Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002904
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00:09 It's been 2,000 years since the glorious light of the cross
00:12 illuminated a world veiled in 00:14 darkness and confusion about the character of God. 00:17 And still today, the greatest need of mankind 00:19 is a revelation of God's love as revealed in the life of Christ 00:23 Amazing Facts presents "The Everlasting Gospel" 00:26 with Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from 00:30 Sacramento Central Church in sunny California. 00:32 Discover hidden treasures in God's word today! 00:38 I kept seeing these advertisements everywhere, 00:41 "Free Credit Report" 00:45 and I was just mildly curious about what that involved. 00:52 Praise the Lord, we paid off our home loan not too long ago, 00:57 and our cars are paid off and so I didn't need any credit. 01:00 I thought my credit was perfect! 01:02 As-a-matter-of-fact, I don't think a week goes by 01:05 when we don't get half-a-dozen applications in the mail 01:08 of somebody that wants us to get one more credit card. 01:11 And so, some of you might need an extra one, 01:17 we got lots of them at our house - applications. 01:21 But I was curious and then I saw something on the internet, 01:24 it said that these credit reporting agencies are 01:27 required to give you one free credit report a year. 01:31 And so I thought, "Well, may as well find out - I'm curious." 01:35 I thought, "Well I probably have stellar credit, 01:38 and industrial strength, good credit!" 01:42 So I sent off for one of these free credit reports. 01:47 And it was pretty good, but it wasn't perfect! 01:52 And that really bothered me, and I thought, 01:53 what in the world happened? 01:55 And I found out, yeah - Karen, I guess, 01:57 gave the wrong address to a doctor or something... 01:59 I don't know what happened but some doctor 02:03 that we went to - we gave them the wrong 02:05 address and they kept sending the bill to the wrong address, 02:08 and the people there didn't want to pay it, 02:09 we don't know who they were, and so they turned it over 02:13 to a credit agency - we got that taken care of, 02:15 and everything is okey-dokey, 02:17 but just in that interval that the bill wasn't paid, 02:20 it blemished our credit! 02:23 And I guess to try and fix that, here we're making 02:26 credit confessions right now... 02:28 I guess to try and fix that, takes an act of congress 02:32 because once your credit is besmirched, 02:35 you are flagged for life... evidently! 02:39 Well, I'm not worried about it right now because I'm not 02:42 trying to borrow any money. 02:44 But, some people are and I guess they've got this 02:51 whole very elaborate system right now where 02:54 everything you borrow and your payment schedule 02:57 and your bills that you pay and if you're late, 03:00 somebody out there is keeping tabs on everything; 03:02 all this electronic world that we live in right now, 03:06 having perfect credit - that's questionable. 03:12 Well, I want you to know God has perfect credit, 03:15 and the title of our message today is: 03:18 "God said it, and that's of course, part of the saying 03:24 that we've said before, "God said it, I believe it, 03:28 that settles it," have you heard that before? 03:31 Why don't you say that with me... 03:33 "God said it, I believe it, that settles it?" 03:38 There are some songs that also bear that out. 03:42 Well God has a perfect credit score, I want you to know... 03:46 In the Bible, it tells us that His promises never fail. 03:52 Now right now, we've got an epidemic of failed promises 03:56 in the country and credit issues because of the 04:00 financial crunch... some people are losing 04:02 their homes; they sign covenants to make payments 04:06 that they can't make or they went to buy a car, 04:09 and they're being repossessed. 04:11 We look around and we see an epidemic of failed marriages... 04:14 You wonder - can you trust anybody's word these days? 04:18 Does a promise still mean what it says? 04:21 I want you to know when God says something, 04:23 He never fails - His record is perfect in keeping His word. 04:30 Now I'm going to cover a lot of Scripture with you today 04:33 and the goal of my message today is, of course, 04:36 to get you to read your Bible more and to get you to 04:39 believe it more and to cash in on the promises in God's word. 04:44 Numbers 23:19, Moses said, "God is not a man that He 04:50 should lie... God can't lie nor the son of man 04:55 that He should repent, has He said and will He not do? 04:59 Or has He spoken and will He not make it good?" 05:03 Why good God make a promise He couldn't keep? 05:05 Why would He do that? 05:08 He doesn't have to promise anything to anybody, does He? 05:10 Sometimes we'll make a promise to somebody because 05:13 we're in trouble or we're afraid ... a promise that we can't keep 05:17 But God is never threatened with that, so why would He 05:20 ever make a promise He couldn't keep? 05:22 Does that make sense... Everything He said, He will do. 05:27 Joshua 23:14- You just might jot some of these down 05:31 and look them up later and gain some encouragement. 05:35 When the Lord brought the children of Israel 05:37 into the Promised Land and Joshua is becoming an old man, 05:40 one of his last assemblies, before the people, 05:42 he made a statement to the folks, 05:45 "Behold this day I am going the way of all the earth." 05:49 He says, "I'm getting old, I'm going to die, 05:51 I'm going the way of all the earth." 05:53 "And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls 05:57 that not... I've underlined this... not one thing has 06:02 failed of all the good things which the Lord your God 06:07 spoke concerning you." 06:09 God has spoken good things concerning you... 06:12 And the promises that He made for the children of Israel 06:15 not one thing failed of everything that He promised. 06:19 "All has come to pass for you, not one word of them has failed" 06:25 So how good is God's credit report? 06:28 Perfect! But I'm not done yet. 06:30 1 Kings 8:55-56- Here when Solomon dedicated the temple, 06:37 we just did a whole series on Solomon... 06:39 and he blessed the people; "He stood and he blessed 06:42 the congregation of Israel with a loud voice saying, 06:44 "Blessed be the Lord that has given rest unto His 06:47 people Israel, according to all that He promised. 06:52 There has not failed one word of all His good promise 06:56 which He has promised by the hand of Moses, His servant." 06:59 Not one word! Perfect record! 07:04 God keeps His promises, He never fails, and yet... 07:09 we fail to capitalize on His promises. 07:14 Matthew 24:35, Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will 07:18 pass away but My word will not pass away." 07:21 Well Lord, You said you're coming back, where are You? 07:24 Has His promised failed? 07:27 Well, He promised to come the first time, He did, 07:29 it was 4,000 years, but He did! 07:31 He promised to come again; it's just now about 2,000 years. 07:36 I think He's just about to come! 07:38 Everything God says will happen. 07:40 The world might forget; His word, He doesn't measure 07:43 time the way we do, it never fails. 07:46 Everything God says happens! 07:48 Psalm 89:34, - We sometimes break our 07:53 promises, break our covenants - God does not. 07:57 "My Covenant I will not break, nor alter the word 08:01 that has gone out of my lips." 08:03 Isaiah 40:8, "The grass withers, 08:06 the flower fades, but the word of our God 08:08 stands.. for how long? Forever!" 08:12 God's word never fails, it is eternal. 08:15 Jesus said, "Who is going to 08:17 survive the storm that is coming? 08:19 He that hears these words of mine and does them, 08:23 he is like the man building on a rock, it will not move, 08:26 it will not fail - you can trust the word of God. 08:29 Before I go too far, maybe I should just 08:31 simply define what is a promise. 08:34 According to the "American Heritage Dictionary," 08:53 It comes from the Latin word, "promittere," 08:56 "pro" means "forth," "mittere" - "to send." 08:58 To send forth - it's something that you're sending on ahead, 09:02 a guarantee. 09:03 Now, one reason God cannot lie is because He's God, 09:07 and He's perfect. 09:08 He is also a king and a king cannot break his word. 09:13 I can think of a couple of examples in the Bible 09:16 of kings that spoke, earthly kings, that then regretted 09:20 what they said and maybe wanted to change it and they couldn't. 09:23 You remember when King Darius signed a law that if your prayed 09:27 to any god or man, except him, for 30 days, 09:29 you went to the lion's den. 09:31 And then Daniel was brought before him because 09:34 Daniel prayed 3 times a day publically. 09:37 And the king was so displeased with himself. 09:40 He wanted to change what he had said, 09:42 but a king's word is law. 09:44 And the law of the Medes and the Persians could not be altered; 09:48 it could not be changed; it was a firm decree. 09:51 Ahasuerus made a law that all the Jews should 09:54 be attacked on a certain day, 09:56 then he found that his wife was a Jew... Esther. 10:00 And he could not take back that law; 10:03 all he could do was make another law giving them 10:05 the right to defend themselves in advance. 10:10 Who was it... Herod spoke and promised that whatever 10:13 Salome wanted, if she danced, up to half 10:15 his kingdom, he'd give it. 10:17 She then said, "I want the head of John the Baptist, 10:19 but because the king had spoken and his word was law, 10:22 he could not break his promise. 10:24 Now these are vacillating, weak, indecisive, earthly, 10:32 sinful kings that would not alter their word. 10:36 Do we think that God is going to alter his? 10:40 I heard a story one time about a man who was brought 10:43 before the king and he had been condemned and sentenced to die 10:46 by beheading and as he heard the judgment, 10:48 he began to tremble. 10:50 And the king said, "Well, we'll give you one final wish. 10:53 He said, "Could I have a drink of water?" 10:55 And they brought the man a porcelain cup, 10:57 and he took it in his hands and he was shaking, 10:59 and the water was sloshing around and the king felt 11:02 sorry for the man and he said, "Look, you're safe 11:05 until that water is drunk, you don't have nothing to fear. 11:07 You will not die until that water is drunk, 11:09 so relax, drink your water." 11:11 And the man heard what the king said and he tossed 11:15 the cup down and it crashed on the floor." 11:17 And said, "You promised I would not die until 11:19 that water was drunk!" 11:21 And the king kind of gave him a wiry smile and said, 11:24 "Very clever, my word is law, you're free to go!" 11:31 He'd never drink that water, could he? 11:34 Can we trust God to keep His political promises? 11:39 Will God keep His word? 11:42 And yet, we're so slow to take God at His word. 11:48 A promise is a promise! Now we, as people, 11:52 should realize that promises should be kept. 11:55 I'm not saying - because He's God, He keeps His promises, 11:57 we don't have to keep ours, we should keep ours. 12:00 You know, we've all heard about "Honest Abe," 12:03 and we heard the story about one time that he 12:09 realized he was given 5 cents too much change 12:12 when he got home from the country store, 12:14 and he walked 10 miles back one way, 20 miles round trip 12:19 to bring a nickel back because he just couldn't keep 12:24 someone else's money and it bothered him. 12:27 One time Lincoln was riding along in a buggy with a 12:30 general who offered him a swig of his whiskey. 12:32 It was a cold day, Lincoln said, "Thank you, no," 12:36 and he said, "Well, would you like a cigar, I've got an extra" 12:39 and he pulled one out, offered it to the president, 12:42 and the president said, "No, I made a promise, 12:44 and I don't drink or smoke." 12:47 He said, "You made a promise?" 12:48 He said, "Well, here's how it happened, General." 12:50 He said, "I was 9 years old, my mother called me to her side; 12:55 she was sick and dying; she said, "Abe, I want you to 12:57 make me a promise right now that you'll always keep." 13:00 "Promise that you will never use alcohol or tobacco." 13:04 He said, "I promise, mama." 13:06 He said, "And then she died." 13:07 He said, "I made a promise and I've never broken it." 13:11 And the general said to the president, 13:13 I would never encourage you to break that promise, 13:15 and he said, "I wish I had made a similar promise to my mother, 13:17 I would have been a lot better off." 13:19 But that's something that I think we could all learn from. 13:27 That promise that he had made to his mother and he realized 13:28 this was something that was going to last 13:30 the rest of his life. 13:31 Sometimes we make promises in haste and you say, 13:33 "Aw well, you know, I was weak and so I made a promise 13:35 and I didn't really mean to keep it." 13:38 The Bible tells us, "Better not to make a promise 13:42 Ecclesiastics 5:5, than to make it and not keep it." 13:45 "Better it is that you should not vow, 13:48 than that you vow and not pay." 13:52 In Deuteronomy 23:21, "When you make a vow 13:57 to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it. 14:00 For the Lord your God will surely require it of you, 14:04 and it would be sin to you, but if you abstain from 14:07 vowing it, shall it not be a sin to you? 14:10 That which has gone from your lips, 14:11 you shall keep and perform." 14:13 We need to keep our vows. 14:15 That would be our promises to one another. 14:18 I think that Christians should be very careful about 14:22 filing bankruptcy. 14:24 I remember reading the history of Mark Twain. 14:27 He was very successful as a writer and at one point, 14:31 when he was in the glory, his golden years of writing, 14:34 he was a very wealthy man. 14:36 His books were selling all across the country, 14:38 Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer and others, 14:40 and he had become very successful, very wealthy, 14:43 and then he went into the printing business 14:45 which was a big mistake. 14:47 Figure out what you're good at and stick to it. 14:49 He was a good writer; he was not a good printer. 14:51 And he invested thousands and thousands of dollars 14:54 in this automated type setting machine. 14:57 Back then, remember, they used to set type by hand, 14:59 and some guy had come to Mark Twain and said, 15:01 "I've got a machine that I've invented that will automatically 15:03 set type -All the papers will buy it; 15:05 all the publishers will buy it." 15:06 And Twain thought, "This would be a good investment." 