Now, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me to 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 1, we'll
be looking at verses 17 through verse 20 this morning. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse
17 through verse 20. Before we read the text, I've
entitled this message, A SURELY POSITIVE MESSAGE. A SURELY POSITIVE. A SURE AND POSITIVE MESSAGE. Now, let me start off by saying
this, a positive attitude is a good thing, isn't it? I can't
tell you how many of these things that we receive on email and
stuff, always telling you to have a positive attitude. Now,
there's nothing wrong with a positive attitude. It's a good thing to
have. Being positive is good. But we live in such a foolish
age that men believe that to think positive thoughts will
make all your dreams come true. They call it the power of positive
thinking. If you just think positively,
if you are just not so negative about everything, if you just
think positively, everything's going to work out good for you.
Now listen, I could think as positively as I want. I know
this, I'll never be in the NBA. I mean, I could just be positive
about it. I can have a good positive attitude, but there are so many
things that hinders me from that. I'm short. compared to them. I don't have any ability that
they have. I even lack the desire to work
for it. I don't even want to be in there,
but if I change my mind and I was just so positive about it, that
doesn't mean I'm going to get what I want. That's foolish to
think so. Jesus said this, which of you
taking thought YOU COULD ADD ONE INCH TO YOUR STATUE. NOW I KNOW I'M A CERTAIN HEIGHT,
I CAN'T, BY TAKING POSITIVE THOUGHT, GROW ONE MORE INCH. POSITIVE
THINKING DOES NOT DO ANYTHING IN REALITY. IT MAY MAKE YOU FEEL
BETTER, BUT IT'S NOT GOING TO CHANGE THE REALITY OF SOMETHING.
BUT PEOPLE TAKE THIS INTO THE RELIGIOUS REALM, AND THEY HAVE
THIS SAME PHILOSOPHY WITH REGARD TO GOD. that if they're just
positive, if they're just positively thinking, they think that if
they could just try really hard, and if they're just really sincere
in their hearts, they can earn God's favor, that they could
somehow move God to accept them based on their work. And when
you tell them that's not true, they say, oh, you're just negative.
Well, I'm positively negative that that's not going to work.
I'm absolutely certain you cannot earn your way to God. You can't earn God's favor. No matter how positive a person
may be about this religion, the end of them will not be good
because of this. They lack one thing, a promise
of God. They lack a promise of God. God never promised salvation
based on works or free will, no matter how positive men are
about it. In fact, God promises the opposite,
that if you come in your own obedience to God, you will positively
go to hell. Now that's positive. I am sure
of that message. Paul said this, if you be circumcised,
if you add circumcision to Christ, He will profit you nothing. Now
friends, I'm positive about that. I'm positive because I have the
Word of God that says that. But this morning, I want to bring
you a positive message. I really do. I want to bring
you an absolutely positive message. A message that I am absolutely
sure of. I don't like giving you a message
that I'm not sure of. Believe me, if I'm not sure of
something, I'm not going to tell you. Just not going to tell you.
Otherwise, it would just be an opinion, wouldn't it? I'm not
going to give you an opinion, I'm going to give you a surely
positive message, because it's a message of God. I want to give
you a message full of positive hope, not wishful thinking. A message that declares that
this, all the promises of God are yes and amen, but not in
you, not in me. not based on our positive thinking
or our works, but all the promises of God are yes and amen, listen,
only in Jesus Christ. Now that's my, if you want to
look at that in verse 20, we're going to get there. It says,
for all the promises of God are in Christ, are yes. And in Christ, amen. All the promises of God are sure
and positive. in Christ, in Christ. Now let's
read these texts together, because I want to give us some context
of what's going on. I hope that the Lord would teach
us, first of all, when I give you the context, then that's
going to teach us a lesson concerning the validity of God's Word, the
surety of God's Word. Then I want to go over the promises,
some of the promises of God with you. These promises and how they
are sure. Let's read this together in verse
17. It says this, When I therefore was thus minded, did I use likeness? Or the things I propose, do I
propose according to the flesh? Do I purpose according to the
flesh? That with me there should be yea, yea, and nay, nay? But
as God is true, our word toward you was not yes and no. For the
Son of God, Jesus Christ, who is preached among you by us,
even by me, Silvanus, and Timotheus, was not yes and no, but in Him
was yes. For all the promises of God in
Him are yes, and in Him amen. unto the glory of God by us.
Now here's the context. Paul declares here that his determination
was to come to this church. Paul determined to come to this
church. In fact, in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, he says this, Now
I come unto you. He said, I'm going to pass through
Macedonia. And when I pass through Macedonia, I am going to come
to you. And listen what he says in 1
Corinthians 16, verse 6. He says, For I will not see you
now, by the way, but I trust to tarry a while with you, if
the Lord permit. You see, the Apostle Paul, he
wanted to come to this church, but he was hindered. He was not
able. The providence of God. He said,
I want to come back to you and preach the gospel, but I was
hindered. And so what happened here is
that some of his enemies, some of those that hated the gospel
of Christ, took occasion against Paul to cast doubt on his preaching,
on his doctrine. They were saying, well, look,
if Paul said he was coming and he didn't come, then Paul must
be a liar. And if he's a liar, if he can't
even discern coming, then surely something's
wrong with his doctrine. If he's a liar, then that means
that his doctrine must be bad. And so Paul asked this question,
when I therefore was thus minded to come to them, did I use likeness?
In other words, did I do this flippantly? Was I flippant and
foolish in this promise? No, I truly desired, he said.
I really wanted to come to you. He said my no means no and my
yes means yes. But what I purpose to do in the
flesh, am I able with omnipotence to accomplish it? Well, the answer
to that is no. Can I not be disappointed by
the providence of God? How many times was Paul disappointed
by the providence of God? Remember, he desired to go on
east into Asia, and the Holy Spirit forbade him to go over
there. He was disappointed many times.
Do you think he wanted to be killed and beat? No. But this
was God's providence, and he must surrender to it. Remember
what Paul said when he made this promise, he said, if the Lord
permit, if the Lord permit. This was evident the Lord was
not willing that he go back. But let me ask you this, what
does that have to do with the doctrine that Paul preached? What does his hindrance of coming
again? What does his disappointment
by the providence of God have to do with his doctrine? How
can you relate the failure to come to Corinth with the gospel?
Yet that's what men did. And so in verse 18, he says this
by an oath. He said, But as God is true,
our word, our doctrine, our preaching towards you was not yes and no. When we were speaking in the
flesh, we might say, well, I'll do this if the Lord will. And
that's the way we should speak. Because our promises are dependent
not upon our will, but the sovereign will of God. So then, this morning,
I got up and I determined to come to preach to you. And that's
my determination this morning, preach a gospel to you. But what
if I was hindered this morning? Does that have anything to do
with my gospel? No. Nothing whatsoever. We must say if the Lord will.
We're all dependent upon the sovereign will, so our promises,
our word may be yes and no. But when it comes to the Word
of God, it is not yes and no, but it is a sure Word. God's Word is true as God is
true. That's what Paul said. Look at
that again. Look at that again in verse 18. But as God is true. In contrast
to me, I might be saying, Yes, I'll come to you, but maybe I
was hindered. But God's Word's not like me. God's Word is as true as God
Himself. therefore our gospel that we
preach is always yes it's always positive it's always sure it
doesn't change it's my harsh desire that God
would teach us this lesson to never judge God's gospel by his
preachers That's an important lesson, friends. Now, I'm going
to give you an illustration of this because it hits near to
home to me. Over the past few years, you've
known of men who have preached the gospel of Jesus Christ but
have fallen away. I know of a man who preached
the gospel of Jesus Christ, did it faithfully, did his word that
he preached, you could go back and look at his old messages
and you couldn't find any error in them. They were good messages.
