Grabbing hold of the Good Things (Promises)
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We need to ask boldly the promises God has given to us. Not accepting anything less.
12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John,
16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.
The kingdom taken by storm.
The law which highlights our need of promises should cause us to take the kingdom by storm.
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.” 5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
29 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.
Intro
35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
2 Things have always struck me about this text
1 The man’s insistence to cry out to Jesus in faith despite the push back from others
2 When he does approach Jesus, how Jesus asks him what he would like Jesus to do for him.
Imagine, his blindness would have been very apparent, especially to the Son of God. He had to weave through the crowd to get to Jesus being blind, being helped by people directing him. His blindness would have been obvious to anyone.
The focus this morning is to highlight your need to not tip toe to the promises of God in light of your very obvious need, but to boldly and with reckless abandonment reach for it, even when the lesser forces of the world are against you.
And also to know, that God calls on you to vocalize your need, daily to him. Not for his sake who knows all things and it is very obvious to him, but as your act of joyful worship: highlight your need and expect great things from God in return with boldness and ferociousness.
Before we proceed forward, we must see that our boldness to grab hold of the promises of God, that we will see in scripture, is in light of God’s eternal purpose to give them, and that his promises are always our greatest good.
Eternal purpose
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
Always for our good
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
That is not just objective good that can’t be felt. But it is objective good that is subjectively good to us, if even it does not appear right away
A man is furious that he is stuck in traffic for an extra hour after work which will cause him to miss his dance recital which he wasn’t crazy about going to anyway
Only to be very happy when he comes home and finds a gas leak blew up much of his house and no one was home because of the traffic and the dance rectital
This is a miniature truth that points to a greater story that literally everything that happens in our lives as Christians is meant to ultimately make the promises of God sure and realized...
And so the only proper response for us is to grab hold of these promises expecting great things from them ultimately.
And anything that would get in the way we would claw at like a wet cat caught in a garbage bag.
I want to point to this mentality not practiced and practiced in the Old Testament.
Then I want to point to the New Testament and see Jesus’ teaching on it and make application to how it should effect our lives.
Jacob Wrestling with God
22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” 31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.
This account can be very strange when first reading it. It is important to note that Jacob was on the eve of a very dangerous day for him: the next day Jacob would see his brother Esau.
Jacob had left, in large part to escape Esau’s hatred . After Esau had sold his birthright, and Jacob had tricked their father in giving him the blessing, Esau said:
41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
And now, coming back home after several years and a large family and much wealth, Jacob is scared of his brother who is on his way to him with enough men to wipe him and his entire family out.
But Jacob is not only facing a reality in which his brother is coming to him the next day, but he also is facing the reality in which he has recieved certain promises from God:
Jacob was well aware of the promise given to him. His mother, when pregnant with Jacob and Esau was told by God:
23 And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”
And no doubt he would have heard that later on.
He received these promises from his father Isaac later:
28 May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. 29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
And as Jacob had to flee his brother’s rage, he saw the ladder of God and received this promise from God after:
13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
And right before he flees from Laban to return home, he receives the promise
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”
So a terrible situation in one hand with Esau coming, and the other hand are the promises that he knows is true. What does he do but insist upon the promises of God in wrestling with God all night to confirm once more the blessing in light of the current trail at hand.
How many Christians stay up all night worrying or depressed or whatever unhelpful and unproductive response in a time of trial rather than spend on all night wrestling with God in prayer for a confirmation of prior promises?
Contrast this show of faith by Jacob from his brother when he sold his birthright to Jacob:
29 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Esau is quick to dispense with it, Jacob later wrestles all night for it.
It was determined by God in eternity past that he would love Jacob and hate Esau, but nevertheless, God uses the means of grabbing hold in faith in order to realize that eternal reality.
In fact one can say Jacob had a blessed time of worship that night he wrestled God for the promise to answer his current major trial.
And of course we have the promises ourselves. It is connected to the same fountain head promise of Genesis 3:15
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
That promise revealed itself to Jacob in physical realities to make way for the coming of his offspring, Jesus to this physical world.
In order that this Jesus would set up a spiritual kingdom full of spiritual promises
That is why we don’t have promise of physical life, many children, wealth.
These all were given to the patriarchs to make way for Jesus who would give even better promises: life with God to the fullness
This promise is for you in time of plenty, both health and wealth.
This promise is for you in the worst of times physically.
The mind of the Christian is to abandon
all things of this world for the sake of the promise of Christ and his righteousness.