Claim God's Promises

[Music] well happy Sabbath to all of you and welcome to all our guests and if this is being recorded welcome and greetings to all our brethren around the world it's a happy day to be in God's Sabbath because we know that we are blessed for obedience and we learn his truth and revelation as well thank you mr. McCulloch and mrs. Fisher for that beautiful forehands music that's very inspiring to hear see two people with four hands playing that special music on the piano last night my wife and I were connected to mr. Sheldon Monson's living youth Bible study alive on the internet the subject was the day of atonement mr. Joshua pendant reports that there were about 268 connections at the peak and so perhaps as many as 400 were tuned into the Bible study he also reported that the live stream 24-hour period the living Earth Program livestream account at 17 thousand nine hundred and eighty eight minutes worth of views just under 300 hours of viewing on the living youth program how many of you saw the Living Youth Bible study last night see your hands okay I know mrs. Hazen had put her name in the chat room so good to see that coming up but we did have people in the chat room from Brooklyn New York Baltimore Maryland st. Joseph Missouri Chicago Illinois Ralston and Bellevue Nebraska Tucson Arizona Toronto Ontario Mississauga Ontario Winnipeg Manitoba where they said it was one degree above zero Fahrenheit and frigid Ottawa Ontario eight degrees and also Bren South Carolina that was a new town to me also this past week appreciated viewing mr. ken Franks Wednesday night Bible study on 2nd Peter you heard that announced by mr. DeSimone for this coming week that's on the Internet so God is giving us wonderful Bible study opportunities also I hope Thursday night you got to see the full moon last night it was still 96% full ROG creation is just absolutely glorious look up in the heavens and see this beautiful full moon we've all entered a new year on the Roman calendar God doesn't seem possible that it's just the year 2017 there was a booklet written by mr. Armstrong many years ago 1975 in prophecy many people thought that the church was actually going to flee in 1972 course mr. Armstrong used 1975 not as a date for the return of Christ but as a comparison of those futurists who were saying there was going to be a helicopter in every lawn by 1975 and he was comparing those futurist visions with the reality of what was going to occur in the world yet time is really flown by what are you going to accomplish 2017 you know that biblical prophecies will continue to unfold as we saw in the tomorrow's world telecast on January 1st that was the prophetic keys for 2017 and by the way that set a record response for the past six months United States will inaugurate a new president the next Friday with a new administration promising to make many governmental changes and some that will affect international relations and economies around the world but in spite of the turmoil in the world God has given us individually and as a church a great mission and that mission is going to lead us into the kingdom of God if we're faithful and responding to Christ's guidance our Lord has set us the greatest goals in life Matthew 6:33 you know that you should know it if you don't know it but seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you the world is going crazy and it is not following Christ's instructions to do just that turn to Matthew the sixth chapter Matthew 6 the world seeks after physical wealth and treasures but Jesus told us to seek heavenly treasures Matthew the sixth chapter and verse 19 Matthew 6 and verse 19 do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal then of course later on he gives us verse 33 our major goal of seeking first the kingdom of God you know when I was a boy I dreamed of finding treasures I thought that maybe there was a treasure buried in my backyard might turn to a Matthew the 19th chapter Matthew 19 well when Jesus says don't store up for yourselves treasures on earth he's not saying that you shouldn't be a faithful steward of you're working hard to provide for your family and as John Stott as commentary points out God commends the ant for storing food in the summer ahead of time for the winter that's in Proverbs the sixth chapter so the prohibition in Matthew six about storing up treasures on earth is a selfish accumulation we do need to be prudent and dr. Meredith has written articles about being prepared for emergencies we should all have some kind of emergency fund if we can afford that and try to be very discreet be faithful stewards of the blessing God gives us and Matthew the nineteenth chapter there was the young rich man and Jesus told them if you'll land her into life keep the commandments not you 19 and verse 17 verse 23 he said to his disciples assuredly I say unto you it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven and again I say to you it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven and they said well who can be saved verse 26 with man this is impossible but with God all things are possible of course when we look back to the patriarchs we know that Abraham was rich and God's faithful servants were rich but they did not set their heart on their possessions because that of course is covetousness and transgressors the tenth commandment we heard sermonette about seeking God's laws and being obedient to not even leave letter of the law but also the spirit of the law what I was saying I was dreaming of finding treasures when I was a little boy actually had dreams literal dreams of finding bundles of coin out in the street that walking down the street in fact my first short story that I was assigned to write a sixth grade was why my name is rich for Richard and I won't tell you how I that's another story but anyway that I did have a sense of seeking treasures beneath it in my both adult years I was intrigued by the mystery at Oak Island in Nova Scotia which was popularized the Reader's Digest that came out in January 1965 the two boys that discovered what amounted to a pirates money pit that was back in the late 1700s we just give you a description of that it was Oak Island is located just 45 minutes south of Halifax Nova Scotia in Mahone Bay one description of the mystery quote located off the coast of Nova Scotia Oak Island is believed by many to be hiding one of the greatest treasures in history since the late 1700s fortunes have been spent and lies have been long but no one has ever been able to crack the code to get at the price the prophecy says that seven people will die before the treasure is found so far six had perished in the accidents over the years our brethren have attended the feast their Nova Scotia but I don't think they were allowed to visit the money pit but they have found three lengths of gold an ancient parchment that was down in the money pit and years ago then they were close to getting into the money pit the water flooded they were actually whoever the Pirates were had amazing engineering techniques had flood tunnels down into the money pit so the Velen tried to get the the treasure it would flood and so that was back in the 1700s and here we are in 2017 and men are still putting money into the money pit in fact have any of you seen the television series or even one of the episodes on the curse of Oak Island on the History Channel and have you seen it okay good about a several of you have seen that particular series and the last one they had brought in millions of dollars of actual modern technology to put a 40-inch metal tube casing down 171 feet where they actually found a cave that is about 20 foot 21 foot wide now I don't know the latest episode but that will air supposedly this coming Tuesday January 17th 2017 on the History Channel where a diver actually goes down into the flooded tunnel I doubt that he found anything so anyway you may want to watch that if the History Channel actually airs that episode episode number 10 season number four on the curse of Oak Island well these physical treasures are inaccessible but God is freely giving us spiritual treasures that are beyond our imagination these men have been seeking 222 years to get what they think is treasure down on that money pit on Oak Island in Nova Scotia but we need to identify God's true treasures and claim those treasures in faith turning to proverbs the second chapter proverbs 2 and here we find admissions to seek true treasures proverbs the second chapter God's treasures are free they're available and God wants us to claim them but it does take some effort to claim those promises proverbs 1 proverbs 2 verse 1 my son if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you what do you really seek after so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding yes if you cry out for discernment lift up your voice for understanding if you seek her and silver and search for her as for hidden treasures which individuals been doing for 222 years and six of all already lost their lives in doing so verse five then you will understand the fear of the eternal and find the knowledge of God for the eternal gives wisdom from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding so we must search for the true treasures those treasures are precious and they are priceless promises of God how many promises are there in the Bible according to one researcher quoted in Bible infocomm there are three thousand five hundred and seventy three ethical promises 3573 Bible promises I don't know how he identified them all but according to what suppose that you identify maybe even a thousand of those or 1,200 one a day you would be seeking and claiming one thousand promises in a period of three years if you just did one one a day in our living university library have this book all the promises of the Bible by Locke here he of course is an author of several other books all the men of the Bible women doctrines kings and queens miracles parables prayers promises books and chapters holy days and holidays trades and occupations children of the Bible all the apostles of the Bible so he's got quite a bit of research and this is all the promises of the Bible so you might want to say I'll just read some of the contents here promises relative to Christian scriptures promises relative to Christian doctrine promises relative to the marital realm spiritual realm eternal realm promises related relative to children so if you want to seek some promises that's one way of doing it but during the second Peter the first chapter in 2nd Peter the first chapter the best way of seek them is by your own perusing the Bible reading the Bible and you might even want to start to study with a highlighter maybe a blue or yellow or orange highlighter and as you go through your Bible highlight those that you identify our promises of God for you and for God's people 1st 2nd Peter second Peter the first chapter second Peter 1 verse 1 Simon Peter a bondservant an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have obtained light precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ well there's a pearl of promise a precious promise right there who have obtained like precious faith it's a treasure right there - golden guarantee verse 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord as his divine power has given us given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness he's given us all things think about that brethren I know that we sometimes take for granted the blessings of understanding and the truth and revelation that God gives us we ought to be thanking God even as you sit here today to just send a prayer up to God and thank him for the understanding that you give him and of course it tells us the Psalm 111 10 a good understanding of all they that keep his Commandments as given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who has called us by glory and virtue God has given us understanding through His Holy Spirit says in 1st Corinthians 2 that God has given us understanding of yes the deep things of God through Christ of course by which have given to us verse 4 exceedingly great and precious promises it doesn't say that God has just given you promises he says he's given you precious promises and then he says he's given you great and precious promises and then he says he's given you exceedingly great and precious promises you know I think is a boy when I was walking you know I was wanting that bicycle I want those treasures you think the treasure said of God has given us or exceedingly great and precious that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust not only of these promises giving a spiritual blessings but they help us to be a part of God's whole plan in the universe to create in each and every one of us is divine perfect righteous glorious character you know that is revealed to us as we keep the Passover and have all of our past sins forgiven through the blood of Christ and then the days of unleavened bread that show that we must replace the leaven of malice and wickedness or human nature with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth with divine nature God's nature can you imagine on all the face of the earth that you and I and those whom God has begotten by his spirit for those who've repented and accepted Christ shed blood and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit are begotten with God's divine nature that is just absolutely awesome is priceless and it's true God's promises to us he has a plan and he loves every one of us in a special way we'll see some of those hidden treasures as we look through the Bible this afternoon well the world has got human nature we have human nature but we have to replace that human nature with God's guidance and his blessings and his power and replace that with His divine nature so are you a conch are you conscious of the divine nature that should be flowing through God's Holy Spirit as a part of your thinking a part of your way of life of where we're still human we all said we know we said says that we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous and first John the first chapter and if we sin we cope before God's throne and if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness that's first John 1 verse 9 and 10 so we realize that God has given us these awesome promises the title for the sermon today is claim God's promises we have sermon number 609 the promises of God by mr. Bob league the promises with God number 609 then sermon number 782 God's precious promises and we had a telecast some years ago a telecast number 247 the promises of God and the current tomorrow's World magazine the january/february 2017 magazine as the article the treasure of God's promises so I encourage you if any of you received your copy yet in the mail I don't some of you have I think it's you'll should be getting it probably it's coming week if you've not already received your copy but the treasures of God's promises it's an article in that magazine you'll want to read that so how do we find God's treasures and what are some of those true treasures just a blessing has to go read and read and read of all the pearls of promises the golden guarantees the emeralds of encouragement of treasures of truth you can add a few more descriptions of those pearls of promise you will need to turn there but John 6 verse 63 Jesus said the words that I speak unto you are spirit and they are life here the words that God has preserved for us if we make them a part of our character of our thinking of our life prayers they are life one of the biggest lessons of life is learning where the true treasures are hidden turn to Matthew the thirteenth chapter Matthew 13 God has given us not just promises but exceedingly great and precious promises Matthew 13 Matthew 13 starting with verse 44 thank you 13 well here we have the various parables the various descriptions and metaphors and descriptions of the kingdom of God Matthew 13 verse 44 again the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in the field which a man found in hid and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field that's the kingdom of God you seek first the kingdom of God in His righteousness so God is giving us that opportunity verse 45 is another description again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls I might interrupt to mention that we were on a tour of a Tokyo many years ago I think that was 1981 a bus tour it ended up in a pearl store a jewelry store and you had a little entry ticket and if your ticket was called you could go up to the the desk and they have an oyster and they'd open it up and there might be a pearl thankfully my wife was able to find a nice little what colors if you call it I guess it's kind of a golden color pearl which we gave to her mother and after a mother deceased and my wife inherited it back but just that lovely little pearl but here's the pearl of great price who when he had found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it realize that you are choosing in life what are the true riches today have told you the story before my Protestant minister because I had been reading the literature for mr. Armstrong on the true history of the true church the book of Revelation unveiled at last the key to the book of Revelation and I gave them to my Protestant minister finally he said well I'll read these dick if you read a commentary on the book of Revelation and when I got to revelation 6 and the Jameson Fawcett Brown commentary and it said the first Horseman represented Christ I knew they were in error and I didn't need to read further but anyway when I went back to get my booklets but get my book was back and I said you know pastor what did you think about this booklet on the revelation here to me it was obvious and clear God open my mind to see what is going to happen World War three Armageddon the major events and prophecy what do you think about that pastor is answered well it was all very interesting but it leaves out the poetry what it leaves out the poetry well of course this is a language metaphoric language symbolic language and so that's where he was focused his mind was closed he couldn't understand the true revelation that God is giving us in the book of Revelation and he said why are you leaving the church I said well when you find the truth you go after it and he said oh the pearl of great price and I said yes I think God inspired him to say that that God had given me the pearl of great price and that lead which showed me where to find it and where to seek it so God has given us the pearl of great price and here's the example of a man and sold all that he had and bought that pearl of great price so God has give the true treasures what true treasures has he given us as understanding we heard in the sermonette reading from the official statement of fundamental beliefs and here even that documentary of the 29 subtitles in that statement of beliefs shows you the pearls of great price the golden caring treatise the treasures of truth but just to think about the nature of God that he's the creator and lawgiver that he's loved the very purpose of life that we could be born into God's kingdom the truth about heaven hell in the resurrection the truth about God's Way of life that jesus promised that he came that we might have life and have it more abundantly and we recapture the true values in every aspect in every realm inspector of section and sphere of society and life we were capturing those true values for the abundant life and God promises his children the abundant life now and in the future but we need to identify these promises in the Bible and stake our claim to them we need to claim these promises now in the realm of mining they do state claims that build the Bureau of Land Management for example explains the process of staking a claim to a site that contains valuable minerals mining claims and sites on federal lands this law allows citizens of the United States the opportunity to explore discover and purchase certain valuable mineral deposits on those federal lands that are open for mining claim location so you can actually stake a claim to various property on federal lands if you discover minerals there which would include locatable minerals include both metallic minerals gold silver lead copper zinc nickel and nonmetallic minerals fluorspar mica certain limestone gypsum tantalum heavy minerals and placer form and gemstones so you can state your claim and you know the history of the United States that had the great Gold Rush of nine to 1849 at that time California was a territory and had only 1,000 in population but after gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill the population increased by a hundred thousand they went out there in the gold rush that peaked in 1852 and then there was but where was gold first discovered in the United States how many of you know where gold was first discovered in the United States oh good got a handful about good twenty North Carolinians who know the answer to that question this is from the website Gold Fever unc-tv org slash history where was gold first discovery of America discovery of a 17-pound gold nugget in Cabarrus County North Carolina in 1799 marks the beginning of the North Carolina Gold Rush twelve-year-old Conrad Reed found the treasure in the waters of little bit Oak Creek and took it home where it was used as a doorstop for three years a 17 pound gold bucket and his father sold it for $35 what that dude that he had been ripped off on that particular but that his father Reed began the reed mining and so today you can go there to the reed mine in Midland North Carolina 41 minutes here from the weddings in high school off Route 27 and you can actually pan for gold at the reed mine are there in Cabarrus County but of course when there were mining claims or also claim jumpers they called them a fact in California have a chain of restaurants called the claim-jumper out there we used to enjoy eating at that restaurant but there are laws against claim-jumping but no one's going to jump your claim who are claiming God's promises turn to Matthew the 7th chapter Matthew 7 you're clean jumper restaurants in Arizona and Washington Illinois Louisiana Nevada New Mexico Oregon and Tennessee Matthew in 7th chapter and verse 7 they were very familiar with this section of Scripture ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be open here's a promise and someone not my original but thought of the acronym ASX ask seek and not ask pretty clever but I remember my first time when I was coming into the church when I was working as a transportation engineer in Norfolk Virginia and I was reading literature had no church to attend so I was reading a good news magazine and and it said something about raw whole milk and how good that was for you and of course I lived at Virginia Beach and so I said well I read this and said ask seek and not and so I asked God for some raw whole milk but went to the grocery stores no not available ask you to Regional Planning Commission where do you think I could get some raw milk I said well out in the country here between Norfolk and Virginia Beach or some farms just go out there and you might be able to get some raw whole milk so I went out to one farm and the farmer said no no we don't we don't sell milk we all show it sell it wholesale but where can i well that little farmhouse down the road by care that was a so I I was the asking seeking and I was trying to find the door upon which to knock but aware the house finally found the right door down the door this Amish lady came with her bonnet and I think I had my jack and tie so she thought I might have been a revenuer or government agent or something but I said you know do you have raw whole milk and said yes and she said even I had some butter too and so that to me was a wonderful experience of asking seeking and knocking and God provided me it was uh you know very inexpensive relatively finding a good milk and good butter so God has given us all these wonderful promises at a practical down-to-earth and they pay off ask seek you're not one of God's wonderful promises so that's how you stake a claim to God's policies you ask seek and not one of those ways Luke 11 Luke 11 starting with verse 9 so I say to you ask it it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds that him who knocks it will be open if a son asks for bread from any father among you will he give him a stone or if we answer a fish will he give him a serpent instead of a fish what is the natural interaction when you're asking for your needs or if he asks for an egg will they offer him a scorpion is it wrong to ask for bread or for fish or for an egg verse 13 if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him so why should you claim God's promises because he wants you to have that close deep intimate relationship with him you rely on God but he promises to provide your every need and you ask and you will receive not only just the physical needs of course but the spiritual blessings particularly God's Holy Spirit I hope you're praying daily that God will renew you with the Holy Spirit and teenagers you're asking God that God's Spirit will be with you until the time when you're baptized you can receive God's Holy Spirit well God will answer your prayer we know that God answers prayers we're here in this building because of your prayers that God was going to provide our every need a need for a meeting hall this is the first time here after six years on Randolph Road this is a mover thank God for all of his blessings and all the work and research that went into finding this Hall and every God's blessing to be able to meet here these are God's promises are a reflection of his love in our interaction with him helps us to draw closer to him but we have to draw close to him in faith Hebrews the sixth chapter turn back to Hebrews 6 chapter Hebrews 6 chapter you have to grow in faith it helps us to grow in faith when we claim God's promises Hebrews 6 starting with verse 9 but beloved we are confident of better things concerning you yes things that accompany salvation though we speak after this manner that is of warning all of us not to go back into the world where God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward his name and that you have ministered to the Saints and do minister and we desire that each of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end that you do not become sluggish but imitators who through faith and patience inherit the promises so how do we inherit the promises by faith and patience we claim those promises grow closer to God to grow in faith and also to have the power to complete our mission and we know what that mission is return to mark is a way of review mark the sixteenth chapter mark we need to claim God's promises so that we can fulfill the work that God has given us to accomplish mark 16 verse 15 and he said to them go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature so God is giving us the power that's one of the major reasons and for claiming God's promises it helps us to draw closer to him else us to grow in faith it helps us to fulfill the mission that he's given us they're wonderful promises and briefly venture into one realm of promises and that's God's protection and help in times of trouble turn back to Psalm 91 Psalm 91 so now we're looking into some of the jewels that God gives us the pearls of promise treasures of truth the emeralds of encouragement golden guarantees of some of you can give me a few other descriptions Psalm 91 what a wonderful promise God gives us here he owns the old universe and he upholds the universe by the word of his power that is of the word that Christ is power Psalm 91 he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty I will say of the eternal he is my refuge and my fortress my god in him I will trust though God is our protector verse 9 because you're made eternal is my refuge even the most high your dwelling place no evil shall befall you nor shall any plague come near your dwelling we shall give his angels charge over you we pray for God's protection in our daily life we thank God for that promise another promise that you're familiar with 1st Corinthians 10:13 1st Corinthians 10:13 no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able but with the temptation will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it and I remember when I had that extreme back pain I was screaming and asking God to please intervene and of course that was years ago and I told you how one time I was in bed I couldn't I tried to get out of bed and crawl to the bathroom and I couldn't even do that and dr. Meredith came over this was in Rancho Bernardo California at the time when we had our offices there came over to me came over and anointed me and I went to sleep and about 2 hours later I woke up and said why I'm not feeling any pain I was lying on my back and I risk sitting up I was able to sit up oh no pain I wonder if I can just turn sit over on the side of the bed move over to the side oh no pain and I was able to stand up without any pain no you cry out to God said he is not going to allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able God helped me for that extreme pain from her back pain that I had to be able to get up and walk I think dr. Meredith of course we're coming over to anointing me at that time this is one of God's wonderful promises he is faithful it says and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able you claim that promise if you're facing some trial that seems to be breaking you I'll bring you almost to the breaking point claim this promise God is faithful I won't turn there but just refer you to Deuteronomy 7 verse 9 therefore no the eternal your God He is God the faithful God well God is faithful are we faithful and loyal servants that's sermon number 799 faithful and loyal servants though God promises to help us in times of trouble he's faithful but we must also be faithful we have the confidence that God will fulfill his promises to us because one reason is that God has fulfilled his promises in the past he's fulfilled his prophecies in fact we have course dr. nails booklet the real God proofs and promises and even here he writes in number page 22 proof number 6 answered prayer another dramatic proof of God is that he fulfills his promises of answered prayer for those who do not believe in God and have never prayed this is merely a matter of doubt and skepticism however four individuals will believe in God and who do pray which includes up to 90% of Americans answered prayer is one of the most powerful personal proofs that God exists to those who know their prayers have been answered the doubts the skeptics are of little significance yes God fulfills his promise of answered prayer turn to Luke the twenty-fourth chapter from Luke 24 so we have the confidence that God will answer and fulfill answer our prayers and fulfill those promises because we have the record in his in the history they call it salvation history if you will and fulfill prophecy that God means what he says Luke 24 verse 44 then jesus said to his disciples notice the first the previous verse verse 42 of Luke 24 so he gave them a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb this was on the Sea of Galilee after his resurrection and he took it and ate in their presence just an aside they realized that even Jesus after his resurrection ate probably fish and honeycomb but here's the point verse 44 that he said to them these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law prophets the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me that's called the Tanakh in the Hebrew Scriptures the Torah the sea and they never aim they meaning the prophets and the cat Devine meaning the writings and he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures so we find then that God has fulfilled many of those well of course hundreds actually of prophecies regarding the Messiah it is first coming I brought this out on the on the telecast in the passion that the Bible dictionary will list and I hope how many of you have a physical Bible dictionary in your home library okay it looks like about eighty three point five percent of you have a Bible dictionary you'll find that it will list most likely the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah's first coming and their fulfillment as documented in the New Testament the Old Testament contains more than 300 references the Messiah is coming Peter stoner in his book science speaks examined the probability of one person fulfilling just 48 of those hundreds of prophecies for that to happen by chance would be one in 10 followed by a hundred and fifty seven zeroes as someone calculated that would be like trying to find one specific electron out of all the electronics and all the known universe on the first attempt and that's only forty-eight of the Messianic prophecies so in other words Christ's first coming in the fulfillment of those prophecies could never have been fulfilled by chance they were powerfully predicted fulfilled and hundreds of exacting details so God encourages our faith faith by giving us overwhelming evidence of his fulfilled promises let's look at some other promises as we have time some for our physical needs Ephesians 2:6 chapter Ephesians 6 and of course this has to do of the keeping of God's commandments as we heard the sermonette features the sixth chapter verse 1 children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth well that's the first commandment with promise I hope that all of us I know that I've told it before when I was age 25 and a freshman and ambassador college I came to a place of repentance of realizing that I had disrespected my father and mother and came to really every cried about it but my whole attitude and approach and communication with my parents change dramatically and I communicated with them regularly even though I was in Pasadena California and they were back in Meriden Connecticut I tried to telephone them right to them and even later on actually did tape recordings and check cassette tape recordings to them changed my whole attitude it's a commandment with promise long life then I won't turn there but you know the promise of Malachi 3 verse 10 that if you're a tithing and not robbing god of offerings remember that the woman who was poor put in two mites all she had she wasn't tithing she just gave all she had and God and Jesus said she gave more than all the rich men putting money into the temple Treasury but he said he will open up to you the windows of heaven he'll be not enough room to receive it I know my 1st 3rd 5 year God blessed me with that time non-stop flights across the country were kind of special they're not the more routine now but in 1963 after my freshman year in ambassador I had my first nonstop flight from Los Angeles to New York as I recall it was 4 hours and 17 minutes and they haven't improved on that time since but nonetheless the 3rd tigey Ryall so was married God gave me as it says a prudent wife is from the eternal oh god bless me and I hope that all of you experienced that promise fulfilled that God will open you to you the windows of heaven it doesn't mean if your tithing and yet you're breaking God's commandments in many other ways that he's going to open the windows of heaven to you you need to make sure that your striving with your whole heart to fulfill all God's law of love take a look at another one and that is Philippians 4:19 I refer to that in terms of God providing us this beating Hall Philippians 4 and verse 19 and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus so what are your needs well you have physical leads to a spiritual leads and of course they must be godly needs not ungodly needs like the opiate epidemic that's striking the United States and very terrible plague and it's going to do is just basically every day but God will provide your godly needs you know the story of mr. Armstrong asking for 10 cents that's in the autobiography of Herbert W Armstrong volume 1 chapter 23 the subhead said asking God for 10 cents you know the story that the baby was crying and mr. Armstrong said loma give me ten cents I need to go get some milk for the crying baby so I don't have ten cents so he went into the bedroom and prayed privately and claimed God's promise of Philippians 4:19 said well God I you promise to bribe my every need the baby's crying and need some milk and this is a need I claimed their promise please send me ten cents so just he got out from prayer and then one of the daughters looked out and oh dad there's the rag and bottle man and also tell them to come in maybe we can sell them something so of course mr. Armstrong took them down in the basement and he looked around said well I don't see anything here that it's interest me embodying and just he was going up the stairs he said oh there's a pile of magazines I'll give you ten cents for those and the storms trying to tried to get a dollar out of him but he realized no he had prayed for 10 cents and so God answered that prayer he got the ten cents and Beverly down to the store to get the milk for the crying baby there's a wonderful story I hope you have not read miss Armstrong's autobiography dr. Meredith has been rereading that recently and said how inspiring it is he has been so encouraged by reading that first volume of Herbert W Armstrong's autobiography I'll encourage all of you to do the same this is one of my favorite favorite promises Psalm 37 verse 4 Psalm 37 verse 4 no God promises our every need but will he give you something beyond your needs well with conditions yes Psalm 37 and there are conditions to it Psalm 37 verse 4 delight yourself also in the eternal and he shall give you the desires of your heart one of the desires of my heart was to go to Jerusalem and I prayed about that and 17 years after I prayed about that I was there where was it oh yes in the Hall of administration and that was 1984 and mr. Raymond McNair was deputy chancellor at times had came into my office and said dick they have the archaeological dig there in the City of David in Jerusalem and mr. Armstrong wants you and your wife to go to Jerusalem the dig and I literally I think I literally jumped up in the air for joy I call that a jump for joy moments I don't know how many jump for joy moments you've had but they are rare I confessed to that but I have had jump for joy moments and that was one of them I had prayed for 17 years to go to Jerusalem claiming this promise that God would give me the desires of your heart now remember the desires have to be godly desires they can't be ungodly and lawless and sinful desires but notice there's more in concerning the requirements verse 5 commit your way to the eternal Trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass so he's requiring delight in him he's requiring that you commit your way to him it is requiring that you trust in him he will give you the desires of your heart of course that's part of fulfilling the seven Laws of Success of setting a goal having the education good health preparation the drive the perseverance the resourcefulness and of course the guidance of God those seven Laws of Success but here's one of God's wonderful promises I've experienced and I hope that you can experience it as well then of course there are the spiritual blessings as well as the physical blessings that come along we already read in Proverbs 2 they were to seek wisdom knowledge and understanding and seek for those spiritual blessings very valuable blessings let's turn to James the first chapter James and again here those spiritual attributes those spiritual gifts are special to only God's people and you are God's people James 1 my brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials verse 2 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience but let patience have it's perfect work that you may be perfect or mature and complete lacking nothing God's masterpiece of creation is creating a new His perfect character and we're not perfect I think I drop things with my hands I don't wait a minute look concentrate on what you're doing while you're doing it you need good and I cooperation just because you're eight years of age doesn't mean you should drop things so we have to again try to be perfect as we can but perfect in loving and that means unconditional love that whole sermon on that become perfect complete lacking nothing if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all liberally well God is generous and without reproach and it will be given him but let him ask in faith and not no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed in the wind so God will give you wisdom he'll give you faith he'll give you understanding he'll give you his holy spirit as we saw already in Luke 11 and verse 13 if we as physical parents know how to give good things to our children how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him that is power that's understanding and truth the very power by which the universes came into being the very power by which God gives us his love the very power Oh begettal that God has begotten each of us by His Holy Spirit we become his children there are so many hundreds of other promises of course correction he promises to corrective that's part of even Philippians 4:19 he'll provide every our every need and that even means correcting us in love you know that chapter Hebrews 12 verse 5 the correction with love chapter and then he promises us forgiveness I already mentioned first John 1 verse 9 but you have to repent and ask forgiveness he promises us a piece of buying but we might turn there to that one in Philippians 4 because this is a plague on American people and people around the world they are stressed the degree of mental ill-health is increasing the United States and yet God can give you soundness of mind and peace of mind verse 4 Philippians 4 rejoice in the Lord always I say rejoice let your gentleness be known to all men the Lord is at and yes Christ has given another promise John 14 I will return that's an awesome promise of course let's like the proofs and prophecy and promises prophecy of promises sometimes overlap and Christ is promising to come back and we all need to respond of course as the next to last verse of the Bible says it John said the Apostle John even so come Lord Jesus I hope that's your desire and that's your prayer so that's one of God's promises rejoice in the Lord always again I say rejoice let your gentleness be known to all men the Lord is at hand be anxious for nothing when I got anxious I have to reflect myself oh I'm getting anxious I'm getting stressed but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and here's the promise verse 7 the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus finally brethren whatsoever things are true noble just pure lovely good of good report virtue if they're anything praiseworthy meditate on these things these things which you've learned and received and heard and saw me do and the God of peace will be with you what awesome pearls our promise God is giving us extend one more of so many hundreds and dozens of awesome promises like my other favorite promises is Ephesians 3:20 vision 3:20 mr. Wiley Smith sermon on you have no idea covered this whole section about the awesome future that we have of really knowing God and how do we know him and and realizing that we will be filled with the fullness of God verse 19 that hasn't happened yet it will happen when we are born into the kingdom of God but verse 20 now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us in the glory in the church by Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever do you have that concept that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that's in us I claim that promise one time and I was coming back from ambassador College to my engineering job in Norfolk Virginia and was ask God for a place to live exceedingly abundantly above all that I could think to ask or imagine and when I flew back to Norfolk to the Regional Planning Commission area I had to find a place somewhere near the office so I went to the YMCA and they had a room there of $2 a night but it wasn't really up to standard so I went down the street rented a condo not a condo a I guess an efficiency apartment down in the basement for one week and that week as I started my summer job with the engineering job with the Regional Planning Commission I was going out looking for the mansion but I knew God was going to give me because I claimed Ephesians 3:20 and by the end of the week nothing happened I called my landlady out at Virginia Beach had a where I rented an apartment on the lake and she said all that apartment that you rented Dix rented sorry I can't read it to you at the end of the week I had to say God in heaven I got to now go from a week's rental fee rate to a monthly rental rate and that's Thursday night tomorrow my rents up I've got to find someplace but if you want me to stay here in this discouraging basement apartment your will be done because I look up and I see windows at the street level and see people walking by and I was down in a basement apartment the next day at the office I got a call from my landlady saying dick you know the apartment you rented is occupied but if I move out of my home would you like to rent it oh really how much the same amount that I paid for the apartment she moved out of her house to her sister to her daughter's home next door so I could move into her home right on the lake God answered that prayer of Ephesians 3:20 exceedingly abundantly above all but I could ever think to ask her imagine I had a secretary I told her is that sorry she was a third tied Widow there in Big Sandy and she was kind of discouraged say well I guess my life is just I just don't find anything exciting I told her my story so we'll look pray and ask God to give you something she'd like to do some traveling well pray and ask God that he'll give you something exceedingly abundantly above all you can ever think to ask her imagine oh that that would take a lot of boldness on my part yes you can do it to pray and ask that she did and she was with one of the other widows in big sand here in this Widow was fairly wealthy and she said well you know I won't say her name I'll say would say a Jane you know that I've been really wanting to travel and really I need someone to travel with me would you like to go with me in fact I would like to travel around the world and I'd like to visit all of the church offices around the world my secretary traveled around the world this other woman paid her expenses visited the church offices around the world dr. Doug Whannell has done that I haven't done that but my secretary did that because she claimed the promise of Ephesians 3:20 now of course there are requirements of course we need to also had to learn the lesson you know your will be done not mine if you want me to live in in a discouraging basement apartment your will be done not mine we need to always have that so God has given us the promises of peace of mind the ability to endure trials the gift of the Holy Spirit the gift of his love Romans 5:5 he's given us the gift and the promise of eternal life and of course mr. Weston's booklet on John 3:16 he mentions that the very last chapter chapter 8 we do not like to think about it but every one of us is going to die then what what happens after death where if any place will you go and what will you be answer is very depending on where you look in what you ask what John 3:16 promises the potential of an unending life after death for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life we must note that the promise of everlasting life is conditional perishing is the natural outcome of a sinful life but this verse gives us hope beyond the grave though God has given us a guarantee of eternal life we thank God for all of those promises we need to understand who we are that we actually brethren are the children of promise that's in Galatians 4 verse 28 tells us in Romans 8 that we are heirs of God joint heirs with Christ so brethren we are heirs of promise they're heirs of God we're joint heirs with Christ we are special treasures in God's sight he told Israel you'll be a special treasure to be in Exodus 19 and in Deuteronomy 7 and in Deuteronomy 14 but he calls us his jewels in Malachi the fourth chapter so brethren let's trust God let's claim God's glorious and precious promises and understand that through patience and faith with obedience we will inherit the promises we conclude with the Hebrews the eleventh chapter verse 13 Hebrews 11 verse 13 these are the men and women of faith these all died in faith not having received the promises that is the eternal promises they received a lot of current promises but having seen them afar off we're assured of them embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth our responsibility brethren is to embrace the promises so let's claim God's promises let's search for those spiritual treasures and realize that the treasures at Oak Island that have been searched for and millions spent six lives lost in search of those treasures at Oak Island after two hundred and twenty-two years but God is giving us freely his spiritual treasures let's brethren thank God for his true treasures let's rejoice as we diligently claim God's exceeding great and precious promises you

Channel: Living Church of God

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Keywords: Christian, Prophecy, God's Promises, Salvation, Kingdom, God

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Length: 71min 15sec (4275 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 14 2017