Okay, we are going to introductory
thoughts on promises, the promises of God. Tonight and for several
subsequent Wednesday evenings, I don't know how many. I am three
ahead already, which I'm shocked. But anyway, for the next several
Wednesdays, we're going to look specifically at the promises
of God. I pray that God will allow me
to be clear and plain in biblical teaching upon this subject matter
because I know that for some it is somewhat controversial.
But let us have an open mind and opened by the spirit of grace
and truth. And I believe we shall receive
blessings while we sojourn here. It's just one of the things that
the Lord uses as foundational truths for each of his people,
every one of his people. And I chose this particular subject,
not because it is disputed, but because I agree with Mr. Spurgeon,
as he notes in his short work on the promises of God, that
the children of grace do not make use of these promises as
often as they should, and thereby yield themselves to many comfortless
and peaceless days. which may be truly averted by
simply believing upon God's good and foundational promises." We
worry way too much. And if we would look in the book,
we would see promises in our certain situations, but we'll
look at that a little bit later. So first of all, just kind of
some academia here, the word usage. We are what is meant in
the Word of God by the term or the wordology Promise, promised. It's used 214 times, the word
in the Bible, or all deviations like vow and whatnot. So we're
looking at a little bit more here. But when it comes to the
word promise, promise is exactly, there's four usages, four usages
mainly. Promise, promises, promised,
E-D, and promised, I-S-T. The word promised, the word promise
is used eight times in the Old Testament, 45 times in the New
Testament. The word promises are used 13
times in the New Testament only. The word promised is used 34
times in the Old Testament and 14 times in the New Testament. Promised, S-T, is only used in
the Old Testament, and it's used three times. And there is a usage
of the word promising, and that's one time in the Old Testament.
When we talk about promises, old and new, we gotta define
them. Define what the word is, what the Hebrew word is and what
the Greek word is. And I found this very interesting.
Almost exclusively, In the Old Testament, the word promises,
promised, promised is used almost exclusively means to speak a
word, simply to speak a word. And I found this interesting,
almost entirely, I think all but two times. In the New Testament,
it means a pledge for good. The word promised, promised,
a pledge for good. Now the first promise is found
in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. And we could turn there,
you know what that is. That's the promise of the coming
Messiah. That's the promise of the Redeemer. He says, I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, and it
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Now it
doesn't have the word promise in here. But we're going to look
at all the different promises that God has for His people.
But this first promise is found in Genesis, the first book, and
it's talking about redemption by the wounded Savior. So there's the gospel right there.
The first promise in the Bible is about Christ and Him crucified
and how He's going to crush It's going to bruise, the serpent
is going to bruise his heel, but he's going to crush his head. The last promise in the Bible
is found in the last book of the Bible. In the second to last
verse, Revelations 20 to 20, and he simply just says, I come
quickly. I come quickly. And we can lay
hold of that as a promise that he said it, he's going to do
it. Now, the third thing is, first thing, we looked at the
word usage, the definition, and the number, now the third area
is the number of promises. There was one such study showed
8,810 promises. As they relate man to man, this
includes God the Father to God the Son, and it includes God
to man and so forth. This third one, this third area,
promises of God, God to man. That's what this study is going
to look at. We're going to observe and study this particular usage
with great interest, great interest. And remember, this is a pledge
for good, a pledge for good. from God to man. So now we're
narrowing it down. So this is what we're going to
look at for the rest of this evening. Our main text, lead verse is
going to be 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 20. So then, who are the
promises for? We've discussed there's promises,
the different word usages, what it means. Now who's it for? Who are the promises for? Who
are these pledges for good from God to man, who are they for? 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse
20. For all the promises of God in
him, that's in Christ, are yes and in him, amen, unto the glory
of God by us. For all the promises of God in
Christ. Everything God has for poor,
weak, insignificant sinners is in Christ Jesus. Simply put, if you are in Christ,
all the promises are yours. If you are not, if you are out
of Christ, none are yours. If you're in Christ, they're
all for you. If you're outside of Christ,
There's none. Put another way, all of these
exceeding great and precious promises, which Peter calls them,
are for his sheep. Not the goats, not the tares,
but the wheat. Turn to Galatians chapter 3.
Galatians chapter 3. Verse 16, 17, and 18. 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 four hundred and thirty years
after, cannot disannul, that it should make the 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." Verse 22, But the Scripture hath concluded, all under sin,
that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to
them that believe. And verse 29, And if ye be Christ's,
then ye are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to promise. You see that? So, if you're in
Christ, these promises, this pledge for good, from God, are
for you. How do you get in? How do you
get in Christ? It's got to be God-given. You
can't be birthed Put it another way, Abraham's spiritual seat,
every one of them, these promises are for, not according to our
works or my works, or good deeds, or prayers, or fastings, or etc.,
but by the grace and eternal choosing in the covenant of God
the Father. God the Father. Now next week
we're gonna look at what the promises are. They're a gift,
just like grace. So if you get these promises,
it's by grace. You can't earn it, you can't
work for it, you can't be born into the family. It's the seed
of Abraham, by the seed of Abraham. This is how all who have believed
and all who believe now and all who shall believe upon Jesus
the Christ, that's counted, they're the seed. that shows that they're
the seed of Abraham. By grace are you saved, we know
that, not of yourselves, by the will and power of God, not by
works, lest any man should boast. So these promises are for the
sheep. These promises are for the sheep.
These ones, these many, will hear the truth of his gospel
and abandon their hopeless works of religion and cling to the
Redeemer for everlasting life. 1 John chapter 5 verse 11 and
12, And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal
life, And this life is where? In His Son. All the promises
of God in Him, in Christ. It's all in harmony. The Gospel,
the people who believe the Gospel are born out to be the sheep
of God. And they're born out to be wheat and not tares. And
they're born out, as you keep on going backwards, they are
the heirs according to promise. They're of the seed of Abraham.
And how is that possible? Because God chose them. Nothing
to do with us. Nothing to do with us. John 5,
verses 11 and 12, as I said, and this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son,
and he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the
Son of God hath not life. And Spurgeon in his book, like
the first four or five chapters, It's very specifically with Ishmael
and Isaac. Isaac was of the seed, Ishmael
never was. And we've seen that in Galatians
in our study. Cast out the bondwoman and her son. Because the bondwoman's
son shall never be with the free woman. The son born of the free
woman. They can't mix. It's oil and
water. And we know this. This works in grace. It's law
and love. They cannot mix. And you show
I say, you show by believing upon the Lord Jesus Christ, by
trusting in Him, confessing Him, abandoning our religious or irreligious
works, they have nothing to do with salvation, and cling to
Christ like Enoch did, believe what he said, walking with God,
and that shows that we're the children of God, the sons of
God. So, these ones, or these many,
as I said, will hear the truth of the Gospel, and they'll cling
to Christ. So it is that only these who
have laid hope upon the doing and dying of Emmanuel can and
shall receive all of God's promises and only these because they are
heirs of heaven from all eternity. We had nothing to do with our
salvation. we would hear the gospel, the
truth, because he saves by the preaching of the gospel, he's
saved by the truth. Don't just snap your fingers and become
one of the elect, it doesn't work that way. However, we will
hear the truth, we love the truth, because the truth is about Christ
and God, and then we realize that when He is chosen, when
we realize that we're His, Then we see these promises. These
pledges for good. This is just an introduction.
We'll get into this next week. Pledges for good from God to
us. And it should open up marvelous,
wonderful things. Let's look at Galatians. We looked
at Galatians. Let's go back to Galatians. Chapter
3. Again in verse 29. I'll read that again. And if
you be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
promise. A goat never becomes a sheep
and a sheep never becomes a goat. That's what I'm trying to say.
