Standing on the Promises #2

I want us to continue today by looking at one more way you can know if a promise in the Old Testament can be applied directly to your life today. If you read a promise on the old testament, check and see if it appears again in the new testament.

Here’s a great example of that test. God has promised that He will never leave us. He will always be with us.

Joshua 1:9 “9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

This is a clear promise that God is making to Joshua in the Old Testament. The nation of Israel is commanded to be strong and courageous, because God is with them. But that’s not the only place we find it.

Deuteronomy 31:6 “6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Here it is again in Deuteronomy as Israel comes up against enemies. The end of that verse sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it? Let’s jump to the New Testament and see if we can find it.

Hebrews 13:5 “5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

This promise is repeated almost verbatim from the Deuteronomy passage. But maybe that’s just a coincidence. Let’s see.

Matthew 28:20 “20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So, there it is. We can have complete assurance that Jesus will never abandon us and just leave us alone to figure things out by ourselves.

But here’s the thing. That last verse was part of the great commission that Jesus gave to His disciples. It’s the very last thing that Jesus said to them. And right after that, He left them and ascended to heaven. What? That’s right, after He said I will always be with you...He left them.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever felt that Jesus has left you alone, even after reading how He said he would never leave you or forsake you? That may have you questioning if that promise is for you? Let me assure you it is. Jesus has not abandoned you.

Let’s go to the context to examine this promise a little further.

Acts 1:4-9 “4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to

Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up,and a cloud took him out of their sight.”

Before Jesus physically left them, He promised them the Holy Spirit. I’m sure they missed Jesus hanging around and doing things for them, and teaching them. But now things will be different. He has sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in each of them personally. Not only did Jesus keep His promise to be with them, He went way past just being around them, to actually dwelling in them. The Holy Spirit indwells each of us as disciples of Christ, His promise of never leaving is always perfectly kept.

That’s how much God fulfills His promises. He goes beyond what we expect.

Ephesians 3:20-21 “20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

So remember this. When you are feeling lonely, that’s just a feeling. Emotions cannot be trusted. We must focus our heart on the facts of God’s Word. And the fact that remains, is that you are not alone. He is with you, and He will never leave you. He will come through in ways that are far beyond anything that you could ask for, or think of.

Now, here’s an example of a promise that changes direction

from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

God promises that your enemies will be defeated.

Deuteronomy 28:7 “7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.”

This is part of the passage we talked about last Sunday. It promises that God will cause those who rise against you to be defeated. That sounds great to our flesh. But it was for the specific reason that God wanted His nation, Israel, to stand out from all the other nations.

If we follow this line of thinking today, it leads us to pray for the defeat of those who come against us. Does that sound right? The instruction we see in the New Testament does not align with this thinking, because when Jesus came, things changed. There was a new covenant for you versus the one for Israel.

Matthew 5:43-44 “43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say toyou, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”

That’s a very big difference between what God promised to Israel in the Old Testament and what Jesus instructed us as His church, to do in the New Testament. This is how we are to stand out from among others in the world, who do not belong to Jesus.

Let’s move on. What other promises does God make to us that we can claim personally today?

God has promised to take care of our needs.

Matthew 6:33 “33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

This is our signature verse here at FUEL. It is a promise that puts things into perspective for how we are to live every day.

If you will seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness first and foremost, then God will take care of your needs.

Are you in a financial stress? The way to stand on God’s promise of taking care of your needs, is to shift your focus off of the financial stress and put it on His kingdom. And when you do that, God’s word will point you to the financial principles that will start to correct your stressful situation. It starts here.

Philippians 4:18-19 “18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

If you are seeking first the kingdom of God, you will learn to be open handed and generous with the resources that God has put under your control. If you are faithful to supply the needs of others, God will, in turn, supply and make sure all of your needs are taken care of.

Now here is a very bold promise.

God will give me anything that I want.

John 14:14 “14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

That sounds too good to be true. Is Jesus really standing by to give you anything you could possibly want? Have you ever asked Him for something and you didn’t get it? Me too. This is a famous verse, that can be very easy to mis-interpret.

Maybe we should look into the context to investigate further.

