Marcus Mecum - The Power of Hidden Promises
I wanna talk to you about the power of hidden promises. Depending on which commentary you read, there's somewhere between 3500 and 7,000 promises in the Bible. Promises that God's made with his people, a covenant that God has made with these people. That these are things that you can count on, that you can trust, and that when God makes a promise he's not like us. We break our promises. However, God never breaks a promise. However, many of the promises are hidden and we give up on them in that stage.
So let's look at 2 Kings 11 and we'll start with verse 1. "Then Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw he son was dead," this was the reigning king at the time. "And so she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family. But jehoSheba, the Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes, who were about to be murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah so he was not killed. He remained hidden with his nurse at the temple of the Lord for six years while Athaliah ruled the land".
Let's drop down to verse eight, "Station yourself around the king, each of you with weapon in hand. Anyone who approaches your ranks is to be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes". How many a y'all think that's some good advice? Stay close to the king wherever he goes. Verse nine "The commanders of units of a hundred did just as Jehoiada the priest had ordered. Each one took his men, those who were going on duty on the sabbath and those who were going off duty, and came to Jehoiada the priest. Then he gave the commanders the spears and shields that had belonged to king David that were in the temple of the Lord," I believe the King James version says that they were on the wall, all the weapons were on the wall.
"And the guards and each one with a weapon in hand, stationed themselves around the king near the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple". In 1 Kings 18, we get some of the background of what you're reading about. It lists all of David's battles, or many of his battles and his victories. And what you see behind every battle that David went into was that the Lord helped him win the battle. In other words, David was not someone that would go into a battle and fail. Every battle he went into, he succeeded in.
So, at the end of every victory, of course, you would look out at the battle field and enemies would be slain by the thousands. There would be dead shoulders laying on the battle field. And David would give instructions to his men to go out and gather all the weapons from his fallen enemies. "Go grab the swords, the shields, and the spears, and whatever you could gather, and bring them to me". And so his men would go out and pry form the dead cold fingers of his enemies their weapons that at one point been designed and formed to destroy David and the nation of Israel. And they would go and grab those weapons. David would take them all by the tens of thousands, the shields and the spears and these swords and he would take them to the house of God as a trophy to what God had done.
Now, this is a bit different than us. If we had experienced the kind of wins that David did, we would have that bear rug on our office floor, we would have the lion head trophy on our wall, we would have Goliath's sword over our fireplace mantle and we would bring people in and talk to them about, "Look at my achievements and look at my accomplishments". But David didn't do that. David took every victory, every success, every win, and he brought the results of that to the temple as a message to say this was not the battle that I had won, but God helped me win this battle.
Eventually, David would die, his son Solomon would build the great magnificent, Solomon's Temple, and they would take all these weapons and they would melt tens of thousands of them down to bronze shields. They would melt them down to create pillars in the temple. They would also take the gold shields that were taken from the officers, their weapons, and they would adorn the temple walls with these weapons. And so, imagine, if you will, you're walking up the magnificent temple steps and someone points out a great bronze pillar and says, "That pillar is made of thousands of shields from David's fallen enemy, the Philistines".
And then they point to this one and say, "This is made of thousands of shields that were melted down and formed. And this represents the fall of the Syrian king and his army. And this one over here represents the fall of Damascus. Tens of thousands of those who came against David and then in the same way the bronze shields were melted down to create furniture in the temple". And so you would set down, or you would go to an altar, or you would have some type of experience. And there the furniture would also send a message of David's victories and how God had helped him win every battle. And as you would worship you would look up at the gold shields and you would be reminded of the victories that God had given David.
And what I want you to see is simply this, that those weapons were there to testify, those pillars were there to testify that no weapon formed against God's people should prosper. That no tongue that rises against us shall be condemned. Can you imagine maybe getting, we don't have these details but could you imagine maybe, be able to walk up and touch Goliaths sword and your faith be stirred for the gigantic thing in front of you that seems overwhelming and seems like it's so intimidating. It seems like it's impossible that you'll ever get on the other side of it but you could go and touch Goliath's sword that David had taken from the giant, and your faith be stirred.
Could you imagine maybe grabbing that sling shot and seeing the shepherds bag with four unused stones? Could you maybe see the harp that David had played and as he would sing evil spirits would leave? Could you imagine the pen that David had to write the Psalms, like Psalms 20, that "Some trust in chariots, others in horses, but we will trust in the Lord our God"? Could you image seeing some of those things? We don't get those details but what we do get is that there was not one bare wall in the temple. Everywhere you look there were weapons on the wall that proclaimed victory and that this is to be the heritage of the Lord's people.
That generations could come and go, they would have their battles, they would have their struggles, they would have their heartbreaks, they would have their obstacles, and they could go into the temple, look at the weapons on the wall and they could recount the faithfulness of God in their life. And so generation after generation would come and say, "Man, the same God that gave David the victory is the same God I serve". And they would go out to their battles. But now the good old days are gone in Israel. These days of victory are long gone. Judah is now a depressed, defeated place.
