Standing on the Promises #3

Most of the time, when Christians talk about promises, what they are really talking about are promises of blessings.

As we begin today, let’s look at a several New Testament blessings that we are promised. These came straight from Jesu and they are found in His famous sermon on the mount. The sermon on the mount was delivered at the very beginning of His ministry, right after He chose His first disciples. As He began teaching, what do you think His main topic was?

Matthew 4:23 “23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”

Jesus taught the gospel of the kingdom. The sermon on the mount is the good news of the kingdom. It is a summery of what Jesus taught through out His ministry.

When we talk about the gospel, which just means good news, we always think about the good news of how Jesus died for our sins and rose again so we can go to heaven. But Jesus has not done any of those things before He delivered His gospel message.

So what is the gospel of the kingdom? Jesus lays it out in the sermon on the mount. The good news that Jesus came to bring is what the sermon on the mount is all about...the kingdom and how it operates. Jesus begins this sermon with the promise of kingdom blessings. It’s called the beatitudes. Which is just a bible word that means blessings.

Matthew 5:3-12 “3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger

and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on myaccount. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

The first thing that you should notice is that in the kingdom, your blessings are spiritual blessings, not physical blessings. The second thing to notice is that they are all if/then promises of blessing. Let’s back up and examine them a little closer.

Matthew 5:3 “3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

We all want the kingdom of heaven to be ours, but do we have to live in poverty to get it? No, this is not talking about monetary poverty. So what does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means to be aware of your lack of spiritual assets. In other words, the first step in having the kingdom is recognizing that you are broke spiritually and have nothing of value to trade for heaven. This puts you on the right path.

Matthew 5:4 “4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Our God, is the God of all comfort, for those who mourn. But not just those who mourn over a loss in this physical realm. This speaks of those who mourn over the awareness of their spiritually bankrupt situation. Because it is the next step towards the salvation of the kingdom. Look at the pattern that is developing in these verses.

Matthew 5:5 “5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Recognizing your spiritual situation and being mournful over it, brings you into meekness or humility. In humility, you repent and cry out for mercy, with a hunger for God’s righteousness.

Mathew 5:6-7 “6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

When we recognize our poor spiritual condition, mourn over our situation, humble ourselves and cry out to God for mercy...He answers and is graciously merciful.

Matthew 5:8 “8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

This is salvation completed in you. God gives you a new pure heart. The gospel or good news of the kingdom, that Jesus teaches in the sermon on the mount, begins with the path down the road that leads to salvation. The next three verses tell us what we can expect when we start living by the kingdom principles.

Matthew 5:9-11 “9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of

heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”

Persecution awaits those who are going to actively engage in being a peacemaker. But hold on, there is good news in the last verse of this passage.

Matthew 5:12 “12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Jesus is setting the groundwork for the path of salvation through faith in Him. These multiple kingdom spiritual blessings all point towards salvation and our heavenly reward.

Let’s move on and look at 5 other New Testament promises.

1 - All things work together for good, 2 - We can do all things through Christ, 3 - His grace is sufficient for us, 4 - Nothing can separate us from God’s love and 5 - We will have an abundant life.

Promise #1. All things work together for good.

Romans 8:28 “28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

We have to understand this verse in the light that God is working in the big picture, not in the small snapshot that we can currently see. Even though it may not look good now, you can rest assured that God is still working it out.

All too often we focus on everything working out for “our good,” not for “the good” in general, according to God’s plan. Could it be that God has a bigger plan that what we can see at the moment? Yes, of course, He does.

I love the song that says, If it’s not good, then He’s not done with it yet. Everything that you’ve gone through, wether you see it as bad or good, God will ultimately use for the good of His glory. Once you are on the other side of your situation, it will be easier to see how God used it for both His glory and your good.

That humiliating job loss, has taught you how to be humble.

It has made your life more conformed to the image of Christ. It wasn’t easy or comfortable, but you are now better because of it. You now know how to have compassion and how help those who will go through a similar situation in the future.

That cancer diagnosis, surgery, chemo and radiation treatment has made you more compassionate and empathetic towards those who will go through the same diagnosis and treatment in the future. You now know how to comfort them, pray for them and reassure them.

Promise #2. We can do all things through Christ.

Philippians 4:13 “13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Is that true? Can we really do “all” things through Christ? Can I go jump off a 10 story building and land safely without being hurt? I don’t think so. So what does this mean? We like to make this apply to every minor situation that make us even slightly uncomfortable. We want it to say that we have the power. “I can do it,” because this verse says I can.

We like to see it as a self-help motivation verse when we are about to do something that we’d rather not.

That new business presentation, that first college exam, that used car dealership negotiation. Here’s the problem. It’s not about all those things. Paul tells us exactly what he means earlier in the passage. Remember that the context is king when trying to understand a bible verse.

Philippians 4:10-13 “10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Paul is describing how he has learned to be content in every different circumstance he has been in throughout his ministry. He is saying he has the power to be content while enduring all of these things...because of the strength that Christ gives him.

That is the same strength Christ gives you. He will strengthen you to be content during difficult times of your life. It is not the strength and ability to level up your lifestyle...it’s the opposite.

Promise #3. His grace is sufficient for us.

2 Corinthians 12:9 “9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

When He’s all you have, you realize He’s all you need. The less powerful Paul was, the more Christ’s power was on display. Paul said this while he was telling the church in Corinth about his thorn in the flesh. This was the response he got when he asked God to remove this problem he was having.

God did not remove the problem, he just said that when we are weak, then His power is made perfect in us. Therefore, Paul wants to only ever boast about how weak he is. He does not go around telling everyone how great his ministry is and how many churches he started or how big those congregations are.

What is the thorn in your flesh that you’ve asked God to remove...but somehow it’s still there? Have you come to the same conclusion that Paul did...that your weakness puts God's power on display in your life? That is something to rejoice about, not complain about. Consider it all joy!

Promise #4. Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

Romans 8:38-39 “38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

That’s a pretty exhaustive list. When Jesus says, He’s got you... He’s got you. Nothing can separate you from His love. How can we apply these concepts in our life? What are the actual things being described that can’t separate us from the love of God?

Death or life. God doesn’t just love us while we are here on earth. God’s love extends past this current earthly life as we transition through death into His perfect love with Him in eternity. Wether we live or die, His love covers us.

Angels, rulers or powers. There is no spiritual being that can do anything to separate us from God’s love. It doesn’t matter if they are an angel in the service of God or a demon in the service of satan, they can’t separate us from God’s love. Even Satan himself is powerless to come between us and God’s love.

Things present or things to come. Nothing that you are going through right now or any situation that may arise in the future will be enough to separate you from God’s love.

Height or depth. There is no physical location where you can go that is beyond the reach of God’s love for you. Remember, He is with you always by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

And just to be sure he didn’t leave anything out, Pauls says that nothing else in all of creation can separate you from God’s love.

Promise #5. We will have a new abundant life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

John 10:10 “10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Our new life in Christ is not like our old life of worry, stress, anxiety, greed and jealousy. The abundant life we are promised has nothing to do with monetary gain...it’s spiritual.

In the Old Testament God promised the nation of Israel physical blessings. Victorious battles, a new promised land and abundant riches. But today, for us as the church, it’s all about the new spiritually abundant blessings of a new life we have been given.

Ephesians 1:3 “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,”

This new abundant life, is a life that includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self- control. These are worth far more than any amount of monetary wealth that we could have.

When you are about to die, do you think you’ll be wishing you had spent more time at the office, putting in more overtime to make more money? Would that have been an abundant life?

Or do you think you’ll wish you had spent more time with those you love and working for the kingdom of God? That is a life full of abundant spiritual blessings of love, joy and peace. These blessings are all the new fruits of the Spirit that are supposed to be growing in our life.

The Holy Spirit has put the seeds of this fruit in your heart, but it’s up to you to cultivate them into an abundant garden. You are not promised every gift of the Spirit...but you are promised every fruit of the Spirit.