Introduction:
A. Here’s an interesting story for you: A man named Russell Edward Herman left trillions of dollars to thousands of people he’d never met.
1. What was the catch? Russell Edward Herman didn’t have trillions of dollars. He was just a simple, poor carpenter.
2. While the wild, wild will of the late Russell Herman never paid off for his “beneficiaries,” it certainly enlivened conversations.
3. Take the tiny Ohio River town of Cave-In-Rock, for example. Herman bequeathed $2.41 billion to them.
4. Cave-In-Rock’s mayor, Albert Kaegi had this to say, “It’s an odd thing to happen, isn’t it?”
5. While the will would never pay off, the mayor had no trouble imagining uses for the willed imaginary monies.
6. Russell Edward Herman had great intentions, but he lacked the resources needed to make them a reality.
7. The greatness of God, however, stands in sharp contrast.
8. God not only has made great and precious promises, He has the ability to follow through on every single one of them.
B. If you were here last week, then you will remember that we have begun a new sermon series titled: “God’s Faithfulness and Ours.”
1. Last week we spent our time celebrating just how faithful is our God.
2. We discussed the fact that the Bible not only declares that God is faithful, it reveals the history of His faithfulness.
3. Today I what us to be reminded of the fact that God is faithful to his promises.
4. I really like what Peter wrote about the promises of God “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3-4)
C. Just how many of these great and precious promises do you think are in the Bible?
1. 100? 1000? 10,000?
2. It might surprise you to know that according to a man named Dr. Reginald Dunlap there are approximately 30,000 promises in the Bible!
3. Peter calls these “PRECIOUS” promises and it seemed that he liked that word.
4. He used it at least 5 times in his two books: Precious Faith (1 Peter 1:7, 2 Peter 1:1), Precious blood (1 Peter 1:19), Precious stone (1 Peter 2:4-6), Precious Lord (1 Peter 2:7) and Precious promises (2 Peter 1:4).
5. What is it that makes them so great and precious? Certainly because they come from a great God who can do the impossible and because they lead to an abundant life.
D. Listen to some verses that declare that God is faithful to His promises.
1. Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”
2. 1 Kings 8:56, “Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.
3. Joshua 21:45, “Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”
4. Joshua 23:14, “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”
5. 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
6. Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
7. I love the old saying, “You can’t break God’s promises by leaning on them!” Lean On!.
8. God wants us to lean on his promises. He wants us to stand on them. And count on them.
E. Here’s a wonderful thought and reality: Peter declares that claiming these precious promises makes us “partakers” with Christ.
1. A “partaker” is a participant, partner, or sharer.
2. We claim these precious promises as our own when we become a Christian.
3. This then allows us to share in the “Divine nature”
4. When we partner with Christ we can become like Him.
5. But this new nature is not automatic. We must flee, “escape” the corruption that is in the world by evil desires.
6. That’s why Peter goes on to describe the great effort we must put forth to add to our faith all kinds of godly characteristics.
I WHAT ARE GOD’S GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES?
A. God has said that he will do a number of things, here are just a few:
B. Jesus said “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Mt. 16:18)
1. Most of us are a part of that church that Jesus built.
2. It has been in existence for 2000 years and it will remain until the end.
3. Oh, yes, the church has faced its attacks from without and within. Satan continues to try to destroy it, but God will not allow that to happen. He promised.
C. Another precious promise of God is “I will be with you.”
1. God has made this promise to his people throughout time.
2. To Joshua God said, “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Josh 1:5)
3. In the Great Commission Jesus said, “And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt. 28:20)
4. In 2 Tim. 4:16-17, Paul wrote, “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength…”
5. That’s what God does for his people. He sticks close to them.
6. When we go through our darkest nights he won’t leave us alone!
D. God has also promised: “I will strengthen you.”
1. I like Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
2. 2 Thess. 3:3, “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
3. That’s why Paul declared, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Phil. 4:13)
4. I know that it’s because of God’s strength that I am who I am and do what I do. There’s no way I could do even half of what I do on my own!
E. Another thing God said he would do is: “I will pour out my Spirit.”
1. That promise was uttered by prophets for centuries, but was finally realized on the day of Pentecost when the church began.
2. God promises the Holy Spirit to people who have put their faith in Christ.
3. Eph. 1:13 states, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” (Quote also – Acts 2:38)
4. How wonderful to know that we have God’s Spirit in us, to comfort, strengthen, lead and guide.
F. Let me mention one final precious promise: “I will come again.”
1. John 14:1-3, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 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.”
