Title: Inheriting the Promises
Meta: The Bible says we are those who “through faith and patience inherit the promises.” We must remember that the Bible is full of promises made by God who cannot lie. Not only this, but God has all the power to keep these promises He has made. Now here is the question: Why have we not entered in to more of these promises? God Himself says, “Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.” So may we by faith and patience be those who are inheriting the promises that God has given to us.
Tags: promises,God,Hebrews 6:12,pray,faith

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If you could turn with me to Hebrews chapter 6,

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and we'll begin reading at verse 9,

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"But beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you

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and things that accompany salvation,

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though we are speaking in this way" —

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and he's referring to these verses that have come before.

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"For God is not unjust so as to forget your work

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and the love which you have shown toward His name

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and having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.

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And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence

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so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end.

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That you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those

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who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

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For when God made the promise to Abraham,

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since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,

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saying, 'I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.'

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And thus having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.

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For men swear by one greater than themselves;

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and with them, an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

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In the same way, God desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise

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the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath:

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in order that by two unchangeable things

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in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement,

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we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us.

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This hope we have as an anchor of the soul,

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a hope both sure and steadfast, and one which enters within the veil;

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where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us,

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having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." (P)

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Let's pray before we look into the Word.

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Our Father we confess our utter dependence upon You this evening.

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We pray that You will save Your people from their sins.

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Everyone of us.

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We're asking for help this evening,

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we confess that apart from You, we can do nothing.

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We confess that we have no sufficiency in ourselves

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to think anything is from ourselves.

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Our very sanity just hangs on a slender thread that You hold.

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But Lord, we also confess that You have made us sufficient,

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You've made us adequate,

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You've made us able ministers of the New Covenant.

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We pray for your Holy Spirit this evening;

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the Spirit of faith and power and love, and of a sound mind.

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And we ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen. (P)

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I'd like to direct your attention this evening particularly to verse 12,

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"That you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those

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who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

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I want to consider with you, "Inheriting the Promises."

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God is telling us some things here in this verse

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that are very important for us to lay hold of,

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and to have engraved on our hearts.

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And I hope at least two or three of the words of this verse

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would stick with you and be a help to you in the days ahead. (P)

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First thing to learn from this passage is that God has made promises.

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God has made promises.

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And we're all familiar in the human realm what a promise is.

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Your grade school friend says, "I'll do such and such,"

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and you get him back up against the wall and you say,

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"Will you promise? Will you promise that you'll do this?"

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Give me — Now think of this in relation to God: "Give me Your Word."

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Isn't that something?

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We've got His Word.

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"Will you promise me?"

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And it all depends on the character of the person that you're dealing with.

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But even in the human realm, a promise sometimes means a great deal.

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There are some men who will keep a promise for 50 years if need be,

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regardless of the cost.

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That's just in the human realm.

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The Bible talks about the one who swears to his own hurt and alters not.(P)

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Well, God has made promises and if we look back through the Scriptures,

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some promises particularly stand out.

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They are major, big promises that God has made.

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And the author of Hebrews, here in the verses we've just read,

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specifically mentions the promise God made to Abraham in verses 13 and 14:

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"When God made the promise to Abraham," and he goes on and talks about it.

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So you remember how when Abraham was an old man,

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75 years old already when God first spoke to him;

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and he had a wife, Sarah, who was already in her 60s.

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And Sarah had been unable to have children,

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and up until that time, she was barren.

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And God told Abraham, He specifically promised him,

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that one day his children would be like the stars of the sky innumerable,

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and like the sand which is by the seashore. (P)

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And He told him that in his descendants, in his seed particularly,

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all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

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And that's why we're here tonight.

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Through God's seed, Christ, all the nations of Gentiles have been blessed.

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They've been passed from a state of being under the curse and condemnation,

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into a state of justification and blessing.

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And Abraham's seed is like the stars of the sky

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and like the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. (P)

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That was one of God's promises that is particularly noteworthy.

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There are several other major promises.

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The Bible talks about the promise of the Holy Spirit.

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And you remember the Holy Spirit is called "the Holy Spirit of promise."

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And Paul talks about us "having received the promise of the Spirit through faith."(P)

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Another major promise is the promise of Christ's coming.

