Blessed With Promises

Praise God. I want you to turn here this morning with me to Genesis chapter 15. Genesis 15.

We're coming to part six on our series, The Promises of God. This is the last part, the sixth and last part of this series, and I believe a very important one, how the Lord has opened this up. There's many directions I could have went, but he's led me in a very specific way that I believe is really of his leading and guidance, and we want to hear from him this morning.

We want him to minister to our hearts. My message, blessed with promises. Reading from Genesis 15, I want to read this whole chapter because I'm going to preach from these verses, so I want us to read it.

Allow God to minister. Do you know at times when you read the text, God can minister to you in a very real way, even as the text is read. I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I believe in that prophetic element that's within the word of God that speaks to the heart, ministers. It's a living, it's not a dead book. The word of God is quick.

It means it's alive. This is not a dead book. It's not a dead letter.

It reveals the heart. It pierces. It cuts asunder to the very motives of your heart.

It is not a dead book, and a preacher who is aware of that comes with an awareness of a God who speaks, and that's the awareness I have this morning. Genesis 15 verse 1. After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

And Abraham said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eleazar of Damascus? And Abraham said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and no, one born in my house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them.

And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another. But the birds divided he not.

And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abraham drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham. And lo, a horror of darkness fell upon him.

And he said unto Abraham, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and shall afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterwards shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace.

Thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again. For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

And it came to pass that when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates, the Canaites, and the Canaites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephians, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Gerizites, and the Jebusites. Amen.

Let's pray here this morning for the word of God. Let God speak to you here this morning. God can set you free, change you, meet with you.

He could save you in this gathering, can speak into your life in a way that changes the whole direction of your life. This God is real. Open your heart, seek Him while He may be found.

Cry unto Him early. Hallelujah. Father, we even join our voices.

Oh God, we're so hungry, we're so thirsty. There's needs in this gathering, there's people seeking you, concerning things in their life. Lord God, we need the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob to draw near by way of the blood of Jesus Christ, the blood of the everlasting covenant.

You are a God of promise. You are a God of covenant. You're a God who honors the faith of your elect ones.

My God, we're asking of you right now. Lord God, reveal yourself to individuals in this room. Lord God, as you are with Abraham, Lord God, so visit individuals in this room.

Overshadow them to bring forth your plans. Lord God, speak your promises to people in this church, O God. Let your word come as a flaming fire.

Let it come as a bright light in the darkness of night. Let it be like a star in the sky. Lord God, we're asking of you that your promises would be as the sand on the seashore.

My God, move deeply on our hearts this morning. As we come to your word, we're hungry and we're thirsty and we desire you. And Lord God, as a church, we ask an agreement right now.

Lord God, we lay hold of the God of Abraham. We lay hold of your throne of grace. We lay hold of the promises of God and we ask let it be according to your word and our lives.

Make your thoughts to be our thoughts. Make your ways to be our ways, O God. Let your word come with power.

Perform your promises, O God. Remember your covenant with us. Remember the oath that you swear even unto a thousand generations.

Be mindful, O God, of the word that you spoke, O God, in days of old. And Lord God, we ask for that reviving and the bringing forth of your plan in this church. In Jesus' mighty name.

Amen. Amen. Praise God.

Praise God. After these things, my message blessed with promises. This is the sixth message.

We're dealing with the promises of God. I've got so much to say. I could keep going for weeks.

But this is the last week for a certain reason, as you know, that we're bringing this to a halt. I've been in a strange place for several months. I've been in a chapter change in my personal life for seven months.

I was in a chapter. I'm about to embark on a new chapter. These past two years have been strange years.

Just over two years ago, losing my wife, just down the road here, watching her breathe her last breath and go straight into the presence of God. I can mark the seconds. They said, you can spend as much time as you want here.

I said, no, I'm going. I immediately came to this place. I told Paul, so don't start the Lord's table till I get there.

Didn't tell them what had happened. Because I wanted to come here and break bread with my family, with my church. This isn't religion sense.

This isn't a game. This is my family. This is where I want to be.

Where do you want to be in the time of Christ? I want to break bread with my family. I want to remember the Lord Jesus Christ. See, I'm at a very strange place, literally.

This is the last sermon I'll preach. The last Sunday I'll be here before I embark on a new chapter. When I return again, it will be in a service on Christmas, or sorry, New Year's Eve with my new wife.

That's when I'll be back here again. Not until then. And we'll enter 25 here in this church with the new Mrs. Malcolmson.

It's been a strange two years. This has been a very strange year of emotion. I've literally been for several months caught between grief and love.

Two strong emotions at the same time. At the same time. And the grief did not quench love and love did not.

Well, that did. That love definitely brought my grief to an end. Remarkably, for three months, I didn't have one bit of grief from the hour I fell in love with Anna.

So, I believe we as a church, we deal with a personal God. We're not just preaching sermons. We're not doing that.

We're not going through churchianity. We're dealing with God. We're only here for a short time.

We're only here once and then it's over. Life is very real. Saints, I'm not going to replay this again.

I get one chance at this, then it's over. I'm dealing with the God of Abraham here this morning. And this message blessed with promises.

I believe the blessings of God pour forth upon us with mighty blessings, with mighty promises. Just like the little acorn brings forth a mighty oak. Every promise of God, every statement is like a little acorn.