2. How wonderful to know that we are saved and that we have eternal life.
3. 1 John 2:25, “And this is what he promised us – even eternal life.”
4. 1 John 5:13, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
5. Jesus is coming back, and he will take us to live with him…forever. That’s a promise!
G. By no means are these five the only great and precious promises of God.
1. No doubt we could list hundreds of promises of God this morning, but hopefully these five I’ve mentioned will excite us and cause us to appreciate our Promise Keeping God and His Great and Precious Promises.
2. An important question we must answer is: How do we receive God’s promises?
II. HOW DO WE RECEIVE GOD’S PROMISES?
A. Let me share with you four ways through which we receive God’s promises.
B. First we need to Prayerful Study our Bibles.
1. The Word of God is the treasury of every on of God’s promises.
2. So we must deeply mine the soil of God’s Word to discover its gems.
3. There’s a story told of a little girl who pointed to the Bible that stood untouched on the bookshelf and asked her mother, "Whose book is that?"
a. Startled by her daughter’s question, the mother answered, "Why honey, don’t you know? It’s God’s book."
b. With eyes wide open the girl replied, "Then don’t you think we should give it back to Him? No one around here ever reads it?"
4. After all, how can we know what our heavenly Father has promised unless we hear His voice in the pages of the Bible?
5. We can’t and that is why many people go astray.
6. Many assume that God has made certain promises to them, when in fact He has not.
7. They might assume He has promised them physical healing; a job; fair treatment; or a good marriage.
8. But the bottom line is that our Christianity is no insurance policy against severe trials and pain.
9. What then, does God promise us? To sum it all up, he has promised us himself. He is all we need.
10. Paul says in 2 Cor. 1:20, In Christ all the promises of God are yes, but we must search the Scriptures to find and claim each one.
C. Second, to receive God’s promises we must patiently wait.
1. Heb. 6:15 says of Abraham, “And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.”
2. Abraham waited 25 years--until he was 100 yrs old--between God’s original promise and the birth of Isaac.
3. Have you waited that long for God to fulfill a promise? Maybe you have.
4. We must not rush God. Let Him do His own work in His own time.
5. King David is another good example. God promised him he would be the king of Israel. Yet he had to wait for years during the wicked reign of Saul before he came to the throne. And through it all he learned patience.
6. Even as early as the book of Genesis the Lord promised His people a Messiah. But it took centuries for Christ to come in the fullness of God’s timing.
7. It’s hard to wait…sometimes I get impatient with a 30 second download on my computer!
D. A third aspect of receiving God’s promises is living in obedience to God’s will.
1. Hebrews 10:36 teaches that obedience is a key to obtaining God’s promise: “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.”
2. Often the Lord’s promises are conditional. We have to fulfill our responsibilities before we can receive the rewards of God.
3. Take God’s greatest promise for example: I am talking about salvation in Jesus Christ.
4. Our Heavenly Father does not give the salvation of His Son to us automatically.
5. Before He becomes ours, we must trust Him as our Lord & Savior and obey the gospel.
E. A final way that we receive God’s promises is by FAITH.
1. Heb. 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.”
2. Our trust in God is the key. Heb. 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
3. In 2 Cor. 5:7 Paul states that, "we walk by faith, not by sight."
4. By faith, as hard as it is, we trust in the invisible God, our loving Father, and we stand on His promises.
5. Being a person of faith doesn’t mean we never doubt. It just means that we believe more than we doubt. Words from a Reliant K song – “Believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts.
Conclusion:
A. In closing let me ask you: What is the promise you need to claim?
B. Maybe it is one from Philippians 4:7, "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
C. Perhaps you need the promise of victory over temptation. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Cor. 10:13)
D. Or maybe you require the wisdom to deal with the trials in your life. Claim James 1:5: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
E. If you are the victim of slander, divorce, or disease you may wonder if anything good can come out of it. Take hold of 1 Pet. 5:10, "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
F. Perhaps you are shouldering a tremendous burden of guilt. You would give anything to wipe out your past sins.
1. Instead of giving something, just receive this promise: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jn. 1:9)."
2. Whatever it is that we need, God is able to keep His promises.
3. When you and I learn to trust Him according to His promises our lives will never be the same.
G. I really like this poem by Annie Johnson Flint called “What God Hath Promised”
God hath not promised skies always blue, flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
God hath not promised we shall not know, toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear, many a burden, many a care.
God hat not promised smooth roads and wide, swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep, never a river, turbid and deep.
But God hath promised strength for the day, rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.
