Promises of God in Prayer

Introduction: The Problems of God's Promises

0:05 Our study this morning will be the concluding study in our series dealing with the general subject of the disciplines of personal Bible study and prayer. If there's some need to carry over discussion next week, we'll do so, but for a number of reasons. I will be primarily following the lecture method this morning in order to cover the bulk of material that is before us. Having established that all true prayer is prayer under the discipline of the Word of God written, I've suggested that all that is written in the scriptures concerning prayer can be gathered under two basic headings, the precepts that govern our prayers and the promises that govern our prayers. Last week we looked at the place of the promises in prayer. And if prayer is to be agreeable to the will of God, then, we discern the will of God, not only by his precepts, but by his promises. The promises are a transcript of what God is committed to do on behalf of his people, on behalf of his church, and also on behalf of the world.

1:20 Now, having looked at the place of the promises, their strategic place in prayer, we address ourselves this morning to the second major division. Division one was the place of the promises. Division two, the problems of the promises.

1:41 And when we turn to the scriptures, we see from the scriptures themselves that there are problems connected with this matter of the promises of God. You remember the incident in the temptation of our Lord as recorded in Matthew chapter 4. And may I say, by a little aside, we must not ever read this passage as though the three recorded temptations were the beginning of the temptation. The beginning, middle, and end of our Lord's experience of temptation in the wilderness.

2:10 The scripture is explicit, saying that for forty days he was there and was tempted of the evil one. And this was, as it were, the climactic attack of the enemy upon our Lord. And you remember that some of the attack of the devil came in the very context of the promises. Verse 5 of Matthew 4.

2:30 Then the devil taketh him into the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the earth, and set unto him, if thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written. And then he extracts a promise from Psalm 91. And he says, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and on their hands they shall bear thee up, lest haply thou dash thy foot against the stone. And the devil quotes a promise to the Lord Jesus and says, Now claim the promise.

3:05 And claiming it, do this.

3:08 And our Lord turned and said, It is also written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. In other words, what appears to be a blanket, unqualified promise in Psalm 91 is not a blanket and unqualified promise to be claimed in any situation and under any circumstance. Our Lord says there are other precepts that put limitations upon the extent, to which that promise can legitimately be claimed. Likewise, we read in the Old Testament, the abuse of the promises.

3:44 God had made some wonderful promises to the nation of Israel. And one of the problems that Jeremiah constantly encountered was that when he pronounced judgment upon the nation, the false prophets kept holding up the promises of God's covenant faithfulness to his people and saying, Don't listen to Jeremiah. He's a prophet of doom. God has promised, You're my people.

4:05 I'll care for you. I'll protect you. None of your enemies will harm you. Well, God had given such promises, but they were conditional promises.

4:13 And the false prophets were pressing the promises, divorced from their attendant conditions. So we see there are problems with the promises, as the devil tempts our Lord. We see it in the history of the Old Testament. And, of course, when we read in 2 Peter 3.16, a text you often hear in this place, Peter saying that the ignorant and the unstable will wrest the scriptures to their own destruction, sad to say, this is also done with the promises. And you and I have heard of people who have claimed the promise of healing and refused all medical aid. And then they have died a tragic, premature death, bringing reproach to the cause of Christ and causing people to cast doubts upon anything that resembles validity in the word of God. So, we need not look to, to our own hearts.

5:06 We start with the scriptures, and we see in the scriptures themselves, and this is not an exhaustive demonstration, it is simply a sample of the principle found in the word of God itself, that there are problems with the promises. All right? That being true, and your own experience confirming it, we must ask the question, how can we deal with the promises so that they are not the occasion of falling into satanic influence, falling under the influence of the kind of teaching given by the false prophets, so that we are not accused of wresting the scriptures? Well, let me suggest that there are two imperatives that must constantly be in our minds when we come to deal with the promises. And I've sought to gather these materials under these two basic headings, and I've reduced it to the simplest order that I know how, so that it will be a workable thing. And again, those of you who frequent this place know that I'm not concerned with passing on theory, I wish to be intensely practical and pastoral in the instruction. The first imperative is this.

Imperative 1: Determine the Proper Recipient of the Promise

6:15 Whenever we find a promise, we must determine who is the proper recipient of the promise given. Who is the proper recipient of the promise given? Now let me illustrate. Suppose on one of these times when I'm away from my family and ministry elsewhere, I should write a letter addressed to Joel, Heidi, and Beth.

6:38 And I say, Dear Joel, Heidi, and Beth. And I give some news about what I'm doing. Then I say, Daddy misses you. I can't wait to get home.

6:47 And the first evening I have free after I'm home, I'm going to take all of you to the Burger King for hamburgers. Period. Love, Dad. All right, they read it and they say, Whoopee, when Daddy comes home first free night, we're going to go for hamburgers.

