The Seven Promises of God We Can All Depend On
Exodus: The Seven Promises of God We Can All Depend On • Sermon • Submitted
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· 127 viewsThe promises God gave Israel, pertain to every person throughout time who has ever put their trust in God.
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Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) by Chris Tomlin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOkImV2cJDg
Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) by Chris Tomlin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOkImV2cJDg
1 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. 2 I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 3 Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. 5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. 6 He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever. 7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, 8 the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. 10 The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.
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Opening Hymn
Announcements:
Next week I hope to have a brief business meeting following our morning worship.
43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
3 Worship songs
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Prayer Chorus
Prayer
Sermon:
The Seven Promises of God We Can All Depend On
The Seven Promises of God We Can All Depend On
When I began this series, I expected to blow by Chapters 5-7 in one sermon. Then as I got into it, and I found three key elements here. You have Moses and the Israelites fretting and stewing over what God is doing, you have a hard-hearted Pharaoh representing those in the world that refuse to bow to God, and in the center is God. First He declares His abilities by disclosing His identity. Then He gives seven very important promises that not only pertain to the Israelites in this moment, but will also pertain to all peoples throughout time who have ever pledged their devotion to God.
Stand with me as we once again read this passage from Exodus 5:22-6:8.
22 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.” 2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’ ”
The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God!
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I. Seven Promises You Can Count On
I. Seven Promises You Can Count On
Someone once asked, “What is Faithfulness?” To which another responded with these following examples.
AMG Bible Illustrations (What is Faithfulness?)
A shepherd once came to the city of Edinburgh from the country. He had his small obedient dog with him. While there, the man died and was buried. That little dog lay upon its master’s grave—not for a day, a week, or a month, but for 12 years. Every day at one o’clock a gun was fired in the castle of Edinburgh. When the gun was fired the dog would run to the local baker who gave it food and water. Then back to the grave it would go. This continued till the dog died 12 years later. That was faithfulness!
A man threw a goose, which had been run over and crushed by a car, into an oil drum. For seven years the gander, that goose’s mate, never went more than ten feet away from that oil drum. That was faithfulness!
George Mueller prayed for 52 years for a certain man to come to Christ. A pastor visited an elderly man 21 times before being admitted, but then he befriended the man and led him to Christ. That was faithfulness!
A Welsh postman had the British Empire Medal conferred upon him by Queen Elizabeth; he had not missed a day’s service in 43 years. Paul Dhrlick, the chemist, performed 605 unsuccessful experiments; the 606th was a success! Thomas Edison made 18,000 experiments before he perfected the arc light. After experiencing 50 failures on another project he said, “I have found 50 ways it cannot be done!” That was faithfulness!
During the Korean War a man buried himself in the muck and mud of a pig sty (except for his nose and mouth so he could breathe) for eight days and nights rather than betray his buddies and surrender to the enemy. That was faithfulness!
Each of these stories amaze us due to the endurance of time that is required to be considered truly faithful. However, not even any of these shining examples comes close to God who has endured thousands of years waiting for us to be ready to receive His promises. We can count on His faithfulness to deliver because the scriptures are full of His promises and many have already been fulfilled revealing His ability to deliver.
Last week, I zeroed in on verse 3 where God reveals a new name for Himself to the people. In our current translations it is stated as LORD, all in capital letters. In the Hebrew Bible, it is YHWH. Either way, it means the same, “I AM!” A bold declaration of His status as the only one to have always existed!
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
This declaration of His existence as God is followed in verses 6-8 with seven very special promises for Israel. However, as we look down through history and the events that come before and after this event, we find that these promises hold an even greater promise for all those who have or will put their trust in God. These seven declarations all begin with, “I will...” and they are firmly linked with the covenant that God made with Abraham.
The first three are found in verse 6, and we find that they are...
A. Promises of Freedom & Redemption (6:6)
A. Promises of Freedom & Redemption (6:6)
6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
Notice how God first declares who He is and then He makes these 3 promises.
1. “I will bring you out...”.
2. “I will free you...”.
3. “I will redeem you...”.
These three promises are regarding being freed from enslavement. However, the freedom is not something that is easily attained. It is not a gift from the enemy. It is something that comes at a price and one for which the Israelites cannot pay. In other words, it is redeemed.
God is declaring to Israel, fret not! I am going to bring you out of Egypt and the slavery you are experiencing there. I will free you from being slaves. I will buy your freedom with the mighty acts of judgment that I will bring upon those who have enslaved you.
