God's Precious Promises
Hi everyone. In the last several blogs regarding Joshua, we have been under the heading "The Means."
We have been answering the question, "By what means did Joshua fulfill his mission?" The answer, "spiritual weapons." It was through spiritual weapons like faith, courage, prayer and dependence that Joshua drove out the Canaanites and brought the Lord's people into their inheritance.
Today we are going to talk about our last weapon: the precious promises of God.
Joshua 23:14 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you; all are come to pass, and not one thing has failed thereof.
By now Joshua is an old man who senses his time is short. It is now in his heart to remind God's people of the Lord's great faithfulness. Joshua gathers the people and tells them, "God has been faithful to us by keeping His promises. Not one has failed of all the good promises that God has made to us." Ultimately he is saying, "When it comes to God's promises, they are unfailing. God keeps all His promises."
Friends, God will never send you into a battle without promises. You will go into every battle you face armed with promises from the Lord's Word. God's precious promises are a mighty weapon in your spiritual arsenal.
Here is the thought upon my heart: It's not promises that make us dangerous; it is precious promises that make us dangerous. When I am armed with precious promises, that's when all hell trembles when I step onto the battlefield.
Tim, something in my heart resonates with what you just said, but I don't understand it. Can you please explain to me what you mean? Gladly. Let me use a scripture from Isaiah to explain.
Of course today we know this Messiah to be Jesus, Christ and Lord.
However, what I want us to realize is that Isaiah 28:16 is not just talking about Jesus, the Messiah, but it is also talking about the promises of God. Why? Because you cannot separate Christ Jesus from the promises of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him, amen.
God's promises are in Christ. As a New Covenant believer, every promise God has for you is found in Christ. In other words, God's promises are alive because Jesus is alive. Hallelujah!
The promises in Christ are first "Yea" which means they are good promises. They are positive promises. They are for our benefit.
Secondly, they are "amen" meaning they are final. Our circumstances may change, our location may change, the people around us may change, but the promises of God will never change. They are final.
Now let's look at Isaiah 28:16 and talk about the promises of God.
Isaiah 28:16 ...Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone
I am emphasizing the word "tried." In the Hebrew language in which the Old Testament was written, the word "tried" means tested; proven. It comes from the root word, trial. I thought that was very interesting. In Isaiah 28:16 this word "tried" actually means "to be proven genuine and dependable by a trial." So here is the thought: God is going to prove His promises to be faithful in our life. The Lord is going to allow many trials into our life and they have one purposes, to reveal to us that God's promises are unfailing. We will truly never know the faithfulness of God's promises unless they are put to the test in the severest of ways in our lives.
The bible bears this out tremendously: Joseph was given a promise and then went into the trial of his life; this man who was promised to be a prince in all the earth found himself a slave in Egypt. Abram was given the promises of a son and it was only after he and Sarah were too old to have children did God give them that son. God is going to prove His promises in our life by putting them to the test. He is going to place those promises in places of darkness and death and then when all hope seems lost, resurrect those promises. It is those kind of trials that prove just how unfailing God's promises are in our life.
Isaiah 28:16...a tried stone, a precious cornerstone.
Notice the tried stone has now become the precious stone. This word precious means valuable; costly; priceless; precious. The truth is that the promises of God cannot truly become something precious in our life until they have been put to the test and tried in our life. Until they have been put to the test they are just wonderful promises we read on the pages of our bible. Yet, it is when they have been tried and proven to be faithful in our lives that they become precious promises; promises that we treasure. You may be in the trial of your life today, yet, when you come out of that trial, seeing the faithfulness of God's promises in that trial, those promises are going to be something you cherish. How much more valuable and priceless they will be to your heart.
And what happens when tried promises become precious promises? They become unshakable promises.
Isaiah 28:16 ...He that believes shall not make haste.
The word haste means to flee in fear. So precious promises have become unshakable promises. No matter what Satan stands before us, we will not run in fear. Precious promises have produced a faith in our heart that cannot be shaken. When everyone else is running away from the giant, we will stand in the face of the giant with a faith rooted in the precious promises of God.
Brothers and sisters, God will send us into battles with promises, but not with just promises, but precious promises. Promises that have been through the fires with us and have proven to be unfailing.
It is then we become dangerous. We will stand in the face of everything the enemy puts before us because we are rooted in the precious promises of God.
This was a great message, Tim, very encouraging. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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