Charles Stanley - Our God of Promise
We all make promises in life, some of them we keep, some of them we don't keep. We may intend to keep every one of them, but we don't for some circumstance, some-some reason or the other. And I think about parents, for example, who make promises to their children and they don't keep them and they think, Well, you know, that's just a child. But remember this.
When you make a promise to a little child, that child values that promise on the basis of who said it. So if Daddy makes a promise and tells that son or that daughter, Well, when I come home this afternoon I'm going to take you to the ballgame; I'm going to bring you this, or whatever it might be, and you show up and you say, Well I was just tired. I just worked too long. I didn't have time, just sorry. What that says is not that you didn't keep a promise, you rejected me.
A promise is a powerful thing. And for little children especially, when their parents do not keep their word, here's what happens. A little boy thinks his dad's next thing to God. A little girl thinks her mom, she's it. When the two most important people in their life do not keep their promises, here's what happens. It doesn't mean that that child just doubts their parents once in a while, but they'll grow up doubting the word of adults.
So promises are valuable, and promises should be meaningful. In fact, if you'll think about it, your whole Christian life is centered on a group of promises. And that group of promises comes from the Word of God. How do you know that you have eternal life? Because Jesus promised it, that if you placed your trust in Him as your Savior, you'd have the gift of eternal life. The reason you believe it is because of a promise He made. Well, what about when you die, what about that? How do you know where you're going to be?
Well, only reason you know where you're going to be is because the Bible says, Absent from the body, present with the Lord. How do you know after death there's going to be a resurrection? Because Jesus said it, you believe it, there's something about Him that made you believe the promise He gave you. So your whole life's wrapped up in promises. And the purpose of this message is very simple. I want you to understand why you can trust the promises of Almighty God. And many people say, Well you know I've trusted Him and it didn't work. Well why didn't it work? Is it because God failed you? Did He break His promise? One thing for certain, He did not break His promise.
So we're talking about in this message, the whole issue here is the issue of why we should believe the promises of God. Now, as you think about promises that you have made in your life to somebody to love and to marry them; or your children, your parents, or some friend. How many times have you had to break that promise? Or I'd ask you this, Have you made promises sort of nonchalantly? Well you can count on me, I'll be there though and so and so and so. And then you didn't do it, and you said, Well they'll understand. Maybe they didn't understand. One of the wonderful things about God, listen, He's never broken a promise. He's never forgotten a promise, not a single one. And when you realize that your whole Christian life is wrapped up around the promises of the Word of God, you begin to understand how very important it is that you and I understand what we say when we say, I promise you thus and so.
What did God mean? And why, for example, why should we even believe that God made them? So, If somebody promised to give you five thousand dollars if you would just come to church next Sunday. Two things you'd ask. Well, first of all, who is this person? And secondly, have they even got five thousand dollars? So the two things, character and ability. When it comes to a promise, character and ability. Will they keep their word and can they keep their word? Very important. Now, let's look at this whole issue of character and ability.
So, let's just look at God for a moment. And the first attribute that I want us to look at is this simple fact. Number one: God is truthful. That means, listen, He's truthful all the time. He is the essence of truth. He only tells the truth and He knows the truth about every single solitary thing there is to know in life. Therefore, when I come to this passage in Titus and he says, God cannot lie. And this awesome passage in Numbers twenty-three, Numbers twenty-three and verse nineteen, listen to this passage. Watch this, "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Has He spoken, and will He not make it good"? And the answer, of course, is no, God doesn't speak and not make it good. He cannot tell a lie. He is in essence the truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but by Me. All truth is to be found in Him.
So one of the reasons I can believe His promises is simply this, because He only tells the truth. But there's a second one. And there are many things we could say about that, but the second of those qualities is, for example, faithful. God is faithful. And in First Corinthians, chapter one when, and Paul is just beginning His epistle, here's what he said. He said, "God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord". He's a faithful God, which means He's trustworthy, that He will do what He says He will do. And at no point in your life or mine has God ever proven to be unfaithful. That He's a faithful God. That's an attribute of His.
