2 Corinthians 1
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen.
Prepare In Time of Peace
Every Promise in the Book is Mine. God gives the promise and we say Amen. Every promise is yes. There’s not one promise that God is going to deny you from. Every promise is yes. You say, can I be healed? Yes. Can I be saved? Yes. Can my family be there with me in heaven? Yes. Every promise is yes. God says yes, and we say Amen.
The time to prepare for war is during the time of peace. You may not need divine healing today. You may not need a lot of things now, but it’s always good to prepare for answers before you have the questions. It’s better to know God’s promises before you face the test or the challenge. It would be terrible to face a life threatening illness, and have absolutely no knowledge of God’s promises. That is why you must learn the promises to deal with your problem.
The thing is, sometimes people might not be given the amount of time that’s needed to learn the promise of God or to find out what the promises of God are. That’s why it’s so important to learn God’s promises during the time of peace. Then when something suddenly comes upon you, you know exactly what to say. You know exactly how to deal with it. And you can say: “God said…”. You can defeat the devil by the word of God in every situation, because God’s word is yes. Every promise is yes.
Now when you are meeting a challenge, you do not want to be wondering, “Lord, is it your will for me to be healed?” Or, “Is it your will for my son to be saved?” Every promise is yes. And we say, Amen. So be it. Let God’s word be true and every man’s word be a lie. I’m going to say what God said. Every promise is yes. That’s how we approach God with our faith.
You know, I’ve seen people where faith and divine healing and things like that do not mean a lot to them until they find out from the doctor that a cancer is eating their head off. Then their whole life thinking changes. There is a family who I know, and they have never been church-going people. But all that changed when they found out that Mama was going to die unless God did something for her. There is just something about those types of challenges that changes the cycle of our personal life. I want to encourage all of us today to not view God as limited.
We know the Bible tells us that all things are possible to them who believe. So, there is nothing impossible. To a child of God, all things are possible. It brings God’s omnipotence into our arena where we can grab a hold of that omnipotent power of God and apply it to whatever situation we have. And there is a promise in the book for every problem you may have.
Promise of Forgiveness
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ
Romans 8:17
Everybody wants forgiveness of sins. There’s a promise in the book for that. Everybody has needs. When we are facing a dilemma, we have questions and desire answers. There’s a promise in the book for that. Anything you have need of, there’s something laying in the bible that will satisfy that desire or that need that’s in your life.
When you are saved, everything God has is yours. You are heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. (Romans 8:17) Every promise in the book is yours. When you give your heart the Lord and you accept Christ as the propitiation (the payment) of your sins and you are reconciled back to God: God is looking at you in Christ. And in Christ, you become the very righteousness of God. When he looks at you, he sees Jesus. He’s looking at the blood that was shed for you. He is looking at the finished work of Calvary. He is not judging you by your ups and downs in life. He is looking at the finished work.
In position, we are perfect in Christ. In position we’re already glorified in Christ. In practice, we have our ups and downs and we’ve got to strive daily. But don’t be discouraged. If you sin, he is faithful. He promised that he would be faithful and just to forgive you of your sins.
We may have a desire to be able to show the love of God, and to live pleasing unto the Lord so that we can reflect Him to others. The Bible said, if your heart condemns you not, then you can have faith towards God. (1 John 3:20) So we must get away from an atmosphere of condemnation. We’re going to have our ups and downs and struggles in life. But that’s not what determines the outcome
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised
Hebrews 10:23
of the promise of God. It’s putting your faith in the finished work in Christ. You may be up one day and down the next. But if you hold on to God’s unchanging hand, if you keep your confession in Christ and say, Lord, I might be struggling, but I believe what you said, Lord, I might be weak, but you are strong. (Hebrews 10:23) The Bible said, Let the weak say I am strong, because it’s not you, it’s the strength of the Lord.
Meditating on the Promises of God
It’s so easy to limit God in our thinking. It is so easy to read the promises of God and then to forget them or not recognize how available that they are to you. One thing we should do is to mediate on the word of God. The bible gives us examples of how to do that. What would happen if you would meditate on one promise of God each day? My wife often sends me a verse of scripture each morning. Some of the brothers in the Church will often send me a little something, a little statement or something that I can meditate on or a scripture. When we think on the scriptures, and we meditate on it , they become important parts of our life. It is like a wellspring of life and power that flows from the throne of God.
It is so important that we know the promises, because knowing the word of God is our real basis for faith. You cannot receive unless you know how to ask and what to ask. You need to take those specific promises and call them out. You pray what the word says when you’re praying, you remind God of his promises and ask him to fulfill them. You say, “Lord, you said in your word… And I’m claiming that. I believe that and I’m accepting that for my problem.” And when you do that, God cannot reject himself. He receives his own word. God receives his own word; he cannot deny himself. So when you pray the prayer of faith and you say what the word says, God cannot deny you. If you’re doing it with an honest heart, he cannot deny himself.
…faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”Romans 10:17
The Bible said in Romans 10:17, “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So that’s how faith comes. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. This is the rule for the promises of God. Faith cometh by hearing. So, the rule for the promise of Salvation that lays in the simple gospel comes by hearing the gospel. You receive what is in the gospel, the promise that lays in the gospel. It applies to the promise of the Holy Ghost. Repent and be baptized. Every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, and Ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for this promise. This promise is unto you. Unto your children, unto your children’s children, even as many as the Lord. (Acts 2:38-39) If you know that, you know the promise.
We must know the promise. We must know how to apply the promise. If you want the Holy Ghost, you’ve got to come God’s Bible way: the way it is in the Bible. You’ve got to have a revelation of God’s Word.
The Bible tells us that in order to receive the Holy Ghost, there is a promise that has to be applied the right way to receive it, and that’s Acts 2:38. This same law applies to every promise of the supernatural that heals the entire person, whether it’s in his spirit, body, or soul. Jesus said in St. John 8:32, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” So, you’ve got to have something settled in your heart that this is true. You’ve got to know the truth and be convinced of it, so you can say “I know in whom I believed. I am persuaded that he’s able to keep that which I’ve committed unto him against that day.” (2 Tim 1:12)
A Commandment With Promise
When teaching the gospel, the Apostle Paul went back into the Old Testament and he pulled out one of the Ten Commandments. It says, “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long, this is the first commandment with a promise.” (Ephesians 6:2) That is a promise. You can’t do away with the promises of God. Whether it is the days of Moses or today, the promise is still good. That is why Paul used it.
Everybody wants to live to be a healthy old man or a healthy old woman. If you want to do that, then you need to start out by being good boys and girls. Respect your parents. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long. Every promise in the book is mine.
Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise.
Romans 10:17
That promise came to my memory over and over again when my mother and father were in their old age. I remember that. And I said, God, let me do my best. Let me do my best because it comes with promise. I know that I would physically have had many problems before now if it hadn’t been God’s blessings upon my life. I’ve seen myself at moments when I knew that my health could go in a direction that it didn’t need to go in. And I would see the Grace of God come in and turn it around. Whether it was sugar diabetes, whether it was palpitations of the heart that I couldn’t get control of, whether it was a whole list of physical things that I have dealt with for short periods of time. God would always rescue me, and my mind would always go back to the promise. I say, God, I tried to honor my father and mother. I would claim that promise. We need to receive the promise of God, but we’ve got to know how to apply them the right way.
Believing on Jesus
I wonder sometimes how people received Jesus and the promises he made when he was walking here on the earth? I think whatever those people did is what we should do today to receive the same results they received. I believe we should come to Him like they came to Him. We must receive His Word like they received his word. We must believe on Him like they believed on Him. We must call on Him like they called on Him.
We read how people would run to Jesus as soon as he got out of the ship he was traveling in. Those that were sick did whatever they could to get to him. And whithersoever he entered into villages or cities or country. They laid the sick in the streets and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment and as many as touched Him were made whole. The people knew Him. They recognized his presence. Before he went to heaven, Jesus said, Lo, I will be with you always, even to the end of the world. So we have a promise that that same Jesus who made Himself known to them can make Himself known to us according to his word. We can benefit. When his promise is revealed to you, then you can have confidence that you’re not alone.
This lesson was adapted from a sermon preached by Bro. Tim Humes of North Carolina.
Resting on God: A Prayer of the Puritans
O God most High, Most Glorious,
The thought if thine infinite serenity cheers me,
For I am toiling and moiling, troubled and distressed,
but thou art for ever at perfect peace.
They designs cause thee no fear or care of unfulfilment,
they stand fast as the eternal hills.
Thy power knows no bond,
thy goodness no sting.
Thou bringest order out of confusion,
and my defeats are thy victories:
The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
I come to thee as a sinner with cares and sorrows,
to leave every concern entirely to thee,
every sin calling for Christ’s precious blood;
Revive deep spiritually in my heart;
Let me live near to the great Shepherd,
hear his voice, know its tones, follow its calls.
Keep me from deception by causing me to abide it the truth
from harm my helping me to walking in the power of the spirit.
Give me intenser faith in the eternal verities,
burning into me by experience the things I know.
Let me never be ashamed of the truth of the gospel,
that I may bear its reproach,
vindicate it,
see Jesus as its essence,
know in it the power of the Spirit.
Lord help me, for I am often lukewarm and chill;
unbelief mars my confidence,
sin makes me forget thee.
Let the weeds that grow in my soul be cut at their roots;
grant me to know that I truly live only when I live to thee,
that all else is trifling
Thy presence alone can make me holy, devout, strong and happy.
Abide in my, gracious God.
The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers Edited by Arthur Bennet, 1975