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Remember in 2 Peter, it says, "The day is coming when scoffers will come,

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saying, Where is the promise of His coming?"

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Have you ever thought about that?

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God promised, Christ promised He's going to come again. It's a promise.

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"Where is the promise of His coming?"—

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the scoffers call into question, the promise of God. (P)

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Again, Peter talks about exceeding great and precious promises,

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in relation to believing on Christ and in relation to salvation.

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And Paul talks about the promise of eternal life which God,

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who cannot lie, promised long ages ago.

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He promised eternal life.

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And that's really the subject here in Hebrews 6,

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specifically, the subject is the promise of eternal life.

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And I think sometimes we take this too lightly.

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Eternal life.

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The promise of eternal life.

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And these Hebrew Christians, their hands were starting to hang down,

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their knees were weak, they were starting to get weary in the race;

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and he says "eternal life," God has promised eternal life. (P)

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I don't know, there may be someone here tonight who is still struggling

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but on the point of turning back, he says, "Don't cast away your confidence."

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There is a promise, God promised you eternal life.

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He says, "Cast not away your confidence which has a great recompense of reward."

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He says, "You have need of endurance that after you've done the will of God,

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you might receive what was promised.

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For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry."

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So hold on. (P)

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You remember Bunyan's 'Christian' in Pilgrim's Progress.

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He's starting out towards the celestial city,

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and all of his relatives and everyone of his friends are trying to pull him back.

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They're saying, "Don't go."

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And he puts his fingers in his ears and says, "Eternal life. Eternal life,"

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and he kept running.

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That's what we ought to be doing tonight.

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Eternal life!

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We're talking about vast things that are beyond our imagination. (P)

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Well, these are some of the major promises of Scripture

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but God has made literally thousands of lesser ones.

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Now think about this for a minute:

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Ephesians 6:2-3, Paul is talking to Gentile children and he says,

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"Honor your father and mother, (which is the first commandment with a promise,)

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that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth."

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Now notice: In the verse itself, God did not say,

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"I promise that if you do this, this is what will happen."

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He just makes a statement: "Honor your father and mother,

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that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth."

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Paul says that's a promise. (P)

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In other words, any statement where God talks about blessing

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that He will shower on you as you walk with Him,

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any statement of fact like that, is a promise.

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It's a promise.

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"Will You promise me, will You give me Your Word?"

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He says, "This is My Word, I promise you." (P)

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"I will never leave you nor will I ever forsake you." – that's a promise.

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"I promise you, I'll never leave you, and I'll never forsake you." (P)

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"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,

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and all these things will be added unto you." – that's a promise.

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Those are things that you can hold up to God and say, "God,

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You gave me Your Word! You promised me."

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You see that? (P)

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"Call on Me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you,

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and you will glorify Me." – that's a promise.

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What are you supposed to do in the day of trouble?

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Call on the Lord!

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"I will deliver you, and you will glorify Me."

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It doesn't say, you see, it's not saying if you're some great Christian.

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It just says, "Call on Me." – a promise. (P)

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How about this: "From of old they have not heard, nor perceived by the ear,

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neither has the eye seen a God besides thee,

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who acts on behalf of the one who waits for Him."

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You get that?

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The God of the universe, the God who spoke all things into existence,

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will act on behalf of the one — I like the way it says that.

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Just the one. Whoever. One.

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However weak, however unworthy, He'll act on behalf, He'll act on your behalf.

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He'll act on behalf of the one who'll wait for Him.

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What a promise! (P)

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Well, these are some of the promises of the Scriptures.

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But the Bible is literally full of them, isn't it?

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One of the first books that I ever got after I became a Christian was called,

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'Precious Bible Promises.'

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And it was compiled by Samuel Clarke who was born in the late 1600s.

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And it's a whole book.

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I mean, he just compiles from the Bible, promises.

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And I mean, so many things: food and clothing,

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and guidance and peace and honor, and God's presence...

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promise after promise after promise.

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Exceeding great and precious promises!

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And we read them many times as if they were just hot air.

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This is God giving us promises.

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Answered prayer, wisdom, forgiveness, so many things. (P)

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So that's the first point: God has made promises.

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But before I leave it, I just want to emphasize it a little bit differently.

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God...has made promises. God has made promises.

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The One who is infinitely powerful to keep His Word,

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and infinitely good who will not lie.

