Knowing the Promises Part 1
God's Promises • Sermon • Submitted
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Believe it or not, today makes one month that we’ve been talking about the promises of God. And we’ve learned quite a bit in that time haven’t we? Let’s take a look back shall we?
What we learned the first week.
God’s promises:
Don’t change- we do
Are for believers
Require perseverance to receive
The second week we learned that:
God’s promises:
are grand
are expensive (they require a sacrifice)
can be inherited
require obedience.
And last week we learned that
We receive a superior promise through Christ
Jesus has a right to make promises on God’s behalf
The New Covenant unites us with the Jews in receiving the promises of the Old.
Rejecting the promises has dire consequences.
This Week
This Week
Up until this point, I’ve been taking us through a process of understanding and preparation. In order to receive the promises of God, we have to remind ourselves of who the promise giver was, so we did that in the first week, then we had to understand the scope of these grand promises and begin to get excited about them, and finally we had to build our faith and come to the realization that we are all indeed qualified and in fact, named as legal recipients of the promises because of what Jesus did for us. Now comes the good part. At long last, we get to begin unpacking some of the actual promises of God!
The Gift of the Holy Spirit
The Gift of the Holy Spirit
Here is one of the first promises that Christ gives to His followers. He does so after His resurrection and before His ascension. Let’s read it.
“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
and next here:
Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
A Certain Kind of Life
A Certain Kind of Life
Here’s the thing saints, God never promised us a life free from pain and suffering. He never promised that we would not have problems. He never promised us that we would not get sick and die. He did, however, promise us a full and abundant life.
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Pastor, I don’t see the requirement for the promise of a full life. Admittedly, this one is a bit sneaky, but see if you can see it here:
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
This is not a literal crown, or perhaps it is. But in a practical sense, this work crown can be read as reward or prize. So, what is the prize of life? Well, going back to John 10:10, is the prize of life – an abundant life!
He also promised us eternal life.
And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
Wait pastor! You said that He didn’t promise us a life free from death, and now you’re saying He promised eternal life, how can both of those be? Do you remember the hymn we sang last week? Blessed Assurance? Well this is that blessed assurance.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Paul explains it to the Corinthian Church this way:
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
So, what is the requirement in this one? Right, to be “in Christ”. See how that works?
Jesus Himself declared HIMSELF to be the resurrection.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
The Peace of God
The Peace of God
Finally, Jesus promises us the peace of God.
I will 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.
The prophet Isaiah chimed in on this as well:
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
But pastor, you said Christ is the one who gave us this peace. Well, He did! The Holy Spirit, speaking through the Apostle Paul says this to the Church at Philippi
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Putting it all Together
Putting it all Together
Whew! That’s a lot of promises to put together in one week. It is a lot of very exciting promises, isn’t it? But this is just the beginning. I opened up by telling you that God didn’t promise us a life free from problems, but as we go forward we’re going to see that He didn’t leave us with a grim prospect. He has made provision for us in the form of promises that will help us navigate this trouble filled life in such a way that it will all end up in our best interest. Are you excited yet?
Homework
Homework
And yes, there is homework again this week. Again, this homework is designed to help get us in the mindset to receive these glorious promises of God. So with that in mind, let’s look at the homework.
Apply these promises to your life using the following process:
Applying the promise:
Read the promise out loud
Think about the faithfulness of the promise giver
Look over the promise and determine the requirements for receiving..
Ask for, and receive the fulfillment of the promise in faith.
Keep your end of the promise
Now, remember. God is faithful, receiving often takes patience, but God is always faithful. Be patient, be faithful and walk with the expectation that you will receive.
Next week we will talk about our experience receiving God’s promises throughout the course of the week.
Be blessing and we will see you all next week