All The Promises

Paul had altered his mind about visiting Corinth.

He had done this from the best of reasons.

The prejudices of certain Corinthians made them misconstrue his conduct, and speak of him as one whose word was not to be relied on.

He asserted that he did not use lightness, and that his mind was not of the “yes and nay” order, even upon so small a matter as a journey to Corinth at a certain date.

This led him to say that his preaching “was not yes and nay.”

This further brought out the declaration that the promises of God are not “yes and nay.”

Thus a trivial circumstance and an ungenerous remark led to the utterance of a most precious truth. This has often been the case.

From these words let us be led carefully to consider—

I. THE DIGNITY OF THE PROMISES. They are “the promises of God.”

1. They were each one made by him according to the purpose of his own will.

2. They are links between his decrees and his acts; being the voice of the decree, and the herald of the act.

3. They display the qualities of him who uttered them. They are true, immutable, powerful, eternal, etc.

4. They remain in union with God. After the lapse of ages, they are still his promises as much as when he first uttered them.

5. They are guaranteed by the character of God who spoke them.

6. They will glorify him as he works out their fulfillment.

II. THE RANGE OF THE PROMISES: “All the promises.”

It will be instructive to note the breadth of the promises by observing that—

1. They are found both in the Old and New Testaments; from Genesis to Revelation, running through centuries of time.

2. They are of both sorts—conditional and unconditional: promises to certain works, and promises of an absolute order.

3. They are of all kinds of things—bodily and spiritual, personal and general, eternal and temporal.

4. They contain blessings to varied characters, such as—

   • The Penitent: Leviticus 26:40–42; Isaiah 55:7, 57:15; Jeremiah 3:12, 13.
   • The Believing: John 3:16, 18, 6:47; Acts 16:31; 1 Peter 2:6.
   • The Serving: Psalm 37:3, 9:10; Proverbs 3:9, 10; Acts 10:35.
   • The Praying: Isaiah 45:11; Lamentations 3:25; Matthew 6:6; Psalm 145:18.
   • The Obeying: Exodus 19:5; Psalm 119:1–3; Isaiah 1:19.
   • The Suffering: Matthew 5:10–12; Romans 8:17; 1 Peter 4:12–14.

5. They bring us the richest boons: pardon, justification, sanctification, instruction, preservation, etc.

   • What a marvelous wealth lies in promises—“all the promises”!

III. THE STABILITY OF THE PROMISES: “All the promises in him are yes, and in him Amen.”

A Greek word “Yes,” and a Hebrew word “Amen,” are used to mark certainty, both to Gentile and Jew.

1. They are established beyond all doubt as being assuredly the mind and purpose of the eternal God.

2. They are confirmed beyond all alteration. The Lord has said “Amen,” and so must it be forever.

3. Their stability is in Christ Jesus beyond all hazard; for he is—

   • The witness of the promise of God,
   • The surety of the covenant,
   • The sum and substance of all the promises,
   • The fulfillment of the promises, by his actual incarnation, his atoning death, his living plea, his ascension power, etc.
   • The security and guarantee of the promises, since all power is in his hand to fulfill them.

IV. THE RESULT OF THE PROMISES: “The glory of God by us.”

By us, his ministers and his believing people, the God of the promises is made glorious.

1. We glorify his condescending love in making the promise.

2. We glorify his power as we see him keeping the promise.

3. We glorify him by our faith, which honors his veracity, by expecting the boons which he has promised.

4. We glorify him in our experience which proves the promise true.

Let us confidently rest in his sure word.

Let us plead the special promise applicable to the hour now passing.

Gatherings

A speaker at the Fulton Street prayer-meeting said, “I count all checks as cash when I am making up my money and striking a balance;” and so, when we feel that we have not much of this world’s goods, we can at least take hold of God’s promises, for they are just so many drafts at sight upon divine mercy, and we may count them among our possessions. Then we shall feel rich, and the soul is rich who trusts God’s word and takes his promises as something for present use.

In the streets of ancient Pompeii there still remain the three stepping-stones, placed here and there, by which men crossed over the street when the water was high. The promises are such stepping-stones on which “the wayfaring man” may place his footstep and be enabled the better to cross some stream of trouble or doubt, or, perhaps, with more ease and safety to escape the mire of some Slough of Despond.

Promises are like the clothes we wear; if there is life in the body they warm us, but not otherwise. When there is living faith the promise will afford warm comfort, but on a dead, unbelieving heart it lies cold and ineffectual. It has no more effect than pouring a cordial down the throat of a corpse.—William Gurnall.

If you lean upon the promises of God themselves, and not upon Jesus Christ in them, all will come to nothing.… Whence is it that so many souls bring a promise to the throne of grace, and carry so little away from it? They lean upon the promises without leaning on Christ in the promise.—Faithful Teate.

“By us” as ministers—publishing, explaining, applying them. A promise is often like a box of ointment, very precious; but the fragrance does not fill the room until the preacher breaks it. Or it is like the water that was near Hagar, which she saw not, until the angel of the Lord opens our eyes and shows us the well. “By us” as believers realizing the excellency and efficacy of them in our character and conduct. It is when these promises are reduced to experience—when they are seen cleansing us from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, making us partakers of the divine nature, leading us to walk worthy of the vocation with which we are called, filling us with kindness and benevolence, supporting us cheerfully under all our trials—it is then they glorify God “by us.”

—William Jay.