Promises, Promises

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This is a sermon given on the second Sunday of Advent for this year. The message relates to the prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah, which are promises of God's intervention in history. It not only examines some of the promises that have been fulfilled, but also speaks about the qualities of the "Promise Maker." It concludes by giving reference to a few of the promises that God will still fulfill.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

How easy are promises made? 

How easy are promises kept?

We’ve probably all experienced some remarkable examples of broken promises as well as promises kept.

THE EGG PROMISE (From SermonCentral.com)

Two brothers were getting ready to boil some eggs. "I’ll give you a dollar if you let me break three of these on your head," said the older one.

"Promise?" asked the younger.

"Promise!"

Gleefully, the older boy broke two eggs over his brother’s head.

Standing stiff for fear the gooey mess would get all over him, the little boy asked, "When is the third egg coming?"

"It’s not," replied the brother. "That would cost me a dollar."

This story reminds us of the times we have been disappointed by failed promises. (It's also a reminder to always read the fine print!)

Here’s a story of a promise kept:

ASTOR'S PROMISE (Taken from SermonCentral.com)

One stormy night an elderly couple entered the lobby of a small hotel and asked for a room. The clerk said they were full, and they would probably find so were all the hotels in town. "But I can’t send a fine couple like you out in the rain. Would you be willing to sleep in my room?" The couple hesitated, but the clerk insisted.

The next morning when the man paid his bill, he said, "You’re the kind of man who should be managing the best hotel in the United States. Someday I’ll build you one." The clerk smiled politely.

A few years later the clerk received a letter containing an airplane ticket and an invitation to visit New York. When the clerk arrived, his host took him to the corner of 5th Avenue and 34th Street, where stood a magnificent new building. "That," explained the man, "is the hotel I have built for you to manage."

The man was William Waldorf Astor, and the hotel was the original Waldorf-Astoria.

Christmas is the story of a promise kept!

As I was meditating about the message God wanted for today, I began thinking again about the many times in the Christmas story when the Scripture says, “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet.” (Or some similar wording.) A few years ago, I spoke about the same topic and tried to address some of the questions people often have about the general role of prophecy and its fulfillment. Today, I would like to once again look at the matter from a little different angle as we continue to look forward to the celebration of Jesus’ birth.

I want to speak to you today about the matter of God keeping His promises. After all, the birth of Jesus was a fulfillment not only of a prophecy, but a fulfillment of a promise.

I.          Attributes of the Promise Maker

I assume that many of God’s attributes come into play when we talk about the fulfillment of promises, but I want to specifically mention a few.

A. Omniscience – God is infinite with regards to knowledge and understanding. 

Psalm 139:1-6 “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. ²You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. ³You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. ⁴For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. ⁵You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. ⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.”

Psalm 147:5 “Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite.”

What does it mean to say God is omniscient?

(A.W. Tozer) He possesses perfect knowledge and therefore has no need to learn… He has never learned and cannot learn. 

(Arthur Pink) He knows everything actual and everything possible. 

(Dale Yocum) God not only knows every choice we will make, but every alternate choice we could have made. (Middle knowledge)

I believe God’s infinite knowledge is essential for the unfailing fulfillment of promises because one of the frequent causes of broken promises is the rise of unexpected events or circumstances that remove it from the realm of possibility.

Sometimes people make a promise with every intention of keeping it, but before the promise can be fulfilled, some event happens that neither party anticipated, and it becomes impossible to carry it out.

However, God isn’t surprised by events and circumstances. God’s knowledge is infinite. He knows the future as well as the present. 

B. Omnipotence – God is unlimited in power, might and ability.

Some Scripture references that help us define the omnipotence of God:

Jer. 32:16b-17 “…I prayed to the Lord, saying: ‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.”

Psalm 115:3 “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.”

The putting these two verses together led one theologian to explain:

 (Wiley) Omnipotence is “that perfection by which God is able to do all that He pleases to do.”

