For our scripture reading, turn
with me to Galatians chapter 3. I just want to read a few verses
here. The message will be taken from
2 Corinthians 1. We'll be talking about the promises
of God in Christ, but I wanted you to see these verses here
in the book of Galatians. Galatians 3 and verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds as
of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant
that was confirmed before of God in Christ. The law, which
was 430 years after, cannot disallow that it should make a promise
of none effect. For if the inheritance be of
the law, it is no more promise, but God gave it to Abraham by
promise. I invite you to turn with me
this morning to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. The church at Corinth was a troubled
church. It was a troubled church, but
it was, by the grace of God, God's church. It was an assembly called of
God. God's people were there and they
were suffering from a lack of leadership and an open door for
the enemies of God to come in and cause division within. My heart's heavy this morning
concerning assemblies just like this one. Assemblies without a pastor.
No one sent of God to watch for their souls. No one sent of God to feed them
and to lead them in the way of the Lord. The Lord said, I'll
provide my people with faithful shepherds. I'm going to send
them shepherds. There's one assembly in South
Louisiana who were separated after the death of their pastor, being forced to sit under a man
who didn't know the gospel, let alone was able to preach it. Another whose pastor was murdered
and left with no shepherd, and another whose pastor resigned. They're all without And via the internet, I hope
I can say a few things this morning to encourage them and to prepare
you should something happen to me. I don't want to leave you
unprepared. I want those people. Well, let me start here. Paul
was not planning on being gone so long from Corinth. He was
planning on coming right back. He told them that. But God's providence is not according
to our plans, it's according to his own counsel and will. God's providence a lot of times
runs contrary to our plans. Paul planned on going down where
Lydia lived to preach, but God's providence wouldn't let him.
Said the Holy Ghost blocked the way, wouldn't let him go. So
where did he go? Well, he went to preach this
little group down on the river, and Lydia was there. She wasn't
where he wanted to go. She was over here. So God's providence,
it doesn't always coincide with our plans. And nobody in Rock
Valley planned on their pasture being suddenly taken away like
Joe was. Nobody. Nobody saw that coming.
Nobody prepared for it. And nobody in San Diego planned
on their pastor resigning. Nobody in Lake Charles, Louisiana
planned on the church split after the gospel being preached there
for years and years and years. So what can I say to these people
and to this assembly? What can I preach this morning
to encourage you? The same thing I'd say if none
of these things came to pass. I'd say to you that exactly what
Paul said to this church of Corinth. He said, when I preached to you
and these men that I had preached to you, Timotheus, Silvanus,
he said we didn't preach a yea and nay gospel. Everything we preached, he said,
was yea. And the reason it's yea is because
all the promises of God in Christ are yea and amen. Our hopes in Christ Jesus the
Lord. Jesus Christ is I don't know
what people think. I listened to them talk. My nephew
died of long struggle with cancer and he died and I was listening
to the comments that they made concerning him and talking about
people flying high and visiting with lost and dead relatives
and all that kind of nonsense. Jesus Christ is not in some waiting
room in glory hoping that what he did will be enough. Hoping
that men and women will make his work effectual. Hoping that
circumstance and opportunity won't destroy his work. Jesus
Christ was escorted into glory by the angels of God. And the
Father welcomed him with open arms and sat him at his own right
hand. And by his own words, he said,
all power And heaven and earth is given unto me. It's all given to me. Now you
go do what I told you to do. You go preach. You quit worrying
about the Romans and quit worrying about the this one and that one
and quit worrying about this. You worry about this. All power
is given to me. Nothing is going to come to pass
apart from my will. Now you go preach. You go preach. seated at the right hand of the
majesty on high. He's running the show. He's ordering
all things. He's arranging all things. All power in heaven and earth
in His hands. He said, in Him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily and we're complete in Him who
is the head of what? All principality and power. Nothing
out there that can defeat Him or overrule Him or thwart Him
in His purpose. When he prayed his high priestly
prayer, he said, glorify thou me that I might also glorify
thee, as thou hast given me power over all flesh to give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given me. That's what this power
and this authority is all about. All the promises of God, Paul
said in him, are yea and amen. And here's something I just learned
recently when I was studying this. The word yea is Greek. The word amen is Hebrew. So that the promises are sure
to both Jews and Gentiles. Now why do such things come to
pass in God's assemblies? Why do these things come to pass?
