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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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