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One who cannot lie and One who has infinite power to keep His Word, has made promises.

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The One who has made these promises that we have here, always fulfills them.

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He always fulfills them. (P)

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And that is again repeatedly emphasized in Scripture.

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Let me just give you some of them.

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In order to strengthen our faith, God says it. He spells it out.

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And I won't give you every reference but starting in Genesis

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and goes through Joshua and Samuel and Kings and so on. Listen to these:

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"Then the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised." - (Gen 21:1).

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"The Lord your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you." - (Joshua 23:10).

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"And now O Lord God, You are God and Your words are truth,

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and You have promised this good thing to Your servant." - (2 Samuel 7:28).

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"And the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, just as He promised him." - (1 Kings 5:12).

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"Now the Lord fulfilled His word which He spoke...

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as the Lord promised." - (1 Kings 8:20). (P)

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There are so many of these, you just read them as you go through Scripture,

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you see it over and over.

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"You have kept with Your servant, that which You have promised Him." - (2 Chronicles 6:15).

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"Indeed You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand,

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as it is this day." - (1 Kings 8:24).

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How about this:

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"Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed.

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All came to pass." - (Joshua 21:45).

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How about this:

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"Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to His people Israel

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according to all that He promised,

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not one Word has failed of all His good promise." - (1 Kings 8:56).

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"And You have fulfilled Your promise, for You are righteous." - (Nehemiah 9:8).(P)

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How about the New Testament.

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"In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised." (1 Titus 1:2) —

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emphasizing His truthfulness.

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Hebrews 10:23, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,

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for He who promised is faithful." (P)

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So think of this: We have a book full of promises made by God who cannot lie,

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and who has all the power to keep these promises.

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Now here's the question: Why have we not entered into more of these promises?

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And the answer is in the first part of the verse,

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"That you may not be sluggish (or as the KJV says, slothful.)

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They're both pretty good words.

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You've seen slugs moving on the ground;

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you know, they are not just zipping along normally, are they?

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Or sloth, the slothful, slow. (P)

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If you watch some of these National Geographic commentaries

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and they show a sloth, have you ever seen any of those?

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They have algae growing in their hair, their hair looks green.

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They are so slow.

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And they're hanging on a limb, and you can barely stand to watch it.

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They get ready to reach up for another branch.

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I'm afraid that has often been the way I have lived my Christian life.

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You know, I think it's time to trust God… (laughter) for one promise,

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out of a book of ten thousand promises.

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It's just so much. (P)

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So the writer to the Hebrews said don't be like that.

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Instead "be imitators of those, who through faith and patience,

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inherit the promises." (P)

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The first point is, God has made promises to us.

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Second is that faith and patience are necessary to inherit the promises.

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Now that's pretty straightforward there, isn't it?

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Faith and patience.

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He doesn't just mention faith, he doesn't just mention patience.

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Faith and patience.

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It's not that faith and patience somehow merit God fulfilling the promises.

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That's not it.

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It's not that somehow faith and patience enable God to fulfill promises,

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or cause Him to fulfill promises.

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But, in the whole process of inheriting promises,

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God has set it up in such a way that faith and patience

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will inevitably be called forth and be necessary.

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He has seen to it that that's going to happen.

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Faith and patience will inevitably be involved and be called forth. (P)

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So let's consider faith briefly.

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First of all, faith is necessary to inherit promises.

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In Hebrews chapter 11 verse 33, he says,

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"Through faith" — you know, the faith chapter —

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"Through faith, they subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness,"

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and then just sandwiched in there,

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and the last one is "stopped the mouths of lions."

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But right in there, "obtained promises."

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They subdued kingdoms.

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They wrought righteousness.

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They stopped the mouths of lions.

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Through faith, they obtained promises.

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It's necessary. (P)

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And again, not that faith, in itself, is some great thing.

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You remember the woman with the issue of blood?

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She's pressing through the crowd,

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and she reaches out and touches the Lord's garment;

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and immediately she was healed.

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And He said, "I perceive that power has gone forth out of Me."

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And what does He say?

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He turns to the woman and He says, My power has made you well.

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Well, it was His power that made her well, but He said,

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"Your faith has made you well."

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Why would He put it like that? Her faith didn't make her well.