It's impossible. Christ said, I lay down my life
for the sheep. The same ones whom the Father
gave to me from eternity, the same ones who I, in the fullness
of time, suffered, bled and died and rose, buried on the third
day, is crucified, buried and rose again for these sheep. It's the same ones that the Holy
Spirit causes them to believe upon Christ,
to abandon hope in any other, and then He opens to them the
Word of God, the promises, the promises of God. According to
Abraham C., Galatians chapter 4 and verse 28, Now we, brethren,
as Isaac was, are the children of promise. It's not like John
says, it's not by the will of man, Not by we want to, we can,
whatever, but by the grace of God, we are believers, we understand
Him. Romans chapter 9, Romans chapter
9, verse 6 through 8, Romans 9, verse 6 through 8,
Not as though the word of God had taken none effect, For they
are not all Israel which are Israel, neither because they
are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed." You see, this was
taken care of long before we were ever on this earth. And
that's what Spurgeon brings out in his first several chapters.
He's talking about heirs, according to promise, he's going back and
forth. It's like our birth. We had nothing to do with our
birth, our natural birth. Nothing to do with it. So as
to his salvation. In the fullness of time, God was made a man. He was the
God-man. He didn't become. He was the
God-man. Satisfied every law and ordinance and writing against
us, nailed Him to His cross, when He voluntarily suffered
the death for the just for the unjust. And we show that we're
children according to promise by believing the truth, not an
error, not a part truth, not a part error, the truth. Gospel
of who God is, what He's done, where He's at now, for whom He's
done it. They were all children of the
flesh, but they're not the children of God, but the children of promise
are counted as the seed. Titus chapter 1, Titus chapter
1, Titus chapter 1 and verse 1 and
2, Paul, a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according
to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the
truth, which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life, which
God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." Before
the world began, God pledged to do good to sinners. Not all sinners, some
sinners. These people are termed the remnant
in scriptures, they're termed elect, they're termed the chosen,
they're termed transgressors, sinners, corruptors of that which
is good, vile, base, weak, took the weak things of the world
and confound the wise. This is what we're called. Promised
to some of Adam's race. I don't know who they are. That's
why we preach every Sunday. That's why when you bump into
somebody you haven't seen in a while and you say, who knows? So you speak the truth. Or at
work. Or at play. At home. In a meeting. In a non-meeting.
In the teacher's lounge. Anywhere. where you have liberty
to do so. You have to be respectful of
time and profits and things like that. So we have to be respectful
for that. But we just tell the truth. Because we don't know
who the heirs according to promise are. Some of Adam's race. So I tell us, let us sue for
mercy. That these amazing promises will be for me and you personally. Let us sue for mercy. God always
hears a genuine cry for mercy. I was talking to Tim about doing
this and he said this, this book, the Bible, is a personal book
for every believer, only for believers. And he says that's
one thing that he's noticed is when it becomes impersonal, either
people are getting ready to walk away and never knew the truth,
or they need to be reminded that this book is personal. We were talking today about,
and somebody said something about, in so many places in this country,
and we have so many Bibles, and they sit closed with dust on
them. This book is personal. This book
ought to go with us everywhere we go. It ought to be like the
armor of God. We put it on. We read it. We
look at it. But I like that. And that's what
we're looking at. We're looking at personal promises.
And we'll get into that, I don't know when. But that's what I'm
saying. I'm saying let us lay hold of
Christ and therefore these glorious promises for yourself. And Spurgeon, I'm reading a little
bit ahead, he said, you apply it to each situation and circumstance
personally. That's what I want to get into.
I want to get into down the road. So, that's all I've got for tonight. Let us look at this and enjoy
this. And if we trust Christ, we know
Christ, it is really an open book. Anywhere we want to look. Whether we're looking for Him
or not. A lot of times our Lord will surprise. You'll read something
and you'll say, man, I didn't know I needed that, but I needed
that. Let us lay hold of Him, and therefore we have the hold
of the promises. Nathan, would you close this?