Charles Stanley - God's Precious Promises
What would you think about a person who was very, very wealthy and yet was always complaining about not having enough? And you look at them and you think, Wait a minute. Know that he's wealthy, but look how he dresses. Or, Look what he drives. Look where he lives. You wonder, Well, it doesn't quite match. In other words, if he has all of that, why does he act the way he acts? And so you have to ask yourself the question, Well, does he not know that he's wealthy? Does he not believe that he's wealthy? Does he not know how to cash in on his wealth? What's wrong with a person who lives that kind of life?
Well, something definitely is wrong. But I know a lot of believers who are the same way. They are very wealthy. They don't act like it. They don't claim it. I think because they don't believe it, because either they've never been taught or somewhere along the way they missed this awesome truth. And when I think about how clear God has made His Word, and the awesome way He has provided for us, and yet people oftentimes act like they're paupers. Or act like, you know, I just never have enough. God's left me out. God doesn't understand what my needs are. I know that's what the Bible says, but it's not working for me. Well, what's the problem? Is the problem with God? Or is the problem with the fact that I don't understand what I have.
So I want you to listen very carefully. It'll change your way you think about yourself and maybe the way you think about God. So I want you to turn to the little book of Second Peter and look if you will in chapter one. And this is the second message in our series on "The Promises of God. " And in this particular passage of scripture, Peter describes this awesome wealth that you and I have. Listen to what he says. Beginning in verse one of this first chapter of Second Peter, "Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord". Now watch these next two verses, "Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him," that's Jesus, "who called us by His own," listen, "by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in this world by lust".
And so, what I want you to see in this passage of scripture and in all these passages is this. Watch this carefully. I know that many of you are not going to believe this, but listen carefully. Whether you know it or not, the day you received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you became this awesome, wealthy person. Now where is all this value? Here's where it is. It's in the promises of God. And I'm going to show you in a few moments why I say that. That when you trusted Him as your Savior, the promises of the Word of God became your promises, you are a very wealthy person.
So, let's begin with the first evidence of God's wealth that He's bequeathed to you. So I want you to turn if you will to Romans chapter five for a moment. And we'll be going through a number of scriptures. Romans chapter five tells us how it all starts. And here's what he says. He says in verse six, "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation".
Now watch this. When you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, He forgave you of all your sins. He brought you into relationship with Himself, a personal relationship, that from that point on, watch this, you can call yourself a child of God. That is your possession. You now have a heritage, and that heritage is that God is your Father; Jesus Christ is your Savior, your brother; and you are now a member of the Family of God. That's who you are. You ceased to be who you used to be, a child of the devil. You are now a child of God, number one. Very important. And until that happens, nothing else that I'm going to say would apply to you. The second thing I want you to notice is this. Not only did He save you and forgive you and cleanse you and write your name in the Lamb's Book of Life, make you part of the Kingdom, but He gave you this promise. And this promise is in First John one nine.
You all know it by heart, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". What an awesome promise. Here's what that means. It means that as I live out my life in this filthy, dirty world, I can stay clean every day. Because He says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful," that is you can trust Him. Faithful and just, He has the right to do it. "Forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from every unrighteous thing". That says I am very wealthy; that I have the privilege of going to God Almighty, asking Him, Lord, this is in my life. It shouldn't be. I recognize it. I acknowledge it. And I'm asking You to forgive me of my sins. That is an awesome possession.
A third part of that wealth is simply this. And that is, His continued presence in our life. Think about this. Who else can promise you this? This is the sovereign God of the universe who says, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you". There in Hebrews chapter thirteen, verse five, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you". You know what that says? See if you can match this. You have a travelling companion in the Person of Jesus Christ who will never, under any condition, no matter what, ever desert you or forsake you, period. Now who can promise you that? Nobody can promise you that.
And you see, it's when people turn their eyes away from the Lord God, and when they start looking at themselves and their situation, circumstances. Instead of asking, What's the promise of the Father? The promise of the Father is you, listen, once you trust Jesus as your Savior, you can't ever be alone. You may want to be, you can't be. He says, I will not forsake you. No, never desert you under any condition. That is an unconditional promise of God that belongs to every believer and, listen, nobody can change that. You could go to prison or you could be here, you could be there, doesn't make any difference. He says, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you". I'll never desert you, period.