7:02 So having read the letter and the rest, it gets thrown out with all the other, uh, trash and papers. And lo and behold, a strong wind blows it out of the garbage can. My son has not done what he's supposed to do in pushing it down. He just sort of let it lay in on the top.

7:17 And, uh, three days later, one of the neighbors finds this letter. And they look down and they read, one of the neighbor kids, As soon as I come home, I will take all of you for hamburgers at the Burger King. And the kid goes running around the neighbors, Hey, hey, Mr. Martin's going to take every kid in the neighborhood out, for hamburgers.

7:37 Look what it says. It is all right. Look at it. Look at it.

7:43 And he goes around. So when I come home, like some modern Pied Piper, I find 25 kids meeting me at the end of the street, saying, Mr. Martin, we've got your own words. I will take all.

7:53 I say, hold it up. Hold it, kids. Wait a minute. Well, we've got it in your own nature.

7:58 Yes, it is. But all the way. All right, you see where I'm going, don't you? I say, wait a minute.

8:05 Now, will you please look at the top of the letter? What does it say? It says, Dear Joel, Heidi, and Beth. Is your name Joel?

8:14 No. Is your name Heidi? No. Your name Beth?

8:18 No. Well, this letter is not written to you. You see, they have absolutely no right to take a promise that was directed to specific individuals based upon a peculiar and unique relationship and to give an indiscriminate blanket application to every kid in the block. That's wrong.

8:38 They must determine who was the proper recipient of that promise. Now, it is proper for them if they should find the letter to say, hey, that tells me something about Mr. Martin. When he's away from home, he thinks about his kids.

8:53 Well, if he thinks about his own kids, maybe he thinks about us because we play in his backyard quite frequently. And if he's willing to take them for hamburgers, maybe he'll have enough money and also be willing to take us. When he comes home, you know what we're going to do? We're going to say, Mr. Martin, we noticed that you made a special promise to three kids who are in a special relationship to you. But it could be that that promise has not exhausted your kindness nor your pocketbook. Could it be that you would also be willing to take us along? Now, would they have a right to do that?

9:27 To reason from the special promise given to a special group of individuals and to make a plea based on what that reveals of my general character? That'd be perfectly proper. But for them to claim the promise as though it were given to them would not be proper. Now, you see the application?

9:48 When we read a promise in the Word of God, the first imperative is to determine who is the proper recipient of the promise given. Now, what are some of the major categories of groups or individuals to whom the promises are given? Well, let me mention them quickly and give you one or two illustrations of each. First of all, some promises are made to the world in general.

Categories of Promise Recipients

10:14 In Genesis 9, verses 11 through 13, God, speaking to Noah and his family, commits Himself in a covenant agreement or covenant relationship, saying, as long as the earth abides, there'll be seed time and harvest, the world will never again be overflown or will be overrun with a flood. Now, that's a promise given to the world in general. The most wicked man upon the face of the earth can, in a sense, hold God to that word because it's a promise made to the world in general. Secondly, there are many promises made to Israel as a peculiar nation with peculiar privileges and responsibilities.

10:59 For example, in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 7, Deuteronomy, chapter 7, verse 1, when the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest in to possess it and shall cast out many nations before thee, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than thou, and when the Lord thy God shall deliver them up before thee and thou shalt smite them, thou shalt utterly destroy them, etc. Now, God is saying, it's so certain that I'm going to bring you into the land that I can talk about it as a matter of fact. When the Lord thy God does this, when the Lord thy God does this, then, he says, certain things are promised. Verse 12, And it shall come to pass, because ye hearken to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that the Lord thy God will keep thee the covenant and the lovingkindness which he sware to thy fathers. And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee, and bless the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, thy grain, thy new wine, thine oil, the increase of thy cattle, the young of thy flock. Verse 14, Thou shalt be blessed above all peoples.

12:16 There shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. The Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt which thou knowest will he put upon thee. Here are specific, detailed promises given to a specific nation, planted in a special land, for a special purpose. Now as we shall see later, these were not unconditional promises.

12:39 God says, If you keep my commandments, then these things shall follow. But, they are promises, conditional or unconditional, that are given directly to the nation of Israel, as God's peculiar people, with special privileges and responsibilities. Now the third major category, there are some promises given to the people of God in general, whether in the Old or the New Testament, all of the people of God are the proper recipients of these promises. For example, Psalm 1, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, stands in the way of sinners, sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. Whether that man is Abraham, meditating upon the promise given to him, whether that is the humble saint, languishing in a prison somewhere, in this twentieth century, it matters not. That promise, those promises, are given to the people of God in general. Psalm 91, verse 1, He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, under the old economy, under the new, young or old, this person shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

13:57 Hebrews 13, 5, I will never leave thee, nor for safety. Here are promises given to the people of God in general. So we've got three categories thus far. Certain promises given to the world, certain to Israel as a peculiar nation, others to the people of God in general.

14:15 Fourth category, promises given to specific individuals in the Old or the New Testament. God did not come to the nation, nor did he come to Seth or to Adam, but he came to a man named Abraham and gave special promises to Abraham, as an individual. Genesis chapter 15, verses 4 and 15, Behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, Abraham, say, This man shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. Verse 15, But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

14:56 Now that's not a promise given to all the people of God. It's a promise given to a specific individual named Abraham. Likewise, in the New Testament, and I'm only taking one example of each in the interest of time, in Acts 27, 23, Paul is on a boat, and the elements get rather disturbed and upset, and they're in the midst of a storm. And the Lord appears to him and says, Don't be afraid, I will preserve you and all that are in this ship with you.

15:24 Now who was that given to? That was given to a man named Paul, in a specific situation, in the midst of unusual circumstances, but that promise is not given to the people of God in general. It is not given to the nation of Israel, it's not given to the church. It's given to a man named Paul.

15:41 And then the fifth major category are those promises given to specific groups of individuals. For example, in Matthew 10, we have the commissioning of the twelve, in a parallel passage in Luke, the commissioning of the seventy, and certain promises are given to the people of the twelve. We have in John 14 through John 16, particularly verses 25 and 26 of John 14, particularly verses 13 and 14 of John 16, promises that are given to these men not as believers, but as apostles. He shall bring to remembrance whatever I have said unto you.

16:18 That promise is not given to you because you never heard Christ speak. The apostles, who were eyewitnesses of his works, his deeds, and heard his words, that which we have seen and heard and our hands have handled of the word of life, that we declare unto you. That promise is not an indiscriminate promise given to all the people of God. It is a special promise given to a specific, limited group of individuals, namely the apostles, the immediate companions of our Lord.

Claiming Promises vs. Reasoning from Principles

16:49 Now, I've not answered many questions, I know, but hang in there because we cannot let any dimension of this study get carried out into too much detail or we'll miss the overall thrust. Principle number one, imperative number one, we must determine who is the proper recipient of the promise given. In the light of that, let me make two assertions. We have no right to claim, quote, a promise that is not directed to us.

17:18 We have no right to claim a promise that is not directed to us. Secondly, we do have every right to reason from the principles behind the promise and apply them to our situation and to plead before God. See the difference? Go back to my initial illustration.

17:40 The kids on the block have no right to claim that I shall take them to the Burger King. They do have every right, and if they really want hamburgers bad enough, I think I'd be so tickled with their reasoning from what I said to my children in a special relationship that I just might be inclined if my pocketbook could take it, to take one or two of them with me to the Burger King. And likewise with God. When God says something to Abraham, it is a promise to Abraham, but it reveals something of the character of God, and therefore we can see the abiding principles that are couched in the peculiar garb of that promise, and we can plead before God since we are of the seed of Abraham, since we are part of the company of the faithful who comprise Abraham's seed in Jesus Christ, according to Galatians 3, we can plead that before him. Yes? Yes. Here's an example of it.

18:45 She takes even a discouragement and she reasons from it to make a plea before the Lord. Very good principle. All right? Now then, let's come to what I'm calling...

Warning Against Indiscriminate Promise Claiming (T.L. Osburn Example)

18:56 Well, let me just illustrate what happens when you don't do this. Any of you received T.L. Osburn's literature?

19:03 He is the in-man in faith-healing circles today. Oral Roberts has become a bit more respectable with his university and all the rest, and T.L. Osburn is sort of heir apparent to Mr. Healer, the King of Healers.

19:17 Well, he has what he calls his pact of plenty. And you wouldn't believe this stuff, but here it is. So you know I'm not exaggerating. I've brought it along.

19:26 Think God's plenty for personal prosperity, for worldwide soul winning. God's law guarantees that you reap more than you sow. Once you mail your first fruits, God's pact of plenty is in full force covering all your needs. Philippians 4, verse 19.

19:43 So what you do then is you send him your money and then you fill in what you need from God. And it's all the way, it's unbelievable, the things you can check off in the block here. Everything from better job, better car, better home, more finances, marriage problem. Here's all the things.

20:01 And then he tells us that he will pray. So here's a picture of him praying. He's a man of prayer. He lives in contact with God.

20:07 He'll pray daily for you. And you imagine the thousands upon thousands. He has an international outfit. The poor guy would need 70 hours in every day just to mention the names.

20:16 But anyway, be that as it may, the whole pitch, you see, is this indiscriminate parading of the promises. Look, if you give God to, of course, T.L. Osborne's foundation, then, number one, you can have plenties when others are in need.

20:35 Promises from Deuteronomy and Proverbs. You can have health when others are sick. Psalm, Deuteronomy. Your prayers can be answers when others are abandoned.

20:44 1 Peter. You can prosper when others are in distress. Psalms and Proverbs. And he goes all the way down through and the whole basis of this pitch represents a failure to come to grips with the first imperative.

20:59 Imperative number one. Determine to whom the promises are given. And there's a total disregard for this in the literature of this man and in so many who are in what we would call the faith-healing orbit. I went to the Catholic Charismatic Movement.

21:16 Pastor Blaise and I did Thursday night over here at Mount St. Dominic. And here again, the subject was healing. And the promises were taken in an indiscriminate way, reflecting that this is a serious deflection from a proper understanding of the Word of God.

Imperative 2: Determine the True Nature of the Promise

21:34 Well, secondly, we must not only determine who is the proper recipient of the promise given, but we must determine the true nature of the specific promise. To whom is it given? Here's the promise. We ask the question, to whom does it belong?

21:54 This individual? A group of individuals? Does it belong to the nation? Does it belong to apostles?

22:04 Does it belong to the people of God in general? That's the first question. To whom does it belong? But now then, the second question is, what is the precise nature of the promise itself?

22:14 You see, what we've done, we've progressed. To whom does it come? What is the precise nature? And in seeking to determine the precise nature of the promise, three things that we must ask about the promise.

22:25 Number one. Is it conditional or unconditional? Unconditional. Is it conditional or unconditional?

Question 1: Conditional or Unconditional?

22:36 Now let me explain the terms. I address a letter to a Mr. John Jones, and I say, Mr. Jones, if you will come to my house by 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May the something or other, dressed in a red suit, I will give you $100. All right? We've determined. To whom is the promise given?

23:02 A man by the name of Mr. Jones. What are the conditions? The conditions are that he comes to my house at a specific time, on a specific day, dressed in a special way, and if those conditions are met, then he has a right to say, look, here is your promise.

23:21 I have fulfilled the conditions. You must now release the $100. You must fulfill the promise when I have met the conditions. However, if I should put a public notice in the local newspaper and say, to whoever reads these lines, if at any time, under any circumstances, you will appear in whatever garb you choose at 25 Meadowbrook Lane, you will be given $100.

23:47 Now that's an unconditional promise, is it? It's given indiscriminately to whoever sees it, without any conditions of time. They can show up at 3 in the morning. They can show up at 2 in the afternoon.

24:00 They can come in a bathing suit. They can come in a formal suit. They can come with one of them frilly, twinkly, Edwardian shirts. As a kid before, I said, I don't think I'd ever get one of those things on me.

24:10 I can't get used yet to see. I live in the wrong age, I guess. If I lived back when Edwards and the others did, I know there's nothing intrinsically wrong with them. Because too many of my spiritual forefathers wore them several centuries ago.

24:22 But anyway, you see, they can come in any clothes, any garb, anything whatsoever. Right? Now, God's promises are also couched in conditional or unconditional terms and spheres of reference. Now, let me illustrate the difference in the Scriptures.

24:43 Let's look at some conditional promises. First of all, a couple of conditional promises given to the nation of Israel. And this is so necessary when trying to thrash out this matter of God's purposes for the nation of Israel. Certain of the promises are conditional promises.

25:05 Deuteronomy 11 and verse 13. Deuteronomy 11, verse 13. And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently to my commandments which I command you, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of your land in its season, the former rain, the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy grain thy new wine and thine oil. I will give grass in thy fields for thy cattle thou shalt eat and be full.

25:40 See what God is saying? If you do this, I will do this. Now, verses 22 to 25. For if ye shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you, to love the Lord thy God, to cleave to Him, then the Lord will drive out these nations.

26:01 None shall be able to stand before you. But in the same book of Deuteronomy, God also says, if ye forsake me, and if ye abandon my precepts and my commandments, then I shall bring a curse upon you. Ye will fall before your enemies. There will be blight upon your crops, blight upon your entire nation.

26:22 Here are conditional promises given to the nation of Israel. Now, some of the promises to the people of God in general are conditional promises. For example, John 15, 7. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

26:41 Here's a condition. The condition is abiding in Christ and His word abiding in us, then we may ask what we will, and it will be done unto us. Again, another conditional promise to the people of God. Philippians 4, 6 and 7.

26:57 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything thy prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Here's the condition. Refusing sinful anxiety, instead engaging in this pouring out of all of our needs before God, then God says His peace shall garrison, shall keep, shall guard our hearts. Likewise, there are conditional promises to all men indiscriminately.

27:33 God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but have everlasting life. That's a conditional promise given to all men indiscriminately. The condition is believing the promise you will be saved. Now, what about unconditional promises?