These promises are still celebrated by Jews today. They play a part in the Passover celebration. As they celebrated Passover that first night and in the years to follow, they remember that 400 years of slavery and how God promised to deliver them and He did.
This promise would be repeated later and broadened to include us all as we are all slaves to sin.
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
We also know that all men have sinned. No one, except Christ, are without sin.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
In our American history, there were many slaves that tried to escape. Many were caught and brutally punished, and sometimes even murdered for trying to escape. There were some who succeeded to escape, but when it comes to sin, there is no escape we can accomplish on our own. Only God can free us from this bondage of sin.
To Israel God declared,
I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. (v 6)
For us, God offers us freedom from the yoke of sin.
Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
We live in a world that keeps trying to persuade us that freedom is being able to live by our own emotional desires. It is the ability to choose anything you want. However, this is not freedom because it only brings on disastrous consequences that draw us deeper and deeper into despair. For example, people fight to live by their lusts. They want to be free to have sex with whomever they want, whenever they want. In some cases, this leads to unwanted pregnancy. No biggy! I will just get an abortion. However, that comes with many of its own consequences; emotional depression, feelings of guilt, sometimes there is damage done that prevents future pregnancies, all which just cause more emotional distress. This is one of many, many examples. This is not freedom!
Jesus offers us a better way. We take off the yoke of sin and we put on the yoke of salvation. Matthew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Unlike sin, that bears great consequences and drags us down, a life lived in Christ brings joy, peace, comfort. It is carefree from guilt and consequences. It is the difference of wearing a ball and chain around your neck compared to a victors wreath of posies.
Not only does God free us from the yoke of sin, but God frees us from sin itself.
To Israel God declares,
“I will free you from being slaves to them.” (v 6)
To us, God declares that the actions of His Son have given us the ability to be free from the slavery of sin. More literally, slaves to Satan.
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
In other words, our old desires are crucified on the cross of Christ and a new person is born with a different agenda. We no longer desire to serve our base nature (lust, greed, pride, etc…). Instead, we serve a higher nature of love. God works in us to help us have better desires and make better choices that do not bring the consequences that destroy our lives and separate us from the God who loves us.
As created beings, we are never totally free serving only ourselves. If we were, the only result would be chaos. Our desires often come at the expense of another. As we can see, our natural desires lead us to do things that only enslave us, but as slaves to Christ, His power and direction in our life lead us to freedom from all those messes we often make of our lives.
16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Finally, God shares how we will be freed. Pharaoh was not about to just allow his prime workforce walk away. Neither does sin. Behind sin is another. He is an enemy and he is as determined as Pharaoh to keep us in his grasp. We can only be freed through a redeeming action.
To redeem means to take action to get something back. Most often it requires a payment of some sort.
To Israel God declared,
“I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.” (v 6)
God took action on behalf of the Israelites. He fought a battle they could not win. God had the power to win that battle.
However, even though God redeemed them from the slavery under Pharaoh, there was a much deeper kind of slavery they needed saved from. They needed freedom from sin as well. The judgement for sin is death. So, the Israelites, as well as all humankind are sitting under a penalty of death. We literally live lives on death row with no means of changing our verdict. God sees our plight, just as He saw Israels and He sent His Son to die in our stead, therefore providing us a means to be pardoned from our guilt. Jesus shed blood was the redemption act on our behalf.
So, for us God declares redemption from sin.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
God promised Abraham that He would save Abraham’s people from the yoke of slavery and bring them freedom based on His covenant with Abraham. However, that covenant promised not only the freedom of Israel from Egypt, but it alluded to a greater promise of redemption for all humankind from sin. Jesus death on the cross was sufficient to cover the sins of all men and women. The old covenant was never a means unto itself. It was a foreshadowing of a new covenant yet to come. This new covenant was set in place when Jesus came. It provided the means for our salvation from sin. However, only those willing to receive the gift of this promised redemption will be covered by it in the end.
So, God promised freedom and redemption, but the “I will” declarations did not stop there. The next two promises are...
B. Promises of a Covenant Relationship (v 7)
B. Promises of a Covenant Relationship (v 7)
7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
Here we see that God makes two promises
4. “I will take you as my own people”
5. “I will be your God.”
Under the old covenant, the Israelites were God’s people. The really important thing to understand here is that they did nothing to deserve this. God chose them out of the goodness of His heart. He needed a group of people He could work through to allow the world to see who He is and what He could do. What He wants to do for people. He wants to lavish wonderful things on people if they will only allow Him to do so.