When did Jesus say this? Who was He talking to? And what exactly did He mean? Could it possibly mean what it sounds like it means?

John 14:12-14 “12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

Well, those verses seem to double down on the “anything you want” promise. This definitely needs a deeper dive to understand what is being said.

So what is the context of this passage? Jesus is talking to his disciples and giving them some final instructions before He is going to be crucified. He is explaining to them that He and the Father are as One. He says, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father, and that they should believe Him because of His works. He then begins talking about the amazing things that they will do after He is gone.

We have to break this passage into its three parts. All believers will do the works of Jesus. Somehow we will do even greater works than Jesus did. And, If you ask for anything, He will do it.

1 - All believers will do the works that Jesus did.

When we hear this, we immediately think about the miracles that Jesus performed. Are we really gonna perform miracles? No, but He will through us...if they are necessary to further His plan.

But more importantly, what were the works that Jesus did? We have to understand this if we are to continue His works. The first thing we need to understand is that the miracles of Jesus and the work of Jesus were connected, but not the same. The miracles He performed were always in support of His work. So what was His work?

John 17:3-4 “3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”

Here we get some insight into what His work was here on earth. It was to glorify the Father on the earth. This is the work that Jesus said all believers will continue doing. That means your entire life is called to bring God glory. All believers are called to this. And if you have a specific gift of the Spirit that allows for miracles. You are to use that to glorify God on the earth...not draw attention to yourself.

2 - Even greater works we will do.

This does not mean that you will do more miraculous things than Jesus did. I know that it preaches really good to say that we are gonna be able to do more and bigger miracles than Jesus did. But the reality is that no one has ever done this, in the history of the world. Not any of the 12 Apostles, no missionary or mega church pastor. No one has surpassed the miracles that Jesus did, in number or in scale.

Since this passage is addressed to all believers, anything it lists, must be applied to all of us. But we are not all gifted to be able to perform miracles, so we cannot understand this passage to mean that we will all do more and bigger miracles than Jesus did.

1 Corinthians 12:28-29 “28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?”

Clearly, we don’t all work miracles. So what does it mean that we will do greater works than He did? Jesus didn’t preach that people should confess that He is Lord and believe that God had raised Him from the dead, in order to be saved. He left that to the apostles...and you. If no one had ever been told that they could be saved from their sins and reconciled to God, through the work of Jesus, then His work would be useless.

Think about it like this. If millions of people were dying from lack of water...you have a major problem. The goal is to stop that from happening.

There a small creek several miles away, but that’s not enough water to help everyone...and no one knows about it. If I built a dam in the creek, it becomes a large lake full of water, that would help...but only if the dying people knew I had done that...and where the lake was. Without them knowing that there was a solution to their problem...they would still have it.

The ultimate goal is to solve the problem of people dying from lack of water. If I build a dam, I haven’t solved the problem. The people who tell the dying people about the lake have done much more to stop the problem. It’s a greater work to tell them about the lake and show them where it is, because that will save them.

The work that all believers are called to do...that is greater, is that we can tell people how to be saved by believing on the name of Jesus. The work of Jesus was to glorify the Father by making that salvation possible. The greater work we can do is to actually put His work into action by preaching, teaching and living out the gospel of the salvation that is available through Jesus.

3 - If we ask anything in His name, He will do it.

This must be viewed in the context of what we just learned about the first two. The main phrase that matters here is “in his name.”

If we are asking in His name, we must be certain that He wants it to be done. This is not saying...anything want for ourselves, Jesus is obligated to give it to us.

It simply means that anything we ask for in His name, to accomplish His work, of glorifying the Father, through bringing people into His salvation...He will do it.

The last promise we will look into today follows this one closely.

We are promised salvation.

Romans 10:9-10 “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.“

This is an if/then promise. If we confess that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead...we will be saved.

Have you taken God up on that promise today? You have to believe and confess, then God will forgive, save and bring you into His family. That’s the first step for being able to claim any of His other promises.

1 John 1:8-9 “8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

God is faithful and can be trusted to fulfill every one of His promises. Salvation to all who believe on His name is His most important promise of all.