2nd Corinthians chapter 1 Let's
take a good look at verse 20 you see verse 20 there All the promises of God all the
promises of God He's made a lot of promises in his book hadn't
he all the promises of God in the Lord Jesus Christ yes yes
they are fixed certain and sure all the promises of God in Christ
are yes and all the promises of God concerning salvation are
in him in him in the Lord Jesus he is The Savior. He is salvation. And then we see that very common
word, Amen. That means, so be it. So be it. It is true. And it all works
to one glorious end. Unto the glory of God. Salvation is unto the glory of
God. The glory of God. Now the title
of the message is obvious. All the promises of God. All
the promises of God. The Apostle Paul had spent 18
months in this city known as Corinth. And he spent 18 months
in that city doing one thing. And that one business he did
was preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I think he
did that day and night. He did that constantly, preaching
the Lord Jesus Christ. He had also told them when he
wrote that first epistle that the Lord willing that he had
a desire to come back and to see them and to preach the gospel
to them once again. But he says, if the Lord permit,
I will come back. Although that was Paul's desire
to come back and to see them again, and to rejoice in fellowship
with them again, and to preach the gospel to them once again,
it was not in the purpose of God for him to return. And because he never returned,
some of the enemies of the gospel that were about Corinth began
to slander Paul. They said, you know, his word
You really can't believe what he says. He says one thing and
then he does something else. He's just a yay and nay type
guy. You ever know somebody like that? They say, well, yeah, I'll
be there, and then they just never show up. And you think,
well, you know, his word ain't worth much. Well, some thought
that of Paul. They began to slander him and
accuse him of his word not being true, and even questioned whether
his preaching was true, or even questioning whether he... Are
you really an apostle? Are you really a servant of God?
And then the Apostle Paul defends himself. Look at verse 17. When
I therefore was thus minded to come to you, did I use likeness? No, he said, if the Lord willing,
I will come to you. Or the thing that I purpose,
do I purpose just according to the flesh? Am I just a fleshly
man after fleshly desires, that with me there should be yay-yay
and nay-nay? Oh no, look at verse 18, but
as God is true, as God is true, our word or our message, our
preaching to you was not yea and nay, but our preaching to
you was yes and in him, amen. Now Paul defends himself against
their baseless charges. saying, do you think I make decisions
so carelessly and lightly, just according to the flesh, without
seeking the Lord's will, without seeking the Lord's purpose, telling
you yes, when in my heart really I mean no? Or verse 18, he says, as surely
as God is true and faithful and unchanging and means what he
says, even so our preaching was not yea and nay preaching. Our
preaching or our message, Paul said, has never changed. Now
look just across the page in chapter 2 of 2 Corinthians, and
he talks about the preaching of the gospel. For we are not
as many which corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity,
but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we of Christ, with
sincerity of heart." Again, notice, if you will, in chapter 3 of
2 Corinthians, Look at verse 12, "...seeing then that we have
such a hope, a hope of salvation, a hope of pardon, a good hope
through grace, therefore we use great plainness of speech." Again,
if you find chapter 4 of 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul again talks
about his ministry. He says in verse 5, "...we preach
not ourselves, But Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your servant
for his sake. For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our heart to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ. And then he says we have this
treasure in an earthen vessel. that the excellency of the power
of God, the power of the gospel may be of God and not of us."
You see, the Apostle Paul was determined to preach Christ and
Him crucified. And he's saying here that his
preaching was not based upon mere speculation, based upon
his opinion or his thinking, but his word and his preaching
was according to the Word of God, the Word of Truth. Look
at verse 19, back in chapter 1 of 2nd Corinthians. For the
Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by
us. Now what was His message? Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. He is the Son of God, that is,
the Eternal God. He is God our Savior, Jesus Christ,
the Anointed of God. Who was preached among you? Not only by me, but by Silas
and by Timothy. You remember the Old Testament
law? By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be
established. Paul not only preached the message
of salvation in Christ, but Silas came along and he preached the
same message. And Timothy came along and preached
the same message. And Peter came along and preached
the same message. And Titus came along and preached
the same message. was not yes and no, it was not
yea and nay preaching, but in the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation
is certain and sure. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is not a deceptive message. It's not a misleading message. It plainly states what our problem
is. Now, what is our problem? Our
problem is S-I-N, sin. We have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. In Adam all have sinned. We have
that original sin charged to our account. In Adam all sin
and Adam all die. So sin is the problem, but the
gospel and the preaching of the gospel not only point out the
problem, but clearly point out the remedy for the problem. We
have a solution. Do you have a solution to my
problem? Yes, I do. And the solution is the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the Savior. He is salvation. Our preaching of the gospel is
not a questionable yay and nay message. It's not salvation that
may be. It's not salvation that could
be or that Maybe if you meet certain conditions, it will work.
No, our message of salvation is yes. Is there salvation in
the Lord Jesus Christ? It's not a maybe or could be
answer, is it? Not to a believer. Is there salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ? You don't have to think about
that, do you? It comes to you automatically. Yes, there is
salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, all the promises of
God in the Lord Jesus Christ are certain and sure, fixed. They're unchanging, as God Himself
is unchanging. Listen to this scripture in 2
Peter 1. We also have a more sure word
of prophecy. The Word of God is sure. Listen
to this in Romans 4. Salvation is of faith that it
might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to
all those that Believe now look at verse 20 In 2nd Corinthians
chapter 1 verse 20 all the promises of God Now he's made a lot of
promises This whole book you look at this book. It's a big
book There's a lot of promises in this book of all the promises
that God has given You reckon how many of them have failed?
Is there any promise that God has made that failed? No. No. All the promises of God in
him are yes. They're fixed. They're certain.
They're sure. You can bank on it. You can count
on it. You can trust your whole salvation
unto the promises of God. Every believer is persuaded,
as Abraham, fully persuaded, of all that God has promised
He's able to perform. He's able to perform. We have,
as we read a moment ago in 2 Peter 1, whereby are given to us exceeding
and great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers
of a divine nature, according to his exceeding great and precious
promises. All the promises of God in the
Lord Jesus Christ are true. certain, fixed, and sure. Now, let me just mention a few
and I'll give these to you in the form of a question. Is there
salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ? And we can answer that not according
to tradition, but according to, thus saith the Lord, is there
salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ? Absolutely certain and sure.
Now here's the scripture, Acts chapter 4 verse 12, where Peter
said, neither is there salvation in any other, for there's no
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. So, is there salvation in Christ? Yes. Now, secondly,
is there pardon in Christ? Pardon from all sin? Who needs
pardon anyway? A guilty man? Is there pardon
from all sin in Christ? Yes! Thou art a God ready to
pardon. He will abundantly pardon His
people. Is there justification from sin
in Christ? Yes! We're justified freely by
His grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is there forgiveness of sin in the Lord Jesus Christ? Is there? Yes! "...in whom we have redemption,"
Ephesians 1, 7, "...in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches of His grace. He
obtained for us eternal redemption." Is there a justifying righteousness
before God to be had, to be enjoyed, to be received? Yes! Yes, blessed is the man to whom
the Lord imputed righteousness without work. You see, everything
we can mention in regards to our salvation is in the Lord
Jesus Christ, yes, and amen, and in Him to the glory of God. Is there reconciliation in Christ? Yes, God was in Christ reconciling
us unto Himself. Is there regeneration in Him? Yes. If any man be in Christ,
2 Corinthians 5, 17, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. God has blessed his people with
all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus
Christ. All the promises of God in the
Lord Jesus Christ are certain, sure, and fixed. They do not
change. Because God Himself does not
change. Now, four things I want to consider
from verse 20. The first one is this. These
promises, now look at the text carefully. All the promises,
this is not the promise, this is not the promises of Tom. This
is not the promises of the church. Where these promises originate
from? Who is the author of all these
promises? Look what it says in the text. All the promises of
God. They're of God. These promises
are of God. They originate with Him. He's
the first cause. He's the first cause. He's the
last end. All these promises, they originate
with Him. Here's what we read in scripture.
He said, I've spoken it, I'll bring it to pass, I've purposed
it, I will do it. I will do it. All the promises
of God in him are yes, of him and through him and to him are
all things to whom be glory both now and forever. They are of
God. They are according to His eternal
will and His eternal purpose, which He purposed in the Lord
Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world. These are old promises. The promises of salvation to
His people are as old as God Himself. Old Eternity. Here's what we read. "...in whom
we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him, who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will, according to His eternal purpose, which He
purposed in Christ Jesus the Lord before the foundation of
the world." As I've often said to you these many years, before
there was a sinner, there was a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who stood as a surety and mediator of His covenant people. They
are according to the eternal will and purpose of God. Secondly,
these promises of God, they display the qualities of God who gave
them, don't they? They display the qualities of
God who gave them. They are true as God Himself. It is impossible for God to lie,
therefore all the gospel promises given in the Word can be trusted,
believed, because it's His Word. You remember what we studied
in our Bible study this morning of His own will? Beget He us
with the word of truth. These promises of God are as
true as God Himself. Secondly, they are as unchanging
as God Himself are unchanging. is unchanging. He said, I'm the
Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. And these promises like God himself
are true, unchanging, and they're powerful. They're powerful. It
shall never be said that God failed to keep his promise. Now, I may make you a promise,
and because of my inability and my deficiency, I may not be able
to meet that promise. But we can never say that of
God. Everything that He has promised,
He is able to perform, able to accomplish, able to complete. Something else we know about
these promises of God that reflect His character, they're eternal.
Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Forever. Forever. All that God has promised,
not one jot or tittle shall fail. When Joshua had finished his
ministry according to the Word of the Lord, his dying words
were this, of all that God had promised, of all that God had
promised, not one word has failed. And that's true. Every gospel
promise that God has given unto His church, not one promise can
fail because, you know why? God can't fail. He's successful
in everything he says, everything he does, he's absolutely successful. You got the first point? For
all the promises thereof, God. Secondly, secondly, notice the
range and scope and dimension of these promises. All the promises
of God in him are yes and amen. All the promises of God. There
is not a need that I have that the promises found in the gospel
do not cover completely, fully. This ought to give us great encouragement
to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ to supply our every need. I have
many, and it's really singular. We often say needs, but I just
have one need. You just have one need, and your
one need is this, Christ. You need Him, whether you know
it or not. I hope you do. I hope God brings you to that.
All I need is Him. Him. Everything else in this
life is secondary. He's the preeminent one. He must
have all the preeminence. There's not a need that I have
that all the promises of the gospel don't completely cover. This ought to encourage every
one of us to look unto Christ. You remember this promise? Listen
to this promise. Philippians chapter 4. My God
shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory through
Christ Jesus. Now there is not a need that
I have that he doesn't fully meet. I need righteousness, well
he gives that. I need salvation, well he gives
that. I need forgiveness of sin, well he grants that freely by
his grace. You see, of his fullness have
we all received grace for grace. Of his fullness. You see, in
the Lord Jesus Christ was all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
and in Christ we stand complete. Complete. You say, Preacher,
you don't know my case. You don't know me. Yeah, I do.
Yeah, I do. You know why I know your case?
Because I know my case. You're just like me. Guilty,
vile, hell-deserving, wretched sinner. That's me. And that's
you too. You don't know my case. I'm an ungodly by nature. I'm
an ungodly sinner. Well, listen to this promise.
Do you really think that? You really think that of yourself?
I do. I'm an ungodly, wretched sinner.
Well, listen to this promise. Christ died for the ungodly. When we were yet without strength,
the Lord Jesus Christ died for the ungodly. Listen to this,
by nature I stand naked before the holy justice of God, charged
guilty, guilty. The Lord Jesus Christ takes away
my guilt by taking my sin and then He gives me a perfect robe
of righteousness. to clothe me, the garment of
salvation He's covered me with, and with the robe of righteousness.
You see, by nature I'm a hard-hearted, hard-headed sinner. But in the
Gospel, the promise God gives to His people, He's promised
to take away our stony heart and to give us a new heart. You
see, there's not anything you can mention that the Gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't cover. We say, I'm a wicked man. I'm a sinner. The Lord Jesus
Christ came to call and to save sinners. By nature I'm dead in
sin, yeah? He gives life. You hath he quickened
whom are dead. By nature I cannot pray. Not
as I ought to. Not as I should. The Lord Jesus
Christ ever lives to intercede for us. He prays for us. Think
about that. He's able to say to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him saying He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. You see, I need a mediator to
stand before God. Do you have a mediator? There's one God and one mediator.
Do you know who that mediator is? The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the mediator He is the blessed
mediator? By how much more excellent ministry
the Lord Jesus Christ has? By how much more He is the mediator
of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises? Not promises of law, promises
of love in Christ. Are you a weary, heavy-laden
sinner, laden down with guilt? You know what the Lord Jesus
Christ says? He says, come unto me and I'll
give you rest. You need rest? I need rest. Are you weary and heavy laden
with guilt and sin? Well, come to Christ. Come to
Christ. Come to Christ. How do you come
to Christ? By faith. Come to Christ and
don't move a muscle. Don't move a hand or hair, but
come to Christ by faith. Look unto Him. Are you a thirsty? Are you a thirsty sinner? Thirsty
for the water of life? The Lord said, Oh, everyone that
thirsty, come unto me. If any man thirst, let him come
and drink. Are you a hungry sinner? You
hungry for the bread of life. You hungry for salvation. You
see the Lord Jesus Christ is the bread of life. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Are you full of leprosy? The leprosy of sin,
yes, from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, I'm
a sinner. The Lord Jesus Christ says this, with his stripes,
you're healed. Isn't that good news? You see,
there's nothing you can mention that he doesn't completely fulfill
and take care of. Are you a lost sinner? Yep. Christ
came to seek and to save the lost. You see, all the promises,
all the promises of God. Now here's the third point. In
Him are yes. In Him, and in Him are yes, and
in Him, here we see the sureness and certainty of all these promises. Yes, and in Him, amen, amen. The sureness and certainty of
all the promises of God are guaranteed by the performance of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now you think about that. You
see, my salvation does not depend upon my performance. My salvation
does not depend upon my faithfulness. It's not conditioned upon me.
It's conditioned upon my substitute, upon his obedience, upon his
faithfulness. which is perfect, which is complete,
which is eternal, which is satisfying unto God. I love this psalm,
Psalm 52, where David said, I cry unto God most high, unto God
that performeth all things for me. He honored the law of God
for me. The Lord Jesus Christ took my
sin unto himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. He was wounded for me, bruised for me. He took my
iniquity unto Himself. He came to do the Father's will
and to finish the work of salvation the Father gave Him to do. You
see, it all depends upon His performance, His faithfulness. It all depends upon, and we can
say this, now listen to me carefully, listen to the whole statement
now. Salvation is by works. His, not mine. See what I'm saying? Now I can make good on that.
Listen to this scripture. He came to do the Father's work
and will. He said in John 4, my meat is
to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work. See, I'm trusting Him who finished
the work. In John chapter 6, He said, All
that the Father giveth Me will come to Me. I came down from
heaven not to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent
Me. And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that all that He
hath given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up again at the
last day. In John 17, the Lord prayed this, Father, I finished
the work You gave Me to do. You see, He did all salvation
based upon His doing, His dying, His obedience, His faithfulness.
Well, what part do you have in it? None. Not in the accomplishment
of it, not in the performance of it, He simply gives that to
me as a free gift of His grace. You see, that's the good news
of the Gospel. It is done, He said upon the cross. You remember
His dying words upon the cross? It wasn't, I started to work,
sinner, I started to work, now you've got to finish it up. That
wouldn't be good news, would it? Rather, the Lord Jesus Christ
said on Calvary Street, it is finished. It's done. The great
transaction's done. I am my Lord and He is mine. The Lord Jesus Christ cannot
fail in anything that He undertakes. He's doing the work of the Father
for us. And the Father speaks from heaven
and said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. You hear Him. You look to Him. You see, saving faith looks unto
Him. His past performance, His priestly work, His past performance
is a guarantee of future results. What He did guaranteed the salvation
of all of His people. There's not one sinner for whom
the Lord Jesus Christ died will ever wind up in hell. There's
no one in hell for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died. That cannot
be. If He stood for them as surety,
as He stood for them as mediator, as He took their sin to His own
body on the tree, as He satisfied God's law and justice, as He
put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. How can
any perish for whom the Lord Jesus Christ stood? That cannot
be. This book knows nothing of a
failed Savior. It knows nothing of a failed
Mediator. It knows nothing of a failure,
the Lord Jesus Christ. in every aspect of his ministry
is victorious. He honored the law, satisfied
justice in every aspect. Therefore, we cannot fail. You remember what the Apostle
wrote in 1 Corinthians 15? Thanks be unto God who has given
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm thinking of
this scripture just across the page in 2 Corinthians 2, look
at verse 14. Now, thanks be unto God, which
always causes us to triumph, triumph in Christ, and maketh
manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every place. You see, every believer is a
winner. You know why? Because the Lord
Jesus Christ has won the victory for us. Every battle that he
engaged in, he came out with complete victory over sin, death,
hell, and the grave. The Lord Jesus Christ ever lives.
He said, I am he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I am alive
forevermore. I have the keys of hell and death.
Now, back to the text. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse
20. All the promises of God in Him
are yes, and in the Lord Jesus. Amen. So be it. It's true. Now,
it works to this end, and get this point now, unto the glory
of God. You see, God has so fixed salvation
in Christ, That everything must work to this end. His glory. You see the grand design of redemption.
The grand design of redemption is not to keep a few sinners
out of hell. That's not the grand design.
You know what the grand design of redemption is? The glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the redeemed in heaven
sing, it's recorded in Revelation 5. Revelation 5 where it says,
worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive all honor, glory,
blessing, both now and forever. The psalmist echoed that many
years before when he said, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
but unto thy name do we give glory for thy mercy and for thy
truth's sake. The bottom line in all that God
does is His glory. His glory. Now think about this. I'll let you go. Think about
this thought. I'll send you home with this thought. Moses asked
the Lord Lord, show me your glory. You remember? Exodus 33. Show
me your glory. And the word came back from the
Lord unto Moses, I'll cause all my goodness to pass before you.
I'll be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. You see, God gets glory in showing
mercy to sinners. So that leads me to this conclusion.
His greatest glory to show mercy to sinners, my greatest need.
May I take my place before the throne of God as a mercy beggar
and pound on my chest as the publican did that day, God be
merciful to me, the sinner. And the Lord says this, You remember
that promise in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16? He said, come unto
me. Come boldly that you may obtain
mercy. Come boldly unto the thorn of
grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. Now look at verse 20 one more
time. All the promises of God in him
are yes. And they're in the storehouse,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And they're true. Amen. That
means they're true. That means they're certain and
fixed. And unto the glory of God by the Lord Jesus Christ.