One day to bring forth a mighty oak. And sometimes you don't realize what God's promises are. They're a little tiny acorn.

And when you see the mighty oak, how can a little tiny acorn become a mighty oak? It's going to have to pass through death. So, God's promises are mighty. You can't even imagine what God's promises are.

Every promise of the Bible is like a star in the heavens. You can begin counting them. One, two, three, four, one, two, three.

You have to keep counting. You can count thousands, and you haven't even begun yet. Your eye cannot see all of the stars in the heaven.

No scientist, no expert study in the skies all his life has ever counted all the stars, not a one of them. So, I believe the stars of the heaven are like the promises of God. You can count and count and count, and still they are beyond measure, beyond number.

You can't even comprehend. Here this morning, I've got a message I want to bring to you. Five different points from this text concerning being blessed with the promises of God.

So, I believe my life's a blessed life. Not because of me, not because of my own righteousness or right choices or any goodness of me. I believe it's only because of the Lord Jesus Christ.

My life is blessed. It is a blessed life. It doesn't mean you don't suffer or don't have tragedies or don't have pain to walk through, but my life is a very blessed life, and the word blessed means to be happy.

I am a very happy man. Even at my lowest point, my darkest valley, I was rejoicing in my God. I never once in two years struggled to worship God.

From the day I walked in here, having lost my wife, I lifted my hands, I opened my heart, I opened my mouth and began to worship the Lord because he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Nothing changes our God. He is the God of Abraham.

Let me give you the first of these five points concerning being blessed with the promises of God and what defines the blessings of God, or what do the blessings of God reveal to you? Number one, I want you to see the character of God in the text that we have just read. Look at verse one again. This is what it says in Genesis 15 and verse one, and these things, sorry, and after these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision.

After these things, certain things had happened, and Abraham, or Abram, I should more correctly say, is in a situation. He's up in the middle of the night. It's dark.

The stars are out. He's not asleep. He ought to be asleep, but he's not asleep.

Do you know why? He's afraid. He's got questions. He's got a lot rolling in his mind and heart about the future, God's will for his life, promises that were made to him by God.

He is doubting how they can come to pass in his life. In fact, he's bringing his own thinking in again, and he's trying to work out how God is going to work out his plan in his life, and he's trying to reinterpret the promise of God, because he doesn't think the promise can work in his life the way God spoke it, so now he's trying to reinterpret it. God made a promise.

You're going to have a child. You will have your own child. He tries to reinterpret it and say, yes, well, I can't actually have it.

I didn't believe. I did pray, but I knew that can't happen, so he reinterprets the promise to mean his servant Eleazar, and please note, you know what? Servant in the word doesn't mean always a slave, chained and bound, or a servant like we think of it, a slave we think about it. When the New Testament talks about speaking of servants or the slaves, don't think that's justifying slavery.

The Bible doesn't. Far from it. An actual slave in the Roman Empire could mean a simple waiter at a table.

The term servant was a very broad term, but look at him. Abraham is trying to reinterpret. God makes promises.

God has spoken him. He's walked with this for years. He's trying to work out God's plan.

Well, this can't happen, so let's try this, and he begins to put all of his plans in Eleazar, his servant. He can touch that. He can believe that.

He can organize that. He can plan that. It's within his own hands, so he begins to take the promise out of God's hands and move it over into his hands.

You need to be very careful of your natural mind talking you out of the promise of God. It's supernatural power. It's spiritual place.

The fact that only God can do it, and if you're not careful, you minimize the promises of God. You know what, saints? These are supernatural, dynamic things that only God can do. Notice this first thing about the character of God.

After these things, the word of the Lord came on to Abraham in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abraham. I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. This is the first thing I want you to mark, that within the promises of God was the character of God.

God uses promises to reveal his character. Do you see that here? God speaks to Abraham, and he says, Fear not. You only say fear not to people who are fearing.

Do you know that whole faith prosperity movement? They say if you fear, you're in sin. All fear is sin. That's not true.

Abraham was in faith in this chapter, in this night. He was a man of faith. He lived in faith.

God honors his faith in this chapter, but he says, Fear not. Abraham had real fears. He's up in the middle of the night, and he goes out.

He is in fear. He is thinking about the future. He's thinking about himself, his inability to bring about the will of God.

See, when you start thinking you have to bring forth the will of God, you're going to fear. You're going to be up in the middle of the night saying, How am I going to do this, and how are we going to function, and what am I going to do, and I can't be this, and I can't live like this, and I can't do this. Before you realize that, you're in fear.

Do you see the promise? God speaks to him, Fear not, Abraham. I am thy shield. That's a promise.

Do you realize the promises through the Bible reveal the character of God, or more clearly, he literally gives himself to you in the promises. He doesn't just speak words. He doesn't just give you things.

He doesn't just do things for you. Do you know what God does in the promises? He puts himself in the promise. Look what it says.

Fear not, Abraham. See how personal this is. Don't you fear.

Andre, don't you fear. That got you, didn't it? Dan, don't you fear. It's personal.

God speaks to the heart. He doesn't just say generally. He speaks to you.

Pam, do not fear. He speaks very clearly, very personally, and you know what in this? He says, why should you not fear? He makes a promise. I am thy shield.

Do you know what shield means? It represents protection. I am your shield. I am your defense.