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Faith doesn't do anything in itself,

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but it gets you in touch with the power of the One

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who fulfills the promises and who does everything. (P)

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And He puts that emphasis on there because, beloved,

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you can almost say, you know, Jesus said to those two blind men;

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He said, "according to your faith, be it unto you."

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He keeps emphasizing this.

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And it's almost like you could say the opposite,

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According to your unbelief, be it not unto you.

296
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Didn't He say "He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief."

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Not because He didn't have power

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but because God has set it up in such a way He will not honor unbelief.

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He's not going to honor that.

300
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"Why couldn't we cast it out? Because of your unbelief."

301
00:20:51,665 --> 00:20:56,297
And so, He's calling upon us to believe Him. (P)

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00:20:56,721 --> 00:20:59,940
When you think of the necessity of faith in inheriting promises,

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just think in the matter of prayer.

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Let me just read some of it to you:

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00:21:03,896 --> 00:21:13,476
Mark 11:22-24, "Jesus answered saying to them, Have faith in God.

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Truly I say to you, Whoever says to this mountain,

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'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart

308
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but believes that what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted to him."

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Now here is the hard part:

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"Therefore I say to you, All things for which you pray and ask,

311
00:21:32,536 --> 00:21:35,458
believe that you have received them." (P)

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You ever tried to do that?

313
00:21:37,738 --> 00:21:41,294
You squint your eyes harder, you know, and try to believe?

314
00:21:41,300 --> 00:21:43,563
We can't do it.

315
00:21:43,569 --> 00:21:47,085
But beloved, somehow, we've got to enter in to believing God.

316
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He's saying, "Have faith! Have faith in God!"

317
00:21:50,943 --> 00:21:55,155
And He marvels at their unbelief in different situations.

318
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And sometimes, it says "He marveled at their faith."

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Amazing.

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But somehow, we've got to come to God, and we say,

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00:22:04,199 --> 00:22:10,156
"O Lord, I want to enter into this more; and I know I can't do it myself,

322
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will You work this in me."

323
00:22:12,138 --> 00:22:18,566
And He's putting you in situations that call forth that impossible thing that you can't do,

324
00:22:18,572 --> 00:22:27,575
and He is making it happen as we give ourselves to Him for that purpose. (P)

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Well, faith is necessary.

326
00:22:30,248 --> 00:22:36,517
Patience also is necessary in inheriting promises.

327
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The word patience here means just that.

328
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It's the opposite of being impatient.

329
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When things wear on you, and seem to go on and on and on and on and on

330
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(I ought to do this to really demonstrate it,) it goes a lot longer than that.

331
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And seemingly, no change, no change. (P)

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Patience is tied in directly with endurance.

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00:23:10,391 --> 00:23:14,246
And let me just give you an example: James 5:10-11,

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James says, "As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience

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(there's that word,)

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00:23:21,153 --> 00:23:23,758
take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

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Behold we count those blessed who endured.

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You've heard of the endurance of Job.

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00:23:31,905 --> 00:23:35,393
Now see, he was being patient but he was enduring, he was just enduring.

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A lot of patience is that.

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00:23:37,578 --> 00:23:41,490
And the old King James translates it 'long suffering,' —

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00:23:41,496 --> 00:23:43,593
that's pretty good too, isn't it?

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Just putting up with it on and on and on. Patience. (P)

344
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So, not only faith but patience is necessary.

345
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We live in an extremely impatient culture.

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I mean, we live in an absolute instant culture.

347
00:24:04,515 --> 00:24:07,285
"I want it, and I want it now!"

348
00:24:07,291 --> 00:24:09,656
Ravenhill told about a man praying like that.

349
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He said, "Lord, give me patience, and I want it now!"

350
00:24:13,971 --> 00:24:17,356
And that's the attitude we have.

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Well, He doesn't do that, does He? (P)

352
00:24:24,493 --> 00:24:30,334
"You know, Tim taught that if we'd read the Bible,

353
00:24:30,340 --> 00:24:33,657
we'd become stronger day by day, and we'd become established.

354
00:24:33,663 --> 00:24:37,887
And I've done it for two days now and I haven't seen any change at all."

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00:24:37,893 --> 00:24:40,641
That's the attitude.

356
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Patience...on and on.

357
00:24:47,210 --> 00:24:52,810
The Lord told this in the area of prayer, He specifically brought it out, didn't He?

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That woman who came to the unjust judge and kept coming

359
00:24:55,823 --> 00:24:58,036
and kept coming and kept coming and kept coming.

360
00:24:58,042 --> 00:25:02,551
What's that? Persistence. Endurance. Patience. (P)

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00:25:02,557 --> 00:25:06,904
How about this for a promise? You talk about a promise:

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00:25:06,910 --> 00:25:10,796
He says, "I say to you, Ask and you shall receive;

363
00:25:10,802 --> 00:25:15,108
seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened."

364
00:25:15,114 --> 00:25:17,361
What a promise!

365
00:25:17,367 --> 00:25:19,921
You say, "Well I asked and I didn't receive."

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00:25:19,927 --> 00:25:22,188
I am sure you didn't.

367
00:25:22,194 --> 00:25:26,467
Just about everybody in the whole room, as a Christian, could testify,

368
00:25:26,473 --> 00:25:33,137
"I asked and I didn't receive" — if you're talking about the first time you asked.

369
00:25:33,143 --> 00:25:36,322
What does Jesus say? He has that in the present:

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00:25:36,328 --> 00:25:42,727
"Ask and keep on asking, knock and keep on knocking, seek and keep on seeking;

371
00:25:42,733 --> 00:25:50,592
for every one who does that, receives; every one who does that, finds;

372
00:25:50,598 --> 00:25:54,371
every one who does that, the door would be opened."

373
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What an incredible promise!

374
00:25:57,860 --> 00:26:03,611
It means persist in keeping on, it means patience.

375
00:26:03,617 --> 00:26:07,421
Faith and patience. (P)

376
00:26:10,542 --> 00:26:13,475
George Mueller, a lot of you know about him,

377
00:26:13,481 --> 00:26:20,236
I think there was talk about his life, maybe, in some of these book reports.

378
00:26:20,242 --> 00:26:25,067
He took care of 1200 orphans without ever asking for any support.

379
00:26:25,073 --> 00:26:27,327
He says, "I live in the spirit of prayer.

380
00:26:27,333 --> 00:26:31,083
I pray as I walk, when I lie down and when I rise,

381
00:26:31,089 --> 00:26:33,785
and the answers are always coming.

382
00:26:33,791 --> 00:26:39,378
Tens of thousands of times have my prayers been answered.

383
00:26:39,384 --> 00:26:43,506
When once I am persuaded that a thing is right, I go on praying for it.

384
00:26:43,512 --> 00:26:48,354
The great point is never to give up till the answer comes.

385
00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:53,088
The great fault of the children of God is that they do not continue in prayer,

386
00:26:53,094 --> 00:26:55,001
they do not persevere.

387
00:26:55,007 --> 00:27:02,446
If they desire anything for God's glory, they should pray until they get it." (P)

388
00:27:02,452 --> 00:27:06,027
Well, testimonies from men like Mueller are helpful sometimes, aren't they?

389
00:27:06,033 --> 00:27:10,710
Especially when those men have seen God do great things

390
00:27:10,716 --> 00:27:14,055
in fulfillment of His promises.

391
00:27:14,061 --> 00:27:18,516
And the writer to the Hebrews realizes this, so he doesn't just say,

392
00:27:18,522 --> 00:27:22,441
"You're gonna have to have faith and patience to inherit the promises."

393
00:27:22,447 --> 00:27:24,496
He goes beyond that, doesn't he?

394
00:27:24,502 --> 00:27:26,104
He says, "Follow those" —

395
00:27:26,110 --> 00:27:32,677
in other words, there are some real life people who have come before us,

396
00:27:32,683 --> 00:27:36,789
who have, by the grace of God, entered into this;

397
00:27:36,795 --> 00:27:42,820
and they have seen God supernaturally fulfill His promises.

398
00:27:42,826 --> 00:27:50,195
And he's not talking in theory, he's talking about real people

399
00:27:50,201 --> 00:27:55,048
who have demonstrated what this means. (P)

400
00:27:55,054 --> 00:27:59,391
You remember in Hebrews 13:7, he says,

401
00:27:59,397 --> 00:28:02,887
"Remember those who led you, taught the Word of God to you;

402
00:28:02,893 --> 00:28:07,585
consider the outcome of their way of life, and their faith, follow.

