A Promise Made is a Promise Kept

Steve Bowyer

Words & Works of Jesus • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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How Do You Know?

When someone promises you they will do something, how do you know they mean it?

They do what they promise.

How does your mortgage company know that you meant the promise you made when you signed their contract?

You make your payments on time.

Your behavior is based on what you believe about the promise you made.

If you don’t make your payments, then your mortgage company might get the idea you didn’t mean it when you made it.

What will they do then? Break up w/ you. Repo your house, or your car, or whatever you’re not making payments on.

If you’re married, at your wedding, you made promises to your spouse. How does he know, she know, you meant it when you made it?

You act like it.

If you’re married but you continue to act like you’re single, before long, you will be again. Or, dead.

What does married behavior look like?

Obviously, you’re only intimate w/ your spouse.

You live in the same house. Maybe you don’t any more, but there was a day when you slept in the same bed.

Neither my great grandparents nor grandparents did that by the time I showed up on the scene.

I don’t know for sure what that means. But they both kept the promise they had made, till death do us part.

Even beyond that.

How we talk to each other. That we talk to each other.

How we talk about each other, behind our backs.

We spend time together. We enjoy it. We do things that we both like to do.

The quantity of quality time is a priority.

Honesty. Respect. We do fun things. Last week we went to Grand Falls. Saw the chocolate water.

Responsible w/ out money.

We take an interest in the things the other in interested in.

These things don’t come naturally, necessarily. Communication is vital on important things. It’s hard work.

I had to ask this question b/c I did’t know. I wanted to know. I knew I didn’t know. And Sara was the only person who could answer.

What do you think is romantic? I want to romance her. But I’ve got to do it in such a way that communicates that to her.

I can’t ask anybody else. You may tell me what you would like.

But, you’re not Sara.

Sara has 2 primary love languages. She likes gifts. And she likes quality time. So, if I want to romance her, make her feel loved, then in involves gifts and quality time.

The quality time doesn’t have to be w/ me. But if I encourage, or provide an opportunity, like going to AR to see the grands, that makes her feel loved by me.

Do you know your spouse’s love language?

My point is, I made a promise to love her and I meant it. Since I did, then I’ve got to move on it and do something about it. Far from perfect. But, we both are trying.

There was a Xmas when we blew it w/ one of our kids. We tell them all the time we love them, we are proud of them, and we mean it. We’ve promised to act like it, too.

Every Xmas, rather than buy a lot of gifts for all 3, we’d spend the bulk of our budget on 1 family gift. Something we could all do together.

Our youngest, Jared, loves computer games. He’s got an elaborate gaming station in his house. Big, powerful computer, 2 large monitors, the headphones and he is playing w/ ppl all over the country.

Jason, our middle, not so much. He plays. We play games. But computer games are not all that to him.

This Xmas, our oldest was gone to college, so just the 2 boys at home. Sara and I spent the money on a Wii as a family gift.

Jared was thrilled. Jason was hurt.

Sara and I, we should have known better. We didn’t do for him what we wanted to do that would communicate how much we love him.

What comes naturally is we tend to love the way we want to be loved. Spouse, kids, friends, whomever. We do for them what we would like to have done for us. Things we like.

But, they are different ppl w/ different likes and dislikes.

So if you love them, you’ve got to find out what they want you to do that communicates you meant it when you made the promise to act like it.

Moment of honesty. Maybe we don’t do everything they want the way the want it. Sometimes we want things that are not all that healthy.

When the kids wanted ice cream for supper we wouldn’t do it. Maybe, occasionally for dessert. But only after they ate their vegetables.

Adults can be that way, too. Stuff we want may not be healthy for us or the relationship.

God does that for us. But he doesn’t need to ask us. He knows what will speak to our hearts that communicates to us that He loves us.

God knows what we like, what we want, and what we need and He does it for us in way that is only good for us.

He makes it known to us what He wants from us that demonstrates we mean it when we make the promise to love Him above everything else in our life.

He does that for us and expects us to do that for Him.

If you make the promise and you mean the promise then you must move on the promise.

If you betroth it and believe it, then behave like it.

W/ God, a promise made is a promise kept. And that is what He’s asking and expecting of us.

Which is demonstrated, all of it, in the second half of Luke 2. As an 8-day old infant, Jesus is presented in the temple to be circumcised and redeemed and Mary is cleansed.

It involves the promise God made to Abraham, the promise he made to Moses, and the promise he made to us.

Promises Kept

Luke 2:21–24 NIV

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

Like every good Jewish family that came before them, when they had their son, they went to the temple to do what Jewish families were supposed to do.

When Jesus was 8 days old it was time to circumcise him. The priest performed the rite in the temple.

At that same time, He was officially named, Jesus. That went into the genealogy of Jospeh and Mary that was kept in the temple.

Just as the angel instructed even though there were no Jesuses in the family. This was the same name in Greek that was Joshua in Hebrew. It meant, God saves His people.

Joshua led Israel into the PL when they saved out of slavery in Egypt. And Jesus will lead us into our PL when we are saved out of our slavery to sin.

Then, when He was a month old, it was time to present him in the temple to be redeemed and Mary needed to be cleansed.

What’s that all about.

It all has to do with the Promises God made Israel and what He wanted in return.

It is from the promise he made to Abraham, the promise he made to Moses, and the promise he made to us.

The Promise to Abraham

Genesis 12:1–3 NIV

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

God promised Abram he’d be a great nation. He’s 75 years old when God makes this promise. He and Sarai have no children. They have been unable to conceive and now they are too old. Their reproductive systems are dead.

Later, he explains a little more. A great nation means he will have descendants as numerous as the stars and the sand on the shore. No children this day. But, in time, too many descendants to count.

We are all seeing more pics from the Hubble Space Telescope and the new one they put up, the James Webb telescope. More descendants than stars. Think about that.

This promise is still in effect for Abram’s descendants. They are still producing. And, the land is still theirs. They don’t occupy much of it. More on that when I talk about the promise God made to Moses.

It’s still their land.

And, the entire world will be blessed thru a descendant. Now, many will play a role in producing this descendant. But, thru Abram and his family, God will provide a Savior who will deliver all people from everything that harms them. That is, if they want to be delivered.

Also, keep this in mind in your political considerations. Wherever you land on the political spectrum. God told Abram He would bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse them.

Our geopolitical position on Israel, as a nation, matters. We must represent the Word of God whenever we are called on to do so.

After God gave Abram more detail, he told him this in ch.17

Genesis 17:9–14 NIV

Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Circumcision. When we study the NT, we can get the idea that this was part of the law that was given to Moses. It predates the law. It is representative of the entire law at times. But it was given to Abraham as a sign that they bought into the promise God made him.

In the context here, God changed his name to Abraham, meaning, father of many nations. Remember, he’s childless and now 99 years old.

His descendants would be given the entire land of the Canaanites. Huge area of the Middle East. Sounds cruel.

If you were w/ us in the study of Genesis 1-11, then you remember that Ham was horribly disrespectful of his father Noah. As a result, God cursed him and his descendants. God did not necessarily cause his descendants to be immoral. But they became that way in the legacy Ham left them.

So, the descendants of Shem, the Shemites, Semites, Jews, Israel were given Ham’s land. So, when Joshua led them into the land that was promised, the PL, A promise made is a promise kept by God, it was Ham’s land.

Circumcision. It was not a requirement of the promise. God’s promise to Abraham had no conditions for the ppl. God was going to do this regardless.

A man could be circumcised but not have a saving faith in God. And, in theory, have a saving faith in God and not be circ’d. This was not a requirement that God placed on them.

But, this is what he wanted from. If you love someone, and appreciate the relationship you have w/ them, you will do things like this for them.

This was a sign of their buy-in, ownership, that they understood that what God was doing for them and why. He chose them. Loves them. Wants what’s best for them.

So, in response, do this one thing for him.

It rep’d something greater. It rep’d cutting off the old bad habits and ungodly lifestyle of unbelievers. If you’re a believer, then behave like it. Beyond the behavior and lifestyle, get circ’d as a reminder of the commitment you’ve made to God after the promise He made to you.

Like baptism is symbolic of something much greater. The HS has already baptized a believer on the inside. They look different to God. New heart. New life.

We are united w/ Jesus in his death and burial, so we immerse a new believer under water. And, we are united w/ Jesus in His resurrection, so we raise them out of the water. Now, live the new life you’ve been given.

It is symbolic. And, it’s a commitment to live differently now that God has graciously done promised to save you.

Also, when the boy is circ’d, he is officially named and placed in the genealogical record kept in the temple.

So, Joseph and Mary, took Jesus to the temple on his 8th day, as faithful believing Jews, to be circ’d and his name recorded. They are acknowledging God has kept his promise to Abraham to provide descendants and land. At the same time, this baby Jesus is the descendant who is the fulfillment of the part of the promise to bless the entire world.

Promise made. Promise kept.

Also, what they did next, was to keep their part of the promise God made to Moses.

The Promise to Moses

You know when Moses, who looked a lot like Charlton Heston, led Israel out of Egypt and thru the sea, God gave him the law that began with the 10 commandments. When the entire law had been given, it involved most of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th books of your OT. It’s pretty detailed and involved mostly about how to worship God and the lifestyle of the OT believer.