27:59 Well, the promise of Messiah's coming and ultimate triumph is an unconditional promise. First given in the Garden of Eden, Genesis 3.15. God says, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed.

28:14 It shall bruise thy head, but thou shalt bruise his heel. That's an unconditional promise. God doesn't say, if men are faithful, if, if, if. He says, I will put enmity, there shall be a bruising of the heel, there shall be a crushing of the head.

28:29 And so the promise of Messiah's coming and His ultimate triumph is an unconditional promise. The promise of the second coming of Christ. This same Jesus shall so come in like manner. Acts 1.11.

28:41 John 14.1. If I go, I will come again, receive you unto Myself. The judgment of the world.

28:47 Acts 17.31. The gathering of all of God's elect. John 10.16.

28:52 Other sheep I have, them also I must bring. There shall be one fold, one shepherd. The satisfaction of Messiah. Isaiah 53.10-11.

29:01 He shall see of the travesty, he shall see of the travail of his soul. And we could go on and on. Here are promises that are unconditional promises. They are, in a sense, a transcript of the decrees of God.

29:13 Now many of God's decrees are hidden from us. But some of them are given to us in transcript in the promises. The precise time? No.

29:24 Perhaps all the details of how they'll be fulfilled? No. But it is absolutely certain that Jesus Christ will come again. It is certain that men shall stand before Him in judgment.

29:35 It is certain that the elect shall be gathered out. It is certain that Messiah shall be satisfied. So you see, there is a difference. God doesn't say, if this, this, this, this, and this, then, my son, no, no.

Application: Pleading Promises with Confidence vs. Presumption

29:48 I will do this. Now in the light of this, let me say one or two things by way of application. When we have an unconditional promise, it is wicked unbelief not to plead its fulfillment with absolute confidence before God. When there is an unconditional promise, it is wicked unbelief not to plead its fulfillment before God, to act as though it were conditional.

30:19 As Jesus Christ said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out. Then it's wicked unbelief for me to act as though I might be the one exception. That having come, He may cast me out. Has Jesus said, I came down from heaven not to do my will, but the will of my Father, and this is the will of my Father, that of all that He hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it at the last day.

30:47 Is that a declaration of His will? Yes. It's wicked unbelief not to plead its fulfillment on my own behalf, and to plead it with confidence. It's an unconditional promise.

31:00 And unconditional promises are to be pleaded before God, in the confidence of faith. But now, the second and parallel statement, just as it is wicked unbelief not to plead in confidence an unconditional promise, it is presumption to plead the fulfillment of a conditional promise if I am indifferent to those conditions. There are some promises that are conditional, and it is presumption to plead their fulfillment if I'm not meeting the condition. Our Lord is the example of this.

31:36 Satan said, here's an unconditional promise, cast thyself down, He'll send His angels. And there's some significance that he did omit the phrase in all thy ways, the implication being as our ways are directed by God, there is no difficult circumstance into which we are brought in the will of God, but that God will sustain us as long as life is necessary for the accomplishment of His purpose. So as long as our ways are within the framework of the will of God, to accomplish the purpose of God, God will keep us in all our ways. So there is an implied condition, Satan is saying to our Lord, claim the promise and be indifferent to that implied condition. That's presumption. And our Lord says, presumption is tempting God. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Question 2: Temporal/Material or Eternal/Spiritual?

32:29 Alright, so if we're to understand the nature, the true nature of the promise, we must ask, is it conditional? Is it unconditional? Second question, is it temporal dash material or is it eternal dash spiritual? Is it a temporal material promise or an eternal spiritual promise?

32:50 Now let me explain the terms. I believe we have scriptural warrant for making this distinction. 1 Timothy 4.8 says, Godliness has promise not only of the life that now is, but of the life which is to come.

33:06 Promises with a two-fold prong or a two-pronged application. The life that now is, the temporal, the life which is to come, the eternal. So when we talk of temporal material promises, we're dealing with promises that touch primarily upon this life. Protection, preservation of life and limb, provision of food, clothing, these things that touch the temporal and the material.

33:37 Matthew chapter 6 is an example of this. These things shall be added unto you. The things are clothing, food, shelter, etc. But then the eternal and the spiritual have to do primarily with the things of the inner life.

33:52 And it's proper to make this distinction. Paul says, the outward man perishes, but the inward man is renewed day by day. And there's an overreaction against the wrong kind of man, a kind of dichotomy here. Fundamentalism for years talked about man's soul as though the soul floated around disembodied.

34:12 And there was a wrong kind of indifference to man as a total integrated human being, a psychosomatic entity. But there's been an overreaction to that. And we have in our day, people talk about man being an inspirited corporeality. Talk about him being one whole creature and they don't like any distinction of soul and spirit.

34:34 Scripture makes it. Don't fear those that kill the body and after this have no more that they can do. Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. The outward man perishes, the inward man is renewed.

34:47 So in a wrong overreaction, let's not go over here. The Bible does make this distinction. Alright? Having explained the terms, now let me illustrate these differences and how the promises must be viewed in the light of them.

Fulfillment of Eternal/Spiritual vs. Temporal/Material Promises

35:02 When we come to the eternal and spiritual we are coming to promises that are always absolute and certain of their fulfilment in every case. When Jesus said, John 6, 37, Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. There is an eternal spiritual promise. And it is absolute and certain of its fulfilment in every single case.

35:31 Of the myriads, the multitudes, the millions, the great hosts whom no man can number. There will not be found one who said, I came, but Jesus cast me out. Not a one. Not a one.

35:46 And so we can go through all of the promises that have to do with God's welcoming of coming sinners, His promise concerning His own. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, they shall inherit the earth. These things are certain.

36:04 And we have a wonderful commentary on this certainty in Hebrews 6, 13 and following. We don't have time to go into it. I'm very conscious that this watch is creeping up on me and we have just about 17 minutes left. Now the basis of this, of course, is Romans 8, 32.

36:21 He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall we not with Him also freely give us all things? If Jesus Christ died to overcome the greatest obstacle in man's salvation, God will certainly on the basis of what Christ has done give everything necessary for the full accomplishment of God's saving purposes. So the eternal and spiritual are always absolute and certain of their fulfillment in every case. And I may say by a little aside that oft times the eternal and the spiritual come in a promise that seems to be temporal and material.

37:03 For instance, the commentary in Hebrews 11, 8 through 10 and 13 through 16 with reference to God's promise to the ancient patriarchs concerning a land, they understood to have its truest fulfillment not in an earthly temporal fulfillment but it says they looked for a city which had foundations whose builder and maker is God. They saw beyond and they saw that what God was promising had its truest fulfillment not in the terms in which the promise came but in something to which those terms pointed. And I believe this could perhaps be the clue to unlocking such problem passages as Psalm 91, 10. Let's look at it for a moment. Here in Psalm 91, 10 one of the many things promised to those who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, God says there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any promise of plague come nigh thy tent. Now I know some people that plead this and say that means no sickness will come to my house. I know an individual right now who is basing her confidence that no sickness will come within her household on this text.

38:24 Well, we know that there are many who abide most intimately under the shadow of the Almighty who do have plagues come nigh their house and who do have evils befall them. Look at Job. There's no other answer in the Scripture that completely just shows that this is ridiculous. He was not afflicted because of the low measure of his piety.

38:45 He got into that whole mess because of the high level of his piety. Hast thou considered my servant Job? There is not another man upon the face of the earth like Job. And yet evil did come nigh his dwelling.

38:59 But I believe the key is to realize that in the life of a true Christian what is evil? Is it harm to the body? Is that what real evil is? Yes or no?

39:14 No, real evil is sin that clouds the face of God. Real evil is separation from God. What is a real plague? A real plague is that which robs me of the knowledge of Christ and of the ability to lay hold of that which he in covenant has committed himself to give to his people.

39:34 So when we look at these promises in their truest fulfillment, they are fulfilled in every true child of God. So that what the world calls evil is in the life of the believer turned to his own advancement in holiness. And that's why the New Testament writers can say count it all joy when you fall into many trials. Why?

39:55 Your trials will be the instrument of God to purify your faith. Paul said, Lord, I can't go on with this thing. You've got to take it. It's incompatible with my usefulness.

40:06 God says, no it isn't. It's the very key to your sustained usefulness. And I will allow this messenger of Satan lest the terrible evil of pride cripple you spiritually. Whatever crippling this brings to you physically and in terms of physical strength, Paul, it's far better to go lame like a Jacob in your thigh externally and to walk upright internally than to have the reverse.

40:34 Well, we don't have time to go into a lot of it, but I think this may be the clue. Notice now, the eternal and the spiritual are absolute spirits. They are absolute, certain of their fulfillment in every case, and many of the external and temporal promises have their truest fulfillment in the spiritual and the eternal. But now with reference to the temporal and the material, most of them are conditional promises.

Examples of Temporal Promises and Their Nuanced Fulfillment

40:56 Most of them are conditional. For instance, in Proverbs 3, 7 and 8, we read, Be not wise in thine own eyes. This shall be health to thine able and marrow to thy bones. Further, in chapter 3, verses 9 and 10, Honor the Lord with thy substance, the firstfruits of all thine increase.

41:19 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy vats shall overflow with new wine. Here are conditions. If you will do this, God will do this. Matthew 6, 33, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

41:34 Ephesians 6, 1 through 3, Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment, with promise, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long upon the earth. Now you see, most of the promises concerning the material and the temporal are conditional. Furthermore, and get hold of this, they are not absolute and certain of their fulfillment in each and every instance.

42:04 They are statements of the general way that God deals with his people. They are not in the same category as the promises which touch upon the spiritual and the eternal. There are people who have honored God with the firstfruits of their increase, who are still poor and who have never had full vats of wine and their barns overflowing with plenty. Now the two classic examples of this are our Lord Himself and the Apostle Paul, who more than our Lord sought first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

42:44 Yet the Son of Man had nowhere to lay his head. He had to perform a miracle to have enough money to pay the temple tax. Who more than our Lord abode in the secret place of the Most High? His life was snuffed out at 33 years.

43:02 God says, With long life will I satisfy him. And you trace through the life of our Lord and this kind of stupid, and I don't know of a better word to use, this kind of stupid, wicked application of the promises that Mr. Osborne does would make our Lord to be the greatest of all sinners. And then look at the Apostle Paul.

43:26 Is he the one that wrote, My God shall supply all your need? Did he write that? Yes or no? Philippians 4.19 Yet you listen to that man and what does he himself say in 2 Corinthians 11.27? In hunger oft. In hunger oft!

43:41 There's many a time when Paul went to bed with his stomach growling for hunger and there wasn't a crust of bread to eat. But didn't he write, My God shall supply all your need? That was a promise relative to temporal material, which is not absolute and certain of its fulfillment in each and every instance. Are there children who've honored their parents who've died in early age?

44:06 Yes, many of them. And Hodge comments on this in his commentary on Ephesians. If it be asked whether obedient children are in fact thus distinguished by long life and prosperity, the answer is that this, like all other such promises, is a revelation of a general purpose of God and makes known what will be the usual course of his providence. That some children are unfortunate and short-lived is no more inconsistent with the promise than that some diligent men are poor is inconsistent with the declaration the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

44:42 Diligence as a general rule does secure riches and obedient children as a general rule are prosperous and happy. The promise is fulfilled to individuals just so far and then he quotes and I believe he was quoting from Sibbes because I found this he doesn't give acknowledgment but I found it in Sibbes as it shall serve for God's glory and their own good. Now let me read the quote from Sibbes. Thus all promises for outward things are conditional.

45:13 As thus God hath promised protection from contagious diseases, from trouble and war, that he will be a hiding place, a deliverer of his people in time of danger, that he will do this and that for them. But these are conditional so far forth as his wise providence sees that they may help to preserve spiritual things in them and advance the graces of the inward man. For God takes liberty in our outward estate to afflict us for our good as may best further our soul's welfare. Because do what we can with these bodies they're going to turn to dust before long anyway.

45:52 You see we think like the people of the world who look upon the first lines of old age as the coming of the worst plague. But the Christian has a worse plague. He looks upon the shriveled lines of a soul that's losing its freshness in God as a horrendous thing. And if God must put early lines in his face to give him a full and flourishing soul the believer welcomes him.

46:14 He's concerned with the inward man and you see again that's what's so cursed with this kind of business. It's worldly in its focus of emphasis. What do you want? New car, better health, bigger bank book, nicer home?

46:29 You see the whole pitch is the error of supposing that godliness is gained. We must leave the world behind us anyway. Therefore he looks to our main estate in Christ to the new creature and so far as outward blessings may cherish and increase that so far he grants them or else he denies them to his dearest ones. I'll turn to a classic example of this in the book of Hebrews.

Faith and Suffering: The Hebrews 11 Example

46:54 And again I'm conscious we're moving fast but I want to get through to this third question so that we have the whole thing in a broad overview and then we can take up questions next week God willing. People say well the reason these promises are not fulfilled you don't believe enough. This is what we heard Thursday night from the Catholic Charismatic System. It says some people have as their basic rule thou shalt not expect anything from God and thou wilt not be disappointed.

47:23 Everyone giggled and so we're to expect and if we don't have these things it's because we don't expect it. Now granted there is an element of truth the scripture does say according to your faith be it unto you. He did not many mighty works because of their unbelief. But now look at Hebrews 11.

47:38 The hall of fame of the men and women of faith. Now running out of space and time as I'm doing this morning the writer says in verse 32 and what shall I more say for the time will fail me. See he was conscious of the clock as well. The time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah David, Samuel and the prophets who through faith subdued kingdom wrought righteousness, obtained promise stopped the mouths of lions quenched the power of fire.

48:08 Now notice the next phrase escaped the edge of the sword. Now what principle was operative to bring them into the very presence of a sword if they escaped the edge of it. See what the picture is. The sword was coming.

48:22 They escaped. Why? They believed God. Maybe they claimed Psalm 91.

48:26 No evil shall come nigh. By faith they escaped the edge of the sword. Now look at verse 37. By faith they were stoned they were sawn asunder they were tempted.

48:39 Now here's the phrase. They were slain with the sword. Now who believed God more those that escaped the edge of the sword or those that were slain with the sword. Well the writer to Hebrews says they're all part of the whole gallery of the heroes of faith.

48:57 Now you see how stupid it is to say I believe God and therefore I'm healed. If you're not healed it's because you don't believe God. Some by faith are healed by unusual interventions of God in the area of physical need. Others by faith lie beneath the sword of a constant affliction in which God proves the sufficiency of His grace.

49:22 So you see the promises touching the temporal and the material are never absolute in the same way that the promise is touching the eternal and the spiritual. Alright? Third question you must ask. Question number one.

Question 3: What Does the Promise Actually Say? (Context is Key)

49:39 The true nature of the promise is it conditional, unconditional? Is it temporal, material or spiritual, eternal? Question number three. What does the promise actually say?

49:51 That's our third question. Let's take a wonderful promise. Philippians 4.13 Paul says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

50:02 Now all means what? Hmm? All and things mean? That's pretty broad, isn't it?

50:09 Alright, now is Paul saying that if he wanted to he could flap his arms and fly like a bird? Well, that's all things, isn't it? Did he mean that if he wanted to right there in the Roman prison he could break the chains? Bop the guard on the head?

50:23 Pick the key out of his pocket and go walking free? And when they tried to get him just turn around and spit bullets at people and shoot him dead? Well, that's all things. You say the promise doesn't mean that.

50:36 No, that's right. It doesn't mean that. Well, the words say that. But what do they mean?

50:41 Well, you read the context. And what Paul is saying is at times I'm so full I almost feel I've come to the border of surfeiting. Not surfing, but surfeiting. Eating too much.

50:55 I've learned how to abound. You see, there are times when my tummy's pain the two on my back bone. I've learned how to be abased. But he said I've learned when I'm like this when I'm like this to be content.

51:12 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. What is he saying? He's saying I have found by virtue of union with Jesus Christ sufficient grace to embrace from the heart whatever external circumstances my God appoints for me. That's what he's saying.

51:32 And people derive the stupidest notions from the promises because they say, look, this is what it says. Ah, but what is the true meaning of the promise? When you come to such things as John 14, greater works than these should ye do because I go to my Father. Well, Jesus said greater works.

51:50 He raised the dead, turned water into wine for a few hundred, and now they claim they're doing it for thousands. They're claiming that, some of these over in Indonesia, that they're turning water into wine, doing the greater works. Where Jesus raised a few dead people, they're raising them by the dozens. Great, that's what it says.

52:08 That's the promise. Ah, but is that what it means? You see. So that third question must be asked.

Addressing Objections: Complexity and Competence

52:14 What does the promise really say? But now I can hear some objections. He's saying, Pastor, if we must face every promise with those two imperatives upon us, asking to whom does it come and what is the nature of the promise, that makes things too complicated. I just want simple faith that sees a promise and claims it.

52:37 My friend, what you're saying is you want to tempt God. Remember, it's the ignorant and the unstable that rest the scriptures, and I would say there's a third category that ought to be put in there, the lazy. The scripture says, do thine utmost to show thyself approved unto God, handling aright, cutting a straight course in the word of truth. It's tempting God and it's at the essence of fanaticism to just snatch at promises.

53:04 Now, thank God, people, some people who do this, the evil is checked by the fact that they have the root of true godliness in them and they're so living in the spirit of the entire word of God that they don't go too far with any one promise that they apply in a wrong way. Thank God for that. There's a wonderful system of checks and balances in the Bible. And I've met some dear people, I have some dear relatives who engage in this promise snatching, but because they live in obedience to Christ in the light of the general spirit of the scriptures, they are kept from serious error.

53:36 But it's only the mercy of God that they're not led off into some kookishness. You see? But then someone else says, well, if that's so, Pastor, then not everyone is really competent to give to us the precise nature of a promise. We need to have help.

53:50 Absolutely. And that's why Ephesians 4 says, one of the gifts of Christ to his church are pastor-teachers who are competent to open up the scriptures and to assist us in determining to whom the promise was given, what is the precise nature of that promise, and to direct our faith into a solid, proper, balanced understanding of what the Lord has said in his word. Well, our time is gone. I know you've got umpteen questions, but as I said, I have good reasons for lecturing this morning.

54:22 Hold your questions, write them down as they come through the week. Maybe there's promises that will come to you in your own reading you'd like to discuss. We'll have a discussion time next week, and I'll give you one hint as to one of the reasons why we did this this morning, not only to give a broad overview, but I had an agreement with Roger that this would be the last in the series, and I know if I didn't keep it, I'd have the frown and the wrath of that whole operation on my back, and I didn't want that, so I figured we'd better finish up this morning. Let's pray our time this morning.