Living In The Promise Series

I have had the privilege of preaching in 44 different nations. In many of the nations, they did not understand English so an interpreter had to be used. Sometimes the person interpreting did not understand English properly or my South African accent. On one or two occasions the interpreter used my lack of understanding to preach his own sermon. Nevertheless, the contact between the congregation and myself was the interpreter.

God uses people to speak on His behalf. People are the connection between God and other humans on earth. Do we speak His word or our own sermons?

Isaiah 59:21 “As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”

Moses Had to speak to Pharoah

Exodus 6:28-7:2 And it came to pass, on the day the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?” 7 So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land.

Elijah was a Prophet who spoke God’s words

Isaiah 6:4-9 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

Jonah had to preach against Nineveh

Jonah 1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

Romans 10:14-15 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

How is the world going to hear about God’s goodness apart from through us who believe? How are the 8 billion people living on the earth today going to hear the glad tidings?

First of all, you have to realize that in the Old Testament, the inheritance of the Israelites was a piece of real estate in the Middle East called Canaan.

Genesis 15:18 On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—

Joshua 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.

The deliverance of the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt is an unforgettable story of God’s purposeful and powerful salvation of His people. The account of God redeeming Israel from Egypt foreshadowed the redemption to come in Christ. Just as God redeemed Israel from Egypt through the blood of the lambs on their doorposts, so all God’s people ultimately are redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

Exodus 3:7-8 The Lord said, “I have seen the suffering of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of the men who make them work. I know how they suffer. 8 So I have come down to save them from the power of the Egyptians. I will bring them out of that land to a good big land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite