Precious And Magnificent Promises The promises of God

Precious And Magnificent Promises The promises of God are described by the words by Peter.

Introduction • What is a promise? • "To give one's word to do or not to do something; to give cause for expectation; to agree to give; to assure by a promise; to give grounds for hope. " (Webster). • This can be illustrated by a "Promissory Note". • "A written promise to pay on demand or at a fixed future time a certain sum of money to, or to the order of, a specified person or to bearer. " (Webster).

Promises play an important part in our everyday activities: • We promise to be on the job; the employer promises to pay. • The use of credit cards is just another way of making a promise. • "New Year's Resolutions" are promises made to ourselves or to others. • We should never make promises that we do not intend to keep. • This is especially true of parents to their children.

Promises also play an important role in the system of Christianity. • This study today will emphasize three facts that determine the WORTH of promises: • VALUE of the thing promised. • CHARACTER of the promiser. • The CONDITIONS or nature of the promise.

THE VALUE OF THE THING PROMISED: • The value of God's promises can be seen in the language of our text: 2 Peter 1: 3 -4. • “seeing that His divine power has granted everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust”.

They are magnificent because: • They come from God and no one else can grant them. • They have to do with man's most valuable possession, his eternal soul. Matthew 16: 26. • They include such things as: Peace, Joy, Forgiveness, and Eternal Life. • They never fail -- not one promise of God has ever failed, 2 Peter 3: 9.

They are precious because: • All the wealth of the universe cannot purchase them. • The promises of God are not something that were devised in a fleeting moment of liberality. • From the earliest period of human history, at the fall of man, we have God's promises, Titus 1: 2. “the hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago”

THE CHARACTER OF THE PROMISER • ALSO DETERMINES THE VALUE OF THE PROMISE MADE • As an illustration: Every day thousands make the traditional marriage vows and promises. • "Do you promise to love, cherish, cleave to her, etc. so long as you both shall live? " • Yet, every day thousands break that promise -which, undoubtedly was not worth much. Why? • Because the character of the promiser wasn't what it should be.

Character Of The Promiser • Other people make promises which we allow to go in one ear and out the other. Why? • Because we have learned by experience that they are not dependable persons. • One board member said of another: "He is just a promiser. " He promised to attend meetings, work on committees, etc. but he didn't do it. • Many Christians are like this: they promise to work, to visit the sick, to do personal work, etc. But they seem never to get around to doing any of it. James 1: 22, 23. “be ye doers of the word”

God’s Character Is Not Like Ours • He is unchanging, Malachi 3: 6. “I, the LORD, do not change” • He is able to fulfill every promise. • Suppose I promise to give out $100 bills to each person present after the services. • You would not be impressed because you know I couldn't fulfill such promise.

God’s Character In Promising • But God's omnipotence is behind each and every promise that He makes, Romans 4: 20, 21. “yet, with respect to the promise of God, he (Abraham) did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform”. • 3. He is also faithful to His promise, Hebrews 10: 23. “…He who promised is faithful”.

THE NATURE OF GOD'S PROMISES • There are some things that God has NOT promised: • He has not promised us another chance after this life is over. • In spite of what is taught by religionists about purgatory, reincarnation, premillenialism, etc. • The Bible does not teach such. • Titus 2: 11, 12 “…live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age; • Hebrews 9: 27 “appointed for man once to die, then after comes the judgment. ; • 2 Corinthians 6: 2. “behold NOW is the day of salvation”.

The Nature Of God’s Promises • God does not promise: That we have another day to live. • Yet, some live as though they are certain to have another fifty years of life. • Just take a look through the obituary columns of your newspapers. There you will find people of all ages. • Did most of them think they would die soon? Not likely. • Would you agree to obey the gospel next year? Next month? Next week? Why not? James 4: 13, 14.

The Nature Of God’s Promises • God has not promised to save anyone outside of His church. • We know that the church itself does not save, Christ saves, but the saved make up the church. Acts 2: 47. • It is the church that Christ will return to God 1 Corinthians 15: 24 • Many cannot see the need for the church. They feel confident and secure outside of the church, but where is the promise for such confidence? • Such claim salvation by the blood of Christ, but the church was purchased by His blood. Acts 20: 28.

The Nature Of God’s Promises • God has not promised to accept our excuses for not obeying Him. • Yet, they are offered every day. • Luke 14: 16 -24. • I bought a piece of land must go look at it. • I bought oxen and must try them out. • I have married a wife…I cannot come.

The Nature Of God’s Promises • God has not promised a life free from hardships and burdens. 2 Timothy 3: 12. “persecuted” • Some think that God has let them down whenever the going gets rough. • We need to consider the value of the trials that we are called upon to bear. James 1: 2, 3, 12. • We can stumble on the steps before us or we can use them to climb up higher.

All of God's promises fall into two categories • UNCONDITIONAL: No limitation; such are fulfilled without the recipient doing anything. • CONDITIONAL: Promises to be fulfilled providing certain conditions are met.

Unconditional • Seedtime and harvest come unconditionally. Genesis 8: 22; Matthew 5: 45. • The world will never be destroyed by water again. Genesis 9: 11. • But the world will be destroyed in the future by fire. 2 Peter 3: 10. • Christ is coming again. Acts 1: 9 -11. • There will be a resurrection of all. John 5: 28, 29. • There will be a judgment for all. 2 Corinthians 5: 10; Romans 14: 11, 12.

Conditional • Remission of sins. Acts 2: 38; 10: 43. • Answer to prayers. James 1: 6, 7; 1 John 3: 22; 5: 14. • Spiritual blessings. Ephesians 1: 3; Galatians 3: 27. • Eternal salvation. Hebrews 5: 9; Matthew 7: 21.

Do God's promises ever fail? • Unconditional promises never fail! Numbers 23: 19. “God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? • 2. Conditional promises are contingent upon man's obedience -- they never fail when man meets the stated conditions.

Conclusion • We can understand appreciate the VALUE, CHARACTER, and NATURE of God's promises if we desire to do so. • The certainty of His promises should move us to obey. • You can stand this day on the PROMISES OF GOD if you do desire.