15:08 So he poured all of his money into this automated 15:12 type setting machine and the thing was extremely 15:15 complicated; they could never get it to work, 15:16 and they kept needing a little more time, 15:18 a little more tweaking and then they couldn't sell it 15:20 because it kept breaking down and basically, 15:23 he lost his entire fortune and was totally broke. 15:27 Had no money for his family and all they had left was a 15:31 home and he had to go to a friend that loved his books, 15:34 to invest and trying to pay to keep his house. 15:38 Twain lost everything! 15:40 He didn't want to file bankruptcy because he felt, 15:42 "Look, I made promises to pay these debts, 15:44 and I want to pay them." 15:48 So his friend that had lent the money to help him 15:50 keep his house, he said, "You need to go on the road, 15:53 do what you're good at; do your lectures; 15:55 keep on writing, and he went on a world tour 15:59 and during that world tour, he went to India, 16:01 he went to England, he went to Australia, 16:02 he sailed around the world, going everywhere he could go 16:05 to try and work to pay off his debts... 16:08 He was already old enough to retire when this happened. 16:10 And he did, he finally paid up all his debts, 16:13 and he ended up again with enough wealth 16:16 that he could retire and live out his days. 16:19 But he would not give up and just say, 16:21 "Oh well, I'm not going to pay." 16:23 Because that was back in the days when a person's 16:26 word meant something. 16:28 Well God, wants us to keep our promises. 16:31 Psalm 15:1 and 4, By the way, would you like to know 16:35 who is going to heaven? 16:37 Those that believe the promises of God, 16:39 and those that keep their promises - you hear that? 16:43 That would mean your marriage vows, 16:47 baptismal vows. 16:50 "Now Lord, who will abide in your tabernacle, 16:54 and who will dwell in your holy hill? 16:57 He that swears to his own hurt and changeth not." 17:02 That means someone who makes a promise... 17:04 You buy something and say I'm going to pay for it 17:06 and then you can't and just say, "Well I tried, 17:12 and throw your hands in the air." 17:13 We need to keep our promises. 17:16 "He who swears to his own hurt and changeth not." 17:19 Like Twain - if you got to go around the world 17:21 on a speaking tour and write until your fingers are raw, 17:23 you do it and you pay back your debts. 17:27 I heard about a man in France, an attorney, 17:32 and there was a 90-year-old woman that lived in an 17:36 apartment that he realized had a good location 17:38 and he wanted the apartment and he asked to buy it from her, 17:41 and she said, "Well, where am I going to live?" 17:43 He said, "Look, I'll make you a deal" 17:44 He said, "You are 90 years old, if you'll sell me this 17:50 apartment when you die, sell it to me right now, 17:52 I'll buy it, I will pay the rent, I'll pay your payments 17:57 for the rest of your life until you pass away." 18:02 You know, banks are doing that now - 18:03 They call it a "reverse mortgage." 18:05 So she said, "okay." 18:08 She was 91... he had no idea she would live to be 18:12 France's oldest woman. 18:15 Jeanne Calment lived to 121. 18:19 The attorney died before she did. 18:29 His family needed to keep paying her rent for 30 years 18:34 beyond her 91st birthday, who would have thunk, right? 18:39 That would happen that way, but they kept their promise. 18:44 Gotta be careful what you promise. 18:49 Someone once said, "He who is slow in making a promise, 18:52 is more likely to fulfill it or to be 18:54 faithful in the performance of it. 18:56 Don't make promises quickly. 18:58 Take them seriously if you're going to make it. 19:01 Oswald Chambers said, "It's better to run the risk 19:04 of being considered indecisive, than to promise and not fulfill" 19:09 Take your time. 19:12 Now... When God makes a promise, we can count on it that He 19:17 is going to keep His promise. 19:20 He never files bankruptcy, He never gives up. 19:23 Now sometimes man has broke his promise to God. 19:27 Some of those things are conditional, 19:28 but God will never break His promise to us. 19:30 And when we fail to believe in His promises, 19:33 our unbelief insults God. 19:37 Deuteronomy 1:32- After the Lord did all He did to bring 19:43 them out of Egypt, they would not believe that He could 19:45 bring them into the Promised Land. 19:47 "Yet for all that, you did not believe the Lord your God 19:51 who went in the way before you to search out place for you, 19:54 to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go. 19:57 There, they had the pillar of fire guiding them 19:59 through the desert. 20:01 In a fire by night and a cloud by day and the Lord heard the 20:05 sound of your words and was angry, and He took an oath 20:07 saying, "Surely not one of these men of this evil generation 20:12 shall see that good land of which I swore to 20:15 give their fathers." 20:16 When he brought them to the borders of the Promised Land, 20:18 and those spies went and looked things over and came back, 20:21 10 of the spies said, "You know, we're not so 20:23 sure we can believe that He's going to give us 20:26 the "promised land." 20:28 Why was the promised land called the "Promised Land?" 20:30 Because He promised to give it to them. 20:32 And so when they came back and said, "We're not sure He can do 20:35 what He has promised,..." The Lord said, "Okay then, 20:38 if you don't believe My promises, 20:40 you will not be in the Promised Land." 20:43 Now there's a very simple lesson there for us... 20:46 How many of you want to get to the heavenly 20:48 Canaan promised land? 20:50 You must believe, "Without faith it's impossible to please God." 20:54 You must believe He can do what He has promised. 20:57 And if I were to ask you, right now, "How many of you believe 20:59 that He has a mansion He is preparing for you in heaven?" 21:02 I think every hand would go up. 21:04 I believe the promises of God. 21:07 But if I were to say, "How many of you believe that He 21:09 can give you victory over sin?" 21:14 You know why? Because we failed so many times. 21:19 We think, "Well, but I believe God, 21:21 but I don't believe in myself." 21:25 This is probably the most important place for us to trust 21:29 His promise and how it plays out in your victory. 21:35 Because, you know, we're real long on believing 21:38 that God can do what He can do outside of what He does, in us. 21:43 Probably the most important place for us to realize 21:47 trust and faith in God, is not that He can part oceans 21:51 out there and rain fire and brimstone down on the enemies, 21:55 but do you believe He can keep His promise about 21:59 giving you a new heart? 22:01 Do you believe He can keep His promise about keeping you 22:03 from falling? 22:06 Oh come on, let me hear an amen better than that! 22:08 AMEN... Even if you have to manufacture that amen, 22:10 You ought to do it because it might influence your own heart. 22:13 Our unbelief insults Him. 22:16 When Israel stopped believing in the promises of God, 22:20 they lost the Promised Land. 22:22 Hebrews 3:19- also going over into chapter 4:1 22:28 "So we see they could not enter in because of unbelief." 22:33 That's still true today, friends. 22:35 Therefore since a promise remains of entering his rest, 22:39 ... It's not just talking about the Sabbath rest here, 22:41 it's talking about entering the rest of the Promised Land; 22:43 entering the rest of Jesus... 