When I was a boy growing up at
the 13th Street Baptist Church, we sang out of a hymn book that
had that hymn in it. And I can remember that, to me,
that was the first time I felt like a hymn really spoke to me.
It's not in their present hymn book. It's not in our hymn book.
But I can remember singing that as a little boy, and I remember
just how much that meant to me. I've entitled this message from
Titus chapter 1, The Cannot Lie Promise. The Cannot Lie Promise. Now you've probably noticed in
the scripture, the Lord said, swear not at all. Don't promise. Let your yea be yea, and your
nay be nay. Anything other than this comes
of evil. And really, when we say, I promise,
we're saying that quite often I lie. But I'm promising this
time. I'm telling the truth. James said in James chapter 5,
verse 12, above all things, swear not at all. Above all things,
don't make promises. Now we ought to be good to our
word, you know that, and I want to be a man of my word. Don't
you respect somebody that follows through with what they say? I
love that, I admire that. But how many times have you heard
somebody make a promise, I promise, and they're unable to make that
promise they made come to pass? Or how many times has someone
said, I promise, when they know they're lying? Did you do that?
No. Do you promise? I promise. Well,
here we read of a cannot lie promise. Only God can make a
cannot lie promise. Now look once again in verse
two of Titus chapter 1, Paul says, in hope of eternal life,
which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. Hope is a confident expectation
of what you cannot see. Paul says that in Romans chapter
eight. If a man sees it, why does he
yet hope for it? You cannot see that which you're
hoping for, but when you hope for something, you have a confident
expectation that it's gonna take place. And isn't that what believing
God's promise is? You believe it must take place
if he made the promise because he cannot lie. He lacks the ability to lie. Now you may not see the fulfillment
of it, but you believe it because he promised it. Now, when we're
speaking of in hope of eternal life, can you see eternal life? It's a glorious concept and I
have it if I'm a believer, you have it if you're a believer.
The life of God in your soul, a life that's eternal, that had
no beginning, that had no end as you're united to the Lord
Jesus Christ, the life of God in your soul, that new man, that
new heart, that pure heart, that clean heart. What a glorious
thing. Can you see it? No. Do you believe
it? Yes. Can you see that you have no
sin before God? No, you can't see that. Do you
believe you do because of what Christ did? Yes, you do. In hope of eternal life. You know, that's what the Lord
was talking about in John chapter 14, verse 6, when he said, I
am the way, the truth, and the life Not a life, I'm the life. If you have life before God,
you have my eternal life before God. That's all he means. That's a whole lot, that's infinite,
that's glorious, but that's my life before God. I was listening
to one of the messages somebody's preached here in the last couple
of weeks, and they said, my life is those 33 years that the Lord
Jesus Christ walked upon the earth. Yes. I'm the way, the
truth, and the life. But remember, that which is seen
is temporal. If you can see it, it's just
temporary. It's not eternal. But that which is not seen is
eternal. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now this is the promise.
He promised us even eternal life. 1 John chapter 2 verse 25, and
this promise was made by him who cannot lie. And I love this. This promise was made before
the foundation of the world, before creation. God made this
promise. Now, in terms of our experience
of promises, I suppose that the marriage promise is the promise
we're most familiar with. I don't know how many wedding
ceremonies I performed over my 42 years preaching, but quite
a bit, whole lot. And here's what I say. I say both to the man and the
woman, it is required that you promise to love and cherish him
or her. to honor and sustain him or her
in sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth, in the
bad that may darken your days, in the good that may light your
ways to cleave unto him or her alone and to prefer him or her
to all others and to be true to him or her in all things until
death alone shall part you. Do you so promise? I do. How beautiful that is when
it's kept. How beautiful. How ugly it is
when it's not kept. God always keeps his promise. In 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 56,
Solomon said, There hath not failed one word of all of his
good promise, which he promised. Now this promise of eternal life,
and there's so much in that. Most people, when they think
of eternal life, that's what happens when you get to heaven. It's
a whole lot more than that. It's God breathing life into you,
the breath of God giving you life, life into your soul. The
promise of eternal life was made by him who cannot lie and that
is his character, he cannot lie. I love to talk about the character
of our God. He's holy. That means so much more than
moral purity. That's the way most people look
at it but that diminishes his holiness. He's other. He's altogether
other. He doesn't do something because
it's right. It's right because he does it.
He doesn't have a law over his head. He's utterly holy. He says
there's none like me. He's sovereign. Do you know that
means he's the first cause behind everything? Everything? Everything. Well, what about
the bad stuff? Everything. He brings good out
of bad, but he's absolutely sovereign and absolute control over everybody,
everything. He's sovereign over the free
and uncoerced actions of men and even the thoughts that are
going through our minds right now. He's absolutely sovereign
over. What a God. He cannot lie. He's faithful. He always is as
he is. He's faithful to himself. He
can't deny himself. He's utterly faithful. I love
this. He's independent. That means
he has no needs and that means he doesn't need me to do something
before he can do something for me. Only an independent God is
like that. He's merciful. And we're talking
about him who cannot lie. He delights in mercy. He's more willing to give you
mercy than you are to receive it. Oh, our God is merciful. He delights in mercy. He's unchanging. I'm the Lord, I change not, therefore
you sons of Jacob are not consumed. He's all wise, he's omnipresent,
and he cannot lie. As our text says, This promise
was made by one who cannot lie. This promise of eternal life
was made by one who lacks the ability to lie. And that is so glorious because
lying comes so easy to us. You don't have to teach your
kids to lie. Here I need to teach you to lie. No, it comes natural.
That's part of our fallen, Adamic, sinful nature. But God cannot
lie. And so his promise means something
that no other promise makes. When a man makes a promise, he
may intend on keeping that promise, but there may be circumstances
that arise that he has no control over, and he's unable to do what
he truly wanted to do. But here is one who controls
everything, and he makes this promise. Now, when was this promise
made? Before the world began. What a glorious concept. Before
there was a creation, God made this promise. What always comes
to my mind when I think of God making a promise, I think of
Christ being the lamb, not that we'll be slain. The Lamb having
been slain from the foundation of the world. Not that we'll
be slain. Well, he wasn't slain yet. In
eternity he was. The Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. If it's eternal and never had
a beginning and it will never have an ending, God's promise
is so sure that it's past tense before it takes place. Now, this promise is made to
us because of the promise Christ made to His Father. He made this
promise to His Father. I love the story of Jacob and Reuben and Judah and Benjamin. Judah is that great type of Christ. They come back from Egypt and
they said, we can't go back unless we bring Benjamin with us. And
Jacob said, all these things are against me. No, I'm not gonna
do it. So when they run out of food,
it's time to get somebody to go back. So Reuben said, I'll
be responsible for him. Jacob said, no, I don't trust
you. But Judah said, Send the lad
with me. I will be surety for him of mine
hand shalt thou require of him. If I bring him not unto thee
and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. And
that's exactly what Jesus Christ said with regard to this sinner
and all of his elect. All you require of him, look
to me for. Everything. Does that mean everything? Everything. All you require of
Him, you look to me for. And I'll bring Him back. If I
don't bring Him back and set Him before thee, let me bear
the blame forever. Christ did all this before the
world began. And He promised your salvation.
I love that scripture that we should be to the praise of His
glory who first trusted in Christ. Who first trusted Jesus Christ?
It wasn't you. It wasn't me. It wasn't any human being. It
was the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father who trusted Christ
with the salvation of all of His people. Oh, this was all
made before the foundation of the world and because Christ
promised to accomplish this eternal life for us. He's even called
that eternal life. The promise of eternal life is
given to us. He is that eternal life. That's the life he's speaking
of when he says, I am the life. That's my life before God. Now, salvation, every aspect
of salvation has the eternal promise of God before it and
behind it. Now let me show you that. Turn
with me to 2 Corinthians 1. Verse 18. But as God is true, our word
toward you was not yea and nay. Yes and no to the same question. Speaking out of both sides of
your mouth is what he's talking about. 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 what's that mean? Somebody announces. Salvation
really is all of grace. Really? All of grace? All of
grace. It's grace will save you. It's all by grace, not of works.
All of grace. But there's the problem. But it's up to you to accept
it. God's offering it to you. He's
freely offering up to you, but as to whether or not you really
have it, it's up to you to accept it. And if you reject it, that
grace can't save you. That's yea, nay. Somebody says, the blood of Jesus
Christ is all that's needed to make you accepted before God.
Oh, that sounds good. You mean it's all that's needed?
Yes, it's all that's needed. Yes, it's all that's needed.
He died for your sins to put them away. But you have to accept
him as your personal savior before it will work. He can shed his
blood for you and you might end up going to hell anyway if you
don't do your part. That's called yea, nay preaching. Yea, nay grace, yea, nay blood,
yea, nay preaching never saved anybody. All the promises of
God in him are yea and amen. So be it. There they are to the
glory of God by us. You see, God's promises are not
conditional. I'll do this if you do that.
No, God's promises are unconditional. I will do this and you will do
that. That is the promise of God. They're all yea and they're
all amen. They're Oh, the promises of God. Turn with me for a moment to
2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter one, verse four. Whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises. That's what's given to us. Exceeding
great. I can't even describe their greatness.
Oh, the preciousness of the promise of God because they're the cannot
lie promises. They're the promises that must
come to pass that have come to pass because he said it. Look
in verse one of the same chapter, Simon Peter, a servant and an
apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained like Precious
faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ
grace be multiplied unto you and Grace and peace be multiplied
unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord
according as his divine power His omnipotence that means there's
nothing that can prevent it if he wills it if he does it it
is according as His divine power hath given us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him
that hath called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given
to us exceeding great and precious promises." Now, with every aspect
of salvation, it's covered by all things, they all have the
promise of God behind them. And when he makes a promise,
he can't lie. That's what's so powerful and
glorious about his promise. Every aspect of my salvation
is according to the promise of God. What is election? God promising to save me before
I was ever born. Isn't that a promise? What about redemption? It's God
promising to put away my sin. What about justification? It's
God promising to make me just before him and make me as to
where I've never sinned through the work of Christ on the cross.
What about regeneration? It's God promising to give me
life. What about preservation? It's God promising to preserve
me. Everything in our salvation is the promise of Him who cannot
lie and who has the power to cause all of His promises to
come to pass. Our salvation is the promise
of God. Even the faith and the repentance
we have comes from the promise of God. He promised to give it
to us. I'm going to be glorified. Why? Because of God's promise.
He promised to make me just like His Son. 2 Timothy 1, verse 9. As a matter of fact, please turn
there. I want you to look at it. I know you know this scripture,
but it's good to look at it again. 2 Timothy 1, verse 8. Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. Don't be ashamed of the
gospel. It's glorious. Confess him before
men, glory in his glorious gospel. Don't be ashamed of the gospel.
Oh, Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Now
I'm, I'm ashamed of religion. I'm ashamed of what goes on under
Christianity. I don't want to be identified
with it. I'm ashamed of it. It's, it's, it's filthy. It's evil, but I'm not ashamed
of the gospel. It's so glorious, it glorifies
God, it completely saves the sinner. Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,
but be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according
to the power of God who has saved us and called us. Now I want you
to notice the order. He saved us and he called us. Which came first? He saved us. Then He called us. And look what else it says. Who
has saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. everything we have was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began all the promises
of God in him are yea and amen. Paul just read that in that passage
scripture in Romans chapter 8 for whom he did foreknow then he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, then he also called. And whom he called,
then he also justified. And whom he justified, then he
also, not will glorify, glorified. I was glorified in Christ Jesus
before time began. Everything we have was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now, is salvation
by law or God's promise? Turn with me to Galatians chapter
3. Now what do I mean by law? Salvation
by law? Is any part of your salvation
dependent upon something you do? God cannot act unless you
first do this. It's only when you do this that
God will do something for you. That's salvation by law. And
the illustration is there in Galatians chapter 4 where God
promised Abraham and Sarah a son. Ten years later, the son has
not come to pass, has not been born. Sarah says, we obviously
need to do our part. I know God made this promise,
but this promise won't take place unless we do our part. See Hagar
over here? You go into her, we'll do our
part. That way we'll have a son. And they had a son. God never
acknowledged him as a son. He said with regard to Isaac,
take now thy son, thy only son, now law. And he says that's Mount
Sinai. That is Mount Sinai. If salvation is dependent upon
you first doing anything, that's law. Now is salvation by law
or the promise of God? Look in Galatians chapter three,
beginning in verse 16. Now, to Abraham and his seed
were the promises made. Now, is that talking about all
the physical seed of Abraham? All the Jewish nation? Well,
Paul makes sure we know what he's talking about. Look what
it says in verse 16. He saith not unto seeds as of many, but
as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. Christ is the seed
of Abraham. The promise was made to Christ. That promise made to Abraham
was made to Christ, the one seed. And this I say, verse 17, that
the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the
law which was 430 years afterward, cannot disanul. Now, when God
made this promise to Abraham, you're gonna have a son. Well, 430 years later, the law
comes along. Now, does the law disannul this
promise God made and now it's law? Let's go on reading. For
this, I say that the covenant that was confirmed before of
God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years afterward, cannot
disannul that it should make the promise of none effect. For
if the inheritance be of the law, you doing anything, it's
no more promise. But God gave it to Abraham by
promise. And there's nothing Abraham can
do to cause that to be disannulled. Now here's what I thought. I
thought Abraham, he was a sinner like me anymore. In case you
don't believe that, two different times he thought he was in trouble. He thought that Sarah was a beautiful
woman. And two different times, he was
in a land that had a king that he thought, they see her, they're
going to kill me. And he allowed His wife, he said, Sarah, don't
tell him you're my wife. Tell him you're my sister. Lie
to him, because that's going to save me. And you're going
to have to go into their harem, but that's going to save my skin.
I've often wondered how he got out of that. He did it twice.
But that shows he was a fearful. Yes, he was the father of the
faithful, but he was a man, like you and I are, a sinful man that
was afraid. But let's say he got himself
in such trouble that the devil could say, he's mine. He's mine. He's made a covenant with me.
He's got himself in such a mess that he promised to serve me.
He's mine. You know what God would say?
He never was yours in the first place. He's always been mine.
He's always been in covenant with me. He's always been one
of mine. And what you say is disannoyed. It doesn't even count because
he's always eternally been mine. He had no right to make that
promise. He didn't have the authority to make that promise because
he belongs to me. I paid for his sins. I gave him
righteousness. Oh, this is salvation by the
promise, the promise of God and not because of anything you or
I can do. You know, I, you might remember
those, um, the promise keepers way back 15 or 20 years ago,
but your real men keep their promises. Well, we ought to keep
our promise or really we ought not even say our promise. We'll
say yes. And there it is. Yes. No, no, that that's, that's
what the Lord says. Let your yay be yay and your
nay be nay. But there's one true promise
keeper. That is the Lord God then he
makes this cannot lie promise, the promise of eternal life. Now God's promise and God's grace
cannot be separated. Turn with me to Romans 4. Verse
13. For the promise, oh there we
go, for the promise that he should be the heir of the world was
not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through
the righteousness of faith. That's another name for the gospel.
It wasn't because of some works of obedience on Abraham's part.
