Good evening. If you would open
your Bibles back to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. I'm going to
be a little repetitive from what you just said because I was sitting
there as you were singing that, complete in thee, and I thought
to myself, this is such a great song before I preach. And I enjoyed
that for about one round of that, and then it hit me, this better
be a great song leading up to what I'm getting ready to preach.
Because if it isn't, we're in trouble. All right, to start
this message, the text and the place that our subject comes
from is 1 John 2 verse 25. And this is the promise that He hath promised us even
eternal life. I want to take just a couple
minutes and we'll look at five verses here to give us a little
background and what it's talking about in that verse. And then
we'll get into the subject of His promise. So look at verse
21. where it says, I have not written
unto you because ye know not the truth, but because you know
it, and that no lie is of the truth. He says here, I'm writing
this to you because you know the truth. I don't write this
to people who don't know the truth. This is written to those
who know the truth. Verse 22, who is a liar, but
he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist,
that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son,
the same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledgeth the
Son hath the Father also." This important phrase, Jesus is the
Christ. He is the true, eternal Son of
God. There cannot be a father without
a son or a son without a father. He that honors not the son as
such honors not the father. He is the very Christ and true
Messiah spoken of by the prophets, typified in the sacrifices, and
looked for by Old Testament saints. He is the God-Man, the Mediator,
the Savior, He is that prophet, our great high priest, our sovereign
king. He is our sin offering, our propitiation,
and our atonement. Anyone who denies this, no matter
what high office, position, or praise they give to Jesus Christ,
is a liar or an antichrist and does not know the Father or the
Son. Jesus of Nazareth is either the
Christ and all that is written, all that's promised, all that's
prophesied, typified, and expected of the Christ, or he is an imposter. If He is the Christ and we compromise
or we deny or take away any aspect of His total deity, His power,
His humanity, His office, His work, or take His glory, then
we are then imposters and we are liars and antichrists. Look
at verse 24. Let that therefore abide in you,
which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have
heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall
continue in the Son and in the Father." This is the gospel which
these people heard from the apostles. It's what they'd heard preached.
And it's the gospel that we hear from this pulpit. If this gospel
of truth remains in your heart, you shall continue accepted in
the Beloved by the Father. verse 25, "...and this is the
promise that He hath promised us, even eternal life." This is eternal life. We cannot live apart from Christ. The Father put the promise of
life into the hands of Christ. Christ Himself is life. and the
sum of the gospel is that all found in him have eternal life. John insists here that the beginning
of life is to be found in Christ. The continuation of that same
life is continuing in the faith of Christ, and the ultimate perfection
of that life is in being made like Christ eternally. Now the
title of the message is The Only Promise. We use this word promise in two
ways. With this same definition here,
we use it in two ways and they're very similar. The first way is
we use the word to assure someone or guarantee someone that we
will do something. The second way is that we ask
someone to assure or guarantee that they will do something.
Now let me give you an example of that. You might say, I need
help. And I could say, I'll help you. And then you might look like
you're not quite sure about that. So I would then say, I promise
I'll help you. I'm assuring you or trying to
guarantee that I'll do it. In the same scenario, the other
way goes like this. You say you need help. I say,
I'll help you. You look at me and say, do you
promise you'll help me? You're wanting a guarantee or
assurance that I will help you. Let me now say the same thing
and actually tell you what it means when I say it. You say,
I need help. And I say, I'll help you. And
then you kinda aren't sure and I say, I promise you I'll help
you. But what I mean is, I probably
am gonna help you. Or if you ask me and say, do
you promise you'll help? What I'm saying is, yeah, I probably
will help you. This word promise is a word that
we need. It's a word that we as sinners
need because our word doesn't mean anything. When we use the word promise,
we're ultimately just trying to give you assurance of something
we cannot guarantee. I know people who are very honest. They would argue they never lie,
and their word is their bond. It means everything to them.
But that person cannot promise you and guarantee anything. If
I promise you that I'll help you, there's no guarantee that
I'll wake up in the morning, there's no guarantee that my
car will start, there's no guarantee that something else won't come
up that's more important to me, there's no guarantee that I'll
just not decide I don't really want to help you. The Lord doesn't ever promise
anyone anything. That's because when the Lord
says something, it's a promise. because His Word is truth. The Lord doesn't have to promise
because there's no step up from a statement from Him. His assurance,
His guarantee is simply His Word, what He says. Now, the title
here is The Only Promise. Now there are plenty of places
in the scripture that talk about the promises of God or the promises
of the Lord. So how can I say the only promise? Well, you've probably heard before
that the Old Testament is written as someone is coming, a Savior's
coming. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
is written as the Savior's here. And then the rest of the New
Testament is describing that He's coming again and what He's
done. Now as we heard this morning in our message, all of those
things are all pointing to the same promise. The Old Testament
tells us that we need a Savior and that one is coming. God will
provide one. Then we see in Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John that the Savior is here. And then we read in
the rest of the New Testament that that Savior has come, that
He has saved His people, and it's finished. The only promise
is what's written here in verse 25. And this is the promise that
He hath promised us eternal life. The Lord constantly spoke of
why He came. The Lord constantly said things
to His disciples and to the people about why He came, even from
a very young age. Turn with me to Luke chapter
2. The Old Testament speaks of a
covenant that one would come to save his people. And then the Lord in Luke chapter
2, look at verse 42, Twelve years old, they went up
to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had
fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind
in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But
they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's
journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem,
seeking him. And it came to pass that after
three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions.
And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
And when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said unto
him, Son, why hast thou dealt with us? Behold, thy father and
I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is
it that ye sought me? Wished ye not that I must be
about my father's business?" From the first time we hear the
Lord speak, what He's saying is, I must be about saving my
people. Turn with me to Mark chapter
8. We'll go through a couple chapters
in Mark here, quickly reading a few lines that the Lord said.
These are things that He told His disciples and His people
about why He came to the earth. Mark 8, verse 31. And He began to teach them that
the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the
elders, and of the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and
after three days rise again." Turn over to Mark 9 verse 9. And as they came down from the
mountain, He charged them that they should tell no man what
things they had seen till the Son of Man were risen from the
dead. Look at verse 31. For He taught His disciples and
said unto them, The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of
men, and they shall kill Him. And after that He is killed,
He shall rise the third day. But they understood not that
saying, and were afraid to ask Him. Turn to Mark 10 verse 26. And they were astonished out
of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus
looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not
with God. For with God all things are possible. Look at verse 33. And he said,
Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered
unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn
him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles. And they
shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him,
and shall kill him. And the third day he shall rise
again." Look at verse 45. For even the Son of Man came
not to be ministered unto, but to minister. and to give his
life a ransom for many. Turn over to chapter 14. Look
at verse 6. And Jesus said, Let her alone,
why trouble ye her? This is the woman who came with
the alabaster box of ointment to anoint his feet. She hath
wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you
always, and whensoever ye will, ye may do them good. But me ye
have not always. She hath done what she could.
She has come beforehand to anoint my body to the bearing. Look
at verse 25. Verily I say unto you, I will
drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day that
I drink it new in the kingdom of God. And when they had sung
a hymn, they went out unto the Mount of Olives. And Jesus saith
unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night. For
it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall
be scattered. But after that I am risen, I
will go before you into Galilee. It may feel repetitive that I
read the same type of thing over and over again. But the point
is this, the Lord had the same message and the same purpose
His entire time on this earth. He set His face like a flint.
He had no other option. He had no other purpose. There
was nothing else He was going to do. Everything was about the
cross and saving His people. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
1. 2 Corinthians 1, look at verse 18. But as God is true, our word
toward you was not yea and nay. 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, 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. Now He which established us with
you in Christ, and hath anointed us in God." The promises of God,
or the promise of God, is in Him. The promise is real. and we celebrate, we give glory
to God. In verse 20 it says, ìAll the
promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him amen.î And itís unto
the glory of God by us. He anointed us in Christ. He
blessed us. He sanctified us in Christ. Turn over to Acts chapter 13. Acts 13, verse 21, And afterward they desired a
king, and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of
the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. The people,
Israel, had asked for a king. They begged of a king. They made
God, or they thought that they could make God give them a king.