For six years they saw no victory. For six years they've not seen what Israel had experienced under the leadership of David and Solomon. Queen Athaliah who was the daughter of king Ahab and Jezebel, she ended up being the wife of Jehoram, one of the seeds of David, who was the king, and this king is assassinated. Her son takes his place, was a sitting king. He's also been killed. And in the transition, she attempts a coup and gives orders to kill all the remaining rightful heirs to the throne. And to her knowledge she has succeeded. And so from there, for six years, she proceeds to terrorize the nation of Judah. For six years they're oppressed in defeat. For six years God people would walk into the temple, much like we're here today, and they would look at the walls and they would look at the bronze pillars and they would look at the furnishings, and all of these things would speak of how God would give you the victory.
But they would walk out of the temple after hearing the stories, and listening to the sermons and they would go back to their real life, and their real life looked nothing like what they saw in the temple. It looked nothing like what the stories that they heard about in the temple. They walked out to nothing but oppression and defeat. Their days of winning are over, their days of victory are long gone. They have no hope. In their minds, they have no future, and an entire nation is under a death sentence. But behind the scenes God is up to something. He takes a little girl, unknown, by the name of jehoSheba and she kidnaps a young boy by the name off Joash during this queen's killing spree.
And Joash is hidden in a back-room, commentaries say storage room, in the temple. This is the only remaining rightful heir to the throne. This is the only remaining promise that God has to David, in his covenant with David that's still on the earth, and he's hidden in the temple. So there's power in a hidden promise. The first thing we begin to see is that promises are hidden for a purpose, and that purpose is so they can grow. Joash was hidden when he was just a child but he was growing every day, every week, every month, every year. Joash was growing, and growing, and growing like the tide that goes out for more strength. Like a seed that's planted in the ground. Promises are hidden so they can grow.
Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God is like the treasure that's hidden in a field". David said, "Your word have I hidden in my heart that I not sin against you". Colossians 3 says, "We're hidden in Christ". And what do we see all throughout the pattern of scriptures? That God takes a promise and he hides it in a person. He hides it in now, what is considered the temple of the Holy Spirit so it can grow. We see this, let's go back to Genesis 3, God makes a promise that the seed of the woman is going to crush the head of satan. This promise that's made, we begin to see shows up hidden in the lineage of David.
We see that it does forth and eventually its hidden in the womb of a virgin by the name of Mary. Then that promise is born and is still growing. So they take the promise and they hide him in Egypt. And then he's hidden in Nazareth. And then, at wedding of Cana of Galilee his mom says, "It's time". And he says, "No, my hour has not yet come". What is he saying? He's saying I'm still growing, I'm still preparing, I'm still getting to the point where I know God's promise is ready to come forth in the earth. Colossians 1:26 says this about Jesus. That, "The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations is now made manifest to the saints".
The point was that great promise of God that's made in Genesis 3 was hidden so it could grow. And inside of this story we catch a glimpse of the Joash promise. The Joash promise is hidden in the temple, but it's growing. What God is up to in your life may feel hidden but it's growing. You may be looking at it and saying to yourself, "I can't believe that I'm going through this. I can't believe that I'm facing this". But that promise is in you and it's growing. The Bible promises us that not one thing hidden in your life will not be revealed. We think that that's just about sin, but every promise that God's given you, every promise you've taken and you put inside of your heart, every single one of those promises, God says those things will be revealed.
The end time promise that God will pour out his spirit on all flesh, it's been kept hidden until the last days. And right now it might even be hidden in many ways, but its growing. Revival is growing. The anointing is growing. His presence is increasing. What God is up to might seem hidden but we always have to know I's growing. So it's important that we also realize that promises cannot just be hidden anywhere. Joash was hidden in the house of God. The Joash promise in your life doesn't just grow in any environment, it has to be put in the right type of an environment. Samuel was given to the temple. He was dedicated to God. There in the temple what did he learn? He learned how to hear the voice of God, he learned how to serve, he learned how to sacrifice.
And in that place he would grow and grow and grow until he would become the greatest prophet in Israel's history. Jesus at the age of 12, the Bible says, was lost in the temple where he would grow in stature and favor and wisdom with God and with men. So where you're hidden matters. What you're hiding your life in matters. With Adam and Eve God said, "Where are you"? They were hiding in their sin, they were hiding in their rebellion, they were hiding in their shame. Promise of God in their life, but they hid their life in the wrong things and they gave up the promise. But if you're hidden in the house like Jesus, if you're hidden in the house like Samuel, if you're hidden in the things of God what does that look like? It means his presence is your priority.
It means you hear and not just hear but you obey the word of the Lord. You have to decide to be hidden. And you hide so the promise can grow. You hide so your potential can grow. You hide so his purpose can grow over your life and so the king can grow in your life. The promise might be hidden but if you surround it with the right things, prayer, community, worship, hearing the Word of God. If you surround it with the right things, it's going to grow and grow and grow and grow. And at some point, you won't be able to stop it from coming forth. That's what happened in the upper room. The 120 were gathered, they were hidden, but they had a promise.