And if you go through the scriptures and think how many times, And I think, for example, back in First Corinthians, ten for just a moment and listen to this passage that all of us have read many, many times and thank God for it. He says, "No temptation or trial has overtaken you," watch this now, "but such as is common to man;" which means that every single one of us has been tempted and tried in different ways, but other people have also. And so he says, "No temptation or trial has overtaken you but such as is common to man;" watch this next phrase, "But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted or tried beyond what you are able, but will with the temptation or the trial make provide a way of escape also, so that you're able to endure it".
So what does that mean? It means that every single trial, every temptation, every difficulty you and I go through, we have this awesome promise from God. And that is, watch this, that His promise is He will not allow you and me to be tried or tempted by anything, watch this, more than we can bear with His help, His guidance and His ability to see us through it. He will not allow it. He's a God who is, God of truth, and He's a God who is a God of faithfulness. But there's a third thing. He is a God who is immutable. That is, He doesn't change. And He says, for example, in Malachi chapter three verse six that He's a God who does not change, doesn't change His mind.
Now, certain things happen that are conditional and unconditional. If God says, watch this. If God says, Here's what I am going to do if you don't do thus and so or if you do thus and so. And so what happens? You violate His will or His purpose in some area, and so He doesn't do it. See there; God didn't keep His promise. So yes He did; it was a conditional promise, conditional on something you do or do not do. Now that's a very, very important point. Because if you don't get that, you'll say, Well God, here's what You said and You didn't do it. God makes these promises based, listen, watch this, based on, watch this carefully, based on conditions that are for our good. Because He is a God of truth. He is a God, He's faithful to Himself as well as to us. He's immutable, He doesn't change. But He's also a God of love.
And in First John chapter four there, he speaks about being that God is love. Now one of the reasons you and I should believe in Him as far as His character is concerned. You say, Well how do I know whether God loves me or not? If somebody says that to me, here's what I do. The cross is all the proof I need that He loves me. And if He is willing to do that for me, I don't have any reason to doubt that He'll do all those things less than that. The cross is His ultimate expression of love. He kept that promise. He said, I'm going to the cross and I'm going to die for your sins. And you're going to be forgiven of sin as a result of Me being on the cross.
Did He do what He promised to do? Yes. Do I have a reason to doubt Him? No I do not. He's a God who is absolutely faithful, absolutely truthful, never changing, and He's a God of absolute love. That has to do with His character. So I can trust Him for His character. You say, Well but can He? So, there are three other attributes of God I want us to look at, and that's simply this. First of all, He is a God who is omniscient. He knows every single solitary thing. I can trust Him because I know He has this ability. Since He is omniscient and knows everything, He knows every single solitary thing involved in every single solitary decision you have. He knows what came before, what's going on now and what's going to happen thereafter.
Therefore, when you and I come to Him and He makes a promise, remember this. He's not making a promise by flipping a coin. He makes promises, listen. He makes promises based on what? Based on His absolute, infinite, total, perfect knowledge of everything there is to know about you. He can't make any mistakes. We make mistakes. We make promises based on half knowledge or false things that we've heard, or things that we think that they may be true. He makes decisions based only on the absolute truth. There's a second thing, and that is that He's omnipresent. And what is His omnipresence?
Well, you know the passage from the hundred and thirty-ninth Psalm when we talk about where God is and what He knows and so forth. So, not only what He knows about us but also, for example, listen to what He says. He says, "Oh, Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down, when I rise up; You understand my thoughts from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it all". Perfectly aware. And listen to this. By omnipresence I simply mean this. He's always there for you and me no matter what. He's there in the fulfillment of every promise He's made. He says what? The promise is "I will never forsake you. Never forsake you". "I will be with you to the end of this age". "Absent from the body, present with the Lord".
I mean, you name it and Jesus is there. And then of course, there's this awesome reason for me to trust Him. And that is, He's omnipotent. He has all power. It's not enough for Him to know what to do, but He has the power to make it true. And that hundred and third, hundred and third Psalm, nineteenth verse, I quote it almost every Sunday. He, "has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all". So when it comes to God making promises, do I have to wonder about whether He can do it or not? Absolutely not. Every single promise God has made you can absolutely rest with perfect assurance and no question He's going to fulfill His promise. Why? Because He only tells the truth; because He's a faithful God; He's reliable and dependable. And because He never changes His mind.
