Transcription
[Music] [Music]
We'll grab your bibles this morning and turn to First Gra, Second Corinthians, excuse me, Second Corinthians chapter one. And we're in verses 12 to 24, and we are in part two of a message entitled, "When God Says, 'I Promise.'" And we're looking at a unique portion of scripture because you wouldn't normally get this title out of the verses that are before us, verses 12 to 24, Second Corinthians chapter one. But let me explain why the background of this is very important to us. We need to remember this. In fact, it will help us grow up as Christians. We need to get some skin toughened up.
When I say that, I mean this: Paul the Apostle had promised the Corinthian believers, "I'm coming to you, and I'm going to visit with you, and I'm going to speak with you, and I will pick up where I left off in my writings to you. I'll visit you in person." And they were excited about that because, number one, some of the people there loved Paul. Number two, some of the people wanted some questions answered. And some of the people that attended that church, or the churches at Corinth, didn't like Paul. They wanted a fight with Paul. They wanted to bring Paul down onto the carpet, as it were, and really grill him on some things because they didn't like what he had written in First Corinthians. They had a problem with that, and they wanted to talk to him about, "What do you mean about these certain sins? And what do you mean about these certain requirements? Or the gifts of the Holy Spirit? What do you mean by all these things?" And they were angry. There was a, there was a division, and people were arguing and gossiping and complaining. And Paul said, "I'm coming."
So when he, listen, when he didn't come on time, God had led him into another direction in Macedonia. We'll touch on that again where we picked up last time about him being in Macedonia. God called him into Macedonia to speak. Those that were his critics began to get very angry, and they began to tell people that Corinth, you see, Paul can't be trusted. We told you that he's not reliable. And look, listen, this is what he did based upon his unreliableness, not keeping his word, him not keeping his promises. Then, listen, you really can't take to heart what he's been teaching us.
The Bible is very clear. Listen, and we need to hear this today in our age. The Bible's very clear about sowing discord among the brethren. Did you know that? Bible's very clear. People think it's pretty cool and fun and vogue to do. We live in a gossip age like never before. You can gossip on the internet. You can gossip with emails. You can gossip with your mouth. You can gossip and destroy people's lives. And listen, Jesus said in the end, in the judgment, we will all stand before God and give an account for every idle word. Idle, the word means worthless word that proceeded out of our mouth. And I might add, proceeded probably out of our fingertips upon our keypads.
And they were gossiping about Paul, and they were attacking him because he was perceived as a man who can't keep his promises. And I'm using this portion of scripture to say to you that the most, and the best intention of all of our lives, to keep our promises. "I will call you. I will meet you. I will do this for you." And we fail at them. Though we intend to keep them, though we fail at them for whatever circumstances, as humans, we will all fail one another. How many of you are married? Raise your hands. You're married. Did not your husband or your wife let you down in life? Has that not happened? They may not have intended, but it happens. We don't have to be married, but we can be friends. And as I've said before, "I promise to pick you up at three o'clock," or maybe, "You promise to pick me up at five o'clock." And if something happens, and it didn't work out, and our feelings get upset, "I can't believe they did that to me." Just understand this: even with the greatest intentions, we will fail.
But God never fails. God is, listen, God is never early. God is never late. God is always on time. And He'll never fail us because God keeps His promises. Thank God He keeps His promises. He's gloriously faithful. And that's why we're saying today, "When God Says, 'I Promise.'" In contrast to when Paul says he promises, or when Jack says he promises, God keeps His promises.
In John chapter 16, verse 33, Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace." That's a promise. "In the world you will have tribulation." That's great difficulties in life. Hey, church, that also is a promise. Doggone it, don't you wish you could just cut that right out of your Bible? But that's a promise. Jesus said, "In this world you're going to have trouble." But "be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Verse 33, John 16, is packed with promises. Jesus is saying, "Don't worry about it. The world's going to go nuts. It's going to continue to implode. But be of good cheer, Christian. That's a promise." And God will get us through. And we need to understand that as Christians, we live out our faith publicly, and we're to live our faith out boldly based upon the promises of God. Can I hear an amen? God makes His promise, and He will get us through. What's going to happen? I don't know. But God will get us through. And that's a good thing.
And during those seasons, by the way, of tribulations, of hardships, Charles Spurgeon wrote this in Psalm 119, verse 15. Spurgeon wrote this in his devotion. He said, "I will meditate upon Thy precepts." This is a good word. He says, "We ought to muse upon the things of God because we thus get the real nutrient or nutrients, we would say, out of them. Truth is something like the cluster of the vine. If we would have wine from it, we must bruise it." Listen to this. "If we would have wine from it, we must bruise it. We must press and squeeze it. Many times the bruiser's feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow. And they must well be trod upon the grapes, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, that is, being in the word of God, tread the clusters of truth if we would get the wine of comfort." I love that.
Now, granted, he wrote that in 1863. But you understand what he's saying, right? That in all of this world of brokenheartedness and difficulties and troubles, God keeps His promises. But you and I will never know the depth and the power of God's promises unless you and I take the Bible and, as it were, we set it down in the winepress of our grief. Are you grieving? Is your heart broken? Has something happened in your life? There's only one way, my friend. There's only one way. I love you enough to tell you, there's only one way. I know that sounds very, very nasty and very narrow-minded, but it is true. There's only one way for you to not only survive your grief and your difficulty, but to flourish in the midst of it. And here it is: You take the truth of God and you tread it out upon the feet of your meditation in the word of God. You press it out in your grief, and out comes the promises of the wine of comfort of God's word. There's no other comfort that comes to us but through the word of God. We can be theologians and be completely lost. That's what I love. As we had the experience with Dr. Wayne Grudem, he's a theologian who loves Jesus. That's a rarity. He's a theologian with tremendous education, like Dr. Ed Hinson, tremendous education. But both these highly educated men have a personal walk with Jesus. They love Jesus more than anything. I love that. And in grief and in life, you tread out in the Bible with your meditation the wine of comfort.
And Paul is saying to the Corinthian believers, "You need to be focused on the promises of God." And last time, we looked at this, just by way of review, very quickly, that when God promises, it's based upon His person. Remember that? Three things. Because His person is this: God is true, and we can trust Him. A lot of people today want to argue, "Well, you know, is God real or not?" Why don't you take God upon His offer and find out if He's true? Look to Him. He's true. We saw that in verses 12 to 14. The second thing we saw last time in this is that God is pure. God is true. Man is not true. God is pure. Man is not pure. We looked at the examples of that. And we looked in detail. The fact, thirdly, that God is sovereign. God is sovereign. It's all based upon that. It's His promises upon the fact that God is sovereign. The promises that you and I cling to in the Bible come from heaven. They're not man-made. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God," says the Bible. You know what that means? That means you can take a promise of God and hang on to it, quote it. I like to do this personally. I like to remind God of it. You say, "How can God be reminded?" He doesn't need to be reminded. But I like to put it that way. I'll say, "Dear Lord, remember You wrote to me. You said to me that if, if I'm in the hands of Jesus, no one will be able to pluck me out of Your hands." John chapter 10, verses 28 to 29. "Jesus, You promised that sin, evil, temptations, nothing can snatch me out of Your Father's hands. I'm safe in the arms of the everlasting Lord God. You promised me." I talk to God like that. No, I don't do it publicly. I just shared that with you. But I do it most often in my prayer time, or even more often than that, I'll do it when I'm driving, which is, I think, the only successful way to drive in Southern California.
And now we pick it up where we left off last time, verses 15 to 19. When God says, "I Promise," it's all founded upon His immutability. The fact, the word means God doesn't change. He never changes. The immutability of God means that God's nature, God's persons, God's promises can never change or be altered. I love it. Mark this down regarding God's inability. That's right. God cannot do something. He cannot change. Malachi chapter 3, verse 6. Malachi 3:6 says, "For I am the Lord, I change not." I like that. When it comes to promises, can you trust God? Yes, because He never changes. The next verse is Hebrews 13:8. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." This is great, by the way. Those of you who doubt the deity of Jesus Christ, you ought not to do that. It's essential for entrance into heaven. And here's a great little reason. I wonder if you got it. In Malachi 3:6, plus Hebrews 13:8, if Yahweh, Yah, that's His name in Malachi 3:6, God is unchangeable, and Jesus Christ is unchangeable, then Jesus Christ must be God, because only God alone is unchangeable. That's a beautiful comfort. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God revealed to us in human flesh.
Matthew 5:17. All of this regarding the immutability of God, the unchangeableness of God, which brings us comfort to His promises. Matthew 5:17. Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle," that is, one hyphen or one comma of the Hebrew language, the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, "will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." Jesus, listen, everybody. People will often say, "Jesus didn't speak about this or about that in the New Testament." Right there, He does. Did I have your attention? You're sure quiet this morning. Are you guys with me? Jesus Christ, in Matthew 5:17-18, with that statement, endorses every single word from Genesis to Malachi of the Old Testament. He puts His thumbs up, His signature on it. Jesus is saying, "The Old Testament is the word of God, and I've come to fulfill and to endorse every word of it." Wow. Wow. The promises of God, they never change.
Mark this down. Verses 15 to 16. It's founded upon the fact that God never changes, His immutability. And it's this: God is unwavering. He never wavers. He's not capricious. He's not whimsical. Verse 15 says, "And in this confidence I intend to come to you," says Paul, "to come to you before that you might have a second benefit, which was to pass by way of you into Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and to help me on my way to Judea." "I'm coming," He says. "I'm coming to visit with you. I have not abandoned you." And I want you to know, they accused Paul, and they used the verbiage of him wavering. And Paul is saying, "Listen, I'm a servant of God. Yes, I'm an apostle. Yes, I'm Paul the Apostle, and I've seen Jesus Christ on that road to Damascus. But the truth is, God, in His everlasting plans, is unwavering." And Paul said, "I'm submissive to the plans of God."
We need to take a big, big breath of fresh air and exercise some grace when people let us down. Maybe we've had something set up in their lives, or they, we've put them up in our lives, and if they let us down, we get all upset, and we'll accuse them of being wavering. Listen, you can only hold God to that standard. And I can say that boldly because He'll never let you down. But Paul says, "Listen, I have this confidence." He's speaking about the fact that God is unwavering. "I will come to you in time, Lord willing," Paul is saying. But "my confidence is in the Lord." This word "confidence" in verse 15 means this: the reliance upon the concrete assurance of the dependability of God is immutable. Man is not. Paul, remember, we had mentioned last time, Paul had his plan A, but God's plan A, the big A, is bigger than Paul's plan. And the Bible says in Proverbs 16:9, "A man's heart plans his way." That was Paul. "But the Lord directs his steps." I like that verse. Can you guys maybe put that to memory? You want to memorize that verse? That's a good one. "A man's heart," put it this way, "Paul the Apostle planned his way, but the Lord directed his path, his steps." Jack has planned his ways. It's a fact. You've planned your ways, but you always say, "Thy will be done." The Lord will direct their steps. Hallelujah. If you've got a plan, that's good to have a plan. You should have a plan. But you should always be open to the Holy Spirit interrupting that plan, redirecting that plan. And I got to tell you something, excuse me, I got to tell you something. I think if we walk with the Lord in the fear of the Lord, we will never be accused of being flaky in the Lord.
Some people would say, "Well, you know what? The Lord led me to not come. The Lord led me to not show up. The Lord led me to..." Now, you've got to be careful with that. You could use it as an excuse for laziness. That's what they had accused Paul of. Paul wasn't sleeping. He wasn't golfing in Jerusalem somewhere at the Hyatt. In fact, we know from the book of Acts, while the Corinthians were complaining, Paul was in Macedonia getting all ridiculed, mocked, and rejected for preaching the gospel. He wasn't having a good time. We need to remember that what kept Paul going? The fact that God is unwavering. What's going to keep you going? God's unwavering. Okay, I don't know. Maybe I look okay this morning. I don't feel okay, but you know why I'm here right now? Because God's unwavering. I love it. Watch. Why are you here? So, I don't feel very good either. But why are you here? Because God's unwavering. Because we've come, because out of pursuing God, we know good things come of that. He's our strength, He's our power, and He's unwavering. And so we look at His promises, and in our weaknesses, the Bible says God is displaying His strength. And our weaknesses? Praise the Lord. No wonder why the impulses, "I'm going to revel in my weaknesses." I like that. Paul's plan changed because God's plan never changes.
The second thing is this: God is not only unwavering, but God is faithful. Verses 17 to 18. "God's faithful. Therefore," He says, "when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Was I playing with your emotions, you guys? Or the things that I planned? Did I plan according to the flesh? That with me there should be yes, yes, or no, no?" Verse 18: "But as God is faithful, our word to you was not yes and no." We weren't flaky and whimsical about it all. And I love that. And everything in life, Christian, write this down: in business, in marriage, in relationships, in ministry, keep this in mind. Ephesians 3:20. It's a verse I most often use in counseling with single people. Most often. It's a powerful voice. If you're single and you want to be married, and you're getting a little older, and that person hasn't come along yet, this is a verse I give, and we encourage people to look to. I'll use it in a verse where someone's been, listen, don't raise your hand, but you, you've either attended this church or some other church, and someone's hurt your feelings. You got your heart bruised a little bit. You're hurt, disappointed, discouraged, and you recoil, you step back. Be careful. Be careful because watch this: God may be very well, hello, are you listening? God may very well be speaking to you, and you haven't received it yet. You haven't gotten it yet. But God has been speaking to you. Listen carefully to this message. Fred, or Betty, or whatever your name is, Jack, listen to this message because people will let you down. They don't have the power to fulfill your expectations. They don't even have the power to keep their own word. But God is saying to you today, "I do, and I will." Keep your eyes, as a good friend of mine tells me, keep your eyes six feet or higher. Stop looking at men to fulfill your plans. Stop looking to people, parties, politicians, husbands, or wives, even, to fulfill all your dreams and all your expectations. Pray for them, yes, but keep your eyes six feet and above, because God, and God alone, is faithful. And here's the verse. You see what's the verse? It's Ephesians 3:20. One of the greatest verses in the Bible. That's funny. One of the greatest verses in the Bible, like one verse is greater than some other verse. It's the Bible. But it's a cool verse. Ephesians 3:20. "Now to Him," that's God, "who is able," wow, that's power, "to do exceedingly abundantly above," that's a lot, "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." A reference to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is at work in you, Christian. And, and people often say, "I want to get married, but I'm 30 years old, and the person hasn't come." "Has my standards been too high? I wanted to marry a man who loves the Bible. Wait. I wanted to marry a man who loves God. Wait. I want to marry a man who prays." Wait. Or a woman, insert that right, flip it. Wait. Because far too many people in relationships, and I'm picking on this one, but we can apply it to whatever case we're in, we start to give up. We lose heart on God's faithfulness. Faithfulness means time, ladies and gentlemen. Time. Faithfulness has to have time. The time factor. It takes time to prove faithfulness. No one can be faithful in an hour. You got to know somebody. It takes time. A lifetime, sometimes. God is faithful. Don't let down your expectations. You pray. See, listen to Angie. She knows. I'm telling you right now, listen. You wait, and God will bring. You wait, and God will do. You wait, and God will show up. You wait, and God will speak to you. Just wait for Him. God is faithful.
In First Thessalonians 5:24, the Bible says, "He who calls you is faithful, and He will also do it." Oh, man, I love it. First Corinthians 1:9, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." And then, here you go, one of the greatest verses. Philippians 1:6. And the other two were of the greatest verses too. Philippians 1:6, "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." And all God's people said, "Amen." That is awesome. Has God worked in your life? Yes. I remember God working in my life, but I've backslidden. I didn't ask you if you were backslidden. Has God ever worked in your life? Yes. Then guess what? It's time to get up and walk out of that complacency, out of that apathy, and rejoice in the fact that God keeps His promises, and He's faithful, and He will complete the work that He started. It may have been last year. Could have been 15 years ago. Could have been 30 years ago. I met somebody last week who said, "This is the first time I've been back in a church in 30 years." And I said, "You know what that means? It means, number one, as God has called you back, I'm very blessed and honored, my friend, that God would call you here after 30 years of waywardness. I'm honored. So thank you for coming." And the second thing is this: that the Lord must be coming soon if He called you out of your backslidden world to get right with Christ, because Jesus is coming again. And are you ready to meet Him? And what an amazing thing that we can be confident that He is going to complete the work that He's begun in you. I tell you what, I live off that verse right now, today, at this moment. That's my favorite verse. He'll complete it.
The third thing under this point, verse 19, is that God is consistent. Verse 19: "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me," he says, "Silvanus and Timothy, was not yes and no." We were not messed up about what we were saying. "Jesus is the Son of God." He is saying, "We're not changing that." By the way, that says, let me insert this, that's Paul's biblical worldview. What? That Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Why do I say it that way? Because when you have, as I've been saying before on Wednesday nights, if you have a biblical worldview, you will always be right. What an arrogant thing to say? No, it's not. And actually, it's a humble thing to say. I'm never right. Jack is never right. But when I am holding to a biblical worldview, Jack is always right. Why? Because the Bible's right. I'm not asking God to be on my side. I may be ugly, but I'm not stupid. I'm going to get on God's side. That's where I'm going to be. On God's side. I'm not going to do something and then ask God, "Hey, can you get involved in this? It'd be nice if you blessed this." God, I made a mess, but will you bless it? No, don't do that. Don't do that.
And so Paul is saying that it was not yes or no regarding him, but "in Him was yes." In Jesus Christ, verse 19, was yes toward the man or the woman, listen, who has dedicated their trust to God. Think of this: the word of God, the promises of God, God's promises. Paul is saying this: "The promises of God are yes in Christ, not inconsistent, but consistent."
Jeremiah 29:11. I gave it to you a couple weeks ago. Got to give it to you again. It applies to this verse. How consistent is God? This consistent. By the way, anybody visiting for the first time? People are here. Here's the deal. Raise your hand if you're visiting for the first time. Not going to embarrass you. God bless you. That's cool. Awesome. Glad you're here. You're going to want to write this verse down. People around you, maybe when I said Jeremiah 29:11, those of you who are visiting, you heard people around you go, "Oh, there he goes, that verse again." Well, for those of you who are visiting, it's my favorite verse. [Applause] And when you hear it, if you don't know it, it's going to be your favorite verse too. But how consistent is God? Because I'll tell you what, my emotions, my thinking are very inconsistent. How I feel about things changes. My emotions have violated me very much, very often in life. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord, "thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." That's an awesome verse. That's a great verse.
If your heart is troubled, Isaiah 26:3 says, "He will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." The word "stayed" is a nautical term or a construction term, one in the same. He, or you, will keep him, us, in perfect peace, whose mind is anchored to, or concrete adhered to, You, God, capital Y, because that person trusted You, God. That's a promise of God. God's consistent.
Point number three, and we end on this third point, verses 20 to 24. When God says, "I Promise," it's all rooted upon His desire. It's rooted upon the desire of God. And I love this. God's desire. I love the fact that God has desires. Does that make Him too personal to you? I love it. Jesus, on that night of communion, Passover, lifted up the cup and He said, "I have desired this night with you." Wow. What is this desire? Verses 20 to 24. God is willing. Hallelujah for that. It's rooted, listen, God's promises are rooted upon the fact that God has His desire, and it's holy. He's God. But listen, God is willing. Verse 20: "For all the promises of God in Him, that is Christ, this is an interesting verse, by the way. All the promises of God. It's not in God. This is very fantastic. All the promises of God in Him, that's Christ." Theologically, you've got to pause right here. Now, you may not like this. You may think, find this as boring. But I love this. How do I experience the promises of God? I can only experience them by Him. Who's Him? Don't think that it's this God removed from space and time. Oh, I love the meaning of this. Don't think it's some God that you've got to somehow get His attention. It is Him. Jesus, who came already and has revealed Himself to us. This verse, theologians, Bible students, mark this verse. It is exactly the meaning of when Philip said, "Jesus, just show us the Father, and we'll be happy." And remember Jesus' response? Philip, I almost see Jesus grabbing, not grabbing, but gently taking Philip's chin. Now, that may be too feminine for you. I don't know. I like it. Jesus might have grabbed his chin and said, "Philip, hey, hey, Philip, focus, buddy, focus. If you've seen Me, Philip, you've seen the Father." Philip, look. Philip must have went, "Oh, awesome." Man, I don't know about you, but that's good. "For all the promises of God, He is willing." In Him are yes, and in Him, amen, to the glory of God through us. What in the world does that mean? God is willing to do this, church. Are you listening? That the promises of God are experienced only through Jesus Christ. And I want you to take out your pen, your pencil, your highlighter, and circle the word "amen." For this reason, the word "amen" here means that it is true. It means firm. It means rock solid. The word "amen" means rock solid, true, firm. The word here means that it can be built upon. So watch this: "For all the promises of God are in Christ Jesus, they're yes, and they're rock solid to the glory of God through us." Meaning this is an evangelistic passage. God is willing. All, listen, He is not willing that all should perish, but He is willing that all should be saved. God wants all people saved. How do they see the witness of Jesus Christ in this world? Watch this, because the promises of God, listen, will never be known among the non-believers or the believers unless Jesus Christ, to the glory of God, is lived out through the life of the believer. How? How will the world know? You know why? You know, a recent poll just last week shows that Americans believe less in God now than ever before in American history. You want to know why? I know the answer. Everybody's asking, "Bill O'Reilly said, 'Why?'" I yelled at my TV. I gave him the answer. He didn't even acknowledge it. I know why. I know why. Here's the answer. Here's the reason why. The reason why people in America are not believing in God anymore is because there's such a pathetic witness coming from the church. That's why. Christians are damaging the promises of God. Conviction. We do not take God's promises in faith. And so we're living apathetic lives, lives with no conviction, or very little conviction. We're not standing on the promises of God, and we're not seeing the miraculous powers of God because there's very few people believing in God. You may be here today in this gathering of people, but you, you, listen, you're not trusting God. You're trusting the stock market. Good luck. Well, it's okay, Pastor. I bought some gold. You're not going to be able to eat your gold here pretty soon. Everything's going to be shaken soon. The Bible says everything that can be shaken shall be shaken, and only that which cannot remain shall remain. And that's a reference to Christ. Very serious time. God is willing. It's His desire that you would know Him. And listen to this. This is fun. We're going to come across the finish line quickly. The word "amen." Watch this. This is a real-life experimental lab of life verse regarding the word "amen." The word demands "amen." The word demands us taking it and making it ours. Okay, I was going to grab a guitar. There's no guitars. There's nothing here. I would have to grab something. I don't even know what that stuff is. Um, okay. You see this podium? I grab it and I pick it up and I walk away with it. You know what I'm doing? I'm doing "amen." I'm doing it. I'm doing "amen." That's what the word means. You take it. You make it firm. You make it your own. It's foundational. It's mine. You say, "Well, that's stealing." Wait a minute. If God said, if God said, "Pick up this podium and take it." If that was a public announcement right now, "Pick up the podium and take it." God says, "You're going to sit in..." You're going to think, "Who's that directed to?" You're going to be thinking, "What does that mean?" You're going to start thinking. Guess what? Guess what? Guess what? Someone rose gets up and says, "Hey, that was the voice of God." I don't need to know the details. "That was the voice of God." And Rose gets up and picks it up and walks away with it. Well, all of us are going, "What's going on here?" You know what she's doing? She's taking God at His word and she's making it her own. While we sit there and analyze it, "What does that really mean?" For God so loved the world. Let's have a debate. What was really meant by that? The truths of God are debated. But the child of God picks up the promises of God and believes them and makes them their own. So here's a real true lab experiment. You ready? This is my favorite verse. Psalm 34:7. "The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them." Some of you are going to go, "What? What was that?" And some of you are going to say, "That's mine. I'm going to take that. Yep. I'm going to, I'm going to hang on to that one. That's mine." And you're going to mark it. You're going to write it down. You're going to make it your own. You know what you're doing? You know what you're doing? Amen. That's what you're doing. You're making it your own. All the promises of God are your own if you take them. Don't you like that? Here's another one. This is my favorite verse. Philippians 4:19. "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Can you say amen? When you say amen, you're saying, "I'm making that my own." That's mine. How about this one? Second Corinthians 5:17. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; all things have passed away. Behold, all things become new." How many of us need the old things to pass away? If you say amen to that, you are saying, in the Hebrew, you know Hebrew, everybody? And count to three. Same amen. One, two, three. You know Hebrew? You say, "That's mine. I'm making that my own. That's mine. I'm taking that." Paul is saying, "All the promises of God are yes in Him and amen." I'm making that my promise. I'm to do it. So you take these promises and you apply them to your marriage, to your relationship, to your job, to your unemployment, whatever it is. Wow.
Next, quickly. You're fine. It's me. I need to hurry. Verses 21 to 22. God is not only willing, He's providing. He's providing. "Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit," capital S, notice, "Holy Spirit, in our hearts as a guarantee." What an awesome verse. Please, if you've fallen asleep, wake up. Get this part. The word "establishes" here means to make stable, firm, secure, to be fastened to. Now, He who has fastened us and made us secure, welded us with you in Christ, fastened and anointed. This word "anointed" means to be covered with oil. See what, what is that? All who cares? Who wants to be covered with oil? It means, or it's an act of consecration, devotion, to make dedicated. So don't you love this? Watch this. It's all of God. The purpose of anointing, the healing, the protection, the comfort. Listen to what First John chapter 2 says: "These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you." Notice this, everybody. You can be a brand new Christian, and some cult member comes knocking on your door. Watch what happens. "These things have been written to you concerning those who may try to deceive you, but the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you." That's the Holy Spirit. "And you do not need that anyone should teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true and is not a lie. And just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him." This is an awesome reference to the fact that every true Christian is owned by the Holy Spirit and sealed until the day of redemption by the power of God. And God will keep His promise. Ephesians 4:30 says, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by which you were sealed for the day of redemption." You belong to God. You, listen, were you born again? You can never be unborn again. You can backslide. You can be a dodo. You can be rebellious, and you can be fighting against God. Even being a child. Look, we've all had our kids act up from time to time. Some of you have had rebellious kids, but they're still your kid. God says, "I've got children who are born again, and there are even children of Mine who are born again who backslide away like the prodigal son." And God says, "Come back. Come on. Hurry. You're sealed. You're sealed unto the day of redemption." And God will bring you back. Ephesians 1:13, "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again from the grave. You heard the word of truth, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of what church? Of what promise?" Isn't that precious?
And then this. We end here. Verses 23 to 24. God keeps His promises. It's rooted in His desire because His desire is this: God is watching. Say, "I know, Pastor. Don't remind me." God is watching. No, my friend, listen. The context is this: God is watching. I know, I know. Don't remind me. Listen. God, the Bible says, loves you. Listen. Are you today not a Christian? And you say, "Well, I'm a Christian." Watch this. "I'm a Christian, but I get loaded. I'm a Christian, but I don't see anything wrong getting drunk, partying. I'm a Christian, but I sleep with about every girl I could find. I'm a Christian, but I sleep with about every guy I can find. I'm a Christian adulterer. I'm a Christian fornicator. I'm a Christian homosexual. I'm a Christian sodomite. I'm a Christian that goes on the list of scripture. I'm a Christian liar. I'm a Christian." Fill in the blank. You can't be that. You cannot. We're new creations. So watch this. The Bible's very clear about this. God loves us, but He hates the sin we practice. He loves even, I mean, it's hard for us to understand this. I had somebody chew me out this week about this. I was talking to somebody, and I said, "If Saddam Hussein would have accepted Christ, he would have gone to heaven." Somebody went nuts on that. "That guy deserves to suck flames in hell." The person said, "I understand that. I understand that. And I actually emotionally agree with you. Let Saddam Hussein suck flames in hell. It's kind of got a ring to it." [Applause] Emotionally, I agree with you. But the biblical worldview is that's not true. Are you saying Charlie Manson could get saved and go to heaven? Yep. "I'm never coming back to this church again." I understand how you feel. Then it's not fair, huh? We want Charlie Manson to suck flames in hell with Saddam Hussein side by side. But that's not the heart of God. If, if any of these two guys repent, or ever repented, they get to enter the kingdom of heaven, just like you and I enter the kingdom of heaven. God is watching. And He's watching us, listen, because He can't take His eyes off of us. Do you understand right now? Listen, we're done. You need to make a decision today. Do you understand right now, over the fact that God is watching, that you're going to go home, or you're going to go do whatever you do? And if you're not a Christian, you're going to do things that you know, you don't even have the 10 Commandments posted in your house. You have, you don't even have them. You don't even know them. But you're going to go crawl back into bed, or you're going to go draw your line of cocaine, or you're going to do your thing that governs your life. That's what it is. Your, your flesh governs your life. And you want some religion to make you feel better emotionally. But down deep inside, you know that you're living a life that's not true, and you know it. And I am not telling you this, and the Holy Spirit's not telling you this to beat you up. God is watching you because He can't take His eyes off of you because He loves you. Oh, good. So then I get to do all these things and go to heaven? That's not what I said. He loves you so much He can't take His eyes off of you. And He's, listen, the Bible says He weeps over the death of the wicked. Can you make God cry? Yes. Die in your sin, and you can make God cry. See? Well, that's, I'm angry with God. So I want to make God cry. Yeah, read the fine print. It means you wind up in hell. So look who's crying in the end. God wants you in heaven with Him, and He loves you. But because you practice things that you love more than God, God has to judge you because you are inseparably linked to that conduct. It has nothing to do with faith. Everything you do is all about your feelings. "That feels good. I want that." And I will connive, and I will scheme, and I will manipulate, and I will prostitute people, and throw people under the bus, and I will use people to get my gratification. That is your god, though. God loves you. You have served your gods, and they will kill you in the end. God will weep over your demise, and you will weep over your rejection of the only salvation, the promise of God, that says, "If you put your faith in Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life, you would come to Christ in salvation, that He died on the cross for your sins, that He rose again from the grave for your justification." There's, there's no way to get to heaven without Him. It's called Christianity. And I'm going to ask you to bow your heads right now and pray. Today's, today's the day of decision. You need to make this decision. You have nowhere to hide now. You know, you know clearly, you understand exactly what's going on. And just to make super sure, I'm asking you to meet Jesus. I'm not asking you to become a member of this church. You cannot even do that. We have no membership here. People come and go as they're led by God. The issue is, do you know Jesus personally? Heads bowed, eyes are closed. I'm going to ask you right now, do you believe that Jesus, according to the word of God, the Bible, is the yes and the amen of God, who died on the cross for your sins and rose again from the grave? And today, you recognize that you've been sleeping around, or you've been pornograping your life on the internet, or you have been drugged. You're angry. You say, "I'm clean of all those things." But you're self-righteous, and you're not broken before the throne of God. You think you're okay. And maybe you're further from the kingdom of God than anybody. But the Spirit of God has spoken to you today, and He's convicting you, and He's saying to you now, "Now, today, to repent of your sin and accept My Son." Eyes closed, heads bowed. Who today in this audience is saying, "That's me, Pastor. I'm coming home. I'm coming to Jesus." Now God has spoken in my heart. I can sense it in my soul. My gut is wrenched. God bless you in the back. My soul is wrenched. I know I need to decide now. God bless you to my left. You in the very back. God bless you. Anyone else? Up here to the right. God bless you. And you, and you. Yes, sir. Right there. Yes, you in the back. God bless you. Anyone else? There's a tornado going on in your soul. You know it. Don't deny that's the Spirit speaking to you. You feel like you're caught. You feel like you're found out. You feel like, "I've watched you all week." And I don't even know you. God knows you. And He's speaking to you because He loves you. Right now, and He wants to make you this promise: "All those who confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead shall be saved." That's His promise. Are you ready? Church, those of you who are Christians, pray this out loud with these brand new believers. Let's let heaven hear it. Repeat after me: "Dear Lord, I give You my sins. I give You my life. Change me now. As I confess Jesus Christ as Lord, having died for my sins, having been risen from the dead, I trust Him now." [Music] "In Jesus' name, amen." [Music]