God chose Abraham and His descendents. Now, Abraham was a sinner as much as anyone else. But Abraham chose to follow God. He made an effort, imperfect as it was at times, to obey God. So, God promised Abraham his descendants would multiply and He (God) would take them as His people. God then worked in their lives so that others could see and know that He is God. When they followed and obeyed Him, He blessed them in every good way. However, when they did not, He allowed the consequences to take over and they suffered. All of this demonstrated the good things God wishes to lavish on those that are His (i.e. Those who choose to worship Him and obey Him).
In comparison, Pharaoh was considered a god by the Egyptians. The Egyptians served many other gods. Very shortly, we will see that the gods they served had no power to protect or deliver them from the judgement of the God of Israel. The Ten Plagues are God’s demonstration of this very fact. We will see more on this in coming weeks.
Later, Joshua will declare to Israel.
15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua had witnessed first hand, God’s deliverance from the gods of Egypt. He knew the God of Israel was the only one he desired to give his allegiance to.
To Israel God declares,
“I will take you as my own people…I will be your God.”
To us, God promises to be our Father and make us sons and daughters, co-heirs with Christ, if we will take Him as our God.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
We no longer live according to our spirit, but to the Spirit of God within us directing us in a new way of living. Living a life of right living (righteousness). In other words, we make good choices in our life that bring better things than the old life.
So, God promises to redeem us from the yoke of sin as well as from the bondage of sin. God also promises us that we will be His children and co-heirs. The final promises direct us to our inheritance. These last two promises are...
C. Promises Regarding Our Future Destination. (v 8)
C. Promises Regarding Our Future Destination. (v 8)
8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’ ”
Here we find the last two promises of Exodus 6:6-8.
6. “I will bring you to the land”
7. “I will give it to you as a possession.”
Followed by the bold affirmation of God’s identity, “I am the LORD.” This statement is like putting a signature on the check. You can guarantee that when you take the check to the bank, the funds will be there. If Bill Gates made a check out to me for $1,000. I would have full confidence that when I took it to the bank it would be cashed as there would be no doubt that the funds are there to cover it. This is a poor example, but I think you get my meaning.
For Israel, they had waited several hundred years to acquire the land promised to Abraham. They are about to see this promise fulfilled, though it gets delayed due to their disobedience. However, God never reneges on His promises. Later, under Joshua’s leadership, they will possess the land.
To Israel God declares,
“I will bring you to the land I promised…I will give it to you as a possession.”
They took possession of the land, though they never fully obeyed God and so never acquired as much of it as they should have had. However, God will even rectify this as we know later on, the time will come when they will have it in full. God has said so. God always keeps His promises! He is faithful!
To us God promises a special place in His house and we will reign with Christ.
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
22 “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure.
When the Israelites headed out for Canaan, they had no comprehension of what it would be like. In fact, when they arrived, they were fascinated by the incredible bounty of the land.
We are in the same boat. Scriptures tell us of a wonderful new heavens and new earth. We are told that God will dwell among us. A description is given of a beautiful city made of gold, silver, gems, and all kinds of beautiful things. However, we have no true comprehension of it. But there is one thing we can be sure of. If we put our faith in Christ, one day it will all be ours. A loving Father, a beautiful city, a special room for each of us, and a loving older Brother and Savior. God always keeps His promise. We will be co-owners. The deed is made out to you and me and it is signed over by God Almighty Himself!
God is a covenant God. He has offered us the opportunity to be a covenant people with Him. If you have ever heard someone teach or preach on just what this means, you should realize that it is the promise that all that is God’s is mine and all that is mine is God’s. However, technically, I have nothing. All good things come form God. But God is not concerned with what I do not have. God is only interested in giving me (and you) what He has. EVERYTHING!
It is all ours through the actions of Jesus Christ.
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
We regularly take communion as a means to remember what Christ did on our behalf. In so doing, we are reminded that we enter into His death so that we can take on the new life He offers us. This new life offers us many wonderful things. Here one more time are...
Our covenant promises are:
Freedom from sin.
A yoke that is light.
Redemption from sin.
The adoption as God’s children.
The benefits of God as our God.
The opportunity to be co-heirs with Jesus Christ.
And a beautiful eternal home in God’s presence.
Today as we receive communion, take a moment to thank God for all His wonderful promises and their fulfillments. Come up as you are ready and you can be dismissed after you are served. Please allow me a moment to speak a blessing over you before you leave the table.
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