22:45 "Come unto Me and I'll give you rest." 22:47 "A promise remains, of entering his rest, 22:49 let us fear... Fear what? Fear that we will 22:53 not believe. 22:54 "Let us fear, lest any of you 22:58 seem to have come short of it." 23:00 And we fall after the same pattern of unbelief. 23:04 Romans 4:21, "And being fully convinced 23:08 that what He has promised, He was also able to perform." 23:12 Do you really believe that He can do what He says He can do? 23:17 So, how do we cash in on the promises of God? 23:23 How do we finally get to where 23:25 we can realize the promises of God? 23:27 Now you heard me mention before that one of the great gimmicks 23:31 companies take advantage of during the holiday season is 23:34 gift cards. 23:36 People are given gift cards at restaurants 23:38 or they're giving gift cards... 23:40 I feel sorry for you if you've got a gift card to Circuit City 23:45 now - they're going out of business. 23:47 And people get gift cards and sometimes they'll 23:50 take it to the store and you know, it's got $50 on it, 23:53 but they only spend $30 and they come back with $20, 23:55 and they forget how much is on this card, 23:56 and they lose track of it and it's a fact, 23:59 that these companies make a big profit selling gift cards 24:02 because many people forget to even use them 24:04 or they don't use them all 24:06 and it turns into almost 50% profit just to sell the card! 24:11 They are unused! 24:14 Promises in God's Word are a lot more unused than gift cards. 24:20 There are so many promises here that people just 24:22 do not take advantage of that are available. 24:25 So, how do we cash in on His promises? 24:28 God's promises become effective when we read 24:31 about them, accept them as our own, 24:34 and appropriate them for ourselves. 24:38 Some one once said, "Tarry at the promise 24:40 until God meets you there, He always returns 24:44 by way of His promises." 24:47 You can track the Lord through history by His promises. 24:52 His actions are always following His promises. 24:57 And so often, there are promises of God that are just 25:00 not experienced or realized because we don't read them, 25:03 and then we don't wrap ourselves around them. 25:06 You won't enjoy it, unless you see it. 25:10 The Word of God is everything. 25:12 But the Word comes alive in our minds and hearts. 25:15 It must be seen, it must be heard, it must be believed, 25:18 and embraced and then it happens! 25:21 Wonderful things happen when we believe the Word of God. 25:25 Some of your remember a famous pastor within our denomination, 25:30 "Glen Coon," who did the seminars on 25:33 "The ABCs of Prayer." 25:35 And he talked about how important it was... 25:38 ABC's being: ASK - BELIEVE - CLAIM 25:44 And that's really the same principles for experiencing 25:47 a promise coming alive for you in the Bible. 25:50 Read it - say "I believe it," and then embrace it, 25:55 and say, "All right, Lord, I'm going to thank you for this, 25:57 I claim this promise." 25:59 Sometimes you basically have to present it to the Lord. 26:03 "The promises of God are like stars, 26:05 the darker the night, the brighter they are." 26:08 God's promises are an inexhaustible mine 26:12 filled with wealth. 26:14 Hebrews 11:33- How did the winners in the Bible win? 26:21 "Who through faith, they subdued kingdoms, they robbed 26:25 righteousness, they obtained promises." 26:27 How did they get these promises? 26:29 Through faith they embraced the promises, 26:32 and that's how they stopped the mouths of lions 26:34 quenched the violence of the fire 26:36 escaped the edge of the sword; 26:37 out of weakness they were made strong; 26:39 they waxed valiant in fight; 26:41 they turned to fight the armies of the enemies." 26:45 I noticed that part there where it says, 26:47 "Stopped the mouths of lions, 26:49 quenched the violence of the fire." 26:51 You know, there are Psalms that talk about victory over lions. 26:55 Daniel probably knew those Psalms that David wrote, 26:58 don't you think... and I think it encouraged him. 27:01 There is a promise that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego 27:06 could have read in Isaiah - let me tell you what it is. 27:08 Isaiah 43:2, "When you pass through the waters, 27:12 I will be with you and through the rivers, 27:14 they will not overflow you. 27:15 When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, 27:19 neither will the flame kindle upon thee." 27:22 And I believe, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego 27:24 read that verse - they probably learned it at their 27:26 mother's knee and when Nebuchadnezzar said, 27:28 "I'm going to throw you in the fiery furnace, 27:30 the Holy Spirit reminded them of that promise, 27:33 they claimed that promise and they said, 27:35 "Our God who we serve is able 27:36 to deliver us from your hand, oh king." 27:38 And did God honor His Word? 27:40 I can just see it now... As the soldiers were tying up 27:43 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 27:44 they were probably muttering to each other, 27:46 "Remember the promise - Isaiah 43:2, 27:49 "When you go through the fire, it will not burn you!" 27:53 "Okay, Lord - You hear that, You said it!" 27:56 And they presented it to the Lord. 27:58 What could God do? 28:01 The whole world would have to pass away before 28:03 God becomes a liar. 28:05 So they get tossed in the fire 28:07 and He preserved them during that time. 28:12 We're to pray in Jesus' name. 28:15 The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1:20, 28:17 "For all the promises of God are in Him yes." 28:22 When you find a promise in God's Word... 28:24 and you know, I don't even have time now, 28:25 there are thousands of promises in the 28:27 Word of God - I thought about making a list 28:29 and it just kept getting bigger and bigger, 28:30 of what God has promised for you and me. 28:33 We come to Him and we claim the promises, 28:35 not that we deserve it, but in the name of His Son. 28:37 Now, think about this for a second... 28:39 If God cannot lie - if His Word is perfect and unfailing, 28:44 and if you're asking Him to keep His word because 28:48 He said it and to honor it because you now have 28:52 the righteousness of His Son, 28:54 how good is the righteousness of Jesus? 28:56 What's His credit report? Perfect - 100% 29:00 How dependable is God's Word? 29:03 So if you approach the Father with the integrity of His Word, 29:08 and you're asking Him to honor His promise 29:10 based on the righteousness of His Son, 29:13 and He promises to give that to you by asking, 29:17 what are your chances of getting that promised answered? 29:21 Pretty good! I think it's 100% 29:25 Our part is to believe in His promises - to claim them. 29:30 He has promised to give us His Holy Spirit, 29:33 did you know that? 29:34 It's the most important need that anybody could ask for 29:37 is the Spirit of God. 29:39 Jesus said in Luke 24:49, "Behold I send the promise 29:44 of My Father upon you, but tarry ye in the 29:47 City of Jerusalem until you be endowed with power on high." 29:51 This is a good example of how the principle works. 29:53 He said, "I'm going to give you the power of the Spirit 29:55 to go into all the world and preach the gospel - 29:57 Wait in Jerusalem until you receive what I promised." 