Exceeding Great and Precious Promises
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
It is not the fact of exceeding great and precious promises which primarily concerns me; it is my entering into a personal realization of those promises, and making them mine, God is willing to bestow His best things upon us, but we are unwilling to receive, or, at least we are unwilling to pay the price of blessing.
1. Many of God's best things are conditional. Grace operates apart from human worth; many promises operate upon human valor.
We can almost hear Christ saying, "How oft would I * * but ye would not." To us the Master's words mean, "I wanted to; you would not; I could not."
Once more we hear the plaintive note of the Lord, saying, "O that [Israel] had hearkened unto Me, I would."
God has many of His choicest blessings reserved for those who dare to go through with Him. The reigning is dependent upon the suffering; the crown is held for the cross-bearers; the rewards are laid by for those who fight the good fight of faith. These comparisons, however, lie in the blessings which accrue in the next age.
Is it not true that the same rule is potent during our earthly sojourning? How many things hinder the blessing! We ask and we have not, because we ask amiss, that we may consume it on our lusts. We seek to know God's wall in our lives, but we know not, because we are conformed to this world, and are not transformed by the renewing of our minds. We endeavor to serve with success and meet failure, because we have not tarried until we have been endued with power from on high.
Can we expect our faces to shine with the radiance of His glory, without going up with Him into the mount? Can we expect our lives to bear fruit, more fruit, much fruit, when we are unwilling to abide in Him? Can we expect our heart to be made pure and our garments to be kept clean and white, while we still tarry on forbidden ground and have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness?
2. Many of God's best things are lying still unclaimed. Israel was commanded to place the foot on the land which was given her to possess. God said, "Ramoth Gilead is yours, and why sit ye still and possess it not?"
An old lady wrote "T" and "P" on the margin of her Bible, wherever she had tried and proved one of God's promises. How many promises are to us yet untried and unproven?
Isaiah, in Spirit, wrote, "Who hath believed our report?" Then, Isaiah added, "And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" It seems to us that the Spirit makes the power of the Lord's arm dependent upon the faith of each follower of Christ.
Joshua had to march through the length and breadth of the land of promise in order to make it his.
We must stake our claim; we must camp upon it. The day is coming when our Lord will place one foot upon the land, and one upon the sea, and announce that time shall delay no longer. He will stand and claim His inheritance, putting down the antichrist and every power that opposes. Let us go and do likewise.
It is still true that, "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you." If it is true, then let us march through the garden of His promises, and place our foot upon them all.
I. THE CERTAINTY OF GOD'S PROMISES (Romans 4:21)
Did ever a Scripture carry a clearer, more certain note than this one: "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God?"
Abraham believed that whatever God had promised, He was able to perform. The fact that he was old, and that Sarah was past age, did not concern Abraham. Against hope he believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations according to the Word of God.
In all sincerity do we believe that God is able to perform what He has promised? "Is any thing too hard for the Lord?" No? Then let us step forward as though He was about to do what He has said He would do. Nothing is impossible to him who believeth, for the simple reason that nothing is impossible with God.
Even now God seems to be saying, "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" God delights in dealing with the impossible. However, man's impossibilities become God's realities, only upon the channel of our faith, God will fulfill each promise to us, when we cast ourselves unreservedly, and in the full assurance of faith upon that promise.
If you place your eyes on your own resources, or upon your own environment, your faith will waver. Fix your eye of faith upon Him. Look not upon your own body, as good as dead; look at His promise. As Abraham saw his body growing weaker, his faith grew stronger. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all.
II. PLEADING THE PROMISES (2 Chronicles 1:9)
It was a fitting thing for Solomon to plead God's promise before the Lord. God had spoken, and Solomon was standing upon His Word. Is God unfaithful? Will He forget His holy promises? Will God say, and not do? Nay. Great is His faithfulness; it is fresh every morning, and renewed every evening.
In Hebrews we read, "Sara * * judged Him faithful who had promised." Again we read that what "He had promised, He was able also to perform." Then let us plead the more sure word of His promises.
"All my springs are in Thee," said David. God is a veritable storehouse for any and every emergency. God's promises are His promissory notes. They are always. "Yea, and Amen, in Christ Jesus." Let us, then, draw on our account. Has God said, "The waters * * shall not overflow thee"? then plead His promise, Has the Lord said, "My God shall supply all your need"? then plead His promise. Has God said, "Lo, I am with you alway"? then plead His promise.
Promises are given for foundations upon which to build start building. Promises are given to be cashed in have you cashed in yours? Promises are given as a basis for prayer have you used them as your plea?
God lays His promise before you, and says, "Believest thou that I am able to do this?"
Some one has said that faith adds its "Amen!" to God's "Yea," and then takes its hands off and lets God work.
III. THE RICHES OF HIS PROMISES (2 Peter 1:4)
When God gave His promises He gave them in line with our needs. It has seemed to us that there is a special promise for every hour of the day, for every step of the way.
God, moreover, made each of His promises ample for every need. In truth there is always a superabounding promise for our need. The promise goes beyond the necessity. This is the suggestion in our key text. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises."
There is, however, another suggestion. God's promises are made to cover each hour of stress. No matter how great the cry of the soul, the promise is greater; it is "exceeding great." God's promises are not circumscribed to "rowboat" weather, but are fitted to the storms of life's roughest sea.
Promises are potent factors. They meet real needs. They assure victory in real conflicts. Promises are great, yea, they are exceeding great. They are not only great and exceeding great, but they are precious.
