Divine Sugar Sticks for November 2002

What's the background behind Sugar Sticks? Click here to find out.

Saturday, November 30, 2002

The Blessing of Jacob for His Son Joseph Carries the Promise of Nature’s Gifts for All the Offspring of God

“Blessed of JEHOVAH be his land,
“For the precious things of Heaven, for the dew,
“For the deep that coucheth beneath,
“For the precious things of the fruit of the sun,
“For the precious things of the growth of the moons, or months,
“For the precious things of the everlasting hills,
“For the precious things of the earth, and the fullness thereof, and the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush,” Duet 33:13-16.

Promises for the Natural World (Continued)

The Rainbow!

For nature, emerging from beneath her watery covering, there was the Divine Promise that never again would a flood destroy the earth.

The bow set in the cloud was to be the enduring remembrance-token. Circling the heavens with its belt of golden hues, it was to testify of God’s Promise, and appears as a lasting memorial of His covenant throughout all generations.

Since Noah’s day, different parts of the earth have experienced devastating floods but ever and anon the beautiful rainbow appears to remind sinful man that “God shall no more destroy all flesh.”

The rainbow is also a remembrance to Himself of His Gracious Promise, “I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting covenant.”

Such a bow of Promise was also to be the pledge of the perpetuity of nature’s blessings.

“The Fountain of Jacob Shall be Opened Upon a Land of Corn and Wine, Also His Heavens Shall Drop Down Dew,” Deuteronomy 33:28

It is not wonderful how, with amazing regularity, God meets the needs of the millions on earth in succeeding generations?

True, there is poverty among plenty, and multitudes in some parts of the world live on the verge of starvation, while others have enough to spare.

But this is no break down of nature. It comes about through man’s unequal distribution of nature’s bounties.

The Storms and Winds May Rise and Rage But …

“He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still,” Psalm 107:23-30.

He also controls the skies and atmospheric conditions that can empty the clouds of rain, or permit drought.

There may be times when it seems as if part of the country we live in has too much rain, and the sigh escapes for a drier, sunnier climate.

It is no use to grumble and complain.
It is just as cheap and easy to rejoice.
When God sorts out the weather and sends the rain.
Why, rain’s my choice!

“They Joy Before Thee According to the Joy in Harvest,” Isaiah 9:3

The tragedy is that although the good seed is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand, and He sends the beneficial snow in winter, He gets little thanks from man.

The ever-recurring summers, autumns, winters, and springs, with all each season produces, are taken as a matter of course. The majority, blessed by nature, do not magnify the Lord, for all things bright and beautiful and good. God’s Promise of increasing supply is not recognized.

In the Bible there are various “promised harvests,” harvests both of joy and judgment. The natural world is made to illustrate the judicial realm.

As autumn comes around, and we have our harvest festival, does the same thing not bring with it the verification of the Promise given to Noah? And does our heart not gratefully sing to the Lord of the harvest?

“They Joy Before Thee According to the Joy in Harvest,” Isaiah 9:3

In this narrative, Isaiah uses the illustration from nature as a Promise of a “Divine Child,” as Israel’s only hope.

Knowing something of the harvest, the Lord Jesus Christ is to gather as a result of His victory over the forces of hell. We, too, joy before the Lord according to the joy of harvest!

As the former rejoices over His gathered crop, at the judgment seat, as laborers in the Lord’s vineyard, we likewise can know the joy of harvest. 1 Thes 2:19, 20.

Will you have sheaves to rejoice over at that harvest time?

Friday, November 29, 2002

Promises and the Natural World

In his appeal to the men of Athens, Paul, using as his text the altar inscription “to the unknown god,” declared that such a God was.

The heart -inspiring truth emphasized throughout the Bible is that God, as the Lord of nature and providence, promises an abundance of good things as the seasons, which He has determined, come and go,” Acts 17:26. The universe offers itself to view as earth, sky, and sea.

Promises in the Natural World

1. He is the Creator and Controller of the sea.
   

Thought for the Day!

6 6 6

6 6 6

Promises in the Natural World

2. He is the Creator and Controller of the sky.
   

Promises in the Natural World

3. He is the Creator and Controller of the earth – Part One
   

All the foregoing evidences of Divine ownership and sovereignty prove that as a servant is dependent upon his master, so is all of nature upon the Lord.

Promises in the Natural World

3. Creator and Controller of the earth – Part Two
   
   Nature is not her own governess. She does not follow her own will, but her Lord’s will. She does not express her own thoughts and purposes. For instance, the sun rises every day at the right moment. Who is the thinker? The sun? No, but God who created it, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator.
   
   The bee builds her comb according the severest principles of geometry. Who is the mathematician? The bee? No. But the Lord who created it.
   
   This nature has no thought, no will of her own. She is entirely under the control of her Lord. What a magnificent display of God’s dominion in His own world Job gives us. Read the absorbing incomparable description. Job 37-41.
   
   “Mother nature” doesn’t have a mother. Nature has a Creator.
   “The mother of God.” God doesn’t have a mother. Mary is the mother of the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, not of His Deity. Mary can’t produce Deity.
   

Question: How do You Decide Whom to Marry?

Answer by Alan, 10 years old.

“You have to find someone who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she will like it that you like sports, and she will keep the chips and the dip coming.”

Thursday, November 28, 2002

Thanksgiving Day 2002

There are some 34 things we receive at the point of salvation. If you begin to thank Him for them, by the time you finish, you will forget about fighting over who gets the drum sticks.

“I Was in Prison and Ye Came to Me,” Matthew 25:36

Civil prisons testify to the reality of sin.

Society demands them as a means of punishment for crime. All within our national prisons are there because they deserve to be there.

Modern prisons, especially in so-called democratic countries, are far removed from the cold barbarity once associated with them. Liberty is given to messengers of Christ to visit our prisons and influence the prisoners to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour.

What trophies of Grace have come from a prison cell. In His Olivet discourse, our Lord affirms that in caring for the needy, whether in or out of prison, we are actually ministering unto Him.

The first man to receive the crucified Saviour was a criminal, who was dying for his evil deeds.

“The Lord Despiseth Not His Prisoners,” Psalm 69:33

The Bible uses a prison in various ways.

But unto such the Promise was given that the Lord would not despise or leave them to rot unforgotten. He hears their sighs and has His own way of delivering them as Peter proved when his prison doors opened “of their own accord.”

“Turn Ye to the Strong Hold, Ye Prisoners of Hope,” Zechariah 9:12

Now here is a verse I am sure everyone is familiar with. It is taught oh so often from the pulpits of our churches. Right!

Here the narrative is directly related to the re-gathering of Israel and her re-establishment as a nation – not today.

The figure of speech is therefore most expressive.

Scattered as they are among the nations, the Jews are upheld amid much suffering by God’s promised deliverance. They believed that He would bring them to the strong hold of their own land, and render them a double blessing. For their tears, God would give them triumph. Glory was to compensate their grief.

As prisoners in many lands, i.e., Russia, the Jews still hope on.

The Saints of God are Likewise “Prisoners of Hope”

Their redeemed souls are within the prison of their body yearning for freedom. Fettered by the world and the flesh, they cannot serve the Lord as they should or would like.

But at Christ’s coming, however, they leap out of their bodily prison, leaving their chains behind.

If the “Prince of Peace” Himself is Not Recognized and Revered by War-Like Nations, How Can There be the Universal Peace That Millions Sigh For?

Visualize world peace – without the Prince of Peace??

How apt are the prophet’s words in more ways than one.

Wednesday, November 27, 2002

P.O.W. Promises

A pit, as a prison, was prevalent in the east. Usually prisoners were let down through a hole in a narrow pit, where they were confined at the pleasure of their tyrannical masters.

Isaiah makes it clear that no captive wants to die in such a prison.

P.O.W. Promises

What vile prisons countless multitudes were forced to suffer during World War II. German and Japanese prison camps, and Russian slave camps, were most cruel and inhumane and against all international agreement.

To the credit of America, we were more humane in our treatment of war prisoners.

In 1942, Rev. John Leonard Wilson, bishop of Singapore, was suspected of being a spy, imprisoned, and tortured by the secret police. In such painful and pitiable conditions, what was the bishop’s hope and of thousands like him who love the Lord? Why, the Divine Promises of Him who is never deaf to the sighing of the prisoner sustained them.

Describing the privations and threatened hunger of the prison, Isaiah gives us one of those blessed buts of the Bible.

P.O.W. Promises – “But”

A captive people like Israel never treated God’s Promises as if they were curiosities of a museum. When captives of the mighty rulers, the Words of the prophets were the source of comfort and hope in exile.

God was made to take the prey from the mighty, and through His servant, He promised to contend with those who ill-treated His own.

When war breaks loose upon the world, men, women, and children in conquered countries become prisoners and many languish and die. What a terrible blot on civilization was the brutal massacre of more than five million helpless Jews by Adolph Hitler. Cruel aggressors however, merit the judgment of Heaven. The humiliating end of Hitler and Mussolini fittingly illustrated the Divine condemnation.

The Romans Had a Singular Method of Fettering Their Prisoners

The one end of a long chain was fixed upon the right arm of the prisoner, and the other end was fastened to the left arm of the soldier.

Thus a prisoner was always attended and guarded, which occasioned one of the most pathetic and affecting strokes of true oratory ever displayed either in the Greek or Roman senate.

Can we not imagine how Paul would accompany his words with the parade and dangling of his chains? Yet his bonds were a blessing, for they gave the apostle great opportunities of winning his guards to the Lord.

We can really picture him claiming such a hope to his changing guard. Grace was his to fashion a pulpit out of his prison. That both Paul and Peter endured imprisonments yet received prison succor and deliverance is fully dealt with in the Bible.

“The King ... Changed His Prison Garments,” 2 Kings 25:29

The king of Babylon acted most graciously when he came to the release of Jehoiachin, his royal prisoner. Read the context. Verses 27–30 and note the handsome treatment Jehoiachin received and which continued all the days of his life.

How pleased he must have been when by the edict of Evilmerodach, he disgarded his prison garb and once again donned his royal attire and went forth to enjoy the promise of freedom.

His coarse clothes, symbol of captivity, were exchanged for gold and purple, symbols of royalty.

Does not this supply us with a picture of God’s matchless Grace?

Boy! I bet some preachers can go to town on this picture of the change that takes place in our clothing when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour.

Filthy rags to fine white linen!

Thought for the Day

If I knew you and you knew me,
And both of us could clearly see,
And with an inner light Divine,
The meaning of your soul and mine.

I am sure that we would differ less,
And clasp our hands in friendliness.
Our thoughts would mutually agree,
If I knew you and you knew me.

Tuesday, November 26, 2002

“No Weapon (That Means Even Nuclear Ones) That is Formed Against Thee Shall Prosper,” Isaiah 51:17

While this is a Promise directly related to restored Israel, like many other of her Promises, we can claim the life of it.

God is still able “to break the bow and cut the spear to sunder.”

Modern weapons of war are indeed fearful and diabolical, but the Lord knows how to bring them to naught. Often He rallies the forces of nature to combat the cruelty of men.

It was thus that the Lord used the snow against Napoleon and the miracle mists at Dunkirk.

“Shall Your Brethren Go to War and Shall Ye Sit Here?” Numbers 32:6

Whenever war breaks loose upon a nation, the vexing question of Christian participation inevitably arises.

Pacifists and conscientious objectors become conspicuous as they affirm their own unwillingness to take up arms against any man.

War is un-Christian, it is said, and diametrically opposed to the witness and the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In our so-called democracy, such individual conscience is tolerated and respected. Still the problem is, what should be the attitude of a Christian when war arises?

Is he like the children of God and the children of Reuben, to sit in comfort, while others go out to bleed and die?

A Christian, although a citizen of Heaven, is likewise a citizen of earth, must decide whether or not he has corresponding responsibilities and should be “in subjection to the powers that be.” Peter gives us clear instructions on this matter. Read 1 Pet 2:12-25.

You Cannot Enforce Christian Principles on a Non-Christian World.

They that take the sword must perish by the sword.

Some of the godliest men were soldiers, who fought and died for their country’s honor. To those, like general Fordon, the Promises of Divine succor were most precious.

Bravely do whatever the time demands,
Whether with pen or sword, and not to flinch.
This is the task that fits heroic hands,
So are Truth’s boundaries widened, inch by inch.

Monday, November 25, 2002

Promises for War and Terrorist Attacks

While the above and similar Promises do not guarantee immunity from the sorrows of war, they nevertheless imply that if we should be swept along by a current of war, we have a source of consolation and hope of which the godless are ignorant. Prov 3:24-26.

“He Shall Redeem Thee in War From the Power of the Sword,” Job 5:30

Through the ages the instruments of war have become more deadly, until misdirected ingenuity and science have succeeded in creating the most fearful implements of destruction ever known.

But Job’s Promise declares that God is able to preserve both man and family in time of war.

True, Christians perish as well as non-Christians when battles rage, but for the Christians who perish by the way, there is the consolation that warring forces are “not able to kill the real you, the soul.” Matt 10:28.

Bombs only deliver the believer from the sordidness of earth. For them, sudden death is sudden glory. Some of the early martyrs would kiss the flames encircling them, seeing they only hastened their entrance into Heaven.

“Fear Not For They That be with Us Are More Than They That be with Them,” 2 Kings 6:16

The young man who was disturbed by the overwhelming host with horses and chariots surrounding Samaria, had to be reminded by Elisha that there were mightier invisible hosts acting as the city’s bodyguards.

Do we believe that greater is He that is for us than any arrayed against us?

Sunday, November 24, 2002

Psalm 2, “He That Sits in the Heavens Laughs.”

Shakespeare expressed the sentiment “that time’s glory is to calm contending kings.”

Time, however, is not calming contentious kings. What bitter contention characterizes the meeting of the rulers of nations today. How utterly godless some of these rulers are.

But He who sits in the Heavens, laughs. And He can afford to laugh for His day is coming. When it does, all will bow before Him and recognize His supremacy as the World Emperor.

If only those who have the destinies of nations in their hands would presently acknowledge God’s sovereignty, and make the patriotic prayer of Daniel, Prime Minister of Babylon, their own cry.

Our Attitude Toward the Kings and Rulers of the Earth, Whether They Are Godly or Ungodly, is Clearly Defined in Scripture

1. We are not to speak evil of them. Job 34:18, 2 Pet 2:10.
2. Pay necessary tribute to them. Matt 22:21, Rom 13:6, 7.
3. Not despise, but honor them. Rom 13:7, 1 Pet 2:17, Jude 8.
4. Fear and reverence them. Prov 21:21, 1 Sam 24:8, 1 Kings 1:23, 31.
5. Respect their Divine ordination. Rom 13:2.
6. And obey them. Rom 13:1, 3, 1 Pet 2:13.
   

“Submit Yourselves to the King as Supreme,” 1 Peter 2:13

When Peter wrote this, he was addressing the slaves of Caesar, to whom the Lord Jesus Christ said everything had to be rendered which were His.

Whether we believe in the Divine right of kings or not, the fact remains that it is the will of God that the citizens of a country must be subject to decrees its ruler makes.

In lands governed by atheistic, Communist rulers it may be hard for the saints in such countries to obey the apostolic exhortation to pray for them, 1 Tim 2:1, 2.

Can prayer avail against those who abuse their authority when they endeavor to destroy all that is of the Christian faith? How can those under Communism lead quiet and peaceful lives in all godliness and honesty?

Believers in Russia and China may feel it useless to concentrate prayer effort upon their godless rulers, interceding for their recognition of Divine wisdom in all their deliberations. But pray they must.

Is not the God they pray to, the Lord God omnipotent, with power to set up or depose earthly rulers? Prayerfully they can await the coming of His peaceful kingdom.

Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane.
But the body of Christ constant will remain.
The gates of hell can never against that body prevail.
We have Christ’s own Promise and that cannot fail.

“Wars and Rumours of Wars TiIl I Come”

We now come to examine a few Promises related to war, which will not be abolished until the “Prince of Peace” takes over the government of the earth.

Ever since humanity was divided into nations, there appeared kings, princes, and rulers, and there have been feuds and conflicts between them, resulting in terrible bloodshed.

Monarchs and wars have been, and still are, synonymous. What holocausts of destruction the world has experienced!

Millions have looked up to Heaven through their blinding tears and cried, “O, God, why do men make wars?”

Our Lord declared that until the Gentile age has run its course,

But the bright Promise is:

Summit Conferences for Rulers to Meet and Plan for Peace

The U.N. in New York was conceived along with the “League of Nations” before it, to banish war from the earth. But yet since its inception, we have had nothing but a succession of wars and the rape of nations like Hungary, and Tibet by larger, power-hungry nations.

Certainly we should pray for statesmen as they explore the avenues of peace, but with our Bibles open before us, we know that any respite from war will only be temporary.

The prerogative of world peace belongs to the Lord Who is coming “to break the bow asunder.”

The recurring “personal pronoun” in the Promise of the psalmist must not be lost sight of.

“He... He... He.” The abolition of war and the complete destruction of the munitions of war, await the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth.

Meanwhile, our attitude should be that of supreme confidence in the realization of the Promise of ultimate Divine sovereignty.

If God Should Permit Another War in Our Lifetime, There Are Promises We Can Cling to if Wardrums Should Beat Again

Yes, there are many that we can hide in our souls.

A wonderful feature of “war Promises” given thousands of years ago is that they have brought consolation and strength to the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ caught up in the horrors of war in succeeding ages.

Such Promises, all kinds of Promises, are inexhaustible. With passing generations they seem to hold a deeper meaning and greater truth.

During World War II, many Old Testament Promises seemed to be as fresh courage amid the sacrifice and carnage of war.

Do you have a list of war Promises in case of another “terrorist attack?”

Keep in touch. I will list them for you. Put them on your refrigerator. You might also want to check out two of our publications –  Promises for Warfare and Promises for Prisoners of War.

Saturday, November 23, 2002

God, Who is Able to Reprove Kings (1 Chronicles 16:21) is the Avowed Enemy of Covetousness in Any Shape or Form

God gave us kings in His wrath, and if He did, it is because of covetousness. Israel’s first king was given thus in wrath.

Israel Coveted All the Glitter and Glory, Pomp and Pride of Gentile Kings and Demanded of Samuel ...

“Make us a king to judge us like all the nations,” 1 Sam 8:5, 10:19.

Thus the people rejected theocracy for monarchy, with dire results as their future history proves. The avarice and pride of rulers have deeply stained the earth with the blood of millions.

Divine Rules for Rulers to Obey with Promise of Divine Favor if God is Honored in National Life Are Scattered Throughout the Bible

Monarchs and rulers must fear God and rule in the fear of God.

These words were among the last spoken by King David, whose reign was an honored one. While guilty of a dark sin marring his royal influence in the nation, David was just and sought to rule in the fear of God. The bent of his life was Godward. This illustrious king left a Promise for all those willing to rule as unto God.

How different civilization would have been if only kings had kept David’s precept and Promise in mind.

Rulers Are Exhorted to Promote the Interest of Divine Institutions

Rulers should maintain the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

Judgment Must Never be Perverted

All matters relating to subjects must be fully investigated.

There Are Warnings for Rulers Against All Kinds of Evil

The foregoing injunctions prove that the influence of a ruler’s reign depends upon his morals.

Often when a ruler’s ways are corrupt and his judgments warped, national life becomes the mirror of his own life.

The Witness of History, Biblical and Secular, Shows That When Kings Are Godly and Wise, and Pledge Allegiance to the King of Kings, Then Their Reign is Most Beneficial to Their Subjects

Not only so, but “promised blessings” are for those who reign in truth and righteousness.

1. If only all sovereigns and potentates “could have Grace poured into their lips,” Psa 46.
   
2. And “favor of the wise,” Prov 14:35.
   
3. And “honor for the diligent,” Prov 22:20.
   
4. That “keep the Divine law,” 1 Kings 2:3.
   
5. “That study the Scriptures,” Deut 17:19.
   
6. “And serve the Lord Jesus Christ,” Psa 2:10-12.

How enriched their lives would be.

The Tragedy is That Throughout the Centuries so Many of the Kings of the Earth Have Set Themselves and the Rulers Have Taken Counsel Together Against the Lord, Psalm 2:2

And Divine restraints have been disregarded.

The language employed by the psalmist describes a deliberate and planned hostility to God on the part of the earthly rulers. They are unified in their determination to abolish all restraints.

Then the rage and rejection depicted carry a prophetic significance.