and he gave them Saul. Now look at verse 22, And when
he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their
king, to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David
the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill
all my will. Of this man's seed hath God,
according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus. Go on to verse 32. And we declare
unto you, glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto
the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children,
in that he hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also written
in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
thee. And as concerning that He raised
him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption,
He said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of
David." Our Lord was raised from the dead. He was victorious over
sin and death. Because of His victory, because
of His success, we will no more return unto corruption. We will
no more have sin. What do we get instead of this
sin? What do we get instead of the wrath that we deserve? We
get the sure mercies of David. Not only are we pardoned, but
it says we also get a king's share of the spoils. That doesn't
mean that the reward or mercies are split between us. It means
that each one of His people get everything in Christ. Turn with
me to 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1. whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is
in the world through lust." The promise of eternal life is exceedingly
great and precious. And if we go back and talk about
what we get from eternal life. If we go back to where I said
a minute ago about what do we get, our reward, our inheritance,
let me explain this further. When we talk of an inheritance,
we think of it in earthly things. We think of it in objects. We
think of it in things that need to be split, money, house, cars,
titles, things that mean something on this earth, tangible things.
Anything that can be portioned, anything that can be numbered,
will not be a part of the heavenly inheritance. Because the grace
of God is effectual. The love of Christ is sincere
and enduring. Christ's blood that pardons,
it's pure. His mercy is everlasting. His victory over death and sin
is permanent. Our new nature in Christ is holy. And all this is just a glimpse
of what we get from His promise. Turn over a page to 2 Peter 3. in the same way when we think
about, prepare, and do things for the inheritance of our children.
Most of that preparation and most of those thoughts go to
those things that we can leave them. But in this same way, and
maybe something that can help us to understand it, A true inheritance
for our children, earthly speaking, is that we love them, is that
we protect them, that we take care of them, that we forgive
them, that we bless them in every way that we can. And if that's
what we will do, and we can't do it well, in the same way that
we can't promise or guarantee anything, but if that's what
we want to do for our children, Imagine our holy God who can
do those things and who loves us in a way that is perfect. His grace to us, His sacrifice
for us, all of it is perfect. And we get, each one of us, the
exact same perfect portion. Alright, 2 Peter chapter 3, look
at verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning
His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering
to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. All that are called will come. All that come will repent. All that repent will be saved. All that will be saved are by
the grace of God. We see in verses like this, the
Lord is not slack concerning His promise. These are examples
of we look at these words and we think that we need a guarantee.
But the Lord's guarantee for His children is His Word. That
He says that He will save His people is the promise. It is
the guarantee. Turn to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3, verse 6. that the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs and of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ
by the gospel." This verse is very important because we're
all Gentiles. We don't think of ourselves as
Gentiles. We think of ourselves as rightful
heirs. We think of ourselves as somehow we deserve something. But thankfully, there is nothing
about us that would qualify us for salvation. But much better
than that is thankfully, there is nothing that can disqualify
us from salvation. Turn to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3 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." It
is important to realize there is one seed, there is one way
to salvation, and it plainly says at the end of the verse,
and to thy seed, which is Christ. Look at verse 26 in the same
chapter. for ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male
nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the
promise If we are in Christ, we will be saved. If we are anywhere
else, we will not be saved. All the qualifiers that it gives
in these verses or that we can imagine, they're all irrelevant. There is nothing that matters
about any of us. The only thing that matters is
if we are in Christ, we will be saved. All right, turn over
to the last scripture, Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. This is a portion
from Peter's sermon at Pentecost. Men and brethren, let me freely
speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and
buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. therefore
being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath
to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. And seeing this
before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This
Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore,
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed
forth this which ye now see and hear." Go to verse 38, "...then
Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise
is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call." It declares here to repent of
your sins. This promise here is not limited,
it's not complicated, but it is very specific. It tells us
to repent of your sins. And it says back in our text,
believe that Jesus is the Christ. If the Lord is to make us believe
those things and to do those things, then we will get this
promise that he hath promised us, which is eternal life.