30:01 Did He tell them exactly when they would receive it? No 30:06 It turns out they waited 10 days. 30:08 Did they receive it? Yes 30:10 Does God keep His promises? 30:12 They were to watch and pray 30:14 for the Holy Spirit, that's what they did. 30:16 They stayed in the Upper Room, they waited... 30:19 And all that time they were waiting, they were preparing 30:22 as they prayed - they didn't even know it, 30:23 but they put aside their differences, 30:25 they humbled themselves, they emptied themselves, 30:27 they read the Bible, their hearts were being prepared, 30:29 and they were assembled together praying, 30:31 and then suddenly the power came, the promise came 30:35 of the Holy Spirit. 30:36 He has promised the Spirit other times... 30:38 Acts 2:38, Peter said, "Repent and let everyone 30:44 of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ 30:46 for the remission of sins and you possibly might - 30:52 Any of you know that verse? 30:55 There is the possibility you could... 30:59 He says, "You shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit 31:04 for the promise is unto you and your children, 31:09 and all who are far off as many as the Lord Our God 31:12 will call" - in other words, whosoever and be baptized, 31:17 call on the name of the Lord, the criteria of baptism, 31:20 and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit - 31:23 just as when Jesus was baptized, part of that was the 31:25 Holy Spirit came down to prepare Him for a life 31:28 of holiness and ministry. 31:30 God will do that for you. 31:31 And I just wonder how many people have been 31:33 baptized and they've never received the Holy Spirit 31:35 because they went through the baptism part, 31:38 but they never went through the claiming of the Holy Spirit, 31:41 praying and asking to receive the Holy Spirit part. 31:44 And I think especially in our church... 31:47 if you go to a Pentecostal Church, they don't ever 31:50 leave out the Holy Spirit part. 31:52 But in our church, we just want to make sure it's by immersion! 31:56 Baptist also - want to make sure we're doing it the 31:57 right way, but we forget about the most important part, 32:01 you not only need to be born of the water, 32:02 you need to be born of the Spirit. 32:05 I wonder if it's too late to ask for that or do you have 32:08 to go get baptized again? 32:10 Does God sometimes send the Holy Spirit 32:13 even after the baptism? 32:15 He can even pour out the Holy Spirit before you get baptized, 32:18 like with Cornelius. 32:20 So if you're still waiting to receive the Holy Spirit, 32:22 maybe God has been waiting for you to ask for the promise, 32:25 and you need to claim it. 32:27 He can still give it to you again if you want to get 32:30 re-baptized that might be possible too, but I don't want 32:32 to cause a mass re-baptism here. 32:35 Because the Bible tells us the disciples received the 32:38 baptism of the Holy Spirit after their water baptism 32:41 when they learned to claim the promise. Amen? 32:45 Ephesians 1:13- Still talking about the Holy Spirit. 32:48 "In Him you trusted, after you heard the word of truth 32:52 the gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed 32:57 you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." 33:01 I love this verse because it talks about you trusted, 33:04 the Holy Spirit promised and it says, "You are sealed." 33:11 You know, it used to be that years ago, if you bought 33:14 a piece of land... I'm talking back in the 1400s. 33:17 They would cut a piece of sod from that land, 33:19 and then give it to you and that was a 33:21 token that you now own that land. 33:23 Or if you bought an orchard, the farmer that you bought 33:26 the orchard from would break off a twig of that tree 33:29 and give it to you and it meant you now own the fruit 33:31 of that orchard, it's yours. 33:33 You bought a house - they used to take some of the 33:36 thatch from the roof and they would tear it off 33:39 and put it in your hands and that was a token that meant 33:41 you now own the house. 33:44 There's a token that God gives us that we have eternal life. 33:49 That token is the Holy Spirit. 33:52 The Holy Spirit is the evidence. 33:54 Does God give the Holy Spirit - does He pour the 33:56 Holy Spirit on people that are lost? 33:58 Or does He give the Holy Spirit to His children? 34:02 See, His gift is for His heirs. 34:05 The Holy Spirit is a gift of the Spirit for those 34:07 who are heirs of everlasting life. 34:09 And so when He gives you the Spirit, that will encourage you 34:12 that - Hey, I've got a token of His promise that He'll save me. 34:18 That's what it says! 34:20 It says, "You were sealed with the Holy Spirit." 34:26 God keeps up with His promises. 34:29 You know, another promise some of us will enjoy, 34:32 you might jot this down... 34:34 He wants to promise to save our children. 34:39 You know, we want assurance of our salvation, 34:42 but for those who are parents, 34:44 if you could choose between assurance of your salvation 34:47 and assurance of your children's salvation, I'll tell you 34:49 right now, I'll sleep better at night if I could be 34:52 assured of their salvation. That's what I want! 34:56 I like the promises of my salvation. 35:00 I like that kind of assurance, but if I had to choose 35:03 between the two, I would want the assurance 35:06 that He'll save them and hear my prayers on their behalf. 35:11 Isaiah 43:5- I know a lot of parents out there know this one. 35:16 "Fear not for I am with you, I will bring your descendants 35:21 from the east and gather them from the west; 35:23 I'll say to the north, "Give them up and to the south, 35:26 do not keep them back." 35:27 "Bring my sons from afar and 35:30 my daughters from the ends of the earth." 35:33 And again, Isaiah 49:25, "But thus says the Lord, 35:37 even the captives of the mighty will be taken and the prey 35:40 of the terrible will be delivered. 35:42 For I will contend with him who contends with you, 35:45 and I will save your children." 35:49 You know, this is caveman theology, 35:55 but it's probably worth sharing. 35:57 I think God is so honored by our faith that sometimes 36:01 He will keep a promise that we find in His Bible 36:04 we maybe even misunderstand. 36:07 I remember one time hearing a native American pastor 36:11 get up and he had no formal education, 36:13 he was reading this verse in Psalms about, he said, 36:17 "My heart is fixed." 36:19 And, I don't know, I think the pastor had had heart surgery 36:23 or something and he thought the word "fixed" there 36:26 meant like - repaired. 36:28 It doesn't mean that. Fixed means it's settled 36:31 like when something is nailed in place. 36:32 My heart is fixed upon God. 36:33 When you fix your vision on something, 36:35 and so I heard him preaching this and I thought 36:37 "He misunderstands the Word, but I think God is going to 36:39 heal him anyway because of his faith." 36:42 He was taking it as a promise! 36:44 I remember also hearing one of them preach about 36:48 the book of job... j- o-b 36:53 And it was a great message, but he kept saying, 36:55 "And job did this and job did that," 36:57 well that's how you spell job right? 36:59 But, so - I've seen people sometimes go through 37:04 the Word of God and maybe they see something in there 37:06 and it really strikes them and they claim it and I think, 37:09 "You know, they're reading that out of context, 37:10 but I'm not going to tell them otherwise, 37:12 because I think the Lord is 37:13 glad that they're finding a promise in there. 37:16 And rather than have one of His children doubt 37:20 His faithfulness, I think God will honor a promise 37:23 that He didn't even make... but you think He did! 37:29 He'd much rather... have you ever had that happen? 37:33 ... With your kids? 37:35 They're telling you you promised something - 37:36 you don't remember ever promising it. 37:38 But rather than them think that you're lying to them 37:41 you say, "I don't remember that one, but all right." 37:45 Rather than ye who doubt me... 37:48 Well if we're like as earthly parents, 37:51 I think God is that way too and sometimes we might 37:54 read something in His Word and you might misapply it, 37:56 but, you know what, He might be saying something just for you! 38:00 I heard a story just this week about a family of missionaries. 38:03 It was, I think, on the Hope channel. 38:05 A family of missionaries that went to the mission field 38:08 in - was it Indonesia? Somewhere that was just 38:11 absolutely rife with cobras and the family as they got off the 38:15 plane and they saw everything, they were kind of having 38:17 second thoughts about doing mission work and the 38:20 father, when he stepped out of the van onto the ground 38:23 in this new mission field, he put his foot right down on 38:26 a cobra - pulled it back in; they just arrived - 38:29 Said to the family, "Don't unpack, we're not staying." 38:35 But then he began to wonder, they had done all this planning 38:37 and preparation and thinking about - How am I going to 38:39 tell everybody about my years of mission service 38:41 when it only lasted 30 seconds. 38:44 And he said, "Well, let's pray about it, but look, 38:46 I don't want to endanger my family - there are cobras 38:48 everywhere here and I just stepped on one, 38:51 I don't want to lose my children and God knows that... 38:53 and so Lord, I'm going to do something that's pretty reckless 38:56 - I'm going to pray, I've never done this before and I'm going 38:59 to put my thumb in my Bible, flip through my Bible, 39:02 close my eyes and put my thumb in my Bible - 39:03 If You want us to stay here, I need some definite 39:06 assurances because I sure don't want to risk my children's 39:10 life unless I know You want us here." 39:13 So he flipped through the Bible, he put his thumb there, 39:15 he opened the Bible, he moved his thumb, 39:17 and it was Mark 16 where it says "You will tread on serpents." 39:24 Actually that was Psalm 91, 39:25 Mark 16 is another one on serpents. 39:28 And he said, "Humph - that settled it for them!" 39:30 So they stayed in the mission field - they were there 39:32 and he said they killed 9 cobras while they were there, 39:34 and nobody ever got bit. 39:36 But, that's not the way God wants you to read your Bible! 39:41 He promises us eternal life. 39:44 How many of you would like to claim that promise? 39:48 Titus 1:2, "In hope of eternal life, which God 39:56 that cannot lie, promised!" 40:00 That ought to get you to take a deep breath, 40:02 way down in the lower lobes of your lungs there, 40:05 a sigh of relief. 40:07 God has promised eternal life and He cannot lie. 40:12 So we don't need to worry about His promise... 40:15 The question is - Are you going to cash that one in? 40:19 Are you going to have that gift card disappear somewhere 40:22 in your piles of papers? 40:27 You know, with the contracts of men, someone said once, 40:29 "The big print gives and the small print taketh away." 40:35 And so we're wondering... where's the fine print? 40:38 Well the fine print says, "If you believe, 40:41 all things are possible if you believe." 40:44 If you're not there, if you're not in the Promised Land, 40:46 it's because you didn't believe that He could give it to you. 40:48 By the way, Joshua and Caleb did make it to the Promised land 40:52 among those spies because they did believe. 40:55 Caleb said let's go up at once for He is able to give us 40:59 victory over the enemies of the land. 41:03 1 John 2:25, "And this is the promise that He has 41:06 promised us - even eternal life." 41:08 Case 1- Witness is not enough, there's a second witness for you 41:12 He has promised eternal life. 41:13 You want a third witness? 41:14 Hebrews 9:15, "And for this reason, He is the Mediator 41:19 of the New Covenant to those who are called 41:22 that they might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." 41:27 Wow! God had promised to give us everlasting life! 41:32 ...Oh, but I'm not good enough! 41:36 Well He promises to fix that too. 41:38 He knows you're not good enough! 41:39 But He promises to change your heart and prepare you. 41:44 ...But I don't have enough faith! 41:45 He promises to give you faith! 41:47 Everything you need to be there, He has promised to provide 41:51 all things if you believe Him. 41:55 Just believe Him. 41:57 Now, one of the ways promises work is not that God forgets, 42:02 but He wants you to remind Him. 42:05 Love likes being pursued. 42:09 Now, when Jacob was wrestling with the Lord, 42:12 God had made a promise to Jacob to bless his seed, 42:16 to do good unto him even though he had lied to his father, 42:20 and lied to his brother and tried to steal the birthright, 42:22 God said, "I'll forgive you, you've repented, 42:24 I'm going to make a great nation out of you." 42:26 Now he comes back into the Promised Land, 42:28 he has been gone for 21 years, his brother is coming with 42:30 and army of 400 men to annihilate him, 42:34 and he wrestled in prayer. 42:39 And when the angel appears, he tells the angel, 42:41 "For you said, "I will surely treat you well, 42:45 I will do good unto you and make your descendants like 42:48 the sand of the sea that cannot be numbered for multitude." 42:51 You promised me something - did God honor His promise? 42:54 Jacob reminded him. 42:56 When Moses brought the children of Israel out of Egypt 43:00 and all the people sinned with the golden calf, 43:02 then God said, "Get out of My way Moses, 43:03 I'm going to wipe them out, I'll make a great nation of you" 43:06 God knew what He was going to do, He was testing Moses. 43:09 What did Moses do - he reminded the Lord of what he had promised 43:13 Exodus 32:13, "Moses said, "Remember Abraham, 43:17 Isaac and Jacob, your servants to whom you swear by 43:20 your own self and you said to them, "I'll multiply 43:24 your seeds as the starred heaven and all this land 43:26 that is spoken of, I'll give it to your seed, 43:28 and they'll inherit forever." 43:30 "And the Lord repented of the evil 43:32 that He thought to do to His people." 43:33 Why? Because Moses conjured up the promises of God 43:38 and presented them before the Lord. 43:40 He wants you to learn to do the same thing. 43:42 God has a lot of promises in there and He wants you to 43:44 take them and say, "Lord, remember this?" 43:46 And God says, "Yeah, I remember but I'm glad you reminded me." 43:50 See how it works? God doesn't forget anything. 43:54 But sometimes you gotta say, "Remember this?" 43:57 And then God acts! 43:59 Because you're claiming His promise! 44:02 I think the devil tries to cloud God's promises 44:05 with out doubts and when we say, "Lord, I believe this, 44:08 You said it and I believe it," 44:10 then God can act upon it. 44:11 He can activate His promises when we claim them. 44:15 You need to present it to the Lord. 44:18 2 Samuel 7:28, "Oh Lord God, You are God and Your words 44:24 are true and You promised this goodness to Your servant. 44:27 Now therefore, let it please You to bless the house 44:31 of Your servant that it may continue forever 44:34 before You, Lord, Oh Lord God, You have 44:38 spoken it and with Your blessing, let the house of 44:40 Your servant be blessed forever." 44:42 David said, "God, You promised to bless my house, 44:44 I'm reminding You said it, let it be established. 44:47 I'm claiming it, I accept what You have said for my house." 44:50 Did God honor the promise He made to David? 44:55 Yeah, not only did He preserve his seed... 44:58 even though Solomon sinned, when Solomon sinned, 45:01 God said to him, "Because I made a promise to your father, 45:03 I'm going to give you a tribe in Israel forever." 45:07 And of course, Jesus came through the tribe of Judah. 45:09 Jesus the Son of David is going to reign forever and ever, 45:13 and so God's promise to David that none would fail from 45:16 his seed to sit on the throne forever is true! 45:20 God's promise never fails. 45:23 I like when God said to Elisha through Elijah. 45:27 Elisha said, "I want a double portion of your spirit." 45:31 And Elijah said, "You've asked a big thing." 45:35 Here's how it works and by the way, this is 2 Kings 2:10 45:38 "If you see me - there's a conditional promise here - 45:42 "If you see me when I'm taken up from you, 45:44 you will receive a double portion of my spirit, 45:45 but if you don't see me, you won't." 45:48 So as they walked along and talked together, 45:50 Holy group of angels came down; 45:54 a fiery chariot took Elijah up to heaven, 45:56 and the Bible says, "And Elisha saw it." 46:01 So when Elisha picked up the mantle of Elijah, 46:04 he went back to the Jordan River; 46:05 he claimed the promise of God. 46:07 Sometimes you've wondered why he said this; 46:09 "Elisha said, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah? 46:13 And when he had said this, 46:14 he smote the waters and they parted." 46:16 He basically says, "Where is that promise you made?" 46:19 You made me a promise, I'm claiming it now, 46:21 and he did the same thing Elijah did and the waters 46:24 parted for him just like they had parted for Elijah. 46:27 Because he made a conditional 46:28 promise and Elisha met the conditions. 46:31 Said - If you see me - in other words, if you don't take 46:33 your eyes off me, you'll receive a double 46:35 portion of my spirit. 46:36 By the way, that's still true for you. 46:38 Keep your eyes on Christ and you'll receive a double portion. 46:42 This was our memory verse: "We're believing in the promises 46:45 of eternal life, believe this one. 46:48 2 Peter 1:3, "According as His divine power 46:53 has given unto us all things that pertain 46:56 to life and godliness - there's a promise right there. 46:58 His power has given us how many things? 47:01 All things that pertain to what? 47:03 Life - practical living and godliness. 47:08 Everything you need for godliness is in His Word. 47:11 Through the knowledge of Him that has called us to 47:14 glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us 47:18 exceeding great and precious promises, not just promises, 47:23 not just great promises, but exceeding great 47:28 and precious promises! 47:30 Can't get a better promise than that - can you? 47:33 That by these - what do we do with these promises? 47:36 By these, you might be partakers of the divine nature. 47:41 Whose nature is that? The nature of Christ! 47:45 You can be a partaker of His nature! 47:48 ... I don't know, Pastor Doug- 47:49 Well, maybe you won't - Why? Because you don't believe it. 47:53 If you believe it, you can! 47:56 Do you believe His promise? 47:58 By the promises, you've got it right here - 48:00 You can be a partaker of His divine nature. 48:02 And some would say, "Well, that just means that God looks at you 48:04 and He pretends you've got the nature of Christ." 48:06 That's not what He's saying... 48:07 He's saying, "You partake of it." 48:10 "You are changed - having escaped the corruption 48:15 that is in the world through lust," is that clear enough? 48:18 You become a partaker of the divine nature, 48:20 and it's shown in that you escape the corruption 48:23 that is in the world by lust. 48:25 That's an exceeding great and precious promise all in itself 48:29 that we can be new creatures. 48:32 And then, of course, you've got what I quoted in Jude 1:24 48:35 "Now unto Him that is able to keep us from falling, 48:40 and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory 48:43 with exceeding joy." 48:44 He is able to keep us from falling. 48:47 And that's why we used to sing that song at every 48:49 evangelistic meeting, "He is Able, He is Able" 48:52 So you're not trusting in your ability, 48:54 you're not trusting in your word or promises... 48:56 You're trusting in His promises and His dependability. 49:01 If you believe, all things are possible to him that believes. 49:05 Yes, even your holy living, everything is possible. 49:09 How many believe it's possible for the devil to 49:11 tempt you to sin? 49:12 Let me see your hands... How many believe it's possible? 49:16 Do you believe it's possible for the devil to tempt you to sin? 49:18 How many of you believe it's possible for 49:20 Jesus to keep you from sin? 49:23 If you don't raise your hand the second time, 49:25 but you raise your hand the first time, 49:26 that means you believe your devil is more powerful 49:29 than your God... 49:34 All things are possible for those that believe. 49:40 I heard, somebody wrote one time, 49:43 " Robert Murray McCheyne," "If I could hear Christ 49:46 praying for me in the next room, I would not fear for a 49:50 million enemies." 49:52 Isn't that true? If you could, right now, 49:55 know that Jesus is in the next room and overhear Him 49:57 praying and interceding for you, 49:59 would you be afraid of anything? 50:02 How many of you would be more confident of your victory? 50:05 Now I didn't finish the quote. 50:07 "Yet distance makes no difference." 50:10 "He is praying for me - He ever lives 50:13 to make intercession for us." 50:15 So just because He's a little further away and maybe 50:18 you can't hear, do you believe He's praying for your victory? 50:24 Then it can be yours. 50:25 We need to cling to these promises that are here 50:30 because it is a matter of life and death. 50:32 The devil wants to break your hold on the promises of God. 50:35 You gotta hold on to Him as though your life depends on it 50:38 because it does! 50:39 Your eternal life depends on - your victory depends on 50:42 your success - your walking in His will - all depends on 50:44 your trusting His Word, stepping out in faith, 50:47 claiming His promises - knowing what they are. 50:51 A lot of us don't even know the power of them! 50:54 And not letting go! 50:56 Heard about a sea captain once that counted how he was 51:00 making his way across the Caribbean to Cuba, 51:03 they heard the shout "man overboard." 51:06 The boat was frequently trailed by sharks that used to pick up 51:09 the garbage that was thrown off the ship 51:11 or discarded fish that they had eaten, 51:14 and when a man fell overboard, it was a serious matter 51:17 because those big lumbering ships couldn't turn around 51:19 often in time to recover them if the water was cold 51:22 or if there were sharks... 51:24 And when they shouted "man overboard," 51:25 they always had a rope coiled up at the stern 51:28 and they would hurl it as fast as they could, 51:30 and you were supposed to get a hold of it before 51:32 the ship got too far away. 51:35 Man overboard! Seaman at the back 51:38 hurled the rope off the stern; 51:41 the man who had fallen from the ship got a hold of it 51:44 and he held on for dear life because the ship was still 51:47 moving - so it's kind of like waterskiing slowly 51:50 submarining through the water. 51:51 He knew if he let go, sharks would probably get him 51:54 before that ship could turn around... 51:55 And all the men got hold and they pulled him in, 51:58 pulled him up the side, got him onboard 52:01 and the captain said, "It was 2 hours before 52:04 we could get his hands off the rope." 52:07 He would not let go of that rope! 52:12 I remember one time riding a motorcycle 52:14 for 2 hours in the rain and I couldn't open my hands up, 52:17 and they were just so cold, they were frozen. 52:22 But that's the idea, you get a hold of the promises of God, 52:25 and don't let the devil discourage you and say, 52:27 "Aw, you're not good enough, you're never going to make it, 52:28 you can't make it, you can't believe it... 52:30 What about all the times you failed?" 52:32 The devil is going to try and loosen your grip. 52:34 Don't let go - the Bible says, "Cleave unto the Lord 52:38 for He is your life." 52:39 A lot of unclaimed promises out there that we're missing. 52:45 Years ago, when the Canadian- Pacific Railroad need to 52:49 take their train track across some Indian territory, 52:53 the great Blackfoot chief by the name of Crowfoot 52:56 gave them permission to cross their land and in exchange 53:00 the Canadian-Pacific Railroad gave him a lifetime pass 53:04 to travel for free on that railroad. 53:07 Well, he said he appreciated it, he coiled it up in a little 53:11 scroll and stuck it in a leather pouch in a bag around is neck, 53:15 but to their knowledge, for the remainder of his life, 53:17 which was considerable, he never got on the train. 53:21 Never took the ride that he could have taken! 53:26 And that's the way it is sometimes with God's people 53:28 We just kind of carry it as an ornament. 53:33 The promises of God - we wear them instead of live them. 53:36 And God is wanting us to take the ride to get on board 53:39 and to say, "I personally am going to put my weight down 53:41 on the promises of God." 53:43 You can lean all you want on the promises of God, 53:45 they will not break. 53:47 Kind of like a story I heard one time about a man years ago, 53:50 needed to get across the Missouri River. 53:52 It was in winter and he was making that pilgrimage with 53:55 a lot of settlers across the river and he came 53:58 to the banks and it was frozen. 53:59 He didn't know how thick the ice was and so 54:02 he got down on all 4's, he figured if I 54:04 spread out and displace my weight - if I walk, you know, 54:09 the more concentrated weight. 54:10 If I get on all 4s and so he's crawling across the ice... 54:14 Soon he heard bells and he heard the crack of a whip, 54:17 and he looked to his left and there was a sleigh 54:21 going across the river pulling a wagon filled with coal 54:25 and horses galloping by him. 54:27 And they looked at this man on all 4's crawling across the ice. 54:33 And I wonder sometimes if that's not what the angels see... 54:36 God has got these promises that have never failed, 54:39 and we're tiptoeing out there on the ice and we're getting 54:42 down and they're going, "You know it will hold 54:44 a lot more than you!" 54:45 The sacrifice of Jesus is adequate to keep the promises. 54:50 It's better than any billion dollar government 54:52 bail out, I'll tell you right now. 54:55 There's enough for everybody! 54:56 The blood is sufficient - His promises are sure, 55:00 and you can set your weight down on them, friends. 55:03 How many of you would like to become better 55:05 acquainted with the promises of 55:06 God this year that are found in His Word? 55:08 You're going to have to read them. 55:10 Start underlying them, start claiming them. 55:12 Ask, believe, claim and you'll experience transformation 55:16 in you life whatever your challenges are. 55:18 Whether it's something where you work, in your character, 55:20 we've all got that, in your family, pray for miracles. 55:25 Don't underestimate what God can do. Amen? 55:28 Is it easier to stand on one foot or two? 55:30 Would you be more stable with 2 feet or 4? 55:35 You got hundreds of feet you can stand on in the 55:39 Word of God, friends. Amen! 55:41 It's in the promises of His Word... 55:43 And you look at them, claim them, believe them, 55:45 and you'll have that solid assurance. 55:48 Let's pray together... 55:50 Loving Father, Lord, we thank You for 55:53 the assurance that Your Word never fails; that not one word 55:58 of all You've promised has failed. 56:00 And that You are the same yesterday, today and forever. 56:04 Jesus Christ does not change. 56:06 Lord, I pray that we can have more confidence that You 56:11 will fulfill what You've promised, 56:13 that we will do our part to lay hold on those promises; 56:17 those exceeding great and precious promises, 56:20 that we might partake of the nature of Jesus Himself 56:24 in our lives; that we might escape the corruption 56:26 that is in the world by lust and reflect Christ, 56:29 and be real Christians. 56:31 Help us, Lord, to get the specific promises 56:34 that we need, not only for eternal life and the Holy Spirit 56:38 that You will save our loved ones, but in the various 56:41 areas of our lives where we struggle. 56:43 Direct us to those promises that we need in Your Word. 56:47 I pray that You'll bless these people in this church. 56:50 Be with those in a special way who have come forward 56:53 with some needs - some who may be accepting 56:54 Jesus for the first time. 56:56 Come into their hearts and give them that sweet assurance 56:59 that they are Your children. 57:00 Also Lord, we pray for the many who may be listening 57:03 or watching and that Your Spirit will meet with them 57:06 right where they are right now and they can 57:08 experience that assurance, that peace 57:11 of everlasting life that You've promised in Your Word 57:13 because of Jesus and it's in His name we pray, 57:16 and we thank You... Amen 57:20 A website whose roots date back to the beginning of time 57:23 SabbathTruth.com is the definitive 57:25 resource for Bible light on the Lord's day. 57:28 Clear Bible answers for every question you've ever had 57:31 about the Sabbath. 57:32 Seven key topic headings guide you through the purpose of the 57:35 Sabbath; which day is the Lord's day, 57:37 the Sabbath in prophecy; questions about the Sabbath; 57:40 how to keep it holy; the Sabbath in history; 57:43 and many Sabbath resources. 57:45 Visit SabbathTruth.com 57:47 today and share your newfound treasure with a friend. 57:50 If you've missed any of our Amazing Facts programs, 57:53 visit our website at amazingfacts.org 57:56 There, you'll find an archive of all our television 57:58 and radio programs including Amazing Facts Presents. 58:01 One location - so many possibilities - amazingfacts.org |
Revised 2014-12-17