There are many wonderful and theologically sound hymns Christians have sung in churches for millennia. John Newton’s ‘Amazing Grace’ is one, of course. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”
Isaac Watts’ “When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.”
St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century gave us: “All creatures of our God and king, lift up your voices and with us sing, Alleluia, alleluia.”
St. Dallan of the 6th century: “Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart, naught be all else to me, save that Thou art, Thou my best Thought, by day or by night, waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.”
But some hymns – not so much. In fact, they are downright dangerous to our faith. Like, “You gotta walk that lonesome valley, You gotta walk it by yourself, No, nobody else can walk it for you, You gotta walk it by yourself.”
When they are biblically sound, hymns are important adjuncts to our faith. They can be potentially dangerous when the lyrics cause confusion as to Biblical truth. And that is why I started this message with the song we sang: “Standing on the promises of God my King” because while on the surface, the lyrics sound biblical, on closer examination, the lyrics can cause confusion. Why is that? Because the song implies that ALL the promises of Scripture are mine, every chapter, every verse, every line. And that is simply not true, as we shall see in a few moments.
In this era of increasing apostacy in pulpits across the country, in this very town of Johns Creek where God's word is diluted by so many pastors until the gospel is unrecognizable – we need to know what is true and what is not.
Here are some of the lyrics of the song we just sang:
“Standing on the promises of Christ my King, through eternal ages let his praises ring. Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, Standing on the promises of God.” “Standing on the promises, I cannot fall, listening every moment to the Spirit's call, resting in my Savior as my all in all, standing on the promises of God.”
So, what exactly are the promises God tells us in His word that we can stand on? As I just said, in this day of lies, half-truths, and flat-out deceptions from pulpits and so-called Christian media, these are very important questions.
What promises does God make that are universal and unconditional – meaning those promises are for ALL people, at all times, and in all circumstances? And what promises are conditional, which God did NOT intend for all people at all times and in all circumstances?
Last week I talked about what can very well become in America a persecution of true Christians. I suggested several strategies that will help the Christian successfully walk with Christ through whatever might come to us as individuals or as a group.
Among the strategies I spoke of was the strategy to be on the lookout for false teachers. One of their favored lies is that God is all about making us happy, and to that end He makes a bunch of PROMISES, all of which we can lay hold of and find happiness – IF we have enough faith.
But experience – and MORE IMPORTANTLY – the whole of Scripture tells us something quite different. First, God is not about making us happy. He is about making us holy. He is about making us into the image of Jesus. Here is are only two texts to that point: “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)
And 1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
When pastors and evangelists tell us EVERY promise in the book belongs to the Christian who has enough faith, that, my brothers and sisters, is a perversion of Scripture. And it is easy to pervert Scripture when you take a text out of context. Remember: A text taken out of context is a pretext to teach error.
So just what DOES God promise EVERY Christian, and what does He promise only to specific Christians at specific times and in specific circumstances?
Well, first, does God PROMISE healing to every child of God? The answer is, of course, no.
Paul is only one example. Whatever was his ‘thorn in the flesh’ he spoke of in 2 Corinthians 12, God did not heal him. And then there was one of Paul’s traveling companions, Trophimus, whom Paul tells us he “left sick” in Miletus (2 Timothy 4). And to Timothy, Paul wrote: No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. (1 Timothy 5:23)
We could look at many others who suffered illnesses and whom God did not promise healing, but common sense ought to also add to this point. If God promised to heal EVERY Christian, then no Christian would ever die except from old age.
And what else does God NOT promise as a universal and unconditional promise? Well, what about safety? Does God promise His children to always keep them from danger and even death if they have enough faith? Of course not. We only need to look at the history of the apostles of the Lord – EACH OF WHOM – with the only exception of John – died a martyr’s death. And what about those whom we know as the heroes of faith cited for us in Hebrews 11? Listen to this text beginning with verse 32:
“For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions . . . Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured . . . and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment . . . they were put to death with the sword . . . wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised.”
The text in Hebrews 11 ought to be sufficient evidence from Scripture that God has NEVER universally promised safety to EVERY Christian at all times and in all circumstances, regardless of their so-called ‘sufficient faith.’ No, not at all. And by the way – why do you think these men and women who did NOT receive the promises, why are they called ‘Heroes of Faith’?
That’s easy. It’s because they trusted their good and kind and gracious and compassionate and loving God to do with them as He chose to do with them because they knew themselves to be servants of God – yes, slaves of God. They knew that, even if things were going terribly wrong for them, that God had not forsaken them, that God had not stopped loving them.
And one final comment about this point of promised safety: What of those Christians who died in wars, or accidents, or robberies, or other violent criminal acts. Did they all not have sufficient faith – or did God permit their death for reasons we can never on this side of eternity understand. His ways, after all, are not OUR ways, and His thoughts are not OUR thoughts.
But as the heroes of faith we just spoke of, God hopes we will simply lean on Him for protection, and trust Him implicitly when things go very wrong.
Well, those are only two of a slew of promises that false teachers like to tell us are unconditional to every Christian. I hope I have demonstrated sufficiently enough that those false teachers are liars.
But what ARE some of the promises God makes to us, promises that are unconditional and universal for EVERY Christian? Well, that also is an easy question to answer. For the sake of time today, here are only a few:
Nothing can separate us from God's love. Nothing. Ever. Listen to what He tell us through Paul’s pen: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)
By the way, I hope you noticed those 36th and 37th verses embedded in that Biblical promise of God’s love for us at all times and in all situations. Here are those verses again: “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long, we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
In other words, EVEN WHEN THINGS ARE GOING TERRIBLY WRONG, we have God's promise of His love.
And do you think you have sinned beyond His love for you? Show me in Scripture where it says the penitent sinner is forever lost to God's love. You simply won’t find it.
Listen, my brothers and sisters, we do not have God's perspective of things. He sees every nuanced result, every ripple effect, every whisper of changed hearts that He alone brings about through our struggles and great trials.
THAT is why the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 could trust Him. They knew the promise of God's love was for all times to all His children in all circumstances.
So, that is one of God's unconditional promises. He loves us. Here is a second: He will NEVER leave us alone. As dark as it might be in our individual circumstances, that promise from Christ is unconditional.
When He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” He meant it. (See Matthew 28:20). When He promised to send the Holy Spirit to abide with us forever (John 14:16), He meant it.
Christian – you are never alone. Not for a nanosecond are you ever alone. You might often FEEL as if you are alone, but we do not walk by feelings or by sight. We walk by faith in a faithful God.
Unconditional promises: Love. Never alone. What else does God promise unconditionally to His children who have given their lives to Him through Jesus the Messiah? What else does He promise that is not contingent on who we are or where we are or what we have done or not done?
He promises forgiveness of sins. Complete, full, unequivocal forgiveness of sins to ALL who repent. By the way, this promise ALSO applies to non-Christians as well who bring to God their sins in true repentance. When Jesus said: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” (John 6:37) – He was addressing the entire world. And when Peter told the crowd: ‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’ (Acts 2:21) – that promise of God is unconditional and sent to the entire world. After all, isn’t that what the Great Commission is all about - “Go into ALL THE WORLD and preach the gospel”?
Love. Never alone. Forgiveness to ALL who confess their sins to God, repent, turn from their sins, and follow Jesus in obedient faith.
And finally for today, what other unconditional promise does God make to His children that is not dependent on time, place, or circumstance? It is this glorious promise: Jesus will return for us. Listen to what Jesus said in John 14: “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)
And, oh! When He returns to take us to Himself, this promise also awaits us: “The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain . . . He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.” (Isaiah 25:6-9)
And this promise: “There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22:3-5)
And this one: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15
No, every promise in the book is NOT mine, or yours. While God promises to heal, not everyone will be healed. While God promises safety, not everyone will remain safe. Those are promises God makes to specific individuals at specific times. They are conditional on what God wants to do with us for His kingdom and our good.
But there ARE many, many promises God makes to us that are unconditional, meaning they are universal. God loves us. He will never leave us alone. He will forgive everyone who comes to Him in repentance faith. And He is coming for us again.
Unconditional promises that all of God's children can stand on and about which we can boldly and confidently sing:
“Standing on the promises of Christ my King, through eternal ages let his praises ring. Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of God.”
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