(Tozer) It means having all power. The Anglo-Saxon word, “Almighty” is identical in meaning to omnipotence. The word “Almighty” is used 56 times in our English Bible and is never used of anyone else but God.

(Charnock) “The [unlimited] power of God is that ability and strength whereby He can bring to pass whatsoever His infinite wisdom may direct, and … the infinite purity of His will may resolve…. Power is that which gives life and action to all the perfections of the Divine nature. How vain would be the external counsels if power did not step in and execute them. 

“Without power, His mercy would be but feeble pity, His promises an empty sound, and His [warnings] a mere scarecrow….”

I mention omnipotence because it seems that this is another attribute that is intimately involved in carrying out every promise that God has made. There is no possible chance that God could make a promise He isn’t able to perform.

II.        Character of the Promise Maker

A. Faithful – When we speak of the faithfulness of God in regard to keeping promises, we go to those biblical texts that refer to God as a covenant-keeping God.

Deuteronomy 7:9 (NKJV)  Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

1 Kings 8:23 (KJV)  And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart: 

Nehemiah 1:5 (NKJV)  And I said: "I pray, LORD God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with those who love You and observe Your commandments,

These are three examples from different time periods in biblical history. Moses, Solomon and Nehemiah all describe the Lord as one who “keeps covenant and mercy.”

It is comforting to know that the God who makes promises to His people is a faithful God and a keeper of covenants. Many times, in the Scripture we read of God withholding judgment and showing mercy because of the covenant He had made to Abraham or to David.

B. Goodness

(Packer) When the biblical writers call God “good,” they are thinking in general of all those moral qualities which prompt His people to call Him “perfect,” and in particular of the generosity which moves them to call Him “merciful” and “gracious,” and to speak of His “love.”

Exodus 34:6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.

Just shortly before this God had said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you…” (Ex. 33:19).

(Packer) Within the cluster of God’s moral perfections there is one in particular to which the term “goodness” points…. That is the quality of generosity.

(John Oswalt) The Hebrew word “chesed” is often translated “loving kindness” and is never used regarding pagan deities, only associated with the Lord. 

It signifies the passionate love and care of a superior being for inferior beings.

God makes promises and keeps promises because He is Good!

C. Holiness – Supreme moral excellence; the absolute exclusion of every conceivable principle of moral evil, and the possession, in an unlimited degree, of every conceivable principle of moral good.

Exodus 15:11 “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”

Obviously, His holiness is intimately related to His goodness.

Holiness is a moral attribute that means it is impossible for God to behave in any way that is contrary to His own nature of goodness, love and truth. He cannot lie.

It all boils down to the fact that He can be trusted because of the kind of God He is.

Throughout the Bible, especially the OT, God is revealed as nothing like the pagan gods. He isn’t fickle. He isn’t unkind and evil.

III.       Promises Fulfilled by the Promise Maker

A. To Abraham – I will make you a great nation

Genesis 17:3-5 (NKJV) ³  Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: ⁴  "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. ⁵  No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.

B. To Judah (through the prophet Jeremiah, et.al.) – Remnant will return from captivity in 70 years.

Jeremiah 29:10 (NKJV)  For thus says the LORD: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.

C. To David – Someone will come and rule forever

2 Samuel 7:12-13 (NKJV) ¹²  "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³  He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

Then, a verse we used last week…

Isaiah 9:7 (NKJV)  Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Angel Gabriel’s message to Mary…

Luke 1:32-33 (NKJV) ³²  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. ³³  And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

Conclusion:    Promises We Can Expect Him to Fulfill

Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV)  'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'

This promise was written to a specific people in a specific time period, but it is a promise what we can claim for ourselves.

Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV)  "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. (Can also claim for ourselves.)

 1 John 1:9 (NKJV)  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

John 14:3 (NKJV)  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Closing Song: God Has Spoken by His Prophets