come to pass. It's to shut us up to our trust
in God. That's what it's all about. To
trust in Him and His sovereign rule in Christ. Now let's look
again at verses 19 and 20 here in 2 Corinthians chapter 1. In
verse 19 he said, For the Son of God Jesus Christ, who was preached
among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not
yea and nay, might be, might not be, but in Him was yea. For all the promises of God in
Him are yea, and in Him, amen, unto the glory of God by us. That's my message to you this
morning and to whoever else may hear it, wherever they are. The
promises of God in him. I don't know your hearts or thoughts
concerning me or the ministry here until somebody expresses
them. I can't read your mind and I
can't see your heart. But I'm persuaded that we're
mostly of one mind in this assembly after 17 years. But if we're not, let me offer
this message and express my sincere hope that
it'll be a source of ointment if there's a soil place. Rub
it on. If there's a soil place, let's
treat it. There's just one ministry, the
ministry of Christ. There is but one means, the preaching
of the gospel. Now I know people like to argue
with that, but nobody is going to be saved apart from hearing
the gospel preached. That's just so. And there is
but one message, Christ and Him crucified. There is but one source,
the true and living God. And there is but one hope, and
that's Christ in you. Just one ministry. And the ministry
is not about building buildings or filling up pews or any of
the myriad of things the world of religion associates with that
word ministry. Bus ministry, music ministry,
and on and on it goes. Jail ministries. The ministry
is the ministry of reconciliation. It's a message that calls for
sinners. Now listen to me. I'm going to
define what I just told you. It's a message that calls for
sinners to be reconciled to God's reconciliation in Christ. You
can't reconcile yourself to God. Reconciliation to God is a finished
work. It's already taken place. Listen to this. Having made peace
through the blood of His cross, by Him, to reconcile all things
unto Himself, by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth
or things in heaven, and you that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled
in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in His sight. I'm not preaching for men to
reconcile themselves to God. I'm preaching for men who are
sinners. Guilty sinners. Sinners with
no hope. Helpless, hopeless sinners. To
be reconciled to God's reconciliation. It's a finished work. It's already
done. Brother Scott Richardson brought
a message one time and he said, Stack your shotguns in the corner,
the war is over. The war is over. Oh me, be you reconciled. We are ambassadors for Christ,
Paul said, as though God did beseech you by us. Be you reconciled
to God for, that is on this basis, he hath made Christ sin for us. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. That's reconciliation. And you'll
never be saved until you're reconciled to His reconciliation. Everything we have to say is
according to the promises of God. Peter said, He hath called
us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great
and precious promises. But by these, you might be partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that's
in the world through lust, that is worldly desires. Now time
will allow, I have four things concerning these promises, as
they're stated here in 2 Corinthians 1.20. First of all, I want us to focus
on the dignity of the promise. I want you to think about it.
They're the promises of God. My soul, when I think about God,
it takes my breath. He's the creator of the world. Everything that is. But the time,
there's no time with God. He's eternal. But God created
time. He created a space. He created
a world. He created a universe. He created
all things to manifest His glory in the salvation of chosen sinners.
Huh? God who cannot lie. God who is
sovereign, all-knowing, unchangeable. He's God. There's a dignity that
comes with these promises. These promises are coming from
God. To reject the promise is to reject God. To reject His
means is to reject God. He that despiseth you despiseth
me, Christ said, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that
sent me. We've been listening to months
of political campaign rhetoric. candidates making campaign promises,
and I'm convinced after years of experience that politicians
will say anything to get elected. And the promises they make, they
know full well that they cannot always deliver. I think some
of them have good intentions, but they know full well that
they may not be able to deliver these things. And I'm overjoyed
when I see them at least strive to keep the promise. But these
promises that we're talking about are promises of God. These are
not some candidate running for office. This is God Himself. And when He makes a promise,
there's dignity. There's dignity behind it. God,
it says, who cannot lie. God with whom all things are
possible. With man it's impossible, but
with God all things are possible. He's God Almighty. He's God All-Knowing. He's God in all the glory of
His divine character. Everything is taken into account
when God makes a promise. Religion always presents God
who's limited by men's weaknesses and frailties. But my friends,
there's a divine dignity attached to these promises. They're promises
of God. And they're all made according
to His sovereign, eternal counsel and decree. There's no reason
for Him to back up off a promise. No. They're given in such a way One
man said to be links like links in a chain between his eternal
decrees and his actual acts. They're all in harmony with his
divine character and in harmony with the persons of the Trinity. And every promise he gives carries
the glory of God. So there's a dignity. in these
promises. And then secondly, Paul, being
inspired in his writings, includes the scope of the promises. All
the promises of God. Big promises, little promises.
