Promises
2 Peter - 1
Pastor Gary Tolbert

Intro: Being a parent is sometimes tricky.  Kids get their parents to promise things that the parents can’t provide.  Parents have to beware of falling into a no-win situation.  If you promise something and don't follow through, the child may hold that against you for the rest of their life.  There is something about it when you say "I promise".  It's settled in the mind and it’s as good as gold.  If you don't follow through the gold turns to garbage and your name is mud.  You'd think parents would make less promises, some wise up and don't.  If you do promise things whether positive or negative and don't follow through, your credibility is ruined and people lose respect for you.

            Our Heavenly Father makes a lot of promises to us.  Dealing with the promises of God can be tricky.  We often ignore them and suffer needlessly because and it.  Yet when things go wrong we blame God or get discouraged with our spiritual lives. Has God lost his credibility revealed because things are going well? The key to being a joyful, spiritual Christian life is applying the promises of God.

I. Ask, believe, thank

            I like Peter.  He was an interesting fella.  I like the epistles of Peter.  At the beginning of the year we looked at1 Peter.  For the rest of the year I want us to look at 2 Peter.  2 Peter 1:1-4, Very great and precious promises. The Bible is a rich treasure, a storehouse of blessing.  You may have heard of Glenn Coon’s "ABCs of prayer".  When I was in college I took a course called "The Positive Way".  Both of these courses and others teach us how to accept and apply the promises of God.  It is often called the science of claiming promises.  Someone has counted over 3,500 promises in the Bible, most of which lie there ignored.             

            This basically is about our prayer life.  Often when you pray, asking God for something he answers according to his promises.  If you don't ask, you don't often get.  If you don't accept God's gifts, you do not benefit from them.  So, if your spiritual life seems empty, don't blame it on God. It may be from your lack of faith in what God has said he will do. It's easy to arrive at wrong conclusions. Ill. What makes a grasshopper jumped?

            According to the science of claiming promises there are basically three parts: ask, believe, thank or claim.  Ask: Matthew 7:7, 8, Ask, seek and knock.  Believe: Mark 11:24, Believe you have received it.  Thank: John 11:41, Jesus was heard before he asked. There are dangers to taking these and applying them out of their context. Ill. Prayer isn't magic, God heals washing machine?

            Correctly done this is very simple and teaches us how to exercise faith.  Many people who are proud and arrogant and educated are unwilling to go through a simple three step process.  I practice it regularly.  It has taught me how to prevail in prayer.  It is a way of exercising faith and when done properly, God blesses it. I unite with God so he can do things through me and I or others can benefit from those things. 

II. Gift is in the promise

            Hebrews 6:13-18, God wants to assure us of his purpose. When God makes a promise he stands behind it.

            Faith is trusting God, believing that he knows what is best for you and what is for your good.  Whatever gift he promises is in the promise itself. (Luke 8:11), The seed is the word of God.  As surely as the oak is in the acorn, so surely is the gift of God in the promise.  If we receive the promise we receive a gift.  Ill. Rutherford Platt states in his book "The Green World" that a trunk, two leaves and roots are already contained in the embryo of the seed and that with a powerful magnifying glass you could see them.

            But there is something else that is important -- Conditions.  There are often conditions.  John 15:7, Remain in him.  We must remain in Jesus.  For example, all of our sins have been paid for by Christ 2000 years ago but it does us no good unless we fulfilled the condition of accepting him.  Jeremiah 18:7-10, God reacts to our choices.  Some people feel all of the Old Testament prophecies given to Israel will be fulfilled in spiritual Israel or us.  That is not necessarily true.  The conditions may have not been met for Israel of old which would mean that the prophecy may not be carried over into our day.

            Some general conditions: Psalm 66:18, Don't cherish sin; Hebrews 11:6, Faith; 1 John 3:21, 22, Obey God; James 4:3, Pure motives; 1 John 5:14, 15, According to God's will; Matthew 6:33, Seek God's kingdom first. Sometimes the promise itself will have conditions stated in it.  An example of this is John 3:16, Salvation to all, but the condition is that we must believe.  With all of this in mind we must not fall into the trap of looking at this as a business relationship -- I do my part, God does his part.  That is not the Christian walk.  God wants a love relationship with us not a business relationship.  We will be disappointed and not fulfilled without the proper relationship. Ill. $3 worth of God.

III. Command is a promise

            2 Corinthians 1:18-20, Promises are yes in Christ.  1 John 1:9, Forgive and cleanse.  When God gives a command it is different from anybody else’s commands.  God gives a gift along with it: The power and ability to follow through with obedience. Ill. Going down, Dobson.  Ill. Sabbath.

            God does things decently and in order.  In creation he doesn't make a creature that needs to breathe air and not provide air to breathe.

Conclude: He provides the power, ability, blessing as we are willing.  The promises of God help us receive the divine nature and help us to become like God.  How could the divine nature, the image of God that has been marred by sin -- how could this be stamped upon our minds, hearts and characters without God actually doing it?  Commands don't exist without promises.  Promises carry the power and God's ability to accomplish that which is promised.  Unlike a parent who makes a promise that he can't keep, God makes promises he can.  He provides gifts and help in time of need, even his commands are promises. 

            If we don't have a spiritual life that is alive and joyful, it is because we neglect the treasure house God has for us.