okay we're on the promises again
wednesday night and where this is part five or less than six
the promises part five uh... turn if you would the first king's
chapter eight and we'll look at uh... verse here tonight we're
gonna look at is god's promises a matter of fact and a rule without
exception again god's promises a matter of fact and a rule without
exception let's turn to first king's Chapter 8 and let's look at verse
56 for our primary text He said it says blessed be the Lord that
had given rest unto his people Israel according to all that
he has promised and there hath not failed one word of all his
good promise which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant."
So this is why what I'm saying is these promises to his people,
to his elect, his chosen, his children, is a matter of fact
according to all that he had promised and it's a rule without
exception. There's not one that failed one
word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand
of his servant so firstly God is as good as His word to all
who believe. God is as good as His word to
all who believe. To think or to say otherwise
is to go against the whole of scriptures. It's to go against
the whole of God's attributes and characteristics. God never
promises beyond His power, and He is, as the Scripture says,
omnipotent, or He's all-powerful. So, if God says something, like
He says in this verse, it's not going to fail. He promises by
Himself. He is as good as His Word. Your
word, other people's words, we may or we may not follow up,
may not follow true. Something out of our power may
come up and stop us to do what we've promised to do, but not
God. He is as good as His word. Secondly, secondly, well, I'm
sorry, let me finish up this thought. He never promises beyond His
power. that is to declare, that is to
say, God's ability is without limit, He is infallible. Therefore, His Word or His promise,
which is an extension of Himself, must also be infallible. Secondly,
God is unchangeable, so He is unchangeable, so too must be
His eternal promise to us-ward. we could have a mantra or a motto,
we could say, once made, always made. If God has said it, it's
always to be true. Let's turn to Numbers chapter
23. Numbers chapter 23. And verse 19, he says, God is
not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he
should repent. He has said, and shall he not
do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? Therefore we can completely,
and without hesitation, trust God to be true to His promise. Thirdly, seeing and knowing that
these promises originate with God and not with vile, fickle
sinners such as we are, we need not doubt Him. For this is what
Abraham knew and saw and by faith, by grace given faith, laid hold
of." Basically if it's from God, therefore it is a fact and it
is always to be true. Let's turn to Romans Romans chapter 4, verse 20 and 21, speaking
specifically of Abraham regarding the promise. It says, He, Abraham,
staggered not the promise of God through unbelief, but was
strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded
that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. That's why I said thirdly, we
know, the believer sees and knows that these promises originate
with God and not with man who changes, is up one down, that
changes the next. That's not how God is. His promise
originated with Him, it is sure to all the seed. Fourthly, Let
us not measure or evaluate the largeness of the promise by our
futile instruments or by our futile gauges. Let me read that
again. Let us not measure or evaluate the largeness of the
promise by our futile means. Almighty grace is not limited
by our mortal strength or human weakness. God's own power will
keep God's promise, says Mr. Spurgeon, regarding this, to
looking at God as He's the one that makes the promise and not
we ourselves. It is not, nor ever was, by our strength or
our weakness, that would fulfill each word of the promise to us. but we totally rely on God himself
because we measure what God says by the word, by the word, not
by our, we don't evaluate it by what we say yay or nay, but
all according to God's word, God speaking himself. Fifthly,
remember, it is God's own character and responsibility to keep the
promises for us and we are simply the recipients, as is all things
grace. That is, look away from yourself
and directly upon the free and sovereign mercy in Christ Jesus. His arm, says the Scripture,
is not wax and short, that He cannot secure and satisfy His
word to us. either in salvation or in keeping
grace. Salvation is without money, without
price. It is based upon the word and
work of Christ. It is based upon the promise
of God to His people. His character If his promises
fail, his character fails, his responsibility fails, but we
know that this is totally impossible. So we say to the believer, or
we say to anyone who is lost and undone and trespasses and
sins, look and live. And if the cry is heeded, there
shall be life indeed. Sixthly, Now this was, you know,
we need to watch this and be careful not to trust feelings
in securing the word of promise. We make sure that we do not trust
or watch out for our own feelings. We must do that in securing the
word of promise. We must not trust our feelings.
We don't feel the promises, we believe them. We do not feel
them, we believe them. And I use this illustration,
do dead bodies feel? No, they can't feel anything
about the beneficiaries or the benefits of, let's say, resurrection
privilege. No, only a live body. And in
Christ, we are alive unto Him. Only live people. place them
and trust in the very truth of God. When He says, He rose, we
shall rise with Him, into Him, because of what He says and what
He's done. We don't trust a feeling. Look with me at Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 1. Deuteronomy
chapter 1. and verse 11 regarding feelings,
not to be trusted. And He saves the whole man, so
we do have feelings and emotions, and a head and a heart and all
these things. He saves the entire man. He does save, and we feel
and we understand and we love. We do all these things because
he first loved us but to simply feel something and then therefore
it must be right No, we don't do that and in Deuteronomy chapter
1 and verse 11 says the Lord God of your fathers make you
a thousand times so many more as you are and bless you as He
hath promised you now the children of Israel were to multiply and
to expand and grow larger and larger,
that's a simple fact that God said it, that's what happened,
as He hath promised. That's the words that the believer
clings on to, as He hath promised, as He hath promised. This is
always the case, it's always the reality, it's always the
unction of the Holy Spirit to all His children. Salvation does
not change according to feelings, but is steadfastly based upon
the word and work of Christ. This is our firm foundation.
This is the one solid rock. We're not on sinking sand. Feelings are like the barometer.
They're up one day and they're down the next it cannot be Thoroughly
or completely trusted so we are to judge righteous judgments,
and that's based upon the bare naked Word of God it is not based
upon our feelings and lastly Regarding this promise of God
Sheer fact and a rule without exception, because
God has spoken, His character is in question, His character
and His attributes are in question, the Word of God is in question.
If we question that, we question all of these things, but it cannot
be so, because what God has spoken shall be true. Lastly, because
God's promises are a matter of fact and a rule without exception,
I say that we ought to stand squarely upon Him and His Word
for our soul's benefit. Turn with me to Luke, Luke chapter
1. Luke chapter 1 and verse 45, we're looking at Mary's
song of thanksgiving, Zacharias, Mary entered into the house of
Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth. And this is what it says in Luke
1.45. And blessed is she that believed. For there shall be a performance
of those things which were told her from the Lord. The Lord had
spoken a word of promise She believed it. It wasn't because
she believed it that the Lord spoke it. He spoke it that she
would believe. And believing is a grace. It's
not something we work for, something we earn, or something we merit. Blessed indeed. for there shall
be a performance that which God spoke was going to take place
of those things which were told her from the Lord." So, she believed
that, she's believing based on His Word and Word alone. We do
not base the promises upon probabilities or on perhapses or something
else. Let me give you some examples.
Abraham and Sarah. They were both beyond the age
of childbearing, but they believed the promise. They believed what
God had said He was going to fulfill. Again, because if God
spoke it, His attributes, His character, He's fully responsible
for things which He says, and He's omnipotent. He doesn't change.
and therefore the promise is sure to all the seed but they
believe the promises second example David and Goliath David didn't
consider his age difference, he didn't consider the size difference
between him and Goliath nor his soldiering capabilities or other
probabilities but he went forth to meet the foe trusting God
and God's ability to defeat the giant and it was so Another example
we could look at, Mary and Joseph. Whoever heard of an immaculate
conception, yet there it stands. There's nothing been like it
before, nothing like it afterwards. God said that this was how it
was to be, and based upon His Word, it was. I ask you this,
whoever saw the camel pass through a needle, and that word needle
is not a gate, that word needle is literally a sewing needle. So, whoever saw that to be, whoever
saw a camel pass through the eye of a needle, well I say with
God, all things are possible. So let us not trust in probabilities,
but again, in God's Word to you and to me. And as we look at
this in the area of promises, Wednesday after Wednesday, all
the promises of God in Christ Jesus are yea and amen. In closing, let's turn to Numbers
chapter 11. Numbers chapter 11 and verse 23. And the Lord said unto
Moses, Is the Lord's hand waxed short? Thou shalt see now whether
my word shall come to pass unto thee or not. So Moses was about
to see The grace of God, Moses was about to see, a promise made
from God to him. He didn't base it on probability.
He didn't base it on it may happen, it could happen. No, it was singularly
what God had spoken to him and he believed and rested in Him. So, tonight the promises. God's promises
are a matter of fact. and a rule without exception.
God is as good as His Word. God is unchangeable, therefore
His Word, a promise, is unchangeable. Us, the believer, knowing and
seeing that promises, we know that it originates from God and
not from man and therefore must be true. Fourthly, we do not
measure or evaluate the largeness of the promise based on our gauges
are our instruments but on grace and grace alone. Fifthly, God's
own character and responsibility. It is His to keep the promises
for us and we are simply recipients. And sixthly, we must watch trusting
our feelings to secure the word of promise. We do not feel the
promise, we believe it. And lastly, We must stand squarely
upon Him and His work and His word as Abraham and Sarah, David
did when he fought Goliath, Mary and Joseph, so on and so forth. To God be the glory. Bruce, would
you close us?