Then, God said this

Exodus 19:5 NIV

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine,

This is the only covenant that is bi-lateral. The promise God made Moses is conditional on the behavior of the people.

IOW, if you live and worship the way I have instructed you, then you will live in the land that was promised, the climate will perform, your crops will produce, and God will protect you in the land. He will fight your wars for you and you will be the world power.

Included in the law, the 2 most important, Love God above everything else and love ea other at least as much as you love yourself.

It’s like me asking Sara what she finds romantic. If I love her, I’m going to act in way that communicates that to her.

If we say we love God, then we must act in a way that communicates that to Him. Israel did not need to ask. Spelled it out in great detail how he wanted them to live. What they should, and should not do. Then, when they did what they shouldn’t, God made it clear how to make things right w/ Him.

Included in the law was every firstborn son was supposed to become a priest. Parents could buy their son out of that obligation by donating a lamb to the temple to be sac’d for him. If the family was too poor to buy a lamb, they could sac 2 birds. This is what Joe and Mary could afford.

Ironically, they redeemed him out of the priesthood. That’s b/c every other family, except the descendants of Levi, did the same. Jesus, the greatest priest of all time, was freed from his obligation of the priesthood.

One more example of how he came to blow up all the traditions that the religious leadership had burdened the ppl w/.

The entire law, of which they are keeping here, will end at the crux of this baby.

All of it, as promised to Moses, points to the lamb that God will graciously provide to do what no animal sac could do.

Until the crux, resurrection, and Pentecost; the OT law is still in effect. God promised to finish it, successfully, and provide a way for all people to be saved.

And, this little baby, being redeemed on his 30th day, will the be One to do it.

Promise made. Promise kept.

There’s another promise God has made to us. It’s the New Promise. The new covenant.

The New Promise

Hebrews 8:6–7 NIV

But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.

Very practically, what makes the new promise better?

We don’t have to kill animals up here.

God, I know this sounds harsh, but God killed his son, used the religious, gov’t, and military leaders of the c.1 to do it. But since he did that, we don’t have to kill animals any more.

We just look back to what Jesus did.

The law was fulfilled thru the work the baby that Mary had, did.

2 Corinthians 3:6 NIV

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The new promise, ended the responsibility we have to the letter of the law. It began the era when the HS indwells everyone who believes. He communicates w/ us, from w/in, what behavior needs to change.

Israel had the law to study to influence their behavior. We have the HS. If we believe, He moves in.

We have listen, pay attention, learn to communicate w/ Him. Even then, what we believe is most important. How we behave is important, but it is not a requirement of the promise of salvation to be fulfilled in us.

John 3:16 NIV

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 1:12 NIV

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

The new promise that God made with us was dependent on Jesus doing what He did. He did it. All we have to do is believe it. Have faith in Him and what He did, that we need it, then God’s promise is fulfilled in us.

Our behavior then is influenced by whether or not love God more than anything we are involved in. Belief gets you saved. If you love God, then act like it.

Promise made. Promise kept.

Applications

Conviction

One of the things the HS does for us, or to us, is convict us. If we do something we shouldn’t. Or, don’t do something we should; then one of the ways God troubles us is by convicting us. We feel it.

We know we need to do something about what we just did, or didn’t do, to make it right.

If God is troubling you like this, then you need to do something about it.

Apologize to God, someone you done something wrong to, then make it right.

Not the Holy Spirit

Along these lines, let’s let the HS do the work of conviction.

It is not our job to point out everything everyone else is doing wrong, if they are really doing it wrong.

There is too much we don’t know about what is going on in everyone’s life to assume we understand everything about what they are doing.

Be gracious.

There is a time for a conversation when we talk about what we see them doing, but please do not assume you know the whole story. Ask good questions.

Let the HS do the convicting.

Behavior

What we believe is, by far, the most important. But, our behavior still matters.

We behave based on what we believe. If something needs to change, change it.

This will not effect your salvation.

My kids will always be my kids. Their behavior and mine will effect how close we are in the relationship we have.

If you believe and have rec’d Jesus as your Savior, then you will always be a child of God. But how close you are to God will be influenced by your behavior.

And, the closer you are, the more fruit you’ll experience from God. You’ve already got peace, joy, patience, self-control, wisdom, strength, and more. But, better you behave, the more of this you’ll have access to.

If you are betrothed, and you believe the promise you’ve made and that’s been made to you, then behave like it.

If you made the promise to God or anyone else and you meant it, then move thru it.

God has made promises to us and kept every one. We can do the same for Him and the ppl we care about, too.

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