I don't even know if there is such a thing as a big and little
promise when it's coming from God. before she died told me, she
said, I don't have any trouble believing the big things of God,
but it's the little things of my life that I have trouble thinking God's gonna intervene
in these little things. But he does, don't he? Fact is,
he said, don't despise the day of small things. He's talking here about all the
promises. There are no promises that are
not yea and amen. All the promises. They're all
included. Little or big, early or late,
eternal or in time. And God speaks, and the whole
dignity of His person is poured into His words. All the promises
purposed in eternity, all the promises written in His Word,
and all the promises declared by the apostles and prophets,
evangelists and pastors. All promises. Oh, received and rejoiced in
by men. Paul said that Abraham was persuaded. He's talking about faith over
here in Romans chapter 4. And he's going back to the father
of faith, Abraham, where it was manifested, demonstrated. And
here's what he said. Abraham was persuaded that what
God had promised, he was able also to perform. These promises,
they're all yea and amen because God's able to perform the promise. In Titus 1 verse 2 it says, In
hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before
the world began, but in due times manifested His word through preaching
which is committed unto me. There's no loose ends. No subject
left open. All the promises of God. And then here's the third thing
I want us to see. The security and stability of
the promises. All the promises of God in Him
are yea and amen. Jesus Christ is the surety of
the everlasting covenant of grace. That blood He shed was the blood
of the everlasting covenant. That's why the prophet David
in his dying breath said that this covenant that God had made
with him, this covenant was ordered in all things and sure. It was sure. Why? Because of the surety. What God demands and the promises
he fulfills and secures in his son. And therefore our ministry
is Christ. There's nothing apart from Christ
but condemnation, reprobation, and eternal hell. And it doesn't
matter how much you know and how well you can organize it
or how well you can minister it, without Christ in your ministry,
you're just beating the air. He's all. He's all. And oh, how I despise intellectualism
without Christ. It's nothing but pride and self-righteousness
and self-glorification. It's all Antichrist and it's
all flesh. Paul said, we preach Christ crucified. That's what we preach. Under
the Jews, it's a stumbling block, and under the Greeks, the intellectuals,
the philosophers, it's foolishness. But under them which are called
both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God. And Christ
is the wisdom of God. There are no promises of God
outside of Christ and even damnation is secured and demonstrated in
his death. Acts 17 31. He given assurance
to all men and that he raised him from the dead. How did he
get to be dead? God poured out his wrath on him.
He become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And that one who died to satisfy
divine justice will himself judge this unbelieving world. There's
nothing else to preach but Christ, is there? I can't find anything
else to preach. Nothing else to satisfy the expectations
of a gospel preacher. The message of Christ. I'm not
looking at how many souls come to hear, but it's the attitude and rejoicing
of what they hear. That's what I'm looking at. What
makes your heart rejoice? What is it that allows you to
glorify God when you hear? What brings tears to your eyes
and comfort to your souls? Is it not seeing the promises
of God secured in Christ? Isn't that what gives you joy? He's a sweet saver to God, even
when men stand up and spit and walk out and never come back. He's still the sweet saver. All the promises of God in Christ
are secured in Him, all blessings in Him, from eternity to eternity. And then lastly, let's consider
the results of these promises in Christ. The glory of God. In 2 Thessalonians 2.14, having
stated the means of faith, Paul said, Whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He alone has glorified the true
and living God, and He glorified God in His person. When He came
forth from that virgin's womb, the Scripture said that He was
the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of
His person. This was God come into the flesh. He glorified God in His person. This is my beloved Son, that's
what God said. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well. You hear Him. You hear Him. He's God manifested in the flesh. He's the Word made flesh in whom
John said we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. And He alone reveals
the true character of God, and in Him alone is God's love revealed. He commended His love toward
us in the sacrifice of His Son for sinners. He shows us something of the
glory of God's mercy, a merciful high priest, a merciful Savior. They said, How come he eats Republicans
and sinners? Our Lord said, the whole need
not a physician but a sick. He said, you go learn what this
means, I have mercy, not sacrifice. Go learn what that means. And
we see the glory of God's justice, the glory of his, he'll be righteous
in his remission of sin, just and justifier in him that believeth
in Jesus. And He'll show to us the exceeding
riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. This is the result. This is the
result of preaching these promises of God and seeing these promises
of God. We see the glory of God. We see
God gets all the glory in everything that He does. We give Him the
glory. And He'll show to us the exceeding
riches of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. And then, very quickly, let me
add one point to what I've said, and that's the means of the promises
to you. Paul said, by us. By us. All the promises of God are yea
and amen in Him, unto the glory of God, by us. Now let me close
this message with these two verses, 2 Corinthians 1.21. Now, considering what's just
been said, He which establisheth us with you in Christ and hath
anointed us is God. The same God who made these promises
hath made these promises known to you by us. That's what he's
telling them. Who hath also sealed us and given
the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. Now, he's not talking
about you jumping up and down and speaking in tongues and all
this kind of nonsense. What he's talking about here
is the revelation of Christ. You being able to hear a man
preach Christ and Him crucified and understand not only what
he's saying, but enter into it and rejoice. That's what he's
talking about. That's a sealing of the Spirit
of God. Confirms the words that we hear. and give us a willing mind to
receive them and a heart to rejoice in them. Let me say this, what a
blessed thing it is to have fellowship in Christ. Oh, what a blessed
thing to have fellowship in Christ. May the Lord be pleased to preserve
it for His name's honor and glory in this place. Amen.