I'm your protection against enemies. Guess what he's worrying about. Guess what he's afraid about? Enemies.

He's just defeated with a handful of men. Defeated these great enemies. If you slept that night, you wake up in the middle of the night.

Oh, what a miracle. What a deliverance. They're going to come after me.

They're going to come looking for me. You know, if they're a limerick mob, they'll be at yours tonight, I assure you. They're going to track you down.

Do you know what he's worrying? He's worrying about all these things. God gives him a promise. I am your shield.

Notice he doesn't say, I'm going to protect you. Notice he doesn't say, I'm going to give you a spiritual shield. I'm going to put a bunch of angels around you, and I'm going to tell my angel to protect you.

He says, I am your shield. God himself doesn't merely say, I'll protect you. He says, I am your protection.

I am your shield. I will be around you. I will be there.

I'm going to be present. And so the first thing I want you to see here this morning is that in the promise, when God makes promises, he does it to bring fears to an end. He gives a promise to match your fear.

He doesn't just give you some vague message. You have real fears. You see here in this church, Arthur, you have real situation.

You need real promises specific for your situation. It's got to be specific for you. God doesn't just speak over there.

When you're here, he speaks into your situation saying, fear not, I am your shield and thy exceeding great reward. Notice that God is in the promise. He himself doesn't make promises.

He is the promise. I am thy exceeding great reward. I am thy shield.

I'm not merely giving you a shield. I'm not merely giving you an exceeding great reward. I am your exceeding great reward.

I'm your provision, personal. I'm your shield. I am your shield.

Do not fear. You know what he's worried about? Provision. Hey, Abram, I am your exceeding great reward.

I'm your reward. What's he doing? He's thinking, worrying about the future, worrying about his son, worrying about where he's gonna live. He hears a God who says, I'll give you the whole land.

What's your problem, Abram? I'm preparing you for a city of glory. Why are you worried about your finance? Why are you worried about your job, Elvis? Why are you worried about these things? When you're dealing with the real God, sure in the middle of the night, I know all your problems, all your battles, all your difficulties. You know what God does? He speaks promises accurately when you need them.

You're up in the night, you're scared, you're worried, you're thinking, you're planning, you're trying to maneuver the promise to make it viable, workable. Okay, now I brought it down to a human level. Now I can make it work in my life.

There's no supernatural element. I'll just make Eleazar my servant to be my inheritor of everything. No, no, no.

You know what? God makes promises. He maintains the supernatural element, the sovereign divine element of it. Don't you bring it down to the ash heap.

It says in Hebrews 11, 6, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. God is a rewarder.

If you seek him, he rewards you. You know what he said to Abraham? I'm going to reward you with myself. I make a promise to you.

I am your reward. I'm not going to reward you. I am your reward.

I'm promising you. I am your reward. I am everything you need.

You seek me. I give myself unto you. Since this first thing of the character of God, he is a shield.

He is a provider. Look all through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, Jehovah-Jireh. That's not about money.

Who said it was about money? It's not about money. It's about a lamb and about your sin and the provision of God. You go through Jehovah-Shammah and you can go through all the names of God, Elohim, name after name, character after character.

God is revealing himself, revealing himself. Do you know God makes promises all through the Bible attached to his character, who he is, giving himself, what he will be to you. Promise after promise.

It's not mere words. God has given himself to you in the word of God. He makes a promise.

I will protect you. I'll be your foundation. I'll be your shepherd.

Did you hear the songs we are singing this morning? Hear how many powerful statements? I'm going to be your shepherd. I'll be the bishop of your soul. I'll be your guide.

I'm going to lead you. I'm going to provide you. What's God doing? He's revealing his character.

Promise after promise after promise. God is revealing his character. See, we are blessed with promises.

There's blessing after blessing after blessing. Read the promises and God has shown you his character, his promise, his commitment, his provision, his presence, who he is, what he will be to you. That's number one.

The promises reveal the character of God. God uses his promise to show you his character and the commitment of his character. Number two, the word of God.

Look at verse one again. The word of the Lord came to Abram. The word of the Lord.

Not only the character of God, but the word of God. How do the promises of God come to you? Through the word of God. He's not going to speak a load of promises to you in a dream, a vision, or as you walk down the street if you never take time in the word of God.

This book is filled with promises. You neglect this. You're neglecting a storehouse of promise.

Saints of God, this is filled with promises. Read any book of the Bible. Promise after promise after promise.

Imagine neglecting that and then saying, Lord, will you provide for me? Lord, will you protect me? The father's going to be turned to the son saying, I give them a whole book. They don't even read it. I give them promise.

They're it's there. I'll forgive your sin. Oh, forgive me, Lord.

I don't know. I don't feel forgiven. Read the book.

I've given you a book. It says the word of the Lord came to Abraham. Underline that word came.

Came. The written scriptures came. The word of the Lord.

It says in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1, God who at sundry times and in diverse manners, in other words, at all sorts of eras and in different ways, speak in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. Abraham was a prophet. God spoke to him.

Hath in these last days spoken unto us through his son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom he hath made the worlds, who be in the brightness of his glory. So notice here, God speak in time past through the fathers. Then listen, second Peter chapter 1, 20, no one this first, but no prophecy of the scripture.

It's not talking about Bible prophecies, talking about the scripture breathed on inspired scripture. Written scripture is called prophecy. All of it.