Before the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this earth as the “King of kings,” earth rulers will be cemented into a godless confederacy. Their every action will be against God. But the Promise is that His King, His beloved Son, will take unto Himself His power and reign.

Thought for the Day!

There has never been a one world ruler and there never will be until the Lord Jesus Christ returns and rules.

Simply because, if there is a one world ruler, Satan can influence him and destroy the whole world.

Likewise, this new “Homeland Security” program is anti-Biblical, because you are doing the same thing – having one ruler over many departments, which gives Satan an advantage. Better to have many departments and many heads because Satan can’t be at two places at once.

Friday, November 22, 2002

“There is No King Saved by the Multitude of an Host, a Mighty Man (or Monarch) is Not Delivered by His great Strength ... He is Our Help and Our Shield,” Psalm 33:16, 20

David, warrior and writer, knew what he was talking about, for although he became a great king, he was yet severely punished for numbering his soldiers, indicating thereby that the deliverance from his enemies was wholly dependent upon a host of brave soldiers.

But He has not promised to be on the side of big battalions.

National security is not the outcome of strong fighting forces, or the possession of the most deadly weapons.

No king is immune from defeat and disaster because of what he has, whether much or little. National prosperity and peace are ordained by the Lord.

“Woe to Them That Go Down to Egypt for Help and Stay Upon Horses, and Trust in Chariots, Because They Are Many, and in Horsemen Because They Are Strong, But They Look Not Unto the Holy One of Israel, Neither Seek the Lord,” Isaiah 31:1

King Hezekiah received the Promise of deliverance from the overwhelming forces of Assyria because he recognized his utter inability to do anything apart from God. And in the end, God did it all.

Hezekiah had not to raise a finger in his defense. The Assyrian host of 185,000 were slain by the “Angel of the Lord,” the Lord Jesus Christ, Isa 36, 37.

Thought for the Day!

If you will seek the Lord, He will reward you. God is a Rewarder!

“Hezekiah Prayed Before the Lord and Said, O Lord God of Israel, Which Dwelleth Between the Cherubim, Thou Art God, Even Thou Alone, All of the Kingdoms of the Earth, Thou Hast Made Heaven and Earth ...

“The Lord said, I will defend this city. To save it, for Mine own sake, and for My servant David’s sake. And it came to pass that night, that the Angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred four score and five thousand, and when Hezekiah rose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses,” 2 Kings 19:14-19, 34, 35.

A firm, unmistakable faith in God and the recognition of Him in every phase of national life, then is the strongest and most impregnable defense any nation can have – including “Home Security.”

Home Security

Except the Lord build the home security, they that build it, build it in vain!

Further God Has Promised That Kings Can Prolong Their Reign if Covetousness is Hated

Abolish justice and what are kingdoms but robberies.

Sacrificing all justice and honor, kings, lustful for more power and possessions, build up kingdoms of robbery.

Thursday, November 21, 2002

Gathering Together What the Bible Says About Kings, Rulers, Presidents, and the Divine Promises and Precepts Concerning Them

These facts stand out for all modern and future rulers to observe.

One. God overrules in their choice.

From the human point of view, heredity and elections appear to decide who is to rule and reign. But God is always in the shadows overruling in the affairs of nations and men.

References to the context where the above verses are found indicates promise of success if the omnipotent God is recognized, and threat of defeat if He is disposed.

Nebuchadnezzar – One of the Mightiest of Kings – Had to be Reminded that God is Omnipotent When it Comes to the Rise and Fall of Sovereigns

When we read that God sets up the basest of men to reign and attaches a Promise of Divine favor to the beneficent reign, we are to understand that He permits them to be chosen.

Without doubt, Adolph Hitler, the paper hanger, was one of the basest men, a child of hell, and yet God permitted him to reach his position of supreme power from which he cast the world into its most devastating war.

Faith rests in confidence on the Promise that God possesses infinite wisdom and therefore knows what he is about.

Rulers May Appear to Rule, But God Overrules

When the time comes for any cruel, godless ruler to be deposed, God will crush him even as he did Hitler. All rulers are dependent upon His sovereignty.

God Rules in the Kingdom of Men

Before thy breath like blazing flux,
Man and his marvels pass away.
And changing empires wane and wax,
Are founded, flourish, and decay.

Redeem thine hours, thy space is brief,
While in thy gates the sand grains shiver.
And measureless thy joy or grief,
When time and thou shalt part for ever.

Often Kings Exercise Their Power Arbitrarily and Have to be Reminded That Any Promise of a Prosperous Reign Depended Upon Their Endeavor to Emulate Divine Justice and Righteousness in Rule

Before There Was Any Expressed Desire on Israel’s Part for a King Such as the Surrounding Nations Possessed, God Gave Moses a “Profile” of the Kind of King He Was Willing to Bless

Then comes the Divine Promise of blessing:

Rulers Were Also Counseled to Remember That the Success of Their Rule Depended Not Upon Their Own Powers or Strength, But Solely Upon the Lord

Promises were attached to the full recognition of Him as the Source of all prosperity and to the determination of the rulers to serve Him and also those they governed.

Addressing the Australian Parliament at Melbourne in Feb. 1951, Queen Elizabeth II said,

“It is my resolve under God that I shall not only rule, but serve. That is not only the tradition of my family, it describes, I believe, the modern character of the British crown.”

What a different history of the nations would have been written if only all crowned heads from early monarchial times had, under God, served Him and those they governed.

Wednesday, November 20, 2002

“The Nations Shall Walk by its Light and the Kings of the Earth Bring Their Glory to it,” Revelation 21:24

At last, the sovereign rule of the Lord Jesus Christ is acknowledged. The seat of His government is in the midst of the city. And millennial kings and nations, then basking in the bright light of the ever-glorious city, gladly render their homage to Him who will then reign without a rival.

Meanwhile the Promise of Gentile salvation is being realized. In this present dispensation of Grace, there are no distinctions or exclusions whatever.

God does not segregate mankind into Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants. All are sinners in His sight, and can only be saved upon the acceptance of His terms. His design in this age is to gather out a people for His name – a people, or church, composed of only regenerate Jews and Gentiles. Thus all the Promises of salvation are related to those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, whether heathen or civilized, Jew or Gentile, Catholic or Protestant, there is no difference as to nationality or religion, for “We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God,” Rom 3:23.

As Gentiles Outnumber the Jews by Millions, Naturally There are More Gentiles Than Jews Being Brought into the True Church, the Body of Christ

It is wrong, however, to refer to the church as “the Gentile bride of Christ,” seeing this mystic body is composed of both Jew and Gentile as Paul teaches.

One solemn obligation as Grace continues to reign is to obey the Saviour’s commission to preach the Gospel “to every creature.”

We are to go out into the world in which there are countless millions still in spiritual darkness and beseech them to be reconciled to Him “Who would have all men to be saved.”

There Are Other Aspects of Gentile History in Which Promises of Good or Evil Are Associated …

And which we cannot afford to neglect in our study of the international realm.

From ancient times when mankind was divided up into nations, there have been kings, rulers, and presidents. Melchisedec is the first one in the Bible to be mentioned as a king, Gen 14:18.

The tragedy is that from the beginning of national life, there has been a constant record of devastating wars involving both Jews and Gentiles, the later being more conspicuously warlike than the former. Ambition and covetousness have resulted in horrible wars and captivities with their inevitable harvest of desolation, anguish, and sorrow for multitudes of innocent people.

The apostle James leaves us no doubt as to the root-cause of the clash among rulers.

This is why there will always be wars and rumors of war until the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this earth.

Tuesday, November 19, 2002

With the Great and Glorious Promise God Gave to Abraham That He Would be the Father of a New Nation, Genesis 12:1-3, …

The human race became separated into two sections. With Abraham commenced the Jewish race. The rest of mankind became the Gentile race.

Promises for both are scattered through the portions of Scripture from Gen 12 to the book of Daniel.

Such an exclusion of the nations through the choice of Israel did not mean that God was going to turn the Gentiles adrift. His sole purpose of separating them was that through the Jews, whom He raised up to magnify His name, He might ultimately include all in His great purpose of Grace.

Exclusion meant inclusion.

The Time of “Gentile Domination” is a Period Reaching From Nebuchadnezzar Right Over Until the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Earth, as the Rightful Lord and King

It was about 606 B.C. that God permitted world power to pass into the hands of Nebuchadnzzsar, Jer 27:5-7, 39:7.

Is it not somewhat striking that almost the same language is used of the commencement of Gentile monarchy, as of its consummation?

How Crowded with Promises the Period is Between These Two World Dominions is!

There are Promises made to Babylon’s monarch; Promises regarding Jewish dispersion, re-establishment in their own land; Promises concerning succeeding empires; Promises related to the coming of God’s King and of His universal sway when He reigns from shore to shore. Isa 63:1-6.

At present we are living “in the times of the Gentiles,” meaning that the nations of the world are Gentile in nature and government, with the exception of Israel.

The Gentile age will end, however, with the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth as He Himself taught in Matt 24:14.

Christ is the “Stone” (Dan 2:45, Isa 28:16) Cut Out of the Mountains Without Hands

Signifying His Divine origin, Who will appear in power and glory to end the Gentile reign in judgment. Isa 63:1-6, Dan 11:35, Zech 12:1-9.

Christ’s Return to Earth is an Event, Personal and Corporeal, and Not a Mere Process

When He appears, He will consummate and destroy the present (Gentile) political world system (Dan 2:34, 35 with Rev 19:11), and after this judgment (Matt 25:31-46), produce worldwide Gentile conversion and participation in the blessings of the kingdom. Isa 2:2-4, 11:10, 60:3; Zech 8:3, 20:23, 14:16-21. Then the Promise of Gabriel will be realized to the full.

Paul Declared That the Lord Jesus Christ Came to “Confirm the Promises Made Unto the Fathers,” Romans 15:8

He came, labored, and died in confirmation of many of those Promises, all of which He confirmed, but all of which have not been fulfilled.

Those relating to the future of His church, of Israel, and of the Gentile world await fulfillment.

Among the mysteries of the New Heaven and New Earth, this is set before us; that besides the glorified church there shall still be dwelling on the renewed earth, nations organized under kings and saved by means of the heavenly city.

Christ is waiting with long patience,
For His crowning day,
For that kingdom which shall never
Pass away.

