The Unfulfilled Promises
Sunday, September 21, 2009
Are you most like people that have unfilled dreams, visions, and promises? Maybe you have given up on the expectation that you will ever receive them? In the fourth chapter of Hebrews, the writer speaks about the “remaining promises” that God had for Israel and why she had not “entered into” their fulfillment.
What’s keeping you from seeing your “unfulfilled promises” come to pass in your life? Yes, it may be the sovereign hand of God who may be testing or teaching you through a “wilderness” experience of unanswered prayer and promises. Israel wandered 40 years, instead of 40 days, for clearly revealed reasons. Maybe you haven’t had your promise fulfilled because of some of the same reasons. Let’s look at them, as given by the writer of Hebrews in chapter four, and see what we must do.
First, Israel did not see the “remaining promise” fulfilled because she failed to BELIEVE GOD (Heb. 4:1-3)! Maybe that’s you. You have the promise, you have heard the Word of the Lord, but it is not “united by faith,” and so it remains unfulfilled. You’ve gotta believe that “God is, and that He rewards those who seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). Has your faith wavered in your quest for that “unfulfilled promise”? Unbelief still keeps promises from being fulfilled in our lives today!
Secondly, Israel didn’t experience the remaining promises because of SELF EFFORT. The example of God resting on the seventh day is a good one those who want the remaining promises fulfilled in their lives. We must cease from our own labors and fleshly efforts and LET GOD WORK. “For we who have believed enter that rest” (4:3). When faith is coupled with complete reliance on Almighty God, we are closer to seeing that promise fulfilled. “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you!” Yes, there is a place of true “rest” from our own works (4:8-10), and God says we can find it on our way to that promise fulfilled! Don’t try to do in the flesh what can only be done by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 3:3)!
Thirdly, Israel failed to OBEY GOD, and experienced the resulting consequence. Yes, “they failed to enter because of disobedience….” (4:6, 11). I wonder how many of us are not seeing that promise fulfilled because we have not surrendered in obedience to the Word and will of God in a matter?
We pray for families healed, but will we truly forgive the one who offended us (Eph. 4:30-31)?
We pray for healing in our bodies, but have we fully confessed and turned from sin (James 5:13-16)?
We pray for financial blessing and freedom from financial bondage, but have we failed to live by biblical principles of stewardship in the way we earn, spend, save, and give to God and His work (Mal. 3:6-12)?
“To obey is better than sacrifice…for rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry” (I Sam. 15:22-23). Will it be 40 days… or 40 years?
And fourth, to see the remaining promises fulfilled, we must KEEP OUR HEARTS OPEN and soft before God and man (Heb. 4:7). I have watched people going through the wilderness of unanswered and unfulfilled prayers and promises get hard and cynical. Don’t let it happen to you. Keep soft, open, humble, and childlike in your faith and hope! The Lord looks for the “broken and contrite heart.” Is yours?
Fifth, STAY IN THE WORD. The writer of Hebrews seems to interject these verses (4:12-13) almost out of context, unless we understand how important staying in the Word is as it relates to our wilderness experiences of unfulfilled promises. If you start looking to man’s ways and not God’s, you may stay in the wilderness a long time. We are so prone to seek answers and solutions from sources other than God and His Word. Much of the counseling profession today is based on man’s ideas laced with a verse of Scripture here and there to make it look “spiritual” or “Christian.” Watch out the “light cure” Jeremiah warned about. Go to the Word! Sink your teeth into the “meat” of God’s truth and counsel, especially when you are waiting for the remaining promises (Psalm 1). Don’t be sidetracked on your way to the “promised land” of fulfilled hopes and dreams.
Finally, HOLD FAST YOUR CONFESSION (4:14-16). Don’t let the heresy of the “positive confession,” or “name it, claim it” fallacies keep you from the truth of holding on to your confession of faith and hope (Heb. 10:23). If God has put a hope, promise, dream, and vision in your heart, and it is clearly God’s will for you, then “hang tight” in expectation that you will see it fulfilled (I John 5:14,15). Let me explain what I mean…
I can’t confess a Mercedes Benz and really believe it is God’s will for me. However, I can confess the salvation of my lost loved one, the restoration of my family, and the supply of my needs because these are promises in God’s Word. If they don’t happen, I don’t want my unbelief, disobedience, and lack of persistence in prayer to be the reason. I will trust my future to the hand of my Sovereign and Almighty God, but I don’t want anything I do to prevent me from entering into that remaining promise! So, KEEP BELIEVING!
Read Hebrews 4 again right now, and learn from the experience of Israel. I believe that many of you can come into the joy and blessing of those remaining promises, hopes and dreams. Verse 4:16 says it so well…. “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”
Angels & Demons, Pt. 3 - “Battle Ready”
Sunday, July 26, 2009
II Cor. 10:3-5 - For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
John Eldredge said, “There is something in human nature that just doesn’t want to face the reality that we live in two worlds. We live in the physical, material world where we have jobs, read books, and go about our business. As we live in a spiritual world- and that is a world at war.”
We are warned about demonic activity in the last days in I Tim. 4 - “The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits & doctrines of demons”
We often hear people say, “The Devil really hit me today, or “The Devil made me do it.” Well, it probably wasn’t Satan himself, but some of the foul, demonic spirits that are in his employ since their fall from grace back in eternity past.
These demonic forces are most often invisible. This is a spiritual warfare, not against flesh and blood. Remember Frank Peritti’s books! Demons are continuously at work knowing their time is short (Jesus is coming soon) they operate from “unseen world” and I believe are assigned to specific locations, nations, churches, families, and individuals. They serve Satan.
Well, what do we do to be “battle ready” for this warfare? That is the focus of this message. How do we dress for war? What are these might spiritual weapons every believer can muster?
Listen, Paul warns us to get God’s weapons and armor before we do battle with the Devil and his demonic forces. II Cor. 10:3-5 -”For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses (Satanic strongholds). We are destroying speculations (wrong reasoning, warped philosophies) and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, (barriers erected against the truth of God) and we are taking every thought (emotion and impulse) captive to the obedience of Christ (into a life-structure shaped by Christ)
Let’s go to our text, Ephesians 6:10-18 (1173) (MES) - “God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from & forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters.
Vs. 10-11 “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”
Let’s go to God’s dressing room today and get “battle ready” –>
-Truth - that which is true in every circumstance; not existential, objective truth; reality; fact; opposing corrupt precepts (ochuroma, logismos); truth as personal experience. “You shall know the truth, & the truth will set you free.” Eph 4:25- “Stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth.”
-Righteousness, the condition of soul and body acceptable to God; integrity, virtue, purity of life, thinking, feelings, actions.
-Peace - quietness; rest; leading to peace =salvation; spreading
the Gospel of peace; fearing nothing-eternally secure in Christ
-Faith - (pistis) conviction, belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, strong believe that Jesus is Messiah through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the Kingdom of God. Shield of faith to block doubt/darts of Satan
-Salvation - Minds guarded by the hope of salvation, and the blessed hope of Christ’s return and heaven.
-Word of God - utterance, message, things spoken from God.
This Bible is our “war manual” in this battle against the forces of hell. Read it, study it, know it….most of all…live it out in your daily life, marriage, family, business, ministry. (Daily devotions, Small Groups, weekly church attendance/ministry, etc.).
-Prayer - talking to God; listening to God; petition, supplication, crying out to God.
(Let me suggest you read Bill Gothard’s book, “The Power of Crying Out to God.” It may change the way you pray in a crisis.)
Do you get it yet? I just listed what some call basic, practical Christianity-101. Make dressing spiritually a daily spiritual discipline of humility.
James 4:6-8 (MES) - “It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.” So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time.
Prof. Robby George: “Campaigns of intimidation succeed only if the victims of such campaigns permit themselves to be intimidated. The fizzle when people refuse to alter their behavior our of fear. As anyone who has ever confronted a school-yard bully knows, bullies are really cowards.”
I Peter 5:9-10 “Resist the Devil, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while….Christ will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
The Bible tells us in the first book about Satan’s defeat and and the last book about his defeat. Our victory began in the Garden when God promised that the “seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.” Satan is a defeated foe!
Let me close with Rom. 8:39 (NLT)“I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. AMEN!
Yes, there will be many battles. Who wins will depends on our walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. I don’t know about you, but I like to win, and win we will because, “Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world…the flesh, and the devil!” (I John 4:4)
I believe that the most strategic question to answer for this demonic warfare is simply, “Does Jesus live IN, me by the power of the Holy Spirit?” If not, invite Him into your heart and life today!
If you are going to be “Battle Ready,” Ephesians 5:18 is your password to victory….”Be (being) filled (controlled) with the Holy Spirit… (guided and controlled by Him).