It's prophecy. Scripture written word of God is prophecy. Not talking about prophecy teaching about last days.

And of course we believe that, but it's talking about this prophecy of the scriptures of no private interpretation for the prophecy came not in the old time by the will of man, by the will of man, but the holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Do you know the written scriptures, the promises? This book is filled with promises. It's not man's book, not man's imagination.

This book was breathed out. These men were moved by the Holy Ghost. They were literally carried by the Holy Ghost.

This book is an inspired book filled with thousands, tens of thousands of promises for all of your needs. Every situation read it. And you're going to be blessed.

You want to be blessed. You really want to be blessed of God. Read this book, meditate upon a day and night.

You want your way to be blessed. You want to enjoy the blessing of God. You want to hear God speak to you personally, read this book, read a day and night.

You know why? Because then this book, you've got promises of salvation. Remember like we said before, John wrote one John that you might know that you have eternal life. And this is the blessing.

One of the blessings is eternal life. How do you know you've got eternal life? Well, I feel like I've got eternal life. No, you don't say that.

God promised. God believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. I believe that.

Do you realize the promises in the Bible? Most people get saved through a promise in the Bible. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, in Genesis 15, there's Abraham in the night.

God speaks to him and it says he believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. Paul in Romans says God preached the gospel to Abraham. The gospel.

Oh, the gospel is only in the New Testament. No, it wasn't. God preached the same gospel that saved you to Abraham.

And Abraham believed the gospel and was saved just like you are. Saved by faith through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You receive imputed righteousness by faith.

Do you know how Abraham got that? The word of God came on to him. Do you know how you got saved? The word of God comes on to you. You're told, you may, the preacher may not even have a Bible in his hand, but he's quoting the promise.

Believe in Jesus and you'll be born again. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll have eternal life. And you believe this.

You know what it is? That's the promise of scripture has just saved you. You wouldn't have any confidence that your sins are forgiven. You wouldn't feel clean.

You wouldn't feel like you've got a new start or a new heart or an eternal hope or eternal life or that all your sins are forgiven. How do you know that? The promises of God within the word of God. What about an eternity with God? How would you know that you're going to be in a golden city, the new Jerusalem? How do you know that? The promises of God.

How do you know you'll be immediately in the presence of God when you die? The promises of God. How do you know that when everything is going wrong around you, governments stop your visa? What are you going to do? Say, God's plan is destroyed for my life. Or do you go to scripture? Romans chapter 8, verse 28, for we know.

Do you know this morning? And how do you know? Oh, I feel everything's working together for good rubbish. You liar. If you're like me, you go, oh no, like Jacob, all these things are against me.

I go to the scripture. Romans 8, 28. I've got dogs.

I've got fears like Abraham. I'm up in the middle of the night worrying. Let's get to the promise of God.

For I know that all things work together for good to them who love him and are called according to his purpose. Are you called according to his purpose? Do you love God this morning? I mean, do you love him? Then all things, even the bad things are working together for good. Oh, but look at it.

Look at it. Campi. Yes, it is.

You've got a promise. Since I can go through it like this promise after promise, where are they contained? Not only in the character of God, the character of God is in all the promises, but you know what? All of God's provision is in the promises. It's in the word of God.

All the promises are here. Read them, think on them, believe them, act upon them, pray them through. It's real.

It says in Titus 1 verse 2, the hope of eternal life. When did God promise eternal hope? When did God promise eternal life to you? When? When did he do that? Think about when did he promise you eternal life? Well, I'll give you the scripture. Don't rely on your mind.

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. When was the promise of eternal life made? Before the world began. Who did he make it to? You weren't there, or were you? Were any of you there? I hope not.

So, God the Father made the promise of giving you eternal life. Who did he make it to? To Jesus. I could prove that if I had an hour here.

But has in due time manifested his word through preaching. So, the promise that God the Father made concerning eternal life, what did he do? He manifested it through preaching, the preaching of the gospel. So, a promise made in eternity before the world began, before creation.

God made a promise. What does he do? He puts it in the gospel, then he manifests it to you. Then you think you've just discovered, oh, a promise.

God's made eternal life. He made a promise. Yeah, it was made before the world began, but it's being manifest to you.

It's being revealed to you through preaching, which is committed unto me, that is Paul, according to the commandment of God our Savior. So, the character of God, God's character is in every promise. God communicates his character to you in your crisis, in your problems.

He said, I'm everything you need. I give myself to you. It's in a promise.

Then the second thing, the word of God is filled with the promises of God for every need. Third of all, the covenants of God. Listen to what it says in Genesis 15, 18, where we've read, in the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.

It's all in that chapter. God made a covenant. The promises have everything to do with the covenants.

Why would God make a covenant? He's made promises. Why would he add a covenant? Because of what you're like. See, God's dealing with Abraham, the father of the faith.

Oh, he had such faith. He never feared. He never doubted.

He never tried to change things. He's not like us, or is he? God makes unbelievable promises to Abraham. But do you know what God is dealing with? A frail man with thoughts, with feelings.

He looks at himself, looks at his future, looks at his past, and he gets worried. He begins to doubt. He begins to try and work it all out.

So, God makes a covenant. You know why? He's promised him a child and promised him a land. And Abraham has problems with strife in his own emotions.

Strife begin. Thoughts, feelings, emotions. And God says, so I need to make a covenant with him.

Listen to what it says in Ephesians chapter 2, 12. That at that time, ye Gentiles were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. He's talking about what Israel had, Gentiles didn't have.

How do you know the promises are yours? Do you know Paul's dealing with it concerning the Gentile churches? You Gentiles, how do you know the promises given to Israel belong to you? You're Gentiles, no Jewish lineage. So, Israel has everything. Israel has the prophets.

Israel has the scriptures. Not the Gentiles, not the Irish, no one else. God wouldn't have trusted the Irish with the scriptures, I want to tell you.

He trusted the Jews with it. But listen to what he says here. He said, you were strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope.

And without God in the world, but now in Christ Jesus, you who were sometimes were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Look what he says in the middle there. You were strangers to the to the covenants, plural, of promise.

Israel had the covenants of promise. Here he says, but through the blood of Jesus, you Gentiles, you now get the covenants of promise, not one covenant. It's not just the new covenant replacing all the covenants.

Do you hear me? The Abrahamic covenant is not fulfilled. We actually get brought into it. It's not just a new covenant in the blood of Jesus, a brand new one.

No, it's the Abrahamic covenant coming straight through. We get the covenants of promise, the covenant with Abraham, the covenant with King David. Remember it says, I made my covenant with David, even the sure mercies of David.

Do you know you get that in Jesus Christ, through the blood of Jesus, you get brought in. Some of us don't even know what the sure mercies of David are. The covenant made with David or the key of David.

Remember the seven churches of Asia. One of the churches is given the key of David, a church, a Gentile church. Would you mind tell me what is the key of David? You don't even know.

Why don't you know? You've got a promise left to a church, a Gentile church, but you have to go back to David in the Old Testament or you don't understand it. I'm getting you thinking this morning, aren't I? I want to stir you up and challenge you and make you think. I want you to begin thinking, where's that key that I can unlock the promises of God.

Here you have the covenants of promise. Every covenant God made with his people was one of promise. That means God made a covenant and in that covenant promise after promise after promise.

Remember what he said to Jeremiah and Ezekiel, a new covenant will I make with you. Not like the one made at Sinai, that was law. That was the covenant through Moses.

Oh no, I'll make a new covenant, an everlasting covenant with you. Then he stipulates all the promises. I'll give you a new heart.

I'll cleanse you from every idol. See if you're really born again, you can say, God, you said you'd cleanse me and that you'd purge me from every idol in my heart. It's one of your promises, the I wills.

I will, I will, I will, I will. There's promises filling all of the covenants and the promises of these covenants are brought to you. I hope I'm not losing you here this morning.

All of these covenants, all of these promises in those covenants become yours. Those made to Abraham, those made to David, those made in the word of God. Listen, let me bring this in closer.

Hebrews chapter six, verse 13, because you're not convinced. I want you to know from the word of God. Listen, for when God made promise to Abraham, are you following me? When God made promise to Abraham, when in Genesis 15, because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself.

What is a covenant? What's the difference between a promise and a covenant? God swears. An oath is the same as a covenant. In other words, God says, I swear it should be enough that he promises.

I promise. But he goes a stage further and he says, I swear. Now this is what Hebrews six is talking about.

The promise was made to Abraham, but that wasn't enough. He didn't stop there. He didn't just make a promise.

I promise you he made a covenant with Abraham. You know why Abraham's got fears. He's got emotions.

He's got thoughts. He's got all of this old nature like you. And God makes promises to Abraham.

And he goes, but, but, but what about this? And I know none of you are like that. Are you? None of you are like that. God makes the promise.

God said it. That's it. I don't have any fears.

I just believe I stand on the promise. I never fear. I never doubt.

I never questioned. I never waver. I don't try to work it out with my own conniving.

Well, we could do this and we could do that. None of you do that. Do you? But Abraham dead.

Abraham dead. So God had made the promise. What did he do next? He's swear by himself saying, surely blessing.

I will bless thee and multiply and I will multiply thee so that after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. What helped him endure? God's swearing, making a covenant, making an oath. Some Christians don't even know that God goes beyond the promise to make an oath.

And yet it's here in Hebrew six for Christians, for new Testament believers. And listen, verily, verily for man, verily swear by the greater and an oath. Why is an oath given for confirmation to make a definite it's sure what I promised I'm going to do.

So God gives an oath to say, if you're talking to promise, I swear, I will do what I say. Well, I forgive you. Did I say I'd forgive you? I swear.

I make a covenant. I pledge myself on this and what else is to them an end of all strife. God's swearing, pledging himself, finding himself by covenant to say, I'll keep all my promises ought to bring an end to your strife.

Do you know what your problem is? Strife. Do not think in your emotions and you feel sick, turmoil over yourself, your past, your present, your future. You're in turmoil.

I hear the promises. I know the promises. I read the promises.

I hear the preaching, but I'm in turmoil, thoughts, feelings, thoughts, emotions. Can I believe, can I do this? Will it work out in my life? Do you know what God does? God swears an oath to bring an end to strife. I swear I'd made a covenant as if the promise wasn't enough.

Listen carefully. This is to the New Testament church. Verse 17, we're in God willing more abundantly to show onto the heirs of the promise.

Who's an heir of promise of the promise of Abraham? Who's an heir of promise here? Some of you just don't even know. If you're born again, you're an heir to the promise. So God willing more abundantly.

I mean, he's gone. I want to show you. I want to show you that I'm going to keep the word.

The immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath. That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie. What are the two things? His promise and his oath.

Two things. He said, I've given you promises. That's not enough for you.

I give my oath. I swear by myself that I'm going to do it. And it's impossible for God to lie.

See when you're dealing with the promises, you've got a lot of strife. Be honest. You've got a lot of strife.

You're fighting through trying to make all the promises of I'm going to be holy in Christ. Perfect in Christ. Sanctified in Christ.

You're wrestling to work this out. You need to come to rest, saints of God. God's going to do it.

I believe God. This morning, why not believe God? I swear that I'm going to perform the promises. I'm a covenant God.

I cannot lie. So, to show himself that it's impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation or encouragement. Who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.

Oh, is this about Abraham or is it about you and I? Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. We have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll. To the rock that cannot move.

Grounded firm and in the Savior's love. Hallelujah. Thank you.

Let's listen to what it says. Which entereth within the veil. So, it's acting as an anchor.

He's not saying Christ is the anchor. The youth is the anchor to keep your soul and you are anchored within the veil. Whether the forerunner has entered, even Jesus.

So, he's not talking about Abraham or the Old Testament Jews. He's talking about the church. So, he's bringing Abraham, the promise, the youth right into the New Testament church and he's saying through the youth.

This isn't just God swearing to Abraham. He's made an oath. He said, I cannot lie.

You're actually treating me like I'm a liar. I give you promise after promise after promise. See, promises make you look at the thing.

Soon as God swears, now you look at character. Who is saying this? I will do it. Don't look at yourself.

You don't have the power. You don't have the stickability. What do you swear? Listen, Psalm 89.

Go back and read it. The covenant made with David. God swear unto David that his seed would endure like his throne would.

It's a picture of Jesus. God's so much to say in this. Well, we need to move on to our next point.

Number four, the children of God. I'm just taking you through this. Genesis 15 is where we are.

What did God say to Abraham? No, not Eliezer. I'm going to give you a child from your own body. Sarah, who's barren, this old white-haired lady who has a bit of a renovation when the Holy Ghost moves on her because kings want to marry her.

Kings look at her and go, wow, I want to marry her. Twice over it happened. I'm telling you, the Holy Ghost is good for you ladies.

You need to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. I don't read into that statement. Please don't do that.

I could get in trouble. The Holy Ghost is the best thing a church can have. A church can be worn out, barren, dead, no chance of bearing life.

We need the Holy Ghost revival in this church again. Out of one barren woman, one small church, one church that can't even get a handful of converts, the Spirit of God can fall and change our world. The gospel can go to all nations.

Since it says in Galatians 4, 28, now we brethren, we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. Do you know that you're a child of promise? You are. If you're born again, you're a child of promise.

In other words, every real Christian is connected to the promises of God. Do you hear what I'm saying? So the character of God's connected to the promises. The word of God is filled with the promises of God.

The covenants of God are covenants of promise. Even the children of God are called children of promise. So he says brethren, Paul speaking to Gentile Christians who live in Turkey, brethren, brothers in Christ, as Isaac was, so are we the children of promise.

Do you see how I'm bringing this together? What Isaac was in Genesis 15 and throughout Genesis, you are as a child of promise. You literally are connected to the promises of God. God isn't just making promises out there somewhere.

If you're born again, if you've trusted in Jesus, you have the promises. The promises are connected to your life. You are a child of God.

You're caught up into the saints. You're not a child of wrath. You're not under all of the curses of Deuteronomy and Leviticus and everything else.

You know all of this curses and blessing. You know, they all want to take you back there and go, barren, you're under a curse. Oh, you lose your job.

You're under a curse. Rubbish. That's law.

That's the old covenant. Covenants are not under our covenant. It was blessings and curses, blessings and curses.

Do you know what God said through Jeremiah and Ezekiel? Listen, concerning the new covenant, I'm going to make a new covenant with you, not like the one I made with Israel when I brought them out of Egypt at Mount Sinai. It's not going to be the same as that. It's going to be different.

So how does it look different? He says, because in that covenant, I said, do or die, obey the command or you die. Most of you think Christianity is like that. Oh, I'm living.

If I do, God blesses me. If I don't, I'm cursed. That's the old covenant.

That's not grace. That's not the gospel. That's not what is here.

We've been brought in through the blood of Jesus. We're a child of promise and I'm not preaching loose living or removing holiness. You know that we preach holiness and obedience and righteousness.

That is the mark of a child of promise. Since you don't have promises when you go out and squander it out there. You know what Eve thought? Eve thought Cain was the promise.

Cain, that first child. She goes, oh, look at Cain, the firstborn. He's the promise seed.

You couldn't be more wrong. Do you know how I know he's not the seed and it's not going to come through him? Do you know why I know that? His murder, his anger, his law, his works. He's not a child of promise.

Since the child of promise is saturated with the word of God. Let me finish here this morning. Let me finish my message and my series on the promises of God.

Let me just finish with this point. Personal promises. What do you have in Genesis 15? God's making a personal promise to a man on a night in a situation.

He responds to his fear. He speaks into a situation very exactly. See, I was thinking about this and I know there's a lot of, there's some good people in the church and they're called cessationists.

They don't believe the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 are for today. They say tongues isn't for today and healing isn't for today and the gifts aren't for today and gifts of prophecy aren't for today. They say it's all over.

The nine gifts passed in the first century. I believe it's the most unbiblical teaching. You know the reform camp, they get it right on the blood and the righteousness of Christ and many subjects but they get it wrong, awfully wrong because they move away from scripture when they come to that.

They move far away from scripture because the best argument for the nine supernatural gifts is the written word of God and I'm telling you they don't follow the old saints. Charles Spurgeon, that great baptist preacher called the prince of preachers in London. Let me just quote him here for a minute because if anyone was listening I'd want them to know, well if you call yourself a baptist you ought to believe at least like the prince of preachers.

This is what he said, I believe there is such a thing as receiving, I can't even read my He goes on and he says, I believe in the immediate operation of the Holy Spirit. This is the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. He actually likened himself and he said, well in some areas I believe like the old Quakers who believed in the moving of the Holy Spirit that he speaks to you.

He goes further and he says, I believe in the special distinct munitions, directions and illuminations of the Holy Spirit. That's pretty good for a Holy Spirit. I believe the Holy Spirit personally now guides you.

Next time a baptist tries to tell you, no, no, no, God never personally guides you and if you think you're being led you're utterly deceived. What a load of rubbish. God's always moving every dispensation.

Anyway that's by the by, that's nothing to do with it. What I'm telling you is in Genesis 15 God made specific personal promises to a man in fear, a man with difficulties, a man with strife in his soul, a man that was trying to work out the will of God for his life. God made promises onto him, I'm going to do this in your life, I'm going to do this in your life.

I was thinking about this this morning and most personal times, not all times, most, because I was trying to think and count them up. Most times when God has spoken straight to me, I'm in a thus saith the Lord directly into my life. Do you know what he's used? This book.

Let me give you a couple of examples. I was in a run in the army about 20 years old and I'd never fallen out of a run. I would never ever fall out of a run, both my knees went pop, same time.

I went to the doctor and he said you're going to have to have a plastic insert put in, it'll be about three months. I was in agony, I was in utter pain and you had to go to the doctor every day to get a chit to say you couldn't run that day. You don't have a doctor's chit, you've got to run.

I was in agony and they were creaking and they said it was the cartilage, you're going to have to have the cartilage removed and the plastic put in and he gave me loads of medication. I'm not going to touch that stuff. I tell you, I went, I need a touch from God.

I knew there's a meeting the next night and I thought I'm going to that meeting and asking my friends for prayer, but I was in pain. That morning, that first morning, as I went to walk out of my door to go to the doctor to get my chit to come back so I don't need to go running because I couldn't run, I could hardly walk and I'm lying on my bed in agony, three days. That first morning, as I go to walk out the door, I went, oh, I haven't looked at my scripture text.

You know the little calendar you use to get the golden text? I had it hanging above my bed in the army, in the barracks above my bed where everyone could sit and went, oh, I didn't look at my scripture this morning. I'd read my Bible, didn't look at my scripture. I went back and I looked and as soon as I read it, I am the Lord that healeth thee.

Since it was written there, it's an old thing from the Old Testament. It's in the word of God. How do I know it's mine? God spoke to me and I, as clear as an audible voice.

It wasn't an audible voice, but I knew, I knew I was going to get healed the next night. I knew my knees are wrecked. I knew I'm going to get healed.

That scripture gave me the full assurance. Went to the doctor, come back three days. I go to the meeting.

I'm in the meeting. I'm in agony, my both knees. In the break, I asked my two friends.

Oh, in fact, I didn't ask them to pray. I just said, my knees. And I said, can we pray for you? Yeah.

They knelt down, prayed. Are you okay? No, let's pray again. Are you better? No, let's pray again.

And I'm starting to get embarrassed. So I said, guys, I know God has heard. I know he's going to answer.

Let's just, and then part two started. We stood, began to praise. I'm still in agony.

And as we stood, only got a verse into it. All the pain is gone. All the pain is gone.

One scripture. You see, I'm talking about personal promises. The word of God, not ripping it out of context.

God speaks. He still speaks by his Holy Spirit. He still makes it personal.

I've got a lot to tell you on that one. Another time I was deceived at 21. I got into groups that are like mini Benny Hen meetings, like Toronto before Toronto came along.

Hyper prophecy, inner healing, blessings and curses. They had it all in that one church. I got so deceived, but you know what? God brought me out of it.

And I was living in Scotland. And this morning I am, we are evangelizing. I'm by my bed and I'm crying.

I'm going, Lord, I'm 22 years old. How do I know that I will not deceive others? How do I know? I'm pleading with God. I don't want to deceive others.

I want truth. I want to be a man of truth. How do I know that I will not deceive others like they deceived me? I opened up my eyes.

I looked down at my Bible. It was just lying open. I'd never seen this before.

In certain Bibles, they have a margin reading, which is a second choice of word because the translators hundreds of years ago couldn't decide between the two translations. Listen to what I looked down on. Isaiah 58 verse 11.

The margin reading says your waters will deceive not. God spoke to me clearly at 22 and he said, the waters, the preaching that come forth from you will not deceive. 22 years old.

I'm praying at my bedside. I'm in my eyes. I wasn't even conscious.

My eyes dropped. And it's the first time I read the margin reading. Your waters will not deceive.

It came as a word from the Lord. Your preaching is not going to deceive men and women. Your preaching is going to be a pure water.

Saints of God, why do you think I preach purely? It's because it was a work of God. I've got no confidence in myself. I'm scared of deceiving people.

I don't want that. Let me give you one last thing here because I want you to be convinced that God speaks accurately through promises. This isn't just a dead book.

This is a living book. It is quick. It is alive, sharper than a two-edged sword.

It discerns the motives of your heart. It goes way back. Oh, I think this.

It'll cut deep into your heart and show pride or arrogance or jealousy or a lie. You're saying, no, no, no, I'm honest. No.

The word of God is a living book. Saints, when you begin, as soon as you open it, it's alive. It doesn't need the moving of the Holy Ghost.

It's a book that's alive. This is God's book. One last thing here.

Some years ago, 2009, and I'm just on the road. We're about to start a three, four-week Bible school. And we'd been out of a situation in the city where people had hijacked the building, stole from us, lied.

We had to get out from them, had to get away from them. And I go, wow, we got out of that situation. And we're going to move somewhere else and have the School of Christ in another building.

First morning, I think it was quarter past five in the morning, we're going to pray at six. And I'm reading there my daily devotion on the Gibeonites from the book of Joshua, how Joshua was deceived by the Gibeonites. And God spoke to me and he says, I'm going to tell you about your next trial.

And he spoke to me and he said, if you don't pray and watch, you're going to be deceived by this next trial, because it's different than all the previous ones. And he began from that to give me the whole way to walk through this. Three months later, I walk into the situation and there's a man who preaches like Brother Clendenin, acts like Brother Clendenin, dresses like Brother Clendenin, believes like Brother Clendenin.

And he's a deceiver sent from the evil one who gave a million dollars into that ministry. And has a plan to take over the entire ministry. And you know what? God had set me in that place.

He comes to me and he says, if you listen to me, I'll pay all your bills. You'll never lack finance to go all over Europe. You'll always have money provided.

Just open all the doors for me. You know what? God had warned me from reading the scripture and told me exactly what to do. Saints of God, I'm telling you, this is a living book.

God speaks to you. He's alive. And you know what? We're in this service this morning.

We're not going through ritual and tradition here. When I come back to this church again, I'm going to be with a wife sent from the Lord Jesus Christ. We're two people, didn't want our own will, didn't want our own plans, didn't want our own ways.

But God sovereignly brings us together on God's plan. You know, there's a scripture I've sat on for 30 years. It didn't even apply to my marriage with Candace.

30 odd years I've sat upon it. Malachi chapter one, verse 11. And as soon as I encountered Anna, I went, that scripture is for this marriage right now.

It's for this time. All those years, God had spoken one scripture to me over and over and over speaking. And he says, now's the time.

And we've got a little picture there in America a few months ago, sitting holding the Bible and I'm pointing to it. It's our engagement pictures, so-called. And the photographer comes and taking it and I'm going, they don't even realize what this means.

A promise God gave to me personally some 30 years ago, kept speaking it, kept speaking it. It's for 2025 and the years that lie ahead. You patiently endure because he's a covenant God who swear by himself, who cannot lie, who understands your weakness, the tendency to unbelief, fears, your soul being in turmoil.

And so he says, I want to anchor your soul within the veil to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I abundantly, willingly want to help you. I understand your unbelief.

Saints of God, he understands. He understood it with Abraham. He's not a God saying, if you ever disbelieve, that's it.

Never says that. He says, I want to convince you that I'll pursue after you. Do you know some of you sitting here like Mephibosheth, who spent years running away from King David because you think he's going to kill you.

But that wasn't in the heart of King David. Do you know what he was looking? Where is Mephibosheth? Do you know why? I want to bless him because the covenant I made with his father and I want to bless him because of the covenant. Mephibosheth hears he's looking for me.

What does he do? He goes running and he turns up years later, unshaved, all scraggly and dirty. And you know what David invites him and says, put your lame legs under my table and eat at my table. Saints of God, some of you don't even realize you think God's running after you, trying to hit you over the head, trying to beat you up, wanting to judge you and pour wrath out.

And there is real wrath and real judgment for the sinner. There is. But you know what? Some of you don't realize how God is running after you to bless you.

And you think he's running after you to spank your behind, or to pour out some judgment upon you. And you don't even realize the heart of God towards you here this morning. Please stand with me.

Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus, let's lift our hands this morning. Let's worship in the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.

We have a book filled with the promises of God. This covenant that we've been brought into is a covenant of blessing, filled with blessings, filled with promises, promises without number. The character of our God is contained within the promises.

Saints, you're a child of promise. You're a child of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has birthed you.

He has saved you. And you know what? He makes personal promises. He uses the word of God.

He makes it alive. He'll protect you. He'll guard you.

If you walk with him, he'll encourage you when you need it. He'll warn you when you need it. He'll heal you when you need it.

Our God is a covenant-making God, a covenant-keeping God, and a covenant-performing God. He's swear by himself. He cannot lie.

And you know why he made a covenant? To bring you to rest so that you know that God is going to keep his promises. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Father, we love you this morning. Father, I pray for every member of this body that you'd stir our hearts, that you'd awaken us in Jesus' mighty name. Lord God, bring us stirring in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus.