JESUS – THE PROMISE KEEPER! – MARCH 7, 2021

ISAIAH 46:9-11 – ⁹ Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. ¹⁰ Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. ¹¹ I will call a swift bird of prey from the east— a leader from a distant land to come and do my bidding. I have said what I would do, and I will do it.

• GOD IS A PROMISE KEEPER
• HE WILL DO WHAT HE SAID HE WOULD DO!!!

GENESIS 15:1 – Some time later, the Lord spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” ² But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth.

WHAT WAS THE PROMISE TO ABRAHAM?

GENESIS 12:1-3 – ¹ The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. ² I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. ³ I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

• THIS IS A WONDERFUL PROMISE!
• BUT GOD MADE HIM WAIT FOR YEARS!!!

SINCE HE IS A PROMISE KEEPER, OUR RESPONSIBILITY IS TO:

1. LISTENING TO GOD MAKES THINGS CLEARER OR CERTAIN!

• YOU GET ALIGNED BECAUSE YOU KNOW HIS WORD.
• THAT’S WHY A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE CONFUSED RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THEY LISTEN TO SO MANY GUIDES BUT THEY DON’T LISTEN TO THE ONE  GUIDE THAT CAN PROTECT THEM.
• THEY LISTEN TO SO MANY PEOPLE, BUT THEY DON’T LISTEN TO THE CREATOR WHO KNOWS THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR THEIR LIVES.

GENESIS 15:2

• ABRAHAM KNOWS THE WORD OF GOD.
• BUT THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISE HASN’T TAKEN PLACE YET.
• ABRAHAM TRIED TO SOLVE HIS PROBLEM
• SOMETIMES WHAT WE DO WHEN THINGS ARE UNCERTAIN OR UNCLEAR

⁴ Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” ⁵ Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

• SOMETIMES THE LORD WILL NOT MAKE IT ALL THINGS CERTAIN/CLEAR RIGHT AWAY.
• BUT HE ‘S GONNA MAKE YOU REMEMBER HIS PROMISES.
• AND EVENTUALLY, ABRAHAM BELIEVED!

2. OBEDIENCE TO GOD MAKES THINGS CERTAIN/CLEARER

• GOD WANTS US TO OBEY HIM ONE STEP AT A TIME.  HE DOESN’T REVEAL EVERYTHING.
• HE WANTS US TO LISTEN TO GOD
• WE ARE LIVING IN A WORLD THAT IS SO UNCERTAIN/UNCLEAR THAT’S WHY WE ARE REMINDED BY GOD …ABOUT HIS CHARACTER,  ABOUT WHO HE IS, ABOUT HIS POWER, ABOUT WHAT HE HAS DONE, ABOUT THE CROSS, ABOUT THE GOSPEL.  THAT’S THE PROMISE OF GOD!!

GENESIS 15:7-18 – ⁷ Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.” ⁸ But Abram replied, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?” ⁹ The Lord told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰ So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half.  ¹¹ Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away. ¹² As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a terrifying darkness came down over him.  ¹³ Then the Lord said to Abram, “You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end, they will come away with great wealth. ¹⁵ (As for you, you will die in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.) ¹⁷ After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. ¹⁸ So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River.

• WHENEVER THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE NOT CERTAIN/CLEAR
• SOMETIMES HE WILL REVEAL CERTAIN DETAILS
• HE WILL ONLY REVEAL ONE STEP AT A TIME
• BUT EVERY TIME WE START DOUBTING.
• EVERY TIME WE ‘’RE STARTING TO QUESTION.
• EVERY TIME WE ARE UNSURE ALREADY.
• THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THAT ARE UNCERTAIN/UNCLEAR
• GOD REMINDS US OF HIS PROMISE
• TRUST ME. I WILL FULFILL MY PROMISES TO YOU.

3. DEPENDENCE ON GOD MAKES THINGS CLEAR.

• STATUS IN LIFE → → → SUCCESSFUL
• COLLEGE → → → → → CAREER
• DEBT → → → → → → → FINANCIALLY | HEALTHY
• PAST/PRESENT → → → DESIRED | FUTURE

• IT ‘S GOING TO BE A LONG TIME
• THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE A SHORT JOURNEY
• ABRAHAM WAITED FOR YEARS FOR ISAAC
• GOD WAS TELLING HIM…
• DEPEND ON ME, TRUST ME
• HOW GOD FULFILLED HIS PROMISE TO ABRAHAM?

GENESIS 21:2-3 – ² She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. This happened at just the time God had said it would. ³ And Abraham named their son Isaac.

THERE IS GOD’S TIMING!!!

• 2 PETER 3:9 – ⁹ The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent.
• Hebrews 10:23,36 – Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful… For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

GOD’S PROMISES BRING HOPE!!!

• HEBREWS 6:15 – ABRAHAM WAITED PATIENTLY, AND HE RECEIVED WHAT GOD HAD PROMISED
• CALEB AND JOSHUA –Were hopeful, full of faith, and saw their hope fulfilled in the land of promise
• Hebrews in the furnace – knew that God was able and true – even if not, they were steadfast in faith and the Lord backed them up with promised protection fulfilled.

GOD CAN NOT LIE!!!

• HEBREWS 6:17-18 – ¹⁷ God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. ¹⁸ So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. 

What are some specific promises that we can apply to our lives?

He has promised us eternal life.

• I John 2:25 – And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life
• 2 Peter 3:13 – Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

His promises are good

• Numbers 12:29 – the Lord has promised good things to Israel.”
• We are partakers of His divine nature by His precious promises

THE BLESSINGS OF HIS PROMISES

• PROMISES THAT WE CAN LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE FUTURE
• HIS PROMISES ARE TO US, AND OUR CHILDREN
• HE HAS PROMISED US HIS KINGDOM!
• HE PROMISES OF ETERNAL INHERITANCE

JESUS FULFILLS THE PROMISES

• ALL THE PROMISES IN HIM ARE YES AND AMEN!
• 2 Corinthians 1:20 – For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen,
• THE PROMISE KEEPER IS WELL ABLE TO PERFORM HIS PROMISES BECAUSE…
• JESUS IS A PROMISE KEEPER!