Site Logo
← Table of Contents

A PROMISE TO CLAIM ... BUT!

December 24, 2000 PM

Sermon Outline

Phil 4:19,20

INTRO: The Bible is literally full of Gods promises. Ive learned something about promises ... and that is when I make them I may not be able finally to deliver on that promise! We so often make promises not taking into account our human limitations ... and someone is invariably disappointed when we can not keep our promise. But God just is not limited like we are. He can always keep His promises ... and does. Weve come to a verse of scripture in which there is a promise to claim. And its a very large promise. It is not a hope so verse. Its a know so verse. Enjoy it with me tonight.

I. THE SOURCE OF THE PROMISE

A. Paul describes the Source as my God

1. is a man of unfailing, unflagging confidence in God

2. we are all familiar with his words of 2 Tim 1:12

3. he had lived experientially and knew - from experience - that he could trust God completely

4. had repeatedly seen the marvelous workings of God note Phil 1:12-14 ... in situations in which God turns defeat into victory

B. The great servants have shared this confidence

1. Rom 4:20,21 Abrahams life certainly had its choices and challenges , crises, ... but we see a quiet power, serenity in his life he learned and possessed trust in his God

2. Gen 50:19,20 Joseph had seen Gods workings, power

3. perhaps we need Ps 31:19-24

4. unfortunately, our view is so limited that is the place and time when our trust in God must keep us, steady us through life

II. THE CONDITION OF THE PROMISE

A. Verse 19 cannot be isolated from v. 18

1. condition of a life committed to God

2. condition of a life whose commitment issues in sacrifice ... in offering ... in giving and living

3. please note, then, Gen 26:5 ... this life must give us profound example of the kind of life that can claim Gods promises

B. Most of Gods promises are conditional

1. but I so often hear them mentioned, discussed without any mention of any conditions and any failure of the promise one might perceive reflects upon God ... but what if we have failed to meet the condition by which we have right to claim promise?

2. Lk 6:38 Prov 3:9,10 .. even Rom 8:28

3. perhaps we receive little because we give little

III. THE UNLIMITED RESOURCES OF GOD

A. The unsearchable riches of God of Christ

1. numerous times Paul refers to the riches of God

2. and look at the sentiment of Eph 3:20: exceeding abundantly above all ...

3. for him is realization that his is boundless God!

B. Just listen to something of the magnitude of this thought

1. Job 38:3,4 when I laid the foundations ...

2. Ps 24:1 the earth is the Lords, and the fulness ...

3. Ps 50:10-12 is mine

4. somehow we must come to realize as did Job and David the awesomeness of our God the ability of God simply defies our imagination

C. The promise is relative to our needs

1. God has not promised to supply all our greeds

2. not every wish - but every need

3. perhaps here is that place for us to think again of the fact that Gods vision isnt limited as ours is ... that he may see our need as very different from the way we see it

4. do we need to teach more of this fact to our children?

CLOSE: One has said, Contentment comes from adequate resources. If that is true, Christians, should be very contented ... because they have the promise of the unlimited resources of God.

Cecil A. Hutson

24 December 2000

God's Plan of Salvation

You must hear the gospel and then understand and recognize that you are lost without Jesus Christ no matter who you are and no matter what your background is. The Bible tells us that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Before you can be saved, you must understand that you are lost and that the only way to be saved is by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)

You must believe and have faith in God because "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6) But neither belief alone nor faith alone is sufficient to save. (James 2:19; James 2:24; Matthew 7:21)

You must repent of your sins. (Acts 3:19) But repentance alone is not enough. The so-called "Sinner's Prayer" that you hear so much about today from denominational preachers does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Indeed, nowhere in the Bible was anyone ever told to pray the "Sinner's Prayer" to be saved. By contrast, there are numerous examples showing that prayer alone does not save. Saul, for example, prayed following his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), but Saul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always, and yet there was something else he needed to do to be saved (Acts 10:2, 6, 33, 48). If prayer alone did not save Saul or Cornelius, prayer alone will not save you. You must obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:8)

You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Romans 10:9-10) Note that you do NOT need to make Jesus "Lord of your life." Why? Because Jesus is already Lord of your life whether or not you have obeyed his gospel. Indeed, we obey him, not to make him Lord, but because he already is Lord. (Acts 2:36) Also, no one in the Bible was ever told to just "accept Jesus as your personal savior." We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but, as with faith and repentance, confession alone does not save. (Matthew 7:21)

Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. (Acts 2:38) It is at this point (and not before) that your sins are forgiven. (Acts 22:16) It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. (Acts 8:35-36; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21) Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Once you are saved, God adds you to his church and writes your name in the Book of Life. (Acts 2:47; Philippians 4:3) To continue in God's grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death. Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God's grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:5; Galatians 5:4)