MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED: 2018)
TEXT: Hebrews 13:1-5; Philippians 4:19; 2 Peter 1:4
ILL. I wish you could have known Bessie Hanna. She was a long-time member of Central Christian in Brownsville, & was 95 years old when she died.
Bessie was a lovely person. And for the last 22 years of her life she taught the Loyal Women's class. Do you realize that means she was 73 years old when she began teaching that class?
Anyway, I was visiting her in the hospital during her last illness, & she was trying to find a particular verse of Scripture. The passage she wanted me to find & read contains these words, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" ? a promise of our Lord to His people.
That is a wonderful promise, & it is found in Hebrews 13:5, plus in 2 other places in the O.T. But it is just part of a much longer passage, & I want you to hear more of it.
A. Listen to Hebrews 13:1-5. "Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have entertained angels without knowing it.
“Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, & those who are mistreated… Marriage should be honored by all, & the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer & all the sexually immoral.
“Keep your lives free from the love of money & be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'"
Beautiful, isn't it? But that promise, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" is just part of what God was saying: "Keep on loving each other . . . don't neglect to show hospitality . . . be concerned about prisoners . . . be faithful to your wife or husband, keep yourself sexually pure . . . be free from the love of money."
Then, if all these things are true in your life, He promises, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
SUM: May I suggest that not only this promise, but all of God's promises have strings attached. I'm afraid that for many this is a disturbing thought.
We love to say, "God, you promised this," or, "God, I expect this from you," or, "God, you are the giver of every good & perfect gift." And God is. But we need to realize that God's promises have strings attached.
B. A similar passage says, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20) Those are the last words in the gospel of Matthew where Jesus is saying "goodbye" to His apostles.
But just before making that promise He told them, "Go ye therefore & make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father & of the Son & of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you..."
And that's when He made this promise, "and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20, NKJV)
You see, the promise to be "with them" was "if you are doing what I asked, if you're making known the message I entrusted to you."
C. How about this promise? "We know that God causes all things to work together for good" But what is the rest of that verse? "to those who love God, & who are called according to His purpose." (Rom. 8:28)
He is not saying that all things are good. He is saying that even in the worst of times, if you love God & let Him lead, then He will bring about results that will be a blessing in your life.
SUM: Do you get my point? There are many wonderful promises in God's Word. In fact, Peter says, "Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises." (2 Peter 1:4)
ILL. When the children of Israel were preparing to go into the promised land, God told Joshua, "As I was with Moses, I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5)
There is that promise again, but God also told Joshua, “Be strong & very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you…” (Joshua 1:7). Did you notice? God set some conditions.
He said, "There are 3 things I expect of you. #1 ? Be strong, #2 – Be very courageous, & #3 - Obey My law. If you do this," God said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." And God kept His promise.
PROP: I'm going to mention several of God's promises this morning. And I want you to consider them because we're so used to taking them for granted, thinking, "God, you promised, you owe me," without understanding that we owe Him, also.
I. GOD PROMISED TO TAKE CARE OF HIS PEOPLE
A. For instance, God promised to take care of His people. Philippians 4:19 says, "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
God cares about us, & promises to supply us with what we need - & sometimes we need discipline! Sometimes we need to learn a lesson, & God says, "I'll supply what you need."
What is the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray? "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily cake."
No, He didn't say that. "Give us our daily bread." God will supply our needs, not necessarily all our wants.
B. God often linked His warnings & promises together. In 2 Chron. 7:13-14 He said, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves & pray & seek my face & turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven & will forgive their sin & will heal their land."
God is saying, "I'll take care of you "IF," & the "IF" is "IF you humble yourself & pray & seek my face." We have to turn from our wicked ways first. If we're doing that then God says, "I'll take care of you."
SUM: I wonder what God sees today? I wonder if the promises He made to care for His people are still good today? I believe they are.
II. GOD PROMISED TO ANSWER PRAYER
A. God has also promised to answer our prayers. Matthew 21:22 says, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Did you notice? We have to believe. We have to realize that God is capable of answering our prayers.
B. And that is not the only string attached. 1 John 5:14 says, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." We are to ask “according to His will,” not always “our will.”
Isn't that what Christ prayed in the Garden at Gethsemane? "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from Me…." In other words, "I don't want to die on the cross." But then He continued His prayer, "yet not my will but Yours be done." (Luke 22:42)
C. There's more. Psalms 66:18 says, "If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened…" And Isaiah 59:2 says, "Your iniquities have separated you & your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."
Do you get that? "Preacher, this sin of mine is such a little sin. After all, a lot of people do this. I know I shouldn't - but it is such a little sin." Yet nowhere does God describe any sin as a "little" sin.
D. Then, again, James 4:3 says, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." So we must be unselfish in our prayers.
SUM: God has promised us material blessings ? IF. God has promised to answer our prayers ? IF. But each promise is qualified by conditions.
III. GOD PROMISED TO FORGIVE OUR SINS
Another of God’s great promises is to forgive our sins, but that promise is also conditional.
A. In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus said, "If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Jesus is saying, "If you aren't forgiving, God won't forgive you."
Think again about the prayer which we often call “The Lord's Prayer.” We pray, "Father, forgive us our debts, our sins . . ." How? "Even as we forgive our debtors - those who sin against us."
In other words, "Father, forgive me in the same way that I forgive others. And if I'm not forgiving others, then God, don't forgive me." Yet, Jesus says that our being forgiving toward others is a condition for God forgiving our sins.
B. A jailor cried out to Paul & Silas in the prison. He had felt the jail rocked by an earthquake, & the prison doors opened. He didn't know anything about Jesus, but he knew that Paul worshipped some God. After he saw all of this he came trembling, falling down before Paul & Silas & saying, "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30)
What does Paul tell him? "Believe in the Lord Jesus, & you will be saved." (Acts 16:31). “Jesus is the one you need to know & follow.”
The jailer was commanded to believe in Jesus. Now, that wasn't all, but that was the first step. So, there is a string attached to our salvation - belief.
C. On the day of Pentecost, when Peter faced the assembled crowd, he knew that just a few days before many of them had also been in the crowd that cried out, "Crucify Him, crucify Him."
To them Peter declared, "Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders & signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. …and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.” (Acts 2:22-23)
Then Peter added, “Let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord & Christ.” (Acts 2:36)
They cried out to Peter & the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37) How could they be forgiven by God for their terrible sin?
Peter answered, "Repent & be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)
IV. JESUS PROMISED TO RECOGNIZE US IN HEAVEN
I could go on & give several more of His promises, but let me end with just one more. Jesus promised to recognize us in heaven, & that we will be there with Him.
A. I like that promise! At Central Christian down in Brownsville we had a lot of Winter Visitors. I enjoyed meeting them, & then doing my best to remember their names.
But after I had been there for a few years I found that some of them were playing games with me to see if I remembered who they were when they came back a year or two later. "Preacher, do you remember me? I'll bet you don't remember us."
It's nice to be able to recognize each other, & to know each other, & to catch the preacher when he can't remember.
B. But it is even more wonderful to know that Jesus has promised to recognize us in heaven.
Listen to Him, "Every one therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32-33 NASV)
But there is a string attached, & that is, "If we confess Him before men." If we let the world know that He is ours & we are His, then He will say the same thing about us before God.
But if we deny Him, if we turn our backs upon Him, then Jesus will deny us, "Depart from me. I never knew you."
Just like the prayer to forgive, "If" you forgive others. "To be welcomed & acknowledged by Me in heaven requires you to acknowledge Me before men."
CONCL. This is the wonderful love & mercy of God. God says, "I have so much to give you. I have made many promises to you. And I'll keep every one of my promises. But there are strings attached."
"I expect something from you, too. I expect love & loyalty & service. I expect you to be mine."
INVITATION: Are you? Is Jesus your Lord & your Savior? Are you really striving to follow Him?