Promises are made for pillows to the weary heart; they are made for tonics to the downcast spirit; they are made for lights to brighten the shadows of the valleys.
IV. INHERITING THE PROMISES (Hebrews 6:12)
The Lord calls upon us to be "followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Too many have their inheritance centered in earthly things. How much better to follow with them who follow Christ, and have assurance of both the things which are now, and the things which shall be hereafter.
1. The promises are inherited through faith. It is not what we think, or feel, which inherits promises; it is believing. Emotional Christianity may belong to the realms of spiritual enjoyment; but faith inherits the promises. Trials, testings, sufferings, and persecutions may lie in the paths where promises operate, but faith inherits the promises.
2. The promises are inherited by patience. Faith operates through trials and testings and on to the consummation of the promises, That is, faith works without weariness; faith patiently waits the realization of every good word from God.
The Word says, "We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end." It may be the last stretch of the track, as the runner presses toward the goal, that crowns him with victory. "Ye did run well," said Paul, "who did hinder you?" It is not the first spurt that counts; it is the patient continuance in the race that wins the prize. Shall we reach Heaven's highest marks, and the richest of Heaven's treasures if we falter by the way? "In due season we shall reap, if we faint not."
V. THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT (Luke 24:49)
The Lord gave assurance of "the coming of the Spirit" to the disciples as He said, "Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you." We could not leave out this aspect of God's promises, because here we have the Father's greatest gift to saints a promise of unspeakable glory.
The Lord is not slack concerning His promises. The Lord said, "I will send the promise of My Father." Thank God the Spirit came and He is here.
1. The Father's delight is in giving the Spirit. The Lord said, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" The Father knew that we could not walk alone, that we could not meet the powers of darkness which oppose, alone, so He sent the Comforter to walk at our side.
The Spirit came to transform us into the image of Christ: to take the things of Christ and show them unto us. The Spirit came to guide us into all Truth, to bring to our remembrance what the Lord had spoken unto us, and to guide us in the way that we should go. He came to us, that through us He might convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He came that He might empower our testimony, and make us strong to do God's will. The Spirit came to teach us how to pray, and to make intercession along with us as we pray. He came to give us access unto the Father. He came to bear us Godward on His wings of strength.
2. Have we entered into the possession of this promise of the Father? The Spirit came, and even now He indwells each believer's heart. There is, nevertheless, a vital part of the promise of the Father that can be realized only by being filled with the Spirit.
All saints have the Spirit, but not all saints have the fullness of the Spirit. It is one thing to have the Spirit indwelling; it is another thing to have the Spirit infilling.
Many of the promises of God reach into the great beyond; they abide their fulfilment in the Second Coming of Christ, or in the New Jerusalem. Here, however, is a promise that is for us now. Here is a promise written in the present tense. It is our immediate heritage.
VI. FULFILLED PROMISES (1 Kings 8:56)
Unto Israel, by the hand of Moses, God had given many exceeding great and precious promises. As Solomon dedicated the Temple he said, in that memorable prayer, "There hath not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant."
When Jesus said to the nobleman, "Go thy way; thy son liveth"; then we read: "And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way." What was the result? He came and found it was so even as Jesus had spoken.
God's promises never fail. Not one word is lacking
Believe and trust thou yet shalt see
That God is true. Eternity
Shall find each promise verified,
Shall prove God's Word was certified.
When life is over we will be able to say, "The Lord hath performed His good Word." God's promises cannot fail, for God is true, and He is able to perform all that He has spoken. When the time of God's promises draw nigh, He will remember His words, and fulfill His pledges.
Beloved, we are heirs of God according to His promise. Let us, then, hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.
Do we not believe that God is able to do what He has promised relative to coming things? We can almost hear His rebuke to any doubter, as He says, "Be still, and know that I am God." Again we hear Him say, "God cannot lie."
Let us close this study with a word from Habakkuk: "For the vision is yet for an appointed time * * though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry." Delays are not denials. Sometimes the Lord waits that He may prove Himself more gracious unto those who trust Him. Do not grieve the Lord by doubting His Word. He said what He meant, and He meant what He said.
Doubt not thy Lord will come
His promises are sure,
While sun and moon endure;
Why stand with anxious brow?
He cannot fail thee now,
Commit to Him thy way,
He'll turn thy night to day.
AN ILLUSTRATION
Once Mendelssohn was in the great cathedral in Fribourg, where was the greatest organ on the continent, and he felt a desire to touch the grand instrument. So he went up to the old man in charge of the place, and begged that he might be allowed to play on it. "No," said the old man, "this is a valuable instrument, and no stranger is ever allowed to touch it." "But," said Mendelssohn, "I will not harm it, and you may stand here and see that I do no damage." The old man at last yielded, and Mendelssohn mounted the organ-bench, and began to let his fingers wander at will over the manuals, and his feet over the pedals. The great organ pealed forth such melodies and harmonies that the old man was entranced, and exclaimed, "Well, who are you?" "My name is Mendelssohn," was the reply. "And yet," said the old man, as he burst into tears, "I had almost forbidden Mendelssohn, the great master of music, to touch this organ!" What discords would be hushed; what disharmonies would end; what music would fill our lives, if we only allowed the hands of a greater than Mendelssohn to play evermore upon the notes! No one but the Master can hush the discords, and make our lives one glad, continuous Hallelujah Chorus! Shall we not let Him?
"Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven;
To His feet thy tribute bring;
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who like thee His praise shall sing?
Praise Him? Praise Him!
Praise the everlasting King."
J. G. M.