So the next time you get down in the mouth and you're alone and you think, I need a counselor, I need this. Oh God, help me. Just stop and ask yourself the question, Now what is it that I possess? I possess Jesus as my intimate Friend, who lives on the inside of me and who promised that no matter what goes on in my life, He will never leave me. You can't beat that for a promise or for friendship. That is an awesome possession which no one else can give you and no one else can promise you that. Then of course, He promises us that we don't even have to live this life in our own strength and power. But we have the Holy Spirit who is called our Helper. There in John chapter fourteen, verse sixteen. When He says, I'm going to send you a Helper, and when He comes. He talks about what He will do for us. When He calls you to serve Him, you have the Holy Spirit to enable you, to give you wisdom and direction and guidance for your life; and to empower you in order to do well, to do good, whatever He calls you to do. That's His promise. And it's these promises that make you wealthy.
So far, you've not heard anything that I've said that anybody else can provide for you other than God because of your relationship to Him. Then He says, for example, that He'll supply all of our needs. Who can promise you that? Not one person. So there are lots of verses in the Bible about that, but probably one of the most valuable ones is the sixth chapter of Matthew. "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you're going to eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and your body more than clothing"? He talks about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and all the rest and then He comes down and He says, "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will you eat? What will you drink?, What will you wear for your clothing?'" He says the unbelievers think about "these things; heavenly Father knows that you need all of these things".
So what is He saying? Here's His promise to do what? To meet our daily needs. Who else can promise you that? Nobody. Nobody can promise you that they're going to answer your prayer but Almighty God. Nobody can promise you that whatever the situation or circumstance that you're in, whatever need you have, here's their promise. He says He knows what their need is and He will provide that need, no matter what. And so, what about this whole issue of answered prayer? Who can promise you that they'll answer your prayer? Oh somebody may be able to help you in some issue, but listen to what He says. In First John, chapter five, fourteen and fifteen, "This is the confidence which we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, we know that we have the," petition that we desired of Him.
Who can promise you that? No one else. And there are many, many verses of promise answered prayer in the Word of God. But watch this. People say, Well, I have needs. Are you cashing in? What need do you have? Well, how do I cash in? Well, prayer is certainly one of the ways. And so, oftentimes we feel needy and we want somebody else to meet the need or we think, Well, I don't know how God's going to work this out. Here's the promise, "This is the confidence that you have in Him". And so He makes it crystal clear. For example, He says, "Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you". So there's promise after promise after promise of answered prayer. Whatever burden you're dealing with, He's the burden bearer.
You say, Well, how do I give it to God? You bring it before Him. You lay it before Him and we'll talk about that. How do you claim it? Listen. It is not His will for His people to be down in the dumps and discouraged and living with a frown on their face. He talks about the joy of the Lord. Then of course, He says that He will grant us wisdom. In James, if you will notice in that first chapter, he makes the promise of wisdom. Listen to what he says, "For if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all people generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him".
Somebody says, Well, I don't know what to do. Well, listen, you may not know what to do. Do you want wisdom? You have the promise of wisdom. Watch this. A promise of God says that all of the sovereign power of God is behind what He promises and He will make it work. You need wisdom? That is, you need to see things from God's perspective. You need to make a wise decision here? You have that promise, that He will grant you wisdom in every circumstance of life because that's who He is. You have the wisdom of God dwelling within you. Listen, in every single solitary situation you have a promise from God that He will give you wisdom to know how to respond or how to react in that given situation. That's one of the things that makes us wealthy. Tell me anything any more valuable than wisdom. Seeing things from God's perspective and knowing how to walk in it. Then we come to this whole issue of peace.
And in the passage that most of us know by heart in Philippians. Listen to what Paul says. He says, now, "Rejoice in the Lord," he says, "Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing," don't get upset about these things, "but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus". What is he saying? He says this. No matter what's going on in your life, God will give you a garrison, a wall that will separate you from anxiety that will, listen, that will fulfill your need of peace in your life. Why, what did Jesus say? The Bible says that Jesus is our peace. Who's living on the inside of you? The Lord Jesus Christ.
And so, we go through situations and circumstances. Sometimes we hear bad news and frightening news, whatever it might be. Where do we get our peace from? Oftentimes it's not from our friends, not from the doctor, not from the banker, not from this, it's from Him. Think about this. Your peace isn't something you get from him, her and them. Your peace abides within you. It is an indwelling promise of God. What did Jesus say? "My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled". One of the most awesome promises He gives us is that we can have peace in whatever we're faced in life. We have to choose. Are we going to claim His promise?
And if you claim His promise today, God, I know that You can call me home any time You get ready, but until then I want to give it my best. I want to be strong. I want to be fruitful. I want my life to count for the kingdom of God. And then look in Psalm thirty-seven and because here's a wonderful promise of God. If I should say to you, Would you like to have the desires of your heart? And if I say to you, What are the desires of your heart? Somebody says, Well, I want a husband, I want a wife, I want this, I want that. What are the desires of your heart? Here's what God says. This is a promise from Almighty God who has all power and, listen, He has unconditional love for you. "Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart".
In other words, what does it mean to be delighted in Him? Look at that passage. Read it a little bit. Ask God to show you, what does it mean to delight yourself in Him? Ultimately, simply means this. Above everything else in my life that's important, my relationship with Him is the most important thing. I am delighted in serving Him. I'm delighting in worshipping Him. I'm delighting in giving Him. I'm delighted in living out a godly life. He says, "Delight yourself in the Lord; He will give you the desires of your heart". Then, He says, for example, a passage that many people don't believe. We have the promise of healing in time of sickness.
Look at the hundred and third Psalm. Look in that first verse, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name". Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none. Listen, "And forget none of His benefits". What are they? "Who pardons all our iniquities, who heals all your diseases". Now let me ask you a question. When we talk about the attributes of God, the attributes of God is one of them; He never changes. He's immutable. He never changes. So did He heal people in the Old Testament? Yeah. Did He heal people in the New Testament? Yes. Does He heal people past the New Testament? Yes. Does He heal people today? Yes. Then if we believe that, why do we have a little sore throat or have a little sniffle, we want to run to the doctor for antibiotics. What about running to Jesus?
Now most people want to pray about something, and some physical ailment when the doctors have said it's all over or something very serious. Why don't we talk to Him first? Because we have grown up and we've been acclimated, and we've been told, and we've been warned, and we've been scared. The truth is, God is the great Healer. Does that mean that nobody's going to die? No, it doesn't mean that. But it means we can be healthy and as strong until the Lord finishes with us. Then it doesn't make any difference what happens because think about this. If we have all these promises here, what about going to Heaven and be in the presence of God? Then of course, look in Romans eight.
When I think about the awesome promise in Romans eight; and that is the fact that nothing can separate us from the awesome love of God. Listen to what he says in this passage. And here's a promise. And many people don't, they don't really believe this. Listen to this. He says in verse thirty-eight, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord". Think about this. You have the awesome gift of God's unconditional love within your life. Nobody can promise you that but God.
Now you may want this person to love you or that person, but look who loves you. And He said besides that. And He named all these things. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. That's a possession you have. You possess the love of Almighty God. That will never change. Then if you will turn to John chapter ten for a moment. And here is His awesome promise of eternal security. Listen to what He says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; And I give to them eternal life, and they will never perish". He didn't say except, if, and, but, when, where, "they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who gave them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and the Father are one".
Think about what you possess. You possess the gift of eternal life. Watch this. Nothing, no one, no time, nothing can alter that under any condition. You are a child of God. You are eternally secure. You live in sin, then there are some other promises about chastisement and discipline. But we're talking about the promise God has given you; that you are eternally secure. Then I would give you one last, we could deal with this all day long, but I'm going to stop in a few moments. But what I want you to see is, is what you possess; what you have. Listen to what Jesus said. He said, "Do not let your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you. And If I go and prepare a place for you, I'm coming again to receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also". Period.
We have the promise of Heaven. What I want you to see is simply this. A promise from God is an awesome thing. And my challenge to you is simply this, claim what is yours. And whatever you're facing in life remember who you are, a follower of Jesus, and how rich you are, and listen, and the awesome capacity you have to serve Him with all of your heart in a way that you will never grow old, but you'll be flourishing and fruitful and strong all the days of your life. Amen?
Father, how grateful we are this morning for the wonderful promise of your Word. And what makes it so wonderful is the fact that we know it'll never change. You'll never change. We can't even begin to think up anything we need that you haven't covered. So we say thank you this morning. And I pray that you'll show us how to so live that people who are spiritually in poverty will want to know what is the source of our riches and we can tell them. In Jesus' name, Amen.