Sermons
The Word of Promise
Sun, Jun 17, 2018
Teacher: Tom Blackford Series: Sunday Sermons PM - 2018 Scripture: Romans 9:6-9
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The Word of Promise
Romans 9:6-9
INTRO:
Good evening. I invite you to turn in your bibles to Romans 9:6-9 – “6. But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7. nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called.'' 8. That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9. For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.''
The ninth chapter of the book of Romans starts with Paul’s anguish over Israel. He tells of their selection to be God’s chosen, receive the law, the pattern of worship and the promises. The apostle Paul is exploring the history of God’s people through Abraham. Here he is describing the promises that God has made. Paul refers to the inheritors as the seed through Isaac, Abraham’s son. The “children of promise” in verse 8, is a reference to the spiritual descendants of Abraham. Then at verse 9 the apostle refers to the promise of a son by Sarah as “the word of promise”. What a marvelous way to describe the word of God. “the word of promise”. The apostle Peter refers to “exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Peter 1:4) “that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Just prior to that in verse 2 he says 2 Peter 1:2 – “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,” The writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 10:23 adds another piece of assurance by reminding us that; “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” To refer, then, to the word of God as “the word of promise” is a truly appropriate designation. Now what I would like to do is to trace with you something of what the apostle is saying in Romans the ninth chapter.
I. THE HISTORY?
A. I ask you to turn to Psalms 105 I’m going to read two sections of this psalm to you. Beginning at verse eight is one of them: Psalms 105:8-11 – “8. He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, to a thousand generations, 9. The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac, 10. And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel for an everlasting covenant, 11. (now here is the covenant) Saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan As the allotment of your inheritance,''”. Now skip down to verse 42 Psalms 105:42-45 “42. For He remembered His holy promise, And Abraham His servant. 43. He brought out His people with joy, His chosen ones with gladness. 44. He gave them the lands of the Gentiles, And they inherited the labor of the nations, 45. That they might observe His statutes And keep His laws. Praise the Lord!” – Here in just a few words is the history of God’s promise. By the way, these two readings form a parenthesis in which is a wonderful encapsulation of much history.
1. Now let’s go all the way back to Genesis 12:1-3 where the promise is first made to Abraham and is referred to in the 105th Psalm, “1. Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. 2. I will make you a great nation; (there is one of the promises, call it the nation promise) I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.''” – There is the second great promise, in you shall all of the families (or nations) of the earth be blessed. The promise that all nations through the seed of Abraham are going to ultimately be blessed.
2. Let’s move on to chapter 17 of Genesis 17:19 “Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.” – here is the promise that God made to Abraham in greater detail. Abrahams wife will bear his son and his name will be Isaac.
3. Let’s move on again in Genesis to 22:16-18 and I read starting in verse 16 these words, “16. and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17. "in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18. "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.''” – The promise is made in Genesis chapter 12.
4. Remember we are talking about the word of promise. “2. I will make you a great nation... and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
i. The promise is explained further in Genesis 17, Sarah is going to have a son, and his name shall be Isaac. Here we learn the promise will not be fulfilled by Ishmael but by Isaac. Remember we are told how Abraham was told by God to take his son, his only son, the son of promise, to a place God was going to show him, and offer him there as a sacrifice.
ii. Isaac was Abraham’s son through his wife, the son that God promised. The son through whom God promised all the nations of the world would be blessed. Abraham does what God told him to do. Now we may struggle to understand how Abraham could follow through. But you see Abraham knew that God would keep the word of his promise.
iii. Abraham may not have known how—but he knew that God would keep his word. He had faith. Here then is the confirmation of the promise. Note the last part of verse 18, “Because you have obeyed my voice.”
B. Next lets go forward now to Exodus 2:23-25 You will recall by this time that the children of Israel have lived in Egypt, they were blessed during the time that the kings of Egypt knew Joseph, and then came a king that made them the slaves of the people of Egypt. “23. Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.”
1. Four hundred plus years had passed since the promise was first made to Abraham as recorded in Genesis chapter 12.
2. Now let me tell you that four hundred years is plenty of time for humanity to forget promises! But we are not dealing with a human being, we are dealing with the promises of God. Now please turn with me to ...