He's a God of infinite love for us. He is absolutely omniscient and knows everything about us. He is with us every single moment. Every split second He's there and He has all power to execute any and every situation, circumstance that He chooses to do so because there is nothing that can limit the omnipotence of Almighty God. Do you realized how blessed you are? That this is our God. I think about all the other religions in the world. What kind of assurance do they have? What real hope do they have? Our God is absolutely not only adequate and faithful, but always available for whatever you and I need to see us through it. That's who He is.
Now, but there's one other thing I want to mention here and that is I do have a responsibility and you have a responsibility; and there are three requirements. First of all, I must be willing to be obedient to Him. Whatever He requires of me, I must be obedient to Him. So ask yourself the question. If you've asked God about something, and God hasn't provided it, and you believe that the Word of God says He'll provide all your needs and you have a need. Then ask yourself the question, Is the issue with God that His character is such that He's not telling you the truth? No. Is it that He can't give you what you, no. Then there must be something within yourself that you need to deal with. One thing is obedience and second is faith. Are you really and truly trusting Him for it? And the third thing, watch. The third thing is to do what? To claim it.
Now watch this. If I bring something to God and I really and truly don't, I just have some doubt about it, then I'm not going to claim it. Now here's how I know I'm not claiming it. I ask Him to answer a particular petition and so I'm driving the expressway and I'm concerned about it. I'm at home and I'm worried about it. And I'm thinking about it and I'm saying, God, here's what You promised. And you know what? I've read it; I've heard it; I know what He says but I haven't claimed it for myself. When you, listen. When you claim the promise of God for yourself, you're not going to be worried and fretting. Why? Because you know He tells you the truth. He's not going to change. He's the awesome God of love. He's a God of faithfulness. He's omnipresent. He's omniscient. He's omnipotent. Tell me why I should be complaining about it. It's a matter of do I believe Him. Do I believe that the God of the Bible is who He says He is? Which means that He keeps every single promise; He never forgets one, listen, and He never fails to keep one. Amen?
Well you may be watching or listening and you're not a Christian. You say, Well how does that apply to me? Listen very carefully. The Bible says if you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is Lord, and believe in your heart that God's raised Him from the dead, you'll be saved. Let me explain that. If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, that means that you are saying that you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and He's the Lord of our life. And in so doing, you're placing your life in His hands because of who He is for the forgiveness of your sins because of what He did at the cross. You're asking Him to forgive you of your sins, to give you the gift of eternal life and the work of the Holy Spirit within you to enable you to live a godly life all the days of your life.
If you ask Him to do that, you have the promise, listen, you have the promise of the Word of God. Sixty-six books of the Bible, you have the promise that He will do exactly what He says He will do. He will forgive you, cleanse you, give you the gift of eternal life, save you forever, give you a home in Heaven and walk with you every single day the rest of your life. But it's conditioned upon your surrender of your life to Christ, confessing your sins and looking to the cross as full payment of your sin. You may be going through a very difficult time and you're asking the question, Where is God? You're not a believer. You've never trusted Jesus as your Savior. Let me tell you where He is. He's where He's always been, just outside, listen, just outside the door of your heart trying to get in. And He wants you to open the door of your heart and let Him in. And the moment you do, life will change. And it can happen to you the moment you do that.
Father, how grateful we are that You are so perfect we can find no blemishes in Your character or failures in Your power, but absolutely perfection, holy, righteous and just. I pray the Spirit of God will speak to every person who hears this message, to recognize the only way to live is through Christ, serving You, Father, this awesome God that we've described. And I pray that every person who hears it will stop fighting against You and recognize that You are the one true God. That's how Jesus described You as He prayed in that seventeenth chapter of John. We know that You are. I pray, Father, for people who are floundering in their life, trying to figure out what to do. Enable them to understand at least this much now, You are the answer. You've always been the answer. You're still knocking and You're still waiting. And they can settle that issue. We thank You that the promise You made to save us, You've been keeping ever since You made it. The promise You made to guide us. You've been keeping that promise ever since You made it and all the rest. We want to say we love you, in Jesus' name, amen.