They were sure messages. But this man, he got off on something
else, and he's now off in La La Land, believing the world
is flat and everything else, and thinking you've got to believe
that to be saved. Now what does that man have to
do with the gospel? Because he went away, does that
make the gospel that he preached invalid? No, it has nothing to
do with that. That gospel was true before he
preached it, and that gospel is true after he left it. The
gospel is always true. Never judge God's gospels by
what his men do. I know of a pastor many years
ago Very faithful pastor. Very good pastor. He became so
depressed. He became so down that he went
into a room and killed himself. Now did that have anything to
do with his gospel? Did that change his gospel because the
man did that? No. I believe the man is fine. He's in glory now because his
salvation didn't have anything to do with him. But we should
never judge God's Gospels based on His preachers. You ever hear
that? Somebody said, well, I ain't
ever going to listen to that Gospel again because that man did this.
That's foolishness, you know that? That's foolishness because
men change. Men are flesh. We are nothing
but sinners. This treasure God has given us
is only in an earthen vessel. This gospel of gold, this precious
stone, is kept inside a clay pot. For what purpose? That the
power might be manifest to be of God and not of men. If this
gospel does anything this morning, you betcha it's the power of
God and not the power of the preacher. There's nothing in
the man. Nothing to trust in the man. God has by His grace brought
this treasure of the gospel of His grace in a clay pot, an earthen
vessel, another poor sinner saved by His grace. The vessel of flesh
may be uncertain, but the treasure of the gospel is sure. It's always
sure. This gospel was sure before I
preached it, this gospel is sure when I'm preaching it, and this
gospel will be sure long after I'm gone. This gospel is sure. The gospel we preach is the power
of God and the salvation to everyone that believeth. The vessel that
brings us is nothing but mutable flesh, nothing in us. The gospel of God, our confidence is not in the
preacher. I pray your confidence is not
in me. I pray your love for this gospel is not because of me. Paul said this in Philippians
chapter 3. If you want to turn over there, you can. Philippians
chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3 and verse 3. Paul said this,
For we are the circumcision. What is he saying? He's saying
we're the elect of God. We're the true Israel of God, which
worship God in spirit. In other words, the Israel of
God are born again of the Spirit of God. They by faith see their
depravity, and by faith they believe on Jesus Christ. These
are the only ones that worship God in spirit and in truth, and
rejoice in Christ. You see, the elect, they rejoice
in Christ. They see His blood satisfy the
justice of God. We see His righteousness is imputed
and imparted to us in the new birth. And therefore, our rejoicing
is in Him. And what is the result of this?
Look at that. And have no confidence in what? The flesh. The flesh. I have no confidence in the preacher.
I have no confidence in you. I have confidence in Christ.
That's what the elect rejoice in. We rejoice in Christ because
that is the sure message. That is the sure foundation of
our souls is in Christ and not in this body, not in this flesh. Our gospel must never be judged
based on the weakness of those who preach it. all please don't
ever judge god's gospel based on me please and so paul says but as god is
true outlook i may be wrong i may be in error i may not have gotten
what i wanted but listen to this god is true and everything god
says is true i am god i change I changed not in the Old Testament.
I like this when God when God swore by something, you know
how he did it He said as sure This is going to happen in Exodus
and numbers 1421 is as surely as I live all the earth shall
be filled with the glory of the Lord now you can bet on this
all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord Why? As sure as I live, that's what's
going to happen. God swears by Himself. This gospel
is God's oath. God swears. When He could swear
by none greater, who did He swear by? He swore by Himself. Himself. And I'll tell you, God
is true and cannot lie, and when God says He'll do something,
He'll do it. Just, is there anything more
positive than that? Can you be sure of any more,
is there anything more sure in this world than that? There's
not. Everything in this world, you
can't, you can try to base your promises on, I'll tell you this,
I swear on my mother's life, you know how many times we lie
and say that and our poor mom, she didn't even die. We're certain
of nothing. This is the only positive surety
in all the world is what God says. Let God be true and what? Every man a liar. That's what I say because that's
what God says. Let God be true. You know what
separates a true God from all the other gods? Sovereignty. That separates a
true God from all false ones. In Isaiah chapter 46, he's talking
about Baal and Nebo. He said, look, they bow and they
stoop. They couldn't even keep themselves from being carried
away captive. He said, those gods you had to
carry around on beasts, and those things were so heavy, the beast
couldn't even hold them. You know what the difference
is between me and them, God says? I carry you. You don't carry
me. He said, I carry you. I have
borne you from the belly and carried you from the womb. Even
to old age I am He. Even to hoary hairs will I carry
you. I have made, I will bear, I will
carry, I will deliver you. See the difference? And you know
what God says? He says there's no God like Me.
There's no God. There's no other God but me.
What's the difference? Declaring the end from the beginning,
from ancient times of things that were not done, saying this,
My counsel shall stand and I will, I will, I will do all my pleasure. Now that's God. Paul says, But
God is true. Therefore His Word is true. It is positively certain to take
place. That's what God is. That's what
His Word is. He said, whatever I've determined
to do, that's what I'm going to do. You know what God is determined
to do? Save Israel. Save Israel. That's His whole
purpose. Read the Old Testament and find out what God is going
to do every time God turns around. What is He doing? He's saving
Israel. That's just a picture of God saving His people, His
elect. And God, you remember in that
same passage, Isaiah 46, God says, I'm going to do something,
I'm going to save Israel in a way nobody ever thought. I'm going
to use a heathen king that don't even know me, and I'm going to
make him save you. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, Cyrus. He's going to make Cyrus. And you know what
happened? Listen, what happened? Tell me what happened. It happened
exactly as God said it would happen. Why? Because His Word
is true. Everything He says is true. It's positively certain to take
place. Well, you know how God saves
people, saves sinners? In the way that nobody ever would
have thought. Listen to what he says in Isaiah
46. He says, Harken to me, you stout-hearted, you that are far
from righteousness. I bring near my righteousness.
Listen to this. It shall not be far off. And my salvation shall not tarry,
and I will place salvation in Zion. Who? For who? For Israel. What purpose? My glory. You see, God's salvation,
this is His sure word to sinners. This is His sure word to sinners. You that are far off from righteousness,
you listen to God. You hear God. God says, you stout-hearted
rebel sinner, listen to me. Don't bring me your righteousness.
I will bring you mine. I'll bring you my salvation.
I will place salvation in Zion. Who is this righteousness? Who
is this salvation that God has determined? If God's Word is
sure, and God is speaking to the stout-hearted, and God has
purposed to save Israel, listen to what God says. I bring my
righteousness near, my salvation near. Who is that? Look back
at your text. Paul tells us what he preached.
He said, this is why God's Word is true. That Word we preach
to you is not yes and no. Listen, for the Son of God, Jesus
Christ, who we preached, was not yes and no. But in Him is yes. In Him is
yes. The righteousness and salvation
we preach is, listen, in the Son of God. He who is the expressed image
of the Father has come nigh in the flesh. God the Son came into
the world as a representative man. And you listen. He surely, according to the eternal
covenant of grace, brought salvation that God purposed. He surely
did it. Yes, preachers are changeable.
But since the gospel is Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday,
today, and forever, preachers change, but the gospel doesn't.
The gospel never changes. Jesus Christ is not yes and no,
but only yes. He was from the beginning purposed
of God to be the Savior of all the elect. He was decreed by
the sovereign will of the Father that all those He loved and purposed
to save, that He should make them holy and blameless and acceptable
in the sight of God. That is God's Word. Go to Ephesians chapter 1, read
it. Tell me if this is not God's Word. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. And where are they? Where are
all these spiritual blessings? They're all in one place, in
Christ. Remember when Joseph gathered
up all that wheat? Where was all the wheat? It was
in one place. It was only accessible through
one man, Joseph. That's a picture of Christ. All
of the blessings and promises of God are gathered together
in one man, Jesus Christ, and given to those who God has chosen,
according as He had chosen us in Him, before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him, in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children,
how? By Jesus Christ to Himself. Don't you see that God put all
the blessings in Christ and then put all of the elect in Christ? He put us in union with Christ
before the foundation of the world that He should be our surety,
our mediator, our high priest, and the only offering for sin.
God put everything in His Son. Everything. It was the eternal
purpose of the Father that Christ should come. and be the second
Adam. Remember what the first Adam
was? He was a representative. And when the first Adam sinned,
guess what all of his people did? They sinned, where? In him. That's the reason you
and I were born dead in trespasses and sins, because he died first. And that death and that sin was
passed down to us. Now then, look at the second
Adam, Jesus Christ. He had also a people. And when
He was righteous, guess what? All of His people were righteous
in Him. When He died, all of His people
died in Him. When He rose again from the dead,
all of His people rose again together with Him. And now He gives this righteousness
and atonement to everyone through not the first birth, but the
new birth. Don't you see how He's a second
Adam? He represented all his people. And listen to what God
said about this man. He said, For by his one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. That's a
positive message, isn't it? Isn't that sure? That's a sure
message. This gospel we preach is not
yes and no. This gospel we preach is not
maybe. This gospel we preach is not
wishful thinking. This salvation is not positive
thinking. This salvation is done by someone
else. It was purposed by the Father. It was accomplished by the Son. It is revealed and given by the
Spirit. All his work from start to finish
my salvation is all his work. That's a positive message for
someone who can't do anything. For someone who can't earn it,
who can't merit it, it is the most positive message in the
world. It is the most enriching and
glorious message that has ever been heard among the sons of
men. Salvation is of the Lord. Therefore,
we are sure. We are sure. I'm sure of this. THAT EVERYONE THE FATHER CHOSE
AND EVERYONE CHRIST REDEEMED, THE SPIRIT WILL CALL. BUT GOD
IS TRUE. LISTEN, I CAN'T CALL ANYBODY. I CAN PREACH THE CALLING TO YOU,
BUT I CAN'T CALL ANYBODY. THAT'S THE SPIRIT'S WORK TO CALL.
AND I'M SURE OF THIS. HE WILL CALL HIS PEOPLE TO HIMSELF. I AM POSITIVE OF THAT, SURE OF
THAT. HOW CAN YOU BE SO POSITIVE? Listen,
if I wasn't sure of that, I wouldn't do this. Many times preachers feel like
a hamster in a wheel. We just run, run, run, run, run,
run, go nowhere. It appears we're doing nothing.
That doesn't matter what it appears. It matters what it really is.
Because God is calling His people. God is saving His people whether
we see it or not. God is using the message. Because
Christ said this, All that the Father giveth me, tell me if
this is not positive, shall come to me. Is that positive? Does
that sound yes and no to you? Does that sound maybe to you?
Because that's not maybe, that's positive. That's a sure positive. They shall come to me. And this
is positive. Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. That's positive, isn't it? I will by no means cast them
out. There is no reason I would ever
cast them out. You got that? People say, well,
you know, if I come to Christ, I just don't believe He'll receive
me. There's too much trouble, too
much sin, too much this, too much that. Jesus said there's
nothing that would hinder me from accepting you. Why? Because everyone that comes
is determined to come. And I know this, that Jesus Christ
won't lose any. You got that There will not be
one missing from heaven. Everyone that's supposed to be
there will be there. Remember there were 24 seeds. How many elders? Were there 25? Were there 23? There were 24. 24 seeds, 24 elders, A chair for everybody. We used
to do that cake walk, remember? Cake walk and then you'd play
the music and you'd stop and sit down and there'd be somebody
without a chair. That's uncertain, isn't it? You're not guaranteed
a chair. But listen, everyone that comes
to God by Christ is guaranteed a place. That's a positive message. That's a positive message. Jesus
Christ said, He came to do the will of the Father and that's
the will of the Father that you should come. And everybody comes, they
won't be turned away. Now, a false god of free will
works religion desires everyone to be saved, but not sure that
any will. Does that sound like a yes gospel
to you, or a yes and no gospel? That's a yes and no gospel, isn't
it? That's not what we preach. We don't preach a yes and no,
maybe. Well, who's going to be in heaven?
Well, I don't know. Maybe some. That's not my gospel. I'm sure
there'll be exactly as many as God chose and as Christ redeemed.
I'm sure of that. It's a positive gospel. The death
of Christ didn't make salvation possible? That's yes and no. Well, he died for everybody,
but no, not everybody he died for is going to be saved. That's
yes and no gospel. We don't do that. That's not what we preach.
We preach a yes gospel. Everybody he died for will come,
and none of them will be lost. Our gospel is yes, positive gospel. Now look at verse 20. For all
the promises of God are yes and in Christ, amen, unto the glory
of God by us. I'm going to have to move quickly,
but I've got four points here. I've got four points here, four
questions really. First of all, what are the promises
of God? Secondly, who are the promises
for? And where are they found? Thirdly,
what is God's purpose in giving these promises? And how are these
promises declared? Okay, first of all, what are
the promises of God? Now, seeing that God's Word is
sure, have I made that clear to you, that God's Word is sure?
That this is a positively sure Word, that God, when He determines
something, that's it. It's sure. That's the Word we
preach to you. Not yes and no, but yes. So what
are the promises that are sure? First of all, how about this
one? Forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins. This is
a question that sinners ask. Is there forgiveness with sins?
Is there forgiveness? Preacher, are you sure there's
forgiveness? Listen, God promises there's forgiveness. Promises
forgiveness. Our gospel is a positive gospel.
Remember, is there forgiveness with sins? Yes. Yes. Listen to what David said. If
thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, who should stand? What a question.
If God should count your sins, how many would there be? Now,
you mark this down, God does count iniquity. Only a just God
counts iniquity. You know, I love my children
more than anybody else in the world. I love my children. Now,
do I count all of their failings? Do I keep a log? No. No. How big would it be, guys? How big would that book be if
I counted all your failures? But I'm not just. A lot of times
I let you just slide, just go. I'm not just. God is not like
me. He's very just. And so He must in holiness mark
iniquity. He must. Who then shall stand
before God in His own righteousness? None of us. We all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. No one will be able to stand
before God in his own works. None will be accepted of his
own goodness. None of our works or religion can make us holy
before God. So this is why a sure gospel
we preach is only to sinners. You see, I want to preach to
sinners. Now, if you're a sinner, I want you to pay attention,
because I want to preach to you, only to you. Now, you self-righteous
people that work and can earn your way, I don't have a sure
message for you. I've got a sure promise from
God to sinners, and only sinners, only those who are completely
GUILTY AND HEALTHLESS TO EARN FORGIVENESS. I HAVE A SURE PROMISE
OF GOD. Listen to what David said. BUT,
though you do mark iniquity, though I deserve no forgiveness,
BUT, here's a promise, THERE IS FORGIVENESS. Forgiveness. with the does anyone
need the god did our god has promised
it and cannot go back on his word in fact this is part of
his covenant you know what a covenant it it's a promise it's a contract
And God has made a contract, and this is His promise in that
contract that He made with Himself. Listen to this. I will forgive
their iniquity and remember their sin no more. So is there forgiveness? Yes. God promised it. Second promise. Eternal life. We're all dying. is appointed
and man wants to die and after this what? The judgment. The
judgment. As equally as it is clear, God
forgives sins, it is true that we're going to die. Friends,
we're going to die. That's just so. Unless the Lord
Jesus Christ comes back before our time, we will die. And then every man must stand
before God. And every man who is not just
and righteous before God must be eternally damned. The soul
that sinneth, it shall surely what? Here's a promise. The soul
that sinneth, it shall surely die. That's a promise. But there's hope for the dying
sinner. If God should pardon your sins
and forgive your unrighteousness, He also promises this at death.
He shall give you eternal life. eternal life Paul said this in
Titus 1 verse 2 it says in hope of eternal life which God that
cannot lie promise before the world began God promises eternal
life to those he forgives a third promise is this his presence
he said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee Listen, if a man has God always
with him, and God is always on his side,
what more does he need? Have you ever thought of that? If God's on your side, if God's
for you, and God is always with you, then what more would you
need? Shouldn't He not provide everything you need if He is
for you and with you? And yet God promises that He
will be with us. He will not leave us nor forsake
us. Paul says, If God be for us,
who can be against us? Now, what would you give for
these promises? What would you give to be forgiven? What would you give to have eternal
life? What would you give to have God before you and with
you always? These are promises of God. Now
what would you give for it? Do you need forgiveness? Are
you dying and need eternal life? Are you troubled and afflicted
and need to be comforted by the ever presence of God? Then listen,
you've got to know the second thing, then who are these promises
for? If God promised them, He promised them not for everyone.
Isn't that right? Listen, many people are not going
to be forgiven. Many people will not inherit
eternal life. Many people do not have the presence
of God, and God is against them. So these promises are not for
everyone, they're for certain people. Now who are these promises
given? Look at your text. Look at the
Word of God. For all the promises of God,
what? Forgiveness, pardon, peace, eternal
life, the ever-abiding presence of God, the grace of God, are
only found where? In Him. All the promises of God are in
Him, yes, and in Him, amen. As we read earlier, the Father
had blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places,
where? In Christ. In Christ. All the spiritual
blessings that I just mentioned, the promises, are in Christ Jesus,
peace with God, pardon, eternal life, righteousness. are given
to the elect in Christ before the foundation of the world because
they and only they were put into union with Christ only they only
those people were put into union and God promised to them all
spiritual blessings Therefore Jesus Christ as their
high priest came and fulfilled those promises by providing righteousness
and redemption, justification, resurrection, everything he did
was for them so that they might have the promises of God because
they were in him. They were in him. So then listen, this is the point. How may you know you are in Christ? Since all the promises of God
are to the elect, all the promises of God in Christ are yes and
amen to them who are in Christ, how may you know if you are in
Christ? How may you know your election,
your redemption, and your justification? How may you know you have these
things? Here's a very simple thing. Do you believe on the
Son of God? Do you believe on the Son of
God? Have you seen your hopelessness
to merit these promises? Do you see that there's nothing
you have to earn forgiveness, nothing you can do to merit eternal
life, and nothing you would ever be able to do to make God to
be for you? Because all you've done is sin?
Is that you? Then I tell you this, look right
now to Jesus Christ. Stop trying. Lay down your tools. Stop trying
to earn it. Stop trying to figure it out.
Why? Why would you try to figure this
out? Lay everything down and just come. Just come to Him. Believe on Him. Trust in Christ
and all who trust in Him. Listen, you are in Him. You are in Him. and all the promises
of God are to you, yes. Has God forgiven me? How many
times have you asked yourself that? Has God forgiven me? Do you believe in Christ? Yes, with all my soul, with all
my heart I believe in Christ. Then the promise is to you, yes,
God forgives you. You know how often God forgives
you? Every minute of every day, every second of every day, He
cleanses us from all our unrighteousness. Whosoever confesseth his sin,
he is faithful and just to forgive us all our sins. So that promise is yes. What
a positive, what a positive promise, isn't it? Yes, to you it's yes.
Do you need eternal life? Do you need eternal life? Jesus said this, coming to me,
all you weary and heavy laden, and this is a positive, yes,
I shall give you rest under your soul. Are you weary of working? Are you weary of trying to earn
it? Remember that rich man, he said, what must I do to inherit
eternal life? No. No. What must Christ have
done to inherit eternal life? And those who are in Christ have
eternal life. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
hear that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
already everlasting life. Labor not for the meat which
perisheth, but that meat which endureth to everlasting life,
which the Son of Man shall give unto you." Is that not wonderful?
Is that not positive? Whosoever believe in Christ,
you listen to this, you have the presence of God constantly
abiding with you And God is ever for you. He is ever for you. I read this to you, Isaiah chapter
41. Listen to this. Isaiah chapter
41 and verse 10. Fear thou not. Why? I am with thee. Don't be dismayed,
for I am thy God, I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee,
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Verse 17, when the poor and needy seek water, and there is none,
and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear
them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. Is that a positive word? I'll
tell you this, many times you feel forsaken. But what does
that have to do with anything? Remember, we're flesh, we're
changeable, we're mutable. Don't put any confidence in what
you feel. Put your confidence in what God
says. I will never leave you. It is a promise of God. I will
never, no never, no never leave you, nor forsake you. Now third
question is this, what is the purpose of these immutable promises
of God? Look back in your text. Paul
tells us, for all the promises, forgiveness, pardon, peace with
God, presence of God, are in Christ. They were given in Christ
before the foundation of the world. They were in Christ when
He accomplished them, and they're in Christ when we believe, and
they're ours. They're yes, and in Him, amen. Listen, this is the purpose,
unto the glory of God. Why is all this happening? Why
is it this way? People ask you that question, why did God do
it this way? The only answer Scripture gives
us is this, for the glory of God. God is doing everything
for His own glory. Man don't like that. They want
Him to do it for their glory. But God says, I ain't doing it
for you. Isn't that what He said in the covenant? He says, I do
this not for your sakes, but for my own holy name's sake.
Therefore, we can be sure it's going to happen, because God
has put His glory on it. God signed His name to it. And if it fails, then God would
cease to be God. And that just ain't gonna happen. All the promises of God are yes
and amen in Christ under the glory of God. And thirdly, how
are they declared? Paul said by us. This is how you hear of these
things. This morning you heard this by a frail man. A clay pot
that's no better than you. A sinner saved by the same grace. A receiver of the same promises
of God. And all I'm doing is repeating
these promises to you. And these promises are sure,
they're yes and amen to those who are in Christ. And this is
how God saves His people through the preaching of this Word. Therefore
let us not trust in men. Here's my conclusion, don't trust
in men. Even though God's men may fail in our promises, we
may in weakness fall into sin, we may be sick and we may die,
but never judge God's Word based on us. God is true. I may fail,
but God's Word that we preach to you is true. It's yes. It's not yes and no. We're yes
and no people. God is not yes and no. God is
only yes, certain, positive. His Word is immutable because
God is the author of this Gospel. It was God who purposed to save
and elect people. It was God that gave them to
Christ. It was God who purposed Christ to accomplish their salvation.
It was Christ who fulfilled all their righteousness. It was Christ
who fulfilled and accomplished their redemption. It was the
Holy Spirit who will not fail to give them life and faith.
And so then all who believe in Christ, you have all the promises
of God. Every one of them are yours.
Go find one. I've mentioned three, but there
are many promises in here. Go find one. I'm not talking
about this name and then claim it garbage. Find a promise. And God says, yes, I'll do that. You'll forgive me? Yes, I'll
forgive you. You'll pardon? Yes, I'll pardon
you. Eternal life. It's yours. It is the Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. Know what he said? I don't feel
the presence of God, but you have the presence of God. Why? Because God's word doesn't change.
It's immutable. It's all for the glory of God.
And that's why God sent us to preach this positive message
to you. It's a positive message. It's sure. It's sure. It's not positive thinking. It's
not wishful thinking. It's salvation accomplished and
salvation applied. Salvation purposed. It's sure. Do you have this salvation? This
morning, right now, do you have this? And if not, why? Why not? Come now to Christ. Not to this man, to Christ. Come now by faith and you will
have all of these promises of God. They'll be yours forever.
Forever. Because they're yes and amen. Because they're not in us, they're
in Him. They're in Him.