape Library), the written sermons of Spurgeon, and the ministry of Elder Zack Guess that he had been a false professor and cried out in agony of soul to the Lord Jesus Christ to have mercy and truly save him. And He did! Floyd then began to preach the gospel as he had been taught of the Lord.

Floyd has pastored churches in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee and until recently was pastor of a church plant known as "Particular Baptist Fellowship." He and his wife Brenda presently attend Zion Baptist Church at Polkville, Mississippi, pastored by Elder Glen Hopkins. The pulpit ministry of Zion Baptist Church can be heard at Sermonaudio.com.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

The Faithfulness of God

(Article for publication week of 12-21-2011 AD)

“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Having declared the veracity of God in our last several articles, we now proceed to declare the faithfulness of God. “Great is Thy faithfulness”! This is a most comforting truth for God’s people- our God is faithful, and great in that faithfulness.

First of all we see the faithfulness of God in His governance of the world. The world is upheld by Jehovah, the faithful God. We have no fears regarding the physical world for we know that God is governing it. The earth is held in its proper place in the universe by the power of our faithful God. We have no concerns that the earth will fall off its axis, or that the sun will burn out, or that the moon will crash into the earth. All these things are governed by our sovereign and faithful God. Fall, winter, spring and summer will continue to follow each other until God is ready to fold things up and usher in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

God is faithful in providing for His people. The Psalmist declared in the 37th Psalm that he had not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. God rained down manna from heaven for His people. He fed Elijah by the instrumentality of the ravens. He provided for a widow woman once by not letting the flour barrel, and oil cruse become empty. He ordinarily provides for His people by means of labour, but whether ordinarily, or extraordinarily, God will provide for His Own. He cares for the little birds who have neither souls nor reason; will He not much more care for you, His people saved by grace, who have immortal souls and the power of reason?

And God is faithful in keeping His covenant. God made a covenant with Noah and his posterity after the Flood and signified it by the rainbow. Every time we see a beautiful rainbow we are reminded of the faithfulness of God in not sending another Flood over the whole earth. But His faithfulness in His covenant of grace is even more glorious than that! God made a covenant with Himself in the everlasting, that is from before the foundation of the world (Hebrews 13:20), whereby He gave a chosen people to His Son to save. The Three Eternal Persons of the Godhead were involved in this covenant. The Eternal Son agreed to become a Man to work out a perfect Righteousness for all those the Father had given Him. The Holy Spirit agreed to effectually call, regenerate, convert, sanctify and preserve all those the Son redeemed. Not one part of this everlasting covenant has ever failed because it was made by our faithful God. The Son was faithful in doing the absolute will of the faithful Father. The Holy Spirit has been, and will continue to be faithful in the calling of every elect person for whom the Son died. Not one has ever failed to be saved that was ordained to this salvation in the covenant made by our faithful God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are faithful in their love to all the blood bought saints. Not one who is truly saved by our faithful God will ever be lost, not because of our faithfulness, but because of God’s faithfulness.

“Great is Thy faithfulness”!

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