3. Isaiah 46:9-11 “9. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; ( we could stop right there and say there is the whole reason for confidence in the word of promise) I am God, and there is none like Me, 10. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,' 11. calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.”
4. God promises ... and God keeps His promises. We are not dealing with a human being that makes a promise to be forgotten or can not be kept for some reason. We were dealing with the Almighty, the Omnipotent, the one who can keep his promise because of who He is and nothing is impossible to Him. In Isaiah we are reminded that God does not forget His promises. Now as to the first promise we saw the great nation of Israel rise up. But what of the promise of all nations being blessed? Turn now to ...
C. Galatians 3:8,9 “8. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, Now wait a minute. I thought gospel was a New Testament word? I thought the gospel had reference to the coming of Christ, the birth, the death, the resurrection. But here is the word of God saying that the gospel was involved with the promise to Abraham. And in particular, let us continue ... saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed.'' 9. So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” So what this is saying is that when God was telling Abraham that through him all nations would be blessed, he was preaching to Abraham—the gospel!
1. Look again at verse 8, “... In you all the nations shall be blessed.” How? “So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” Of whom was he speaking, look at verse 16. “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds,'' as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed,'' who is Christ.” Here we have the promise that all nations would be blessed through Christ.
2. Through 100's of years since the promise was given to Abraham through to the present time of which he is speaking here God has been working out his purpose and his plan on the earth and finally we read in -
i. Galatians 4:4,5 “4. But when the fullness of the time had come, (ah, when God is ready) God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5. to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
ii. There it is, when all was ready, the promise was fulfilled.
3. In a broad sense, then, the word of promise is really all about God’s promise to Abraham so many years ago. And we see how wonderfully God kept his promises.
4. It is also true to say, that “the word of promise” and these assurances made so many years ago and their fulfillment, is confidence for you and me as Christian people, that God keeps His promises! Now lets think about ..
II. SOME SPECIFIC PROMISES IN WHICH WE CAN REJOICE? Lets think now of some of the specific promises that God has made through His word.
A. That in Christ we are new creatures (creations)
1. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” - Lets think about this promise.
2. It is the promise to have an entirely new page on which to write the story of your life. An entirely new page, a new creation! If we are in Christ.
3. Now I quickly need to add that this does not mean there are not going to be some consequences for past things we have done that will affect our life here on earth.
4. BUT we do not have to be burdened with the guilt of those things because we are a new creature.
5. Looking in Galatians 3:26-29 we see; “26. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
6. This is how we become Abrahams seed. The promises made to Abraham so many years ago are entirely relevant to you and me. Christ is the answer to the question, how is it, that all nations are going to be blessed through the seed of Abraham? Through Jesus Christ. It is promised to us that we can become new creatures. Children of Abraham in faith.
B. That all things really do work together for good to the called
1. Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” – Here is the promise that all things work together for good to them that are called. Hard to believe? but it really is true ... God promised
2. There are times when horrible, rotten, unfair, tragic things can happen to good people and there are times when these same kinds of things happen to Christian people. What then?
3. Here is this promise of God, and it gives us a difficult promise to understand when bad things happen. All the time we hear for natural disasters in which people suffer. There is loss of life and loss of property. We have recently the eruptions of volcanoes in Hawaii and in Guatemala, the catastrophic flooding in Colombia and the tornados in this country. But if a person is a true lover of God and has been called according to God’s purpose, here is a promise which helps us move ahead optimistically. Even with all the tragic things that happen.
4. I do not presume to be able to tell you how God keeps the promise. But I’ll tell you what; I believe in the promise and seek the working out of this promise in my life.
C. Here is another promise, that He hears and answers our prayers.
1. 1 John 5:14,15 “14. Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
2. Here are bold affirmations from the pen of the apostle John. “we know” - “we know”
3. Yes, the qualifier is “according to his will” - but even with the qualifier, isn’t this wonderful assurance? To know that whatever we ask, God hears us.
4. Our human problem is that we are limited to such a narrow view of things - God sees the “big picture” ... Because of our limitations we don’t really know what is best.
i. We pray to God and we have some very specific things we ask God to do for us or provide for us or whatever and it does not work out that way. We wonder does God really hear us or does God really answer us. We have to come to grips with the fact that God sees more broadly then we see and he knows what is needed.
ii. Yes, God answers our prayer but He answers in a way that is best suited. Perhaps we will receive exactly the thing which we have requested, the petition we have desired. But if we do not we must learn to accept that He will answer the prayer, in Gods time and in Gods way.
5. I think we can find comfort in Philippians 4:6,7 “6. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7. and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” I love those two verses. I know that when God promises He keeps his promises, and that He hears—and answers prayer.
D. Then there is the great promise that the Lord is with us in our lives
1. In Hebrews 13:5,6 “5. Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you.'' 6. So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?''” – The Lord is with us in our lives. He is interested in us and concerned with us. This is the promise of God.
2. Look at the words of Paul in 2 Timothy 4:16-17 noting what Paul says in “16. At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. then he goes on to say 17. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” ... and Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
E. There is the promise that God will give us a crown of life.
1. James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” – The word in the greek used here for crown is the victor’s crown - the crown for winners!
2. 1 Peter 1:3-4 “3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4. to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,” - Here is the promise of ... an inheritance!
3. This promise is one that should motivate us through the Christian life. There is a crown of life and an inheritance awaiting those that faithfully, endure to the point of death. This victor’s crown, this inheritance, are far too precious for us to forfeit through unfaithfulness, or weakness of faith. Far too important to fritter away in a frivolous life.
4. Remember what we read in the Isaiah passage ... He purposed it, and He will do it!
CONCLUSION:
In the book of Hebrew, chapter 10, the writer is concerned with the steadfast faith of the people of whom he writes Hebrew 10:32-36 In verse 32, 33 and 34 he expresses that he knows they have gone through suffering in their lives, not a natural disaster, but suffering because they are Christians. “32. But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 33. partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; 34. for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.”
Then in verses 35 and 36 he says, “35. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:” - “For ye have need of endurance, patience...” We read these verses and realize that we are being told it is possible to lose promises. Not because of Gods inability to keep them, but because of faithlessness, because of weakness or loss of faith.
I’ve said this before, I can not think of a single promise the Lord has given that we would want to trade for anything this world has to offer.
The word of promise. We will just keep on doing “the will of God” with confident expectation. Understanding that there are going to be some bad things that happen, both naturally and perhaps because we are a Christian. We continue with our lives trusting God, God who is faithful and has promised! Depending on the promises of God, not forfeiting through unfaithfulness, we can rest assured that God is going to see us through this life and see us through to our inheritance in eternity. It all depends, folks, on the words trust and obey. We trust, and out of that trust comes a life of obedience to the precious commandments of God which are found in the word of promise.
I do not see anyone here this evening who is not a child of Abraham. Should there be I would say to them; If you are not a child of Abraham, not an inheritor of the blessing because you have not been baptized into Christ and therefore you are not Christ’s, never been baptized for the remission of your sins, then that promise of the new creation you have not received.
You do not have that new page on which to write. You are still writing on that old page so messed up with places you have tried to scratch out some words, tried to erase some words and perhaps even erased all the way through the page.
Do you want that fresh new page that is promised? Then if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, you need to repent of your sin, and come this evening as we sing this song and say “I want to be baptized into Christ today”. “I want to receive the blessing of that new page with all my sins gone, so that I can enjoy the rest of those promises”. “The promise that all things work together for good for the people that are the called according to the gospel, the promise that God answers prayer, the promise that Jesus is with me in my life, the promise that I can receive a crown...” Don’t leave here this evening not having received the opportunity to enjoy those promises. Life is too short, Eternity is too long, to throw away what you could have through Christ.
During the singing of this song I would encourage anyone who has that need to come to the front and let us know.
Maybe you are a child of God who has been baptized into Christ but you know your life has not reflected your confidence in the promises of God, and you have tried to live life your own way as many of us do. Repent of that. Because you can’t get to heaven your way, you can only get there God’s way, through Christ Jesus and the word that He gives as instruction to us in our lives. If you need to ask the prayers of brothers and sisters in Christ on your behalf, you can come and ask for those prayers and we will pray with you. If we can serve you in any way this evening why don’t you consider coming as we stand together and as we sing.
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Reference Sermon: Cecil A. Hutson – Nov 4, 2007
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