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SOUNDING OUT:
God Promised
It is a wonderful thing that our
heavenly Father, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, would
make promises to us, His children. After all, it says in Psalm
115:3 that “our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever
He hath pleased.” Therefore it must have pleased Him to
declare His Word and will.
Before He pledged His Word, He was free to do as it pleased
Him, but after He has made a promise, His truth and honor bind
Him to do as He has said. However, this is never a source of agitation
or aggravation to Him, because His promise is always the declaration
of His sovereign will and good pleasure. It is ever His delight
to act according to His Word.
Hebrews 6:13-15:
For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by
no [one] greater, he sware by Himself,
14Saying, Surely blessing I will bless
thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
15And so, after he [Abraham] had patiently
endured, he [Abraham] obtained the promise.
There was no one greater than God
to whom He could appeal, so He pledged His own eternal power to
fulfill the promise. Abraham patiently endured, and that is an
important key. Remember Hebrews 10:36 says, “for ye have
need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye
might receive the promise.”
Hebrews 6:16-18:
For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation
is to them an end of all strife.
17Wherein God, willing [deliberately
purposing] more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise [God
didn’t do it just for Abraham, but also for the heirs.]
the immutability [unchangeableness] of his counsel [will], confirmed
it by an oath:
18That by two immutable [unalterable
or unchangeable] things [first, the promise of verse 13 and then
the oath of verse 17], in which it was impossible for God to lie,
we might have a strong consolation [comfort, paraklesis]
....
In verse 16 the “greater”
refers to “one of great authority who can enforce the oath
and punish any failure to keep it.” The two immutable things
are the promise and the oath. It was impossible for God to lie
when He made the promise, and it was impossible for God to lie
when He swore the oath. God also established the promise by making
it twice.
Who are the heirs of promise of verse 17? Galatians 3:29
will clarify who they are, but let’s get a running start
in verse six.
Galatians 3:6-9,14,16,22,26-29:
Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.
7Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8And the scripture, foreseeing that
God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the
gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9So then they which be of faith are
blessed with faithful Abraham….
14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the
Spirit through faith….
16Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but
as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ….
22But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe.
26For ye are all the children of God
by faith in Christ Jesus.
27For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise.
God has promised, and on the faithfulness
of His promise we can be absolutely sure and certain. God deliberately
purposed more abundantly to shew us the immutability of His will.
These promises were not only spoken; they were written. Men say
they like to have an agreement in black and white, and so we have
it. “In the volume of the book it is written.” In
the pages of God’s Word we have that which is given by inspiration
of God. The record stands. We believe our Bibles, and we rely
upon the promises contained therein.
Numbers 23:19:
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man,
that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not
do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make
it good?
God never stoops to a lie. Why should
He be false? What is there about Him that could cause Him to break
His Word? It would be contrary to His nature. How could He be
God and not be just and true? He cannot therefore violate His
promise through any lack of faithfulness or ability to perform.
That God would speak of His Word as a PROMISE shows how heartfelt
it is to Him. He not only said it, but He promised it. He pledged
Himself to do as He said He would. That’s why it’s
immutable. God said it, and He cannot lie! (Titus 1:2)
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