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Promise: 1. An assurance given by one to another that the former will perform a specified act.
2. A reasonable ground for hope or expectation
In Greek, faith is pis tis and means a conviction in the truthfulness of God.
God is faithful/trustworthy (Deut. 7:9; Isa. 49:7; 1 Cor. 1:9; 10:13; Heb. 10:23; 2 Thess. 3:3; 1
Thess. 5:24; Titus 1:2; 2 Tim. 2:13; John 1:9)
Hearing about God’s faithfulness strengthens our own faith (Rom. 10:17)
The Bible is a record of God’s promises and his faithfulness in keeping those promises
Joshua wrote, "Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed;
every one was fulfilled (Joshua 21:45)."
A few hundred years later King Solomon reminded his generation of the same thing
when he said in 1 Kings 8:56, "Not one word has failed of all the good promises He
gave..."
But we need to be careful not to limit what God can do in our own minds
Doubt comes from leaning upon our own understanding (Prov. 3:5)
Abraham tried to substitute Ishmael as his heir because he did not believe God could produce a
son through he and Sarah in their old age. (Gen. 17:18)
Is anything impossible for the Lord? (Gen. 18:14) NO!!! (Job 42:2; Matt. 19:26; Luke 1:37;
Eph. 3:20)
God has the power to carry out his promises (Rom. 4:17 & 21, Eph. 6:10, Jer.
32:17)
A young, new preacher was walking with an older more seasoned preacher in the
garden one day and he was feeling a insecure about what God had for him to do. So he
inquired of the older preacher. This older preacher walked up to a rose bush and then
handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any
petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to
figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will
of God for his life and for his ministry. Because of high respect for the older preacher,
he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact…it wasn’t long
before he realized how it was impossible to do so. Noticing the young preachers
inability to unfold the rosebud while keeping it intact, the older preacher began to tell
the following poem.
Ray Stedman, wrote, "If you have a God who can raise things from the dead
and who can call into existence the things that do not exist … [then] you will
never know when a thing that is dead and dull and lifeless may be touched by
the grace of God and brought to life again."
We are called to have “Child-like Faith” - A firm belief in the reliability of God and the truth
of His word. Just as a child learns to implicitly trust its mother, so a young Christian relies on
the Lord for its spiritual leading, feeding and protection (Mark 10:15)
Living Exercising/Demonstrating faith strengthens/grows faith, develops confidence in God and a firm
reliance on the certainty of God’s grace, counsel and enabling. (Matt. 7:7-11)
We can demonstrate our faith by, waiting patiently/persevering in faith, for the fulfillment of God’s
promises (Heb. 6:12 & 10:36; 1 Cor. 16:13)
Abraham waited 25 years, until he was 100 years old, between God’s original promise & the birth of
Isaac (Heb. 6:15; Gen. 18:14)
David waited for years during the wicked reign of Saul before he came to the throne of Israel.
God’s first promise of a Messiah appears all the way back in Genesis (Gen. 3:14-15)
God has promised salvation/eternal life (John 10:28; 1 John 2:25; 5:11-12; Heb. 9:15)
People can gain the benefits of God’s promise to be declared righteous by their faith, through His
grace (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3; 16 & 24; Gal. 3:6-7; James 2:23)
Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises (Rom. 15:8; 2 Cor. 1:20; Gal. 3:16;1 Cor.
15:45)
"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed (Gen. 22:18)
Sarai = Princess
Sarah = Noblewoman