Introduction: God desires to fulfill His promise to each of us, but not everyone living in the land of promise is heir to that promise. Eph 2:12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. There are those who sit among us in the church who have not received the hope of the promise through making Christ Jesus their Lord. And I believe many of those who are Christians have not learned to receive the promises of God for their life.
I. Not everyone who dwells in the land receives the promise.
A. Abraham left his home land in search of the land of promise.
1. God told him to go, but he didn’t tell where it was. He just promised to lead him.
Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (NKJ)
2. Abraham didn’t receive the promise of the land until he had already arrived at the place.
Gen 12:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land."
3. The people who lived in the land of promise were not the children of the promise.
B. When Abraham arrived the blessings began to flow.
1. Many of those who associated with Abraham were blessed by the overflow of God’s blessing on him.
2. But they were not the recipients of the promise.
3. God’s covenant was with Abraham and his seed.
C. Rom 4:13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
1. The promise wasn’t just about the land, it was about the blessing of God.
2. God said to the seed of Abraham, Gen 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
3. Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. (NKJ)
II. Possessing the promise.
A. Staking your claim.
1. Abraham didn’t have the deed but he had the claim.
2. God said; “I want you to pass through the land and as far as you can see I will give you the land.”
3. He had a claim on the promise.
B. You and I have a claim on the promises to.
1. Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
2. Lot, Abraham’s nephew, also lived in the land of promise but he never fully possessed the promise.
3. We must not only have a claim, but we must stake our claim and wait for it to happen.
C. We have a lot of promises in God’s Word that we struggle to possess.
1. Eph. 2:3 tells us that, “God has blessed us with every Spiritual blessing in heavenly places.”
2. Sometimes we feel like Eph 2:12 still applies to us. Eph 2:12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
3. We live in a material world and struggle with spiritual principles.
Rom 4:17 calleth those things which be not as though they were. (KJV)
III. Faith is an issue.
A. Faith and belief is one of the most talked about subjects in the New Testament.
1. Jesus uses faith in His teaching 29 times and the word believe more than 90 times in the gospels alone.
2. Acts thru Revelation mentions faith more than 200 times and believe 57 times.
3. Paul says in Romans 12:3; God has given each one the measure of faith.
B. It’s not the amount of faith that’s the issue it’s the direction and kind of faith that matters to God.
1. Faith must be directed toward God and according to the Word.
2. If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed.
3. That is having the faith of God!
