PROMISES TO KEEP

Religion

This sermon is from the series on the Life of Christ entitled THAT WE MAY KNOW HIM and was preached at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Cherry Log, Georgia on Sunday, September 28, 2014 by Pastor Paul Mims. You can hear this sermon at www.csbccl.org

Luke 24:13-35Has anyone ever made a promise to you that they did not keep? Have you ever made a promise to anyone that you did not keep? Most of us can answer “yes” to both questions.

The story is told about a man who all his life, every time he got paid took $20 out of his paycheck and put it under his mattress. Then he got sick and was about to die. As he was dying, he said to his wife, “I want you to promise me one thing.” “Promise what?” she asked. “I want you to promise me that when I’m dead you will take my money from under the mattress and put it in my casket so that I can take it all with me.” He died, and his wife kept her promise. She went in and got all that money the day he died and went to the bank and deposited it, and wrote out a check and put it in his casket.

Janice wanted a big grandfather clock for our living room. She said, “I want a grandfather clock before I become a grandmother.” I promised her that she would have one on our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. But when that time came, we could not afford it, so I promised her that it would still happen. On our thirtieth wedding anniversary I found just what she wanted. I had an inscription made on a brass plate and attached it to the inside of the door to the clock. It reads, “Given to Janice on our thirtieth wedding anniversary. A Promise kept.”

Someone has counted the promises in the Bible and discovered that there are 8,810, 7,706 of which are in the Old Testament and 1,104 are in the New Testament. These are promises that God has made to us. Many of them have to do with the promises that he made prior to the coming of Christ and describing His life in detail.

In our study of the LIFE OF CHRIST we have determined that He lived in eternity before the foundation of the world and that He was the one through whom all things were created. We also focused on how we know about Him through the Gospels and how they came to us. Today, we are going to look at the prophecies of His coming. They are promises that God made as He unfolded His plan of world redemption.
No understanding of Christ would be complete without the promises that the Father made about Him.

I. PROMISES OF HIS PERSON
What would the Christ be like? He would be born of a woman.

The promise: Genesis 3:15; “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”

The Fulfillment: Galatians 4:4; “But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.”

He would be a descendent of Abraham.

Genesis 12:3,7; “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed…To your descendants I will give this land.”

Matthew 1:1; “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the son of Abraham.”

He would be of the tribe of Judah.

Genesis 49:10; “The scepter shall not depart from Judah.”

Revelation 5:5; “…the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”

He would be a descendant of David.

2 Samuel 7:12; “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom…forever.”

Luke 1:32-33; “…and the Lord God will give Him the throne of his father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and His Kingdom will have no end.”
He would be born of a virgin.

Isaiah 7:14; “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

Matthew 1:22-23; “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son and they shall call His name Immanuel.’”

He would be born in Bethlehem.

Micah 5:2l; “But as for you Bethlehem, Ephrathah…from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”

Luke 2:4-6; “Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem…along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son…”

He would be filled with God’s Spirit.

Isaiah 11:2; “The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him…”
Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recover of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

The Bible is very specific about what God has promised and about how his promises are always trustworthy for our needs.

II. PROMISES ABOUT HIS MINISTRY.
He would be a mighty healer.
Isaiah 35:5; “The eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. The lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.”

Matthew 8:16-17; “When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: He himself took our infirmities and carried away out diseases.”
He would be rejected by the Jewish people.

Isaiah 53:3; “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

John 1:11; “He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”
He would take our sins upon himself.

Isaiah 53:5; “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.”

Romans 5:6; “For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.”
He would be crucified with criminals.

Isaiah 53:12; “And was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.’

Mark 15: 27-28; “They crucified two robbers with Him, one on his right and one on His left. And the scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors.”
He would be given vinegar to drink.

Psalm 69:21; “They also gave me gall for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”

John 19:29; “A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
He would be buried with the rich.

Isaiah 53:9; “His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence.”

Matthew 27:57-60; “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock.”
He would resurrect from the dead.

Psalm 16:10; “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”

Luke 24:6-7; “He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered unto the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

He would sit at the Father’s right hand.
Psalm 110:1; “The Lord says to my Lord; Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

Mark 16:19; “So, then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.”
So you can see that the Lord Jesus before whom we bow this morning was promised in very specific language and every one of the promises about Him are true. There were many more than I could list in this brief message.

William Carey, a pioneer missionary, said “The future is as bright as the promises of God.”

III. GOD’S PROMISES TO US TODAY.
A dad promised to take his 6 year old son fishing. They put down a trotline and went up to the cabin. After an hour they went back down to the river to see if they had caught anything. Sure enough, there were several fish on the line. The son said, “I knew there would be, Daddy.” The father asked, “How did you know?” The child replied, “Because I prayed about it.” So they baited the hooks again, put out the line and went back to the cabin for supper. Afterward, they went back to the river. Again, there were fish on the line. The boy said, “I knew it!” “How did you know it?” The father asked again. “I prayed again,” he said. So once again, they put the line back into the river and went to the cabin. Before bed, they went down to the river one more time. This time there were no fish. The boy said, “I knew there would be no fish.” “How did you know?” “Because I didn’t pray this time.” “And why didn’t you pray?” “Because I remembered that we forgot to bait the hooks.”

It takes faith to claim God’s promises, but when we do, we find them to always be true and trustworthy. Consider these:

Isaiah 41:10; “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
Do you need that promise today?

Psalm 84:11; “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

To walk uprightly is the same as the little boy and his father baiting the hooks.
There are several questions that we must ask ourselves when we claim a biblical promise. First, ask yourself, “Does the Holy Spirit bear witness with my spirit that this promise that I read in scripture is for me?” “Does it speak to my need at the present?” “Have I surrendered my will to God in the matter I am praying about?” “Is my understanding of this promise in conflict with any other portion of scripture?” “Will my claiming of this promise bring glory to God?” If we get affirmative answers to these questions we are free to claim the promise for ourselves.

In claiming God’s promises be aware that they are often conditional. If the promise has an “If” in it, be sure that you meet the conditions. Also, be aware that promises made to specific people in the Bible may not be for you. God gave them to that person for a specific time and purpose. But they may also be for you if you ask Him about it. Realize that you cannot require God to fulfill His promise to you in your preconceived idea of how you want it fulfilled.

My friend, Jack Turney, whose funeral Janice and I attended last week in Orlando, claimed a promise that God made to Hezekiah in Isaiah 38. Hezekiah, the King, was near death and asked God to extend his life so he could finish his work. The Lord said, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.” Jack read that passage and thought, “Would the Lord do that for me?” He was eighty years old. He already had two heart by-passes, a dangerously thin aortic valve, prostate cancer, and other health issues. He had so much more to do with the mission projects of the Spoken Word of God, so he asked the Lord for ten more years. And the Lord gave him eleven.
You are His child and His servant as well. What may He do for you – if you claim His promises in faith?

PRAISE BE TO IS NAME!

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