And till every tribe and nation
Bow before His throne,
He expecteth loyal service
From His own.

He expecteth, but He heareth
Still the bitter cry,
From earth’s millions, “Come and help us
“For we die.”

Monday, November 18, 2002

Promise to Noah

To Noah, through whom God repeopled the earth again after the terrible destruction of the flood, many Promises were given.

There was the Promise of an established covenant.

There was the Promise of freedom from a further curse.

There was the Promise of enlargement through Japheth

The development of government, science, and art through the centuries is the indisputable fulfillment of such a Japhetic Promise.

There Was the Promise of Shem’s Peculiar Relation to JEHOVAH

From this point on, attention is focused upon the line of Shem, from whom sprang Abraham, the Hebrew race, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

There Was the Promise of Ham’s Inferior and Servile Posterity

In these days when we are witnessing the upsurge of nationalism among the Hamitic races, it would seem as if they are determined to reverse the Divine edict.

Sunday, November 17, 2002

The Way of the Gentiles

This prohibition did not mean that the Gentiles were denied participation in the Promise of the Gospel. While on earth, our Lord recognized the priority of Israel.

It was necessary for His disciples to learn how to show His compassion for the lost sheep of the house of Israel before they could enter into yearnings after the “sheep that were not of this fold.”

The salvation of the Gentiles is enshrined in many an Old Testament Promise, Isa 40:5.

The Times of the Gentiles

We have the Promise that the Gentile age, with all its warring activities, is to cease.

Gentile monarchy commenced with Judah’s servitude under Nebuchadnezzar, to whom was Divinely delegated a world empire.

The Promise is that Gentile world rule will be destroyed when the Lord Jesus Christ returns in glory and fashions the kingdoms of this world into His own world kingdom, Rev 11:15. Then, His kingdom is to stretch from shore to shore.

The Fullness of the Gentiles

This phrase is to be distinguished from the previous one, “the times of the Gentiles.” Here we have the Promise of salvation for the Gentiles.

Since Pentecost, the Lord Jesus Christ has been gathering in “other sheep,” John 10:16. Now, the world at large is the object of God’s redeeming love, John 3:16.

The Will of the Gentiles

The “will” here represents the “life” of the Gentiles; or “the manner of the Gentiles,” Gal 2:14; or “the vanities of the Gentiles,” Jer 14:22.

Such phrases represent the ungodly lives and ways of Gentile unbelievers. Choice must be made between “the will of God” and the “will of the Gentiles,” 1 Pet 4:1, 3.

Peter outlines many Promises of blessing for those who choose the sweet will of God.

Promises of deliverance from the guilt and government of sin in the lives of all Gentiles willing to change their mind about the Lord Jesus Christ and accept the Saviour of the world, are resident in a few interesting designations. For instance, God is described as, “the God of the Gentiles.”

The God of the Gentiles

As “the God of all flesh,” Jer 14:22, He cannot be guilty of partiality. What a blessed Promise this is for Gentile sinners throughout the world.

This God of love waits to be their God.

“As the King of the nations,” God’s outpouring power is described. Jer 10:7, Psa 113:4.

A Light to Lighten the Gentiles

In Simeon’s prophecy and promise of the Lord Jesus Christ as the world’s Redeemer, the Gentiles are given the first place.

He came as the “Light of the world,” but the tragedy is that both Gentiles and Jews are still blinded by the god of this world. The Promise of a full redemption is theirs, but they will not claim the Promise. The prophet speaks of “the veil that is spread over the nations,” Isa 25:7.

And how this darkening veil persists!

Our efforts should be made to bring the lost to Him who “is the Desire of all nations,” Hag 2:7.

Connecting an Old Testament Promise with its New Testament Repetition

Isaiah 42:6 with Luke 2:32

It says that the Lord Jesus Christ is promised to the Gentiles in a three-fold way.

1. As the “Light” bringing salvation to the Gentiles. Luke 2:32, Acts 13:47, 48.
   
2. As the “Root of Jesse,” reigning over the Gentiles in His kingdom. Isa 11:10, Rom 15:12. He saves Gentiles, a distinctive feature of this present age. Rom 11:17-24, Eph 2:11-12.
   He reigns over the Gentiles in the coming kingdom age, Psalm 2, Psalm 8, Zech 12:8.
   
3. As “the Head of the body.” Believing Gentiles, together with believing Jews, constitute “the church which is His body,” Eph 1:23, Eph 3:6.
   

The Apostle to the Gentiles

Paul, a Jew, was especially ordained of God to proclaim all the Promises of the Gospel to the great Gentile world, and it is for this reason he is identified as:

Paul was ever conscious that this was the distinctive work for which God saved him. Acts 22:21, Gal 2:7-9, Eph 3:1.

Paul, a Teacher of the Gentiles

How grateful Gentiles should be that Paul was obedient to the heavenly vision resulting in Europe receiving the Gospel.

Had the apostle not responded to the Macedonian call, the message of Christianity might have spread eastward. It might have penetrated into Arabia and taken possession of those regions where the faith of the false prophet holds sway.

It might have visited the wandering tribes of central Asia, and pierced its way down through the Himalayas, reared its temples on the banks of the Ganges, the Indus, and Godavari. It might have traveled further east to deliver the swarming millions of China from the cold secularism of Confucius.

Had it done so, missionaries from India and Japan might have been coming to America to tell the story of the Cross.

But providence conferred on Europe a blessed priority, and the fate of our continent was decided when Paul crossed the Hellespont.

Reviewing Gentile History, Which is Incidental in Scripture, We Find Promises of Varying Nature Associated with Each Epoch

The time of Gentile antiquation, stretching from Adam to Abraham and embracing Gentile development, degradation, and dispersion, provides us with many a glimpse of the Divine heart.

As the human race progressed, so did the sin of those comprising it. Yet Grace was mixed with judgment and God gave a sinning humanity many a rainbow of Promise during the 2000 years of history marked by failure.

To Satan, who subtlety was responsible for sin’s entrance into the newly created world, there was given the Promise of the Lord Jesus Christ Who would nullify his power.

To Adam and Eve, the First on Earth to be Deceived by Satan, There Came the Mournful Promise of Sorrow and Death

To Cain, the world’s first murderer, there was given the Promise of Divine protection in his ostracism.

Saturday, November 16, 2002

Japheth Had Seven Sons and Seven Grandsons by Two of His Sons, Gomer and Javan, Genesis 10:2-4 ...

And through his posterity possessed Europe

Gomer, the eldest son of Japheth, became the father or progenitor of the ancient Cimmerians, who settled on the northern shores of the Red Sea.

The modern and familiar name of “Crimea,” or “Cimbri,” of ancient times is derived from the Cimmerians, the immediate descendents of Gomer. The Gauls and Celts of ancient times and of modern date, the Germans, French, and British, are descended from the same stock.

Magog was the progenitor of all ancient Scychians or Mongolian tribes who settled on the Caucaus and the Caspian Sea, and whose descendents predominate in modern Russia. Ezek 38:2, 39:6, Rev 20:6.

Madai, Japheth’s Third Son, Has Been Identified with the Medes, who Were Allied to the Persians in After Years, Isaiah 13:17

Javin is reckoned to be the ancient name of Greece, Javin being the progenitor of those who peopled Greece and Syria. Dan 8:21.

Tubal has been identified as the modern Russian city of Tobolsk, the capital of Asiatic Russia. Tubal’s descendents then peopled the region of the Red Sea, from whence they spread north and south. A branch of the race peopled Spain.

Meshech, connected with Gog and Magog, Ezek 36, 39, is the modern Moscow, the metropolis of the Russian empire.

Tiras, was in all probability the progenitor of the Thracians.

So much for the sons of Japheth as they spread abroad. As for his seven grandsons, they are colonized still further and will follow.

The Isles of the Gentiles

The word for “isles” signifies “coasts” and implies that the descendents of Japheth settled along the coast lands.

Thus “isles” represent the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Black Seas. The Promise is that these isles are to be visited and blessed of the Lord.

Are there not still millions in these “isles” waiting, literally, trusting in Him?

The Forces of the Gentiles

By “forces” we are to understand riches and possessions. Literally, the wealth of the nations.

Taken in its context, it describes the promise of affluence coming to the Jews from surrounding nations during the Millennium.

The Greek translation of the Old Testament is, “The power of the nations.”

If only we could see the power of the nations harnessed to God’s chariot in our day, what a different world it would be.

The Milk of the Gentiles

A similar passage is “the riches of the Gentiles,” Isa 61:6, and represents abundance and strength.

Later on we read “of the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream,” Isa 66:12.

When Paul refers to “the riches of the Gentiles,” Rom 11:12, he has in mind the conversion of the Gentiles made possible by Jewish rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The opening of the door of salvation to the Gentiles added to the world’s spiritual wealth in that a greater number was included in God’s purpose and Promise of Grace. The saints in the Gentile churches were their most precious possessions.

The Destroyer of the Gentiles

The “lion” referred to in the passage as the “destroyer,” is the symbol of the Assyrian monarchy. This Caldean invader was to destroy Zion, even as he had many Gentile peoples.

The devil, however, is likened unto a “lion,” 1 Pet 5:8, and what a “destroyer” of nations he is. Think of the millions killed and massacred during World War II.

But yet another “lion,” Rev 5:5, is to come and when he does, it will be as the “destroyer” of godless nations. Rev 19:15.

In Him we have the prospect and Promise of peaceful universal sovereignty.

The Horns of the Gentiles

“Horn” in Scripture is used as a symbol of a Gentile king. The vision, then, that Zechariah records, is of the four Gentile empires – Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece, and Rome – represented by the four horns scattering the people of God.

We have also phrases like “the princes of the Gentiles” and “the kings of the Gentiles,” Matt 20:25, Luke 22:25, all of whom will have to bow to the Lord Jesus Christ when He returns “as the Prince of the kings of the Earth,” Rev 1:5.

Friday, November 15, 2002

The Promises and the Gentile World

Paul is our authority for affirming that the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, are the recipients of Divine Promises.

In respect to the great Gentile world, the coverage of Promises for such is both wide and varied. It may help us to understand the specific Gentile Promises if we can settle who and what the Gentiles are.

The terms, “Gentile, heathen, and nations” are equivalent, as used in the Old Testament. And they correspond to “Greeks” and “peoples” in the New Testament. Also,

are all further terms used of the same people. Taken together these designations describe all non-Israelite people, separate from the Israelites.

The Hebrews, or Jews, Called the Gentiles by the General Name “Goiim,” Which Signified Those Nations That Had Not the Faith, or the Law of God

All who are not Jews and circumcised are “Goiim.”

While it was God Himself who separated the Jews from the Gentiles, there was no thought of one group being superior to the other.

The Gentiles were simply non-Jewish, and were not despised for that reason. With the passage of time, however, the Jewish attitude toward Gentiles gradually changed until they became regarded with scorn and hatred.

They were treated as “dogs,” unclean, and enemies of God’s people, to whom the knowledge of God was denied.

Such a Jewish attitude is understandable when we realize something of what the Jews suffered at the hands of their Gentile captors.

The First Occurrence of the Word “Gentile” is in Connection with the Flood ...

When the only people left alive were Gentiles, Gen 10:5, but who, as such, received gracious Promises from God, Gen 8:21, 22:9. The inhabitants of the earth, now number about 2,500,000,000,- the majority of whom are Gentiles, are descended from the three sons of Noah – Japheth, Shem, and Ham.

Thursday, November 14, 2002

Promises to Israel

Originally, this title described those who were descended from Judah, the son of Jacob. These were the inhabitants of Judea.

Then it was applied to the kingdom, or tribe, of Judah in the south, thereby distinguishing it from the Israelites of the north.

After the period of the captivity, the title “Jews” was extended and applied to all the national descendents of Abraham and used in contrast to Greeks or Gentiles.

In the course of time, the name “Jews” became synonymous with Israelites. Saul of Tarsus, although a Benjaminite, claimed to be a Jew.

Paul used the term to denote an adherent of the Jewish faith, as distinguished from the Christian faith.

Without Doubt the Preservation of the Jews Through the Centuries is the Miracle of History

Such a history called “His-story,” that is, God’s story of choice, love, patience, Grace, and blessing, is likewise loaded with His Promises. The leading points in Israel’s history are full of Promises as the following passages show:

1. As the seed of Abraham, Rom 4.
   
2. As the family under Jacob, Gen 49.
   
3. As the nation under Moses, Ex 12:14.
   
4. As the kingdom under Saul, 1 Sam 10.
   
5. As captives, under Shalmaneser, ten tribes, 2 Kings 17.
   Under Nebuchadnezzar, two tribes, 2 Kings 25.
   
6. As a restored remnant under Cyrus, Ezra 2.
   
7. As a nation dispersed under Titus, Luke 21:24.
   
8. As a nation regathered, Isa 11:12.
   
9. As a nation full of blessing, Ezekiel.
   

The Supreme Mission of Israel Was to Produce the Messiah, and so to Form the Scriptures That When He Came, He Would be Instantly Recognized so That Men Could Say ...

Here is the Promise. Here is the performance. Here are the Scriptures. Here is the Saviour.

Providing a sinful and sinning world with salvation.

When the Lord Declared “That Salvation is of the Jews,” John 4:22 …

He did not only infer that they produced Him as the Saviour of the world, but that they themselves were to act as the salt of the earth preserving it from moral putrefaction.

As the Jews were dispersed throughout the world, they became the media of Divine communication to the Gentiles. They played a great part in the distribution of the good news.

What needless controversy would have been saved if only God’s plan for Israel had been regarded as “inclusive” and not “exclusive,” that He chose one nation through whom He would bless all nations.

“This is Jerusalem, I Have Set it in the Midst of the Nations and Countries That Are Round About Her,” Ezekiel 5:5, 36:20, 23

Dispersed, denationalized, dispossessed, and discredited, the Jews have been Divinely preserved, and all God’s Promises concerning their present and future destiny will be absolutely fulfilled.

The preservation of the three Hebrew youths as they were made to pass through the fiery furnace (Dan 3:19-25), affords a prophecy and a Promise of God’s preservation of His own chosen people.

“He Made it Again Another Vessel as Seemed Good to the Potter to Make it,” Jeremiah 18:4

Let us now examine the numerous and explicit Promises concerning the restoration and future blessing of the Jews.

Scripture is emphatic in its testimony that Jews, as such, are to be restored to their own land – privileges and favor with God. While some of the Promises received a partial fulfillment when the Jews were restored to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, complete restoration is still in the future.

In the Promise of Final Restitution, Israel Will be “Set in the Midst of the Nations” (Ezekiel 5:8, Acts 3:19-21, 15:17)

In Jerusalem, the center of the earth, Ezekiel 38:12

Palestine became the nerve center of the earth in the day of Abraham. Later on the country became the Truth center because of Moses and the prophets.

Ultimately it became the salvation center by the manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

His rejection led to its becoming the storm center as it has continued to be through many centuries.

The Scriptures predict that it is to be the peace center under the Messianic kingdom, and it will be the glory center in a new universe yet to be experienced.

The Promise Regarding Israel’s Restoration Can be Summarized Thus

1. They are to be gathered in unbelief.
   Presently, the Jews are returning to their own land, but sadly returning in their spiritual blindness. Rom 11:25, 26. Before their national conversion, severe punishment is to overcome them. Ezek 20:34-38, 36:24-27.
   
2. They are to be refined in holiness.
   Destined for great purposes, the Jews are to be subjected to tremendous tests. God is to cast them into the melting pot, Ezek 22:19-22, and cause them to go through the refiner’s fire, Zech 13:9, Mal 3:1-3, Jer 30:4-7, Dan 12:1, Matt 24:21-31.
   
3. They are to be restored to favor.
   As the result of the refining process, the Jews will become wholly the Lord’s, and promised blessings will then be fully realized. God’s age-long controversy with His people will be at an end. Ezek 36:24-27, Isa 66:8, Zech 12:10, 14:4, 1 Cor 15:8.
   
4. They will be reunited in love.
   Schism is to give way to blissful unity, as the Promise of “the two sticks” vividly portrays, Ezek 37:15-32.
   “Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim,” Isa 11:13, Jer 3:18.
   
5. They are to be readjusted to privilege.
   All the Promises as to Israel’s future glories depicted in such glowing terms, are to be consummated during the Millennial age.
   

Israel’s Theocratic Privileges Are to be Restored. Mark These Aspects in Your Bible.

1. Israel will be free from war, international strife, and friction. Isa 2:1-4, Micah 4:1-4.
   
2. Her cities are to be rebuilt and her land Divinely replenished. Amos 9:14, 15; Jer 31:27, 28.
   
3. All her past sorrow and anguish are to give way to joy and satisfaction. Jer 30:10-14, Isa 61:4-9.
   
4. A new covenant will be entered into and enjoyed. All broken covenants will be forgotten. Jer 31:31-34.
   
5. Israel will be distinguished by righteousness and glory and have a new name. Isa 62:1-4.
   
6. The Lord’s presence and blessing will be hers. Zech 8:23.
   
7. Rest and quietness will be experienced and favor among all peoples will be hers. Zech 3:20.
   

Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Hebrew Promises

The original name of the chosen people was first applied to Abraham, the father of the Jewish race, and is the Gentile designation of both Abraham and his descendents.

The first Jew then was a Gentile. The term “Hebrew” means belonging to Eber. Eber was the great grandson of Shem, Gen 10:21-24. It was from this stock that Abraham and our Lord descended. Luke 3:35.

Applied to Abraham, “Hebrew” means the immigrant, or “the one who crossed over,” alluding to his crossing over the Euphrates to Egypt.

It was a term full of Divine Promise, seeing that the essence of its meaning is “separation,” and was used therefore to distinguish the Jewish race from surrounding nations.

In the New Testament the word is used to signify those who retained the Hebrew language and lived in Palestine, Acts 6:1.

“Hebrew” expresses the language and nationality of original Jews in contrast to “Hellenists,” that is, Greek-speaking Jews.

The Seed of Abraham Promises

This further title of Promise is closely identified with the previous one, and it is applied to Jews and Christians alike.

All, springing from Abraham, “Father of all who believe,” are spoken of as his seed.

Failure to distinguish between his three seeds and the Promises made to each, has resulted in confusion of interpretation.

Promise to Jacob

The original name of the progenitor of the 12 tribes is also used as a general designation of all of his descendents, being employed in the characteristic sense of national posterity.

Promises to Israel

Numerous Promises are related to this most common of Jewish titles, originally bestowed upon Jacob himself, and then transferred to his descendents during, and after, his lifetime.

Used characteristically, “Jacob” indicates the national posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

“Israel” is the term implying the spiritual part of the nation.

“The Lord Sent a Word to Jacob and it Hath Lighted Upon Israel,” Isaiah 9:8

The Divine message was only comprehended by the spiritually-minded of the nation. Generally speaking, the term “Israelite” means a member of the theocracy and an heir of the Promises. And is expressive of the high theocratic privileges of descent from Jacob, which conveys a two-fold significance.

1. A particularly honorable designation.
   “Who are the Israelites to whom pertaineth the Promises.” Rom 9:4.
   “I also am an Israelite,” Rom 11:1.
   “Are they Israelites? So am I,” 2 Cor 11:22.
   
2. A sign of high moral qualities.
   “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile,” John 1:47.

It is interesting to observe that God describes Himself as “the Holy One of Israel” 32 times and as “the God of Israel” 29 times.

Tuesday, November 12, 2002

The Promises and the Jewish World

While it is perfectly true that all Scripture has been written for us, that is, for all classes of people and sections of the human race, “written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures must have hope,” Rom 15:4, yet all Scripture was not written about all people in general. Different portions refer to different sections of the human populace.

The Holy Spirit has divided men into three classes – the Jews, the Gentiles, and the Church of God. To gather up all that Scripture has to say concerning each of them is to get a magnificent view of God’s dispensational doings.

It is the apostle Paul who reminds us that there are there streams flowing into the broad river of humanity, and who urges us to be charitable to all.

The Contents of the Bible Cover These Three Sections Which Must be Consistently Distinguished if We Are to be Delivered From Those Heresies That Are the Direct Outcome of Denial or Ignorance of the Divine Dispensational Purpose

Jews, Gentiles, Jews and Gentiles, Church of God.

To Apply Indiscriminately to All Peoples, the Promises, Prophecies, and Responsibilities of Each Group is to Lose Sight of the Divine Order and Beauty of the Divine Plan, and to Hopelessly Confuse the Divine Interpretation of the Bible

1. There are the Jews, or Israelites – John 4:22; Rom 3:1, 2; 9:4, 5.
2. The Gentiles, or dogs – Matt 7:27, 28; Eph 2:11, 12, 4:17, 18.
3. The Church of God – Eph 1:22, 23, 5:30, 33.
   

The Promises to Israel Are Not Collective and Impersonal, and Largely Without Condition, That They Seem to Belong Naturally to the Church

Israel is not the Church!

There may be a sense in which Promises for the Jew can be applied to Christians, but the difference must be preserved between application and interpretation.

In the study of any portion of the Bible, it is first of all interpretation, not application. After arriving at the interpretation of a passage, we can make any application we like, within the realm of reason.

Certainly the Church can enjoy the “life interest” of many Jewish Promises, so long as it is remembered that the “capital” belongs to the Jews and will be collected by them at the appropriate time.

The Folly of “Amillenialism” From Augustine Forward Has Been the Wholesale Robbery of Jewish Promises

The contention of the Amillenialists, who believe that we are now in the Millennium, is that there is no future for the Jews, i.e., God has finished with them as a separate people. Therefore all their blessings have been transferred to the Church. Thus Jewish Promises are misinterpreted.

As for the “curses,” the Amillenialists leave them to the Jews.

We do not rightly Divine the Word of Truth if we make specific Promises apply to all men in general. When God says that a particular Promise is for a Jew, then it is for him and for no one else. The same applies to Gentile Promises and the Church Promises.

Promises Covering Israel’s Past, Present, and Future Are Scattered with Prodigal Hand Throughout the Bible …

... With the majority of the Promises yet to be realized.

The possession of Canaan, the growth of the nation, universal blessing through the race, are examples of Promises which the patriarchs did not receive the outward fullness.

Although we are tempted to linger over the various aspects of the romantic history of the Jews, our present purpose in keeping with the design of this Book, is to trace the Promises related to God’s ancient people.

We pause now to point out the significance of the different names of those to whom abundant Promises were given. They are known as “Hebrews.”

Monday, November 11, 2002

“When Daniel Understood by the Books the Number of Years for the Accomplishment of the Desolation of Jerusalem, Even Seventy Years, He Set His Face Unto the Lord God to Seek by Prayer and Supplications Their Fulfillment,” Daniel 9:2, 3

God’s unfailing Promises are given to stimulate prayer, not to supercede it, for, while everything good for us is promised in answer to believing prayer, nothing is promised apart from it.

The “fire” of our prayers must be fed with the “fuel” of Divine Promises. Persuaded of the Promises, we plead them and then possess them.

Suppose We Take a Repeated Promise Like This:

“I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,” Heb 13:5.

It is essential, not only to believe and claim it, but to constantly pray that ours will be the unfailing realization of His personal presence.

We must be careful to have a life in which there is nothing displeasing to His holy will.

The Scope of the Promises

How embarrassed with spiritual riches we are, as we seek to group all that God has promised to be and do.

Looking at the Promises as a whole, as they bloom all over the garden of God’s Word, we find our senses ravished. But to know their full richness, we need to look at them in detail more closely.

The Divine Promises comprehend a rich and endless variety. They embrace time and eternity. And, therefore, cover all temporal and spiritual needs and thus cover all that may be necessary.

There is a Promise for every need. And these Promises are scattered throughout the Bible like diamonds in a mine of gold.

Many of them are of a more special and appropriate nature. Others are associated with the history of particular individuals. Yet even these, related to persons in peculiar circumstances, are for the saints of God in general. For instance, the Promise given to Moses and then to Joshua (Deut 31:7, 8; Joshua 1:8) is generalized and given as the ground of trust and as a source of comfort to all the people of God, Heb 13:5.

“Godliness is Profitable ... For This Life and That Which is to Come,” 1 Timothy 4:8

The different Promises resemble a well-furnished provision store containing food for all, for every description of ailment, for every variety of need. And at the same time they are a well-filled and well-assorted medicine chart with means of relief and healing for all kinds of spiritual complaints.

A remarkable feature of the Divine Promises is that they contain gifts and graces of all kinds of the most excellent nature and suited to every circumstance of our mortal life.

As man is a tripartite being (made up of spirit, soul, and body), the necessities, his complex, present life, must be provided for as well as the security of life beyond the grave. And that is why Paul reminds us of the whole complete coverage of the Promises in our verse above. “Godliness.”

One Satisfying Aspect of God’s Promises is That Abundant Care Has Been Taken of Life Both Here and Hereafter

Full provision has been made for Christian peace, joy, and comfort in this world, and in that which is to come. The Promises cover both worlds and include all things that pertain to life and godliness.

They also inspire the assurance that the several necessities and conveniences of life will be granted as Divine wisdom deems best to bestow. God, because of His knowledge of all the various trials and tribulations His own are exposed to, encourages them with various Promises related to needs as they arise.

These Promises tell the redeemed in unmistakable terms that they either shall be preserved from life’s afflictions, or if they have to endure them, God will support them through them all, using all for His glory and the good of His own, and that in His own way and time He will deliver them.

The Promises Then Are “Exceeding Great and Precious” Because of Their Number, Content, Variety, and Diversity

The Promises relating to our temporal adversities pale into insignificance alongside of these spiritual and eternal blessings so fully expressed in the Gospel of Divine Grace.

As we approach the absorbing study of “the Scope of God’s Promises,” it must be emphasized that the classified Promises should be studied in their original connection, if one desires to experience the utmost spiritual good any of them can yield. The setting around a Promise makes it more vivid, just as a diamond is enhanced in its beauty by an exquisite platinum setting. This also heightens the interest in the jewel as well as in the search for the way whereby one may claim it for one’s own.

The Bible must never be treated as a kind of lottery, which it is when opened at random, and a verse is taken that happens to catch our eye as being God’s message for us in a time of special need. This can become a most delusive and mischievous practice. Any single Promise is only delectable sweet meat and should not interfere with a fuller meal. A Promise should be an appetizer exciting the desire for something more substantial.

Saturday, November 9, 2002

Promises Presented in Prayers

How comforting it is to take God’s exceeding great and precious Promises and turn them into prayer.

Does it not please God when we plead His Promises?

Think of the way some of the saints of old turned Promises into prayers.

Promise, Prayer, and Performance Cover Our Advancement in the Christian’s Spiritual Life

The Promise and the performance are the Lord’s, but prayer must come from us. Promises are ineffectual and their performance is inoperative if prayer, on our part, is lacking.

The Promises of God should be the basis of all prayers, for they are alike our warrant for asking and our security for receiving. It is not safe for us to ask anything that lies beyond their all embracing scope. For we have no authority to do so. But we may confidently ask for whatever is included in them, for He never fails to fulfill them.

“Remember the Word Unto Thy Servant Upon Which Thou Hast Caused Me to Hope,” Psalm 119:49

The keynote of this wonderful Psalm, which magnifies the Word of God, is found in David’s prayer.

The petition, “according to Thy Word” occurs 12 times (verses 25, 28, 41, 58, 76, 107, 116, 149, 154, 169, and 170).

While the declaration, “I hope in Thy Word” is repeated six times (verses 42, 43, 74, 81, 114, 147).

Not one Promise shall miscarry,
Not one blessing come too late.
Though the vision long may tarry,
Give us patience, Lord to wait.

In David’s Great Prayer, He Pleads a Divine Promise

Promises which strengthen our faith and prompt our obedience also enforce our pleas. We can go with the Promises to God, firmly depending upon His faithfulness to answer our demands accordingly.

A Promise is a note under His own hand and He will acknowledge His own handwriting.

Thus, as we rest in and upon Him, we are assured that He will not be unmindful of His Promise.

When some promised blessing seems
Too great, too wonderful for me,
I dare by faith to call it mine,
With “It is written” as my plea.

Friday, November 8, 2002

Faith and Obedience Are the Two Legs a Christian Walks With

The Bible insistence upon obedience is marked.

It was because the first man disobeyed God that sin entered into the world. But through the obedience of The Man, Christ Jesus, there is life forevermore, Rom 5:19.

When God commanded the children of Israel to go in and possess the land, it was as good as theirs, for already God “had lifted up His hand” to give it to them.

But the Promise was made of none effect through their disobedience, Rom 10:21.

Faith and Obedience

In His teaching and example on “humility,” our Lord associated joy with knowledge of His Word – both contingent upon obedience.

As We Approach a Promise Demanding Obedience to the Expressed Wish and Will of God …

Is ours the joy springing from a willingness to obey?

Obedience is not only a virtue of high importance, it is also the supreme test of faith. We cannot read the annals of the Old Testament without realizing how vital obedience was.

Take Abraham for example, in whose experience obedience formed a relationship not to be broken. The patriarch was made a blessing to the world because of his obedience to God’s voice, Promises, statues, and laws.

Obedience and Disobedience Are Offered as Points of Contrast Between the Saved and the Unsaved

A true Christian is a child obedience, 1 Pet 1:14.

A sinner is a child of disobedience,” Eph 2:2.

Those who are the Lord’s are not only elect in obedience, 1 Pet 1:2, their obedience is a condition of promised answer to prayer.

Obedience Likewise Results in the Promised Knowledge of the Lord

Obedience is also a test of mutual indwelling and of abiding love.

The Prophet Reminds us That Obedience to All the Promises of God Issue in a Peace as Full and Abundant as the Sea

Claiming a Promise then, we most honestly face any condition attached to it, and by the Grace of Him, Who was obedient unto the death of the Cross, fulfilled the expressed stipulation. If we fail to obey, we fail to obtain.

Grace Builds in Silence – Grace is Not Noisy

The temple was built in silence. It rose in exaltation.

No hammers fell, no ponderous axe rung,
Like some tall palm, the mystic fabric sprung.

Silence is the instinct of reverence. God’s house is mostly built in silence.

The kingdom of God cometh not with observations. In reference to its advance in the world, it is built in silence.

Destructive work is noisy. Constructive work is silent.

God was in the small still voice, not in the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire.

Christ’s own career, how silent it was.

Drums are loud and empty.

The spread of the kingdom was unnoticed by the world’s great ones – Caesar, philosophers, patricians – and it grew silently underground.

This is encouragement for those whose work is inconspicuous. And it is a lesson not to mistake noise and notoriety for spiritual progress.

Grace is Silent – Part Two

Silence and guidance as to our expectations of the advance of Christ’s kingdom.

It will transform society by slow, often unnoticed degrees, by radical change of individuals’ habits.

The elevation of humanity will be slow, like the imperceptible rise of the Norwegian coast. Sudden changes are short-lived changes, “Lightly come, lightly go.” What matures slowly will last long.

Silence in reference to its growth in our souls. Silence is needed for that. There must be much still communion and quiet reflections. The advance in the Christian life is variously likened to a battle, since there are antagonists and struggle is needed to overcome.

And to vegetable or corporeal growth, which the mysterious indwelling life works without effort and almost without consciousness, but it is also likened to the erection of a building, in which there is continuity and each successive course of masonry is the foundation for that above it.

The work of building is work that must be done in silence.

Grace is Silent – Part Three

If we are to grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we must silently drink in the sunshine and the dew, and so prosperously pass from blade to ear, and then to full corn in the ear.

Surely nothing is more needed in these days of noisy TV advertisements and the measurement of the importance of things by the noise that they can make, than this lesson of the place of silence in Christian progress, both for individuals and for the body of Christ as a whole.

Thursday, November 7, 2002

Promises Are Faith’s Checkbook

A Promise of God may very instructively be compared to a check payable to order. It is given to the believer with the view of bestowing upon him some good thing. It is not meant that he should read it over comfortably, and then be done with it.

No, he is to treat the Promise as a reality, as a man treats a check. He is to take the Promise and endorse it with his own name, by personally receiving it as true.

He is by faith to accept it as his own.

He sets to his seal that God is true, and true as to His particular Word of Promise.

He goes further and believes that he has the blessing in having the sure Promise of it. And thereby he puts his name to it to testify to the receipt of the blessing.

This done, he must believingly present the Promise to the Lord, as a man presents a check at the counter of the bank.

He must plead it by prayer, expecting to have it fulfilled.

If he has come to Heaven’s bank at the right date he will receive the promised amount at once.

If the date should happen to be further on, he must patiently wait till its arrival, but meanwhile he may count the Promise as money, for the bank is sure to pay when the due time arrives.

Some fail to place the endorsement of faith upon the check, and so they get nothing. Others are slack in presenting it, and these also receive nothing.

This is not the fault of the Promise, but of those who do not act with it in a common sense business-like manner.

“The Soul of the Sluggard Desireth, and Hath Nothing, But the Soul of the Diligent Shall be Made Fat,” Proverbs 13:4

While the Promises are to be appropriated by faith, that does not discharge us from the diligent use of all proper and lawful means. God has promised us food and raiment, but the slothful and the careless should not expect to benefit from such a Promise.

“If you don’t work, you won’t eat.”

A Further Observation is That Faith is Manifested in Works

Many Promises are associated, continually, with particular duties.

If we do not seek after Godliness, then we are not in the right condition of soul to claim the Promise. Many Promises are linked to diligence and to various kindred virtues.

God cannot condone indolence and sloth. Although God miraculously supplied the manna, the people had to gather it daily.

Some Promises Are Associated with the Legitimate and Liberal Use of What Has Already Been Bestowed as Indicated in the Promise

Is it not presumptuous to expect God to fulfill a Promise if conditions connected with it are violated or neglected?

We must not only believe a Promise, but work out by Grace all that it expects of us.

Faith cannot be unanswered.

Her feet are firmly planted on the rock.
Amid the wildest storms she stands undaunted,
Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock.
She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayers,
And cries, it shall be done, sometime, somewhere.

Wednesday, November 6, 2002

Promises Possessed by Faith

It was staggering enough for a man about 100 years old to be told that his wife, not much younger, would give him a son.

Yet, such was Abraham’s faith, who against hope believed in hope, that the physically impossible did not trouble him.

God had promised a son of Promise and that was the end of the matter as far as Abraham was concerned.

He was not weak in faith. And the same applies to Sarah. Heb 11:11.

Stagger Not at the Promises of God

Possibly some of the Promises of God stagger us. They appear too good to be true. But God never mocks the human soul. He says what He means and means all He says.

Our difficulty is the failure to meet the great Promises with a great faith. But as we believe God, we prove Him to be faithful to His Word.

Faith confidently expects the fulfillment of the Divine Word.

A Promise is God’s Bond, and it is Intended to Set Our Minds at Rest

Trusting God’s Word then, we need fear no foe, or dread any trouble.

We are not only saved, but safe.

Trusting God’s naked Promise may be difficult, yet it is obtainable. It is unsafe and improper to trust our feelings or fancies, or to be guided by experience.

Our guide is God’s Word and this should be the Subject of our trust.

In Thee, O Lord, I put my trust,
Mighty and merciful, and just,
Thy faithful Word I prove.

Thou canst, Thou wilt my Helper be,
My confidence is all in Thee,
The faithful God to love.

If We Seek to Claim a Promise for Wrong Ends, to Consume Upon Our Own Lusts and Not for God’s Honor, Then We Ask Amiss and Cannot Receive the Promise

All Promises, whether temporal or spiritual, are realized by faith, love, and obedience.

The Promises of Grace and glory far outweigh those associated with material things.

For all who inquire after God,

We Have Two Notable Instances of the Lack of Expectation

There is Zecharias, who refused to believe that his desire for a son, and God’s Promise of one, was about to be granted, Luke 1:13, 18.

Then there were those “who gathered together praying” for Peter’s release, yet could not credit the fact that “He stood before the gate and continued knocking,” Acts 12:5, 12-16.

We should not only wait but watch,
Pray at the door of hope and sing,
Faith’s finger is on the latch.

Trinity

Most people don’t believe in a Trinity, and that is among Christians also. But there are trinities throughout all the religions of the world.

In the Babylonian religion, there are several trinities. There is the triad of the god Merodach, his consort Zarpanitu, and their son, Nebo, the revealer of the father’s will.

These divinities were at first separate, with a worship of their own, but gradually they were drawn together and formed a kind of family triad, which was worshipped in the city of Babylon.

Something similar is found in ancient Egyptian religion with the group of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, constituting a divine family, like the Father, mother, and Son in medieval Christian pictures.

In the Indian religion we have Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu.

In Greek mythology we have Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. It has been contended that these were sometimes regarded not simply as three gods, but as a trinity in unity.

Could it be that Satan has counterfeited the true Trinity in the religions of the world?

Tuesday, November 5, 2002

“These All Having Obtained a Good Report Through Faith, Received Not the Promise,” Hebrews 11:39

Here, the Promise anticipated by many, but which none of them received, was the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world.

Prophets and kings (Luke 10:24, 1 Pet 1:10, Jude 14, 15) did not live to see God’s Anointed One. Yet accepting the hope of redemption and resurrection, they died in faith and were accepted by God in virtue of Calvary.

They looked forward to the Cross, just as we look back on it.

Three Passages That Must be Kept Together

To Old Testament saints the promised blessing of redemption was future. They obtained it, but not within the limits of the present life. They had it “on credit.”

To all saved by Grace, the promised blessing is present, revealed to us in its true nature, obtained by us once and for all. For we know that eternal redemption has been won through Christ’s entering for us once and for all into the heavenly sanctuary. Heb 9:12.

And to us the Perfection has come, in that through Him we draw near to God, Heb 7:11, 19.

Before long, the Church triumphant above and the Church militant on earth will sing in unison:

“Joy to the world, the Lord has come,
“Let earth receive her King.
“Let every heart prepare Him room,
“And Heaven and nature sing.”

Paul Speaks of a Promise Being Made of None Effect, Romans 4:14

In his exposition of justification, the apostle’s contention is that adherence to the law nullifies God’s work of Grace. The Promise to bless all, through the righteousness of faith, is made of none effect by the work of the law.

What we must remember, however, even though we are under Grace, is that many Promises are conditional, and that failure on our part to comply with the conditions abrogates those Promises.

The tragedy is that so many wonderful Promises of God are rendered of none effect in experience because of sin, unbelief, and disobedience.

This leads us to another thought in connection with the security or appropriation of the Promises, namely their immediate function and ultimate goal.

The immediate purpose of acquired Promises is the meeting of our varied needs.

The ultimate design of the Promises is the separation of our lives from anything unworthy of the Divine Promiser.

“Having These Promises ... Let Us Cleanse Ourselves,” 2 Corinthians 7:1

Any given Promise should make us more pure. No specific Promise, even though related to material needs, should not be claimed apart from the sanctifying influence the granting of the Promise is able to exercise in our lives.

The Promise of “the Blessed Hope” of our Lord’s return results in holiness of life, 1 John 3:1-3.

With such a Blessed Hope to view,
We would more holy be,
More like our gracious, glorious Lord,
Whose face we soon shall see.

Promises to be Effective Both Materially and Spiritually ...

We live a life of faith upon Promises. Today the riches of any nation consist in the credit that is given to notes, bonds, assignments, etc.

Likewise, the riches of the Christian way of life are in the notes under God’s hand.

A nation can default in its bonds. With God, however, it is impossible for any Promise of His to fail.

The Bible presents a formidable array of passages proving that faith, which is the medium of a right relationship Godward, is also the condition on which depends the security and enjoyment of promised blessings.

Sunday, November 3, 2002

Thought for the Day

The Lord Jesus Christ will return to set up His kingdom on this earth in seven years ... that is, if the Rapture occurred today!

“Blessed Him That Had the Promises,” Hebrews 7:6

Melchisedec, that great and mysterious character, blessed Abraham who was already the recipient of the Promises of God. Gen 12:2, 3, 7.

What greater blessing can any man have than such Promises?

Yet, Melchisedec’s superiority demonstrated itself in that Abraham gave tithes to him, and received his blessing without rebuke.

And beyond all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better, a truth so obvious as to require no comment whatever.

How true it is that all who believe and claim the Promises are richly blessed of the Lord. How gracious the Lord is to make us the recipients of His Promises so loaded with benefits.

“They Which Are Called Mighty Receive the Promise of Eternal Inheritance,” Genesis 9:15

Christ’s death as a ransom for sin, was also a sacrifice inaugurating a new covenant containing the Promise of eternal inheritance.

Some Promises are not valid until death takes place, as in the case of a friend promising and willing another a legacy on death.

Christ was Promised as the sin-offering, and as the result of His death, there is remission of sin and eternal life for all who believe.

“The Heirs with Him of the Same Promise,” Genesis 11:9

By faith Abraham sojourned in a land of Promise. He came into and dwelt in a land which the Promise made his own, Gen 12:7.

Abraham made his home once for all, well aware that it was to be his home, expecting no change in this respect all his long life.

In tents, moveable, shifting abodes, here today and there tomorrow. With, as did also in their turn, Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same Promise. All three were co-heirs of the same Promise given by God to each of these patriarchs. Gen 12:7, 13:15, 17:18, 26:3, 35:12.

While the land was Abraham’s by Promise for a century, he was only a stranger and a pilgrim in it when he died. All he owned of the land was a field in Machpelah.

Yet he died in faith, not receiving the Promises, but having seen them afar off. Heb 11:13.

Believing God, Abraham, knew that both the earthly possession and the heavenly estate would be realized. Abraham looked for a glorious city whose, “Architect and Maker is God,” Rev 21.

Saturday, November 2, 2002

The Epistle to the Hebrews is Rich in its Passages Which Make Mention Not Only of the Promises of the Old Being Fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ …

But likewise fulfilled for us as we carry out the provisions laid down

Some of the blessings of God are bestowed irrespective of our choice or effort, such as life, intellect, and the material elements.

But others depend upon our effort, and the rest of the soul is one for which we must strive (“agonize”), as the word means.

A glance at other references confirms the necessity of diligence and endeavor, if certain Promises are to become real in experience.

While God Made Promises to Abraham, It Was Only After Patient Endurance That He Obtained, or Realized, the Promises

Genesis 6:13, 15

Although the Promises are Divine in origin, they are unavailable unless we receive them by faith. It is only as we believe the Promises that we can inherit them.

Then we certainly need patience before some Promises are fulfilled.

We must not lose heart if God seems slow to fulfill a Promise we daily claim. In patience, we must possess our souls, for the Lord is never late.

Prayer was made for an unsaved friend, but we had to wait 40 years for God to grant our desire.

“Slothful” – Hebrews 6:12

The word “slothful” means “sluggish” in our text, and it is the same word used in a previous chapter,

There it is applied to lack of interest in the apprehension of Truth, but here the Word is related to Christian hope and life. If Truth is not welcomed and inherited, there will be no spiritual vigor in your Christian walk and witness.

Diligence Toward Heavenly Things Will Rout Sluggardliness in Earthly Exercises …

And in such a way we all need to be followers, or better, imitators of others who, through faith and patience have inherited the Promises

Abraham was long tried, but he was richly rewarded. “Patient waiters” are never disappointed, because God’s Promises cannot fail of their accomplishment.

Lord Jesus Christ, with Thy Word complying.
Firm our faith and hope shall be.
On Thy faithfulness relying,
We will cast our souls on Thee.

“After He Had Patiently Endured, He Obtained the Promise,” Genesis 6:15

As we are discovering, Abraham is before us for special mention as the most illustrious example of those “who inherit the Promises.” See John 8:58.

The assurance given to Abraham was confirmed by an oath and in the Promise lay included the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ.

While the Promises made to Abraham were essentially one, the various parts were progressively fulfilled, Gen 12:3, 15, 22:17.

Abraham, however, having patiently waited, obtained the Promise of the promised gift.

The Promise made to Abraham was substantially and really that which embraced all Messianic hope (Gen 6:15) of this Promise, not Abraham’s son only, but all “they which are of faith,” Gal 3:7, 29.

Abraham’s special seed are the heirs.

Abraham, it is Said, Obtained the Promise After Much Patient Endurance

But Abraham patiently waited. As a man of faith, he did not question God’s veracity, nor limit His power, nor doubt His faithfulness, nor grieve His love, but bowed to Divine sovereignty, submitted to Divine wisdom, and was silent under delays, waiting the Lord’s time.

So we imitate His example – how Abraham’s endurance condemns a hasty spirit, a murmuring spirit, and commends a patient spirit, and encourages quiet submission to God’s will and way.

Friday, November 1, 2002

The Promise to Thyatira

It will be noted that in the first three letters, the voice of the Holy Spirit precedes the Promise to the overcomer, while in the last four letters, the Promise precedes the voice of the Holy Spirit.

In the first group of letters, the church as a whole is called to change their mind, i.e., repent.

In the second group, the hopeless condition of the church is but too apparent and therefore a remnant company is marked off from the mass, whose one and only hope is centered on the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ from Heaven.

Now From the Fact of the Call to Hear Being Placed After the Words of Cheer to the Overcomer …

In the last four churches we gather that only the overcomers or the conquerors hear the voice of the Holy Spirit

What a rich Promise is here offered.

“I will give to him the morning star.” Overcomers are to have a personal interest in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

In His character as “the Sun of righteousness” to Israel, He heals His people and brings in blessing. But in His character as “the bright and Morning Star,” He appears before the sun rises to His own alone.

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, what a joy it is to see in the Lord Jesus Christ, “the Morning Star” which is never “far from the Sun.”

Are we holding fast that Truth, Grace, and hope, and love which the Lord Jesus Christ has given us? If so, then ours is the assurance of the dawn of coming glory. He that makes thee overcome evil and persevere in righteousness, has therein given thee the Morning Star.

The Promise to Sardis

As warriors of the Cross, may the Grace of God be ours to fight on, never halting until victory is complete and that eternal reward crowning a life of warfare is ours.

The white raiment speaks of perfect purity, more perfect than the undefiled garments of a few in Sardis. And the white raiment speaks of reward becoming a conqueror and priestly array.

No speck or stain shall rest on the garment of white.

Your name is put in the Book of Life at birth, and it remains there until you reject the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. Then it is removed.

He will not be ashamed to single us out in the august presence of God the Father and His angels and confess (acknowledge) our name before the grand assembly.

The Promise to Philadelphia

Here and now an open door no man can shut, faces the overcomer. Rev 3:8. It is the open door of communion with the Father and the open door unto all the mysteries of the Word of God. None of its Promises or precepts are closed to the faithful.

What a bountiful Promise this sixth one offered to those in Philadelphia, who although weak, yet pursued.

In spite of so much to test their faith, they held fast with a tight and tightening grip on Christ’s Word, Name, patience, and return.

The Holy Spirit promised that earth’s weakness would be exchanged for Heaven’s stability. “Him will I make a pillar.” Then there is a fixed and eternal abode.

“He shall go no more at all out” as to bearing God’s Name. What a privilege it will be for each one of the conquering band to bear such a privileged Name, indicating a special relationship with Him amid heavenly blessedness.

The Promise to Laodicea

“A throne” is the sign and symbol of royal authority and dominion. The Laodicean conqueror was promised association with the Lord Jesus Christ in His kingdom and glory.

Overcomers are to share Christ’s throne, even as He shares His Father’s throne.

The Promise of sharing the throne is the climax of an ascending series of glorious Promises which carry the thought from the Garden of Eden, 2:7; through the wilderness, 2:17; the temple, 3:12; to the throne.

The Promise bears a marked resemblance to the language of Paul in Eph 2:6.

The crowning Promise is made to the most unpleasing of the churches. But it is well that thus the despondency which often succeeds the sudden collapse of self-satisfied imaginations should be met by so bright a prospect.

The highest place is within the reach of the lowest. The faintest spark of Grace may be fanned into the mightiest flame of Divine love.

The next study, the security of the Promises of God.

The Security of the Promises

How can we secure many of the Bible Promises and make them our very own? Are the experiences of men of old of any use to us in this modern age?

Can the same confidence of answered prayer be ours? If so, how?

We must not overlook the principle that while many of the Promises of God can be claimed by those who love God and are called according to His purpose, the fulfillment of such is dependent upon becoming more alive to the conditions attached to many of these Promises which must be met.

Promises contingent upon a condition will be realized as the respective condition is fulfilled.

In the acquisition or appropriation of any Promise we must first of all bear in mind the difference between an absolute Promise that is unconditional, and a conditional Promise, meaning a Promise that cannot be secured unless the specific condition is met.

Absolute Promises are those unconnected with the requirement of anything on the part of the Promisee in order to their fulfillment. Such a Promise is a naked agreement and in law means a contract without “quid pro quo,” that is, something given or taken as equivalent to another.

An illustration of an absolute Promise is seen in God’s Promise to provide a guilty race with the ground and means of reconciliation.

“I will never leave thee” is another of the absolute Promises of Heaven.

Conditional Promises of Which There Are Many, Are Those Dependent for Their Fulfillment Upon the Carrying Out of Certain Requirements Expressly Stated

For instance, take this one.

It would be altogether wrong to say, Well God was good to Israel, unworthy though she proved to be, therefore I knew He would be good to me.

Such a Promise of goodness is dependent upon the fulfillment of the important attached condition.

“Even to such as are of a clean heart.”

If we are confident that ours is a “clean heart,” then there is nothing in the way to the realization of God’s goodness.

Take Another Illustration of Conditional Blessing Offered to Israel

To stop there and claim Divine protection would have been sheer folly because the Promise was dependent upon the condition of obedience.

The people, however, as the narrative shows, failed to comply with the specific condition and they had to forfeit occupancy of the land. 2 Kings 21:12-15.

The Root Meaning of the Greek Term for “Promise” is “to Announce Oneself”

Hence, “to signify to,” “offer one’s service,” and to, “engage oneself voluntarily to render service.”

And it is associated in rabbinical usage with “assurance.” In the Gospels, “Promise” carries the thought of “assurance.”

“Behold, I Send the Promise of My Father Upon You,” Luke 24:29

The “Promise” here refers to the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:4; 2:23, 29; Gal 3:14; Eph 1:13. The same word is used in the unfulfilled Promise of Christ’s return, 2 Pet 3:4.

In Christian experience, a “Promise” is translated into “assurance” when any declared condition is recognized and realized.

God Has Made Promises to Men and the Sum Total of the Promises Being His Rest, Eternal Life, and Eternal Grace

The only true rest of the soul and all souls is “His rest.”

In order to enter into and enjoy this rest, it is imperative to “come and take and find.”

The forfeiting of such a Promise is a terrible calamity. “To come short of” the true rest, what greater loss than this call befalls the human soul?

Check back tomorrow for more Divine Sugar Sticks!

Comments about this web site? E-mail me.

Back to my home page

Page updated 06/26/05 10:25 PM.

This page has been viewed  times since November 2, 2002.