And there in the upper room as they stayed faithful, faith was growing, love was growing, unity was growing, the king was growing on in the inside of them and then suddenly the sound from heaven came like a mighty rushing wind and filled the room that they were all gathered in, and tongues as a fire set on each one of them and they left that place with the promise of God full grown. And they preached and 3,000 were saved and baptized, and the New Testament church was born.
So, where your promise is hidden matters. But if you'll hide it in the right environment it will grow. What's the promise that God's given you to heal your family, to heal your marriage, to heal your mind? What's the promise God's given you to deliver you and free you from that addiction? What's the promise that God has given you? You've gotta make sure it's in the right environment so it can grow. The second thing that happens in this story is that six years after he was put in this hidden place, he's ready. And so they take him and they anoint him to be the king over Israel. They anoint him, what's that mean? It means they're acknowledging that they cannot do this without God. The anointing is the God part.
I do everything I can do but then at some point I need the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It' s my sense of dependence. Its my sense that if your strong hand is not on my life then it does not matter what I do, it does not matter what I say, it doesn't matter what my efforts are, they'll fall short, and the anointing is my acknowledgement that I need him. Jesus stood up in his very first sermon. Open to the book of Isaiah and what did he say, "The spirit of the Lord has anointed me," so the promise was born, the promise had grown, but the promise needed the anointing. And Joash needed the same thing. The promise couldn't be hid any longer. The tide had come in. The harvest was ripe, and God was ready to send revival to the nation of Judah again.
The instructions were, "Stay close to the king. Wherever he goes you go. Station yourself at an altar where the king is, we're going to anoint the promise. Send out invitations. Tell everyone that they're to come". And the temple day comes where the anointing is going to occur. It's packed out wall to wall, can't fit people in the temple. The priest walks Joash out, now full grown or at a grown place and they look at this young man and they anoint him and tell the nation, "We thought it was over. We thought there was no chance, we though there was no hope, but back in the temple there's been a promise that's been hidden, but it's been growing. And now it's time to take that promise and anoint it". And the tide begins to turn for the nation. Micah 4:9 says this, "Is there not a king in thee"? What a great question? Is there not a king in thee?
Pastor Bill Wilson, who pastors metro world child, the largest ministry to children in the world, his background is that his dad had died when he was very young. His mom was a prostitute. And at 12 years of age she finally said, "I've had enough. I can't do this anymore". She gave up, takes him to a street corner in a small town in Florida and she drops him off. She says, "Wait here until I return". One day went by. Two days went by, three days went by. His mom never returned. A nearby mechanic would notice this battered boy, this skinny starving boy on the park bench.
And on Sunday morning he was on his way to church, looked over and he saw that boy sitting on the park bench and he rolls down his window and says, "Hey, do you wanna come to church with me"? The young boy says, "Of course". Jumps in the car, goes to church, gets saved. That Sunday they were sending their kids off to church camp, and so they sent Bill Wilson to church camp where he got saved and God began to give him a promise about his future. He came back, no chance of life ever seeming normal again. He's an orphan.
The church gave him a little odds and ins jobs and for six years he was hidden there in the little assembly of God church where he served and he gave and he sacrificed. That church raised him in many ways. He would then go to south Eastern university, get his theology degree. He would go to work with Tommy Barnett for many years. And then eventually in 1979 he would go to Brunswick, New York, one of the most rough parts of the city of New York, and when he showed up all he had was a bear costume, a bull horn and a station wagon.
And he would begin to reach the kids or New York city. He was beaten, shot, stabbed, hospitalized on multiple occasions, but to this day he lives in that very neighborhood. He walks those very streets, he still drives the buses to pick up his kids to bring them to church. He still lives in that same area. And not only does he reach 30,000 children every single week in New York city, but that ministry has expanded to 12 different countries around the world and a thousand cities. And reaches 250,000 children every week because a young orphan, stringy hair, so skinny you wouldn't believe it, found out there was a king in him, found out there was something great in him.
And if that little orphan boy who was rejected, dad gone, mom a prostitute could find a king in them, what' your excuse? What's my excuse? What are the reason we can come up with? Is there not a king in thee? Quit putting yourself down. Quit saying you're inadequate. Quite saying that there's no reason you can do something great because of how unworthy you feel or the tremendous challenges you face. There is a king in you and that's why you never back down, that's why you keep on moving because there is a king in you and you can do all things through the king on the inside of you who strengthens you.
I think about why people waste their lives in all kinds of craziness. Is it because they don't understand there's a king in them? That you're anointed, and you're anointed with the promises of God to do great things for the kingdom and there's no limit to what you can do if you'll simply say, "Because the king lives on the inside of me I can do great things. I'm a chosen generation, I'm a royal priesthood". We're kings and priests to our God. We're called to rule and reign with him. And my challenge to you is , what's the promise of God in your life? And even though it's been hidden can you grab a hold of the faith today that it's growing, and it's maturing, and at some point it will be your moment to anoint that Joash promise.