It was through the righteousness of faith. That's the righteousness
that every believer is justified before God by and the evidence
that they're justified before God and have this righteousness
is they believe Christ. They're trusting him only as
their only grounds of acceptance. Now for the promise that he should
be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed
through the law but through the righteousness of faith for if
they which are of the law be heirs while faith is made void. And the promise made of none
effect, that's made the promise of God meaningless. Because the
law works wrath, that's all it does. For where no law is, there's
no transgression, therefore it is a faith that it might be by
grace to the end that the promise might be sure. You know the only
way the promise is sure? If it's by grace. And that's
what makes it sure not that it might be sure to all the seed
all the elect not today only which are of the law but today
also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the father of
us all." Now let's see where faith comes in. Therefore, verse
16, therefore it is a faith that it might be by grace to the end
of the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to
them which is of the law, but to them which is of the faith
of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As it's written, I
have made thee a father of many nations. Now, before we go on
reading, when God said that, Abraham hadn't had any children
yet. And yet God doesn't say I will
make you a father of many nations. He said I have made you a father
of many nations. Now God made every one of his people
righteous through the work of his son. Not I will make you
righteous, I've made you righteous. Before him whom he believed,
he believed the promise of God. If God made the promise, God
can't lie. It must come to pass. Before him whom he believed,
even God who quickens the dead, gives life to the dead, and calleth
those things which be not as though they were, who against
hope, He was 100 years old, his wife was 90, had already gone
through that time where she can't have children anymore, who against
hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many
nations, according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed
be. And being not weak in faith, He considered not his own body
now dead when he was about 100 years old, neither yet the deadness
of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God, being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he
was able also to perform. Isn't that what Paul said in
2 Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed. And when he says I
know whom I believe, he knows that one who cannot lie. That's
a summary of his glorious character. That covers all of his attributes. He cannot lie. I know whom I
have believed. And I'm persuaded he is able to keep that which
I've committed to him against that day. I want to look at another
couple of scriptures real quick. Give me about five minutes. Galatians
chapter 3. I don't think I'd ever seen the
significance of this. Galatians chapter 3 verse 22. But the scripture hath concluded. This is the Bible's conclusion
with regard to me and you. This is it. This is what God
says. This is God's conclusion. He
sees things as they are. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin. That's me. That's you. That's what we are by nature.
Under. sin. That means sin's over us.
That means sin's our boss. And there's nothing we can do
to escape that. Now you say, what a horrible
thing. Yeah, but look at the good thing. The scripture hath
concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to them that believe." You know this
is a good thing that all been concluded under sin because now
the promise by the faith of Jesus Christ is given to all them that
believe. Do you know in Romans chapter
9 verse 8 the elect are called the children of the promise? The children of the promise. Turn to 2 Peter chapter 3. Verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering
to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. Now, who's the usward? People
have used this to say, see, God wants everybody to be saved.
God wants to try and save everybody, and he's long-suffering to us,
all of us. Yes, we're to the elect. And
God is long-suffering to us, not willing that any of us should
perish. And if he's not willing for that
to happen, guess what? It's not going to happen. but that all should
come to repentance. This glorious change of mind
given by the grace of God. Involved in this promise of eternal
life is the promise of eternal blessedness. Eternal perfect
conformity to the image of Jesus Christ, being just like him,
not being a sinner anymore. That, my dear friend, is the cannot lie promise. And that's the promise I'm interested
in. The cannot lie promise. All the promises of God in him
are yay and amen to the glory of God. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your promise. You cannot lie. And you've given
us this promise of eternal life because of the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ being our life before God. How we thank you for the
promises of the gospel. And Lord, let us be like Abraham.
Let us not stagger. Let us stagger not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but let us be strong in faith, giving
glory to you, being fully persuaded that what you've promised, you're
able also to perform. Lord, enable us to be promised
believers, believing that you always keep
your promise. Bless this word for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen.