PromiseLand
Pt. 1 - Promises
I. Introduction
The man who thought he was actually God has been defeated. Pharaoh and his armies have been swallowed in the retreating waters of the Red Sea. This brings to end the 430 years of harsh and brutal treatment of Israelite slaves who had been captive in Egypt. Dramatically and miraculously God has intervened, and deliverance has come. We spent 4 weeks looking at some of the deliverance dilemmas that the Hebrews faced so that we could learn what obstacles present themselves in our cry for freedom. But now they slaves are free. Now what? The fact is God tells them the "now what" before they are ever set free. It is found in . . .
Text: Exodus 3:7-8 (ESV)
Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Let me stop a second and mention to you that when God speaks in the middle of your bondage (and He will) that often we are so desperate for a word to address our current situation that we often miss the fact that He is usually also giving us a word for our future. The Israelites miss it. Because of the severity of their bondage I think all they hear was the word freedom and failed to hear the rest of the statement. Notice that God not only talks to them about freedom He also makes them a promise. He addressed their destination and the process for possession. They heard freedom and ignored future. They heard deliverance and ignored destiny. There is a problem here because what He delivers us from is not as important as understanding what He has delivered to and for. God is revealing to them that unless we move from bondage to blessed . . . freedom is wasted. God will never just deliver us to nothing. Deliverance from must lead to freedom to or freedom for. We cry for deliverance. But if He sets us free ... why? To conquer, take territory, take dominion of what?
This lack of understanding results in the part of the story we are familiar with . . . the freed men dragging their tired feet, through the hot sands of the desert, in sandals that wouldn't wear out for the next 40 years. An 11-day journey turns into a 40 year long funeral march of futility. For the next 40 years God is no longer trying to get them out of Egypt. Instead He is determined to get Egypt out of them. The interim is called wilderness or circling/wandering. And herein lies the first lesson about the promises of God . . .
Promises are prepared for us. Sometimes we aren’t prepared for the promise.
The wilderness prepares us for promise. How many of us have been delivered only to circle? How many of us knew 20 years ago what God said would take place in our life but because we didn't adjust or obey, we are still spinning our wheels? How many of us knew 2 years ago what God said but today we are still circling the same spiritual scenery, same lessons over and over again simply because we haven't prepared for the promise? The promise came that you would be a giant killer have you prepared with your sling before the giant showed up? Later in the account you know that as they approach the Promised Land, Moses sends out spies to view the land. They get there and see that the land is exactly as God said it would be including the giants He told them about. And the spies prove you can receive a promise, long for a promise and also fail to experience the promise because you haven't prepared for the promise. Some of you have a promise that you have been circling for years and you will continue to circle until you do what is necessary to prepare to handle what He wants to give you. He won't give it to you until you prepare otherwise you would waste it. He won 't give you the relationship until you deal with your tone, your anger, your pettiness. He won't give you the promotion until you deal with your pride or you will take credit for it. He won't give you your dream until you deal with your fear of failure or you will refuse to take the risk necessary. He won't give you a platform until you deal with your desire to please man or you will only say what they want you to say! Some of you are in the wilderness, dry times simply because God is waiting on you to prepare. I want to say it again . . . the wilderness prepares you for the promise!
However, I also want you to hear me the promise sustains you in the wilderness. That is the power of the promise.
There are two things we must know and one thing we must do if we are going to live in promise land!
The first one we know or we wouldn't be out here in the wilderness in the first place. We would have just stayed in bondage.
1. God is a promise maker! We know that. The challenge is that because the promise led us out into dry times, we tend to forget the second and even more important truth . . .
2. God is a promise keeper!
Too many of us have relationship with promise makers who aren't promise keepers. Parent, friend, teacher, coworker, boss, neighbor. Their word is worthless. And so, we, and sometimes we don't even realize we are doing it, think God is the same way. I know what He promised but I don't really expect Him to keep His word. I expect something to come up. I expect Him to change His mind. I expect Him to come up short.
For the freemen of Israel, Canaan was the fulfillment of the promise. We may not live geographically positioned in Israel (longitude and latitude), but in attitude we can rest assured that we too can live in promise land. I can live in promise land because . . . according to Numbers 23:19 - God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
If He said it, then you can believe it. You can bank on it. He has never written a check that He can't cash. The strength of our faith should be based on the credibility of the One you put your faith in. Two people can say the same thing and you not believe one but the other. Not because of what was said, but because of who said it! The one who says it makes the difference. Because God said He promised I don't need a cross your heart, hope to die. I don't need a pinky swear. His Word is true! His Word is proven! His Word is a bond and even if there are detours and delays because of my own lack of preparation, participation, or perspiration I still know that His Word will come to pass because I know Hebrews 6:17-18. This passage says, "Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged."
So, I can be encouraged that He will keep His word because He cannot lie. The God about whom we say nothing is impossible states that there is one thing He can't do and that is lie. He limits His own ability so that He can only tell the truth! You can fix your lack of belief about what God can do if you would simply fix your belief about what He can't do. He can't lie!
In fact, we are told in Jeremiah 1:12 that God is so committed to telling the truth that He spends His days, minutes, seconds like this. "I am watching over my word to perform it.” He keeps track of what He says and then He sets on His throne watching over everything that needs to take place for His Word to come to pass! Some of you got a promise and then think God went on vacation. No! He is watching. He is pulling strings. He is working out details. He is moving pieces into place. He is a promise keeper! Just because you have a hard time keeping your word. Just because your partner had a hard time keeping their word. Just because that company had a hard time keeping their word has no bearing on God's ability to perform His promise in us!
You may say well I had a promise. I tasted it. God came through and I lost it. I mishandled it. I messed it up. But God is a promise keeper! I want to point you back to Abraham. Abraham was the first to receive the promise. He actually makes it to the Promised Land. Go back and look in Genesis. He settles in Canaan and then later famine hits. One of his decedents Joseph goes to Egypt. What was meant to be a place of provision becomes a place of prison and they settle where they were only supposed to visit. They stay so long that when they want to leave, they can't. Bondage. They lost the promise. They vacate the promise. The relinquish the promise. But wait a minute. God can't lie. God is promise keeper. So, now hundreds of years later God restores them and brings them back to promise. Your mistakes. Your lack of discipline. Your lack of diligence doesn't change His Word! Nor does it change His ability to bring His Word to pass. He is a promise keeper!
3. We must remember the promises!
A land with milk and honey is mentioned over 20 times from Exodus to Leviticus. God keeps the promise in front of them, so they won't forget about it. We must keep the promise in mind. I have nothing to live for . . . remember the promise. I have nothing to fight for . . . remember the promise. I have nothing to hope for . . . remember the promise. I have nothing to get up for . . . remember the promise! And then remember who made the promise! Waymaker, promise keeper that is who He is! In order to move from bondage to blessed you must remember the promise made and remember the promise maker. Recall what He said. What has He said to you? I recognize time has passed. But what did He promise you?
Believe again. Hold on again. Push again. It will come to pass. You can live in Promise Land!
Here are my questions for you today . . .
Have you prepared for the promise?
Have you forgotten the promise?