403
00:28:07,591 --> 00:28:11,533
Imitate their faith.

404
00:28:11,539 --> 00:28:14,600
So he's talking about people that we've known in our own lifetimes.

405
00:28:14,606 --> 00:28:19,791
We've seen people who were men and women of faith and patience,

406
00:28:19,797 --> 00:28:23,929
and we've seen them inherit promises. (P)

407
00:28:24,239 --> 00:28:26,764
But he particularly here, and this is the third point:

408
00:28:26,770 --> 00:28:32,346
We are to imitate those who through faith and patience, inherit the promises.

409
00:28:32,352 --> 00:28:37,620
And he particularly here, calls our attention to one of them.

410
00:28:37,626 --> 00:28:41,240
You know, you say, "Well, I understand I need to have faith and patience

411
00:28:41,246 --> 00:28:45,984
to inherit the promises. What are you talking about I need to have faith?

412
00:28:45,990 --> 00:28:48,112
What are you talking about I need to have patience?

413
00:28:48,118 --> 00:28:56,523
I mean, are we talking about two weeks or are we talking about six months.

414
00:28:56,529 --> 00:29:01,432
Or maybe, you mean maybe I might even have to have patience for a whole year?

415
00:29:01,438 --> 00:29:06,005
Trust in God when nothing is happening, nothing is changing,

416
00:29:06,011 --> 00:29:07,042
maybe a whole year?" (P)

417
00:29:07,048 --> 00:29:10,939
He says, "Well, let me just tell you what I'm talking about.

418
00:29:10,945 --> 00:29:16,956
I want you to consider Abraham, alright."

419
00:29:16,962 --> 00:29:22,494
And so he talks about Abraham in verses 13 -15:

420
00:29:22,500 --> 00:29:25,131
"For when God made the promise to Abraham,

421
00:29:25,137 --> 00:29:28,806
since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself saying,

422
00:29:28,812 --> 00:29:34,549
'I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.'

423
00:29:34,555 --> 00:29:44,449
And thus having patiently waited, he obtained the promise." (P)

424
00:29:45,958 --> 00:29:50,766
He is telling us that if we want to know what faith and patience look like in concrete terms,

425
00:29:50,772 --> 00:29:54,602
we can consider Abraham.

426
00:29:55,094 --> 00:30:00,171
Abraham was an example of faith, first of all.

427
00:30:00,177 --> 00:30:02,555
He was the father of the faithful

428
00:30:02,561 --> 00:30:07,486
and the pattern of the way faith manifests itself in every true believer.

429
00:30:07,492 --> 00:30:11,375
Now this is a profound thing, it's really a message in itself.

430
00:30:11,381 --> 00:30:14,648
But Abraham believed in God who raises the dead.

431
00:30:14,654 --> 00:30:17,251
You say, "Well, how could I ever believe in God raising the dead?"

432
00:30:17,257 --> 00:30:19,621
You already do if you are a Christian.

433
00:30:19,627 --> 00:30:24,136
If I told you that somebody found the bones of Jesus over in the grave somewhere,

434
00:30:24,142 --> 00:30:25,188
you wouldn't believe that.

435
00:30:25,194 --> 00:30:26,072
Why wouldn't you believe it?

436
00:30:26,078 --> 00:30:29,514
Because you know that God raised Him from the dead.

437
00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:31,545
God has revealed that.

438
00:30:31,551 --> 00:30:38,211
It's harder to believe that Jesus died than that He rose from the dead. (P)

439
00:30:40,133 --> 00:30:44,464
See, the faith of Abraham is a pattern for the faith of every believer.

440
00:30:44,470 --> 00:30:46,813
It's something God does in every Christian.

441
00:30:46,819 --> 00:30:50,705
We can learn a lot from the faith of Abraham.

442
00:30:50,711 --> 00:30:52,818
And we can't look at that whole thing tonight,

443
00:30:52,824 --> 00:30:58,209
but you can at least look at the aspects that are related to what he's talking about here.

444
00:30:58,215 --> 00:31:03,263
You remember what happened in Genesis 15:5 when Abraham was already old,

445
00:31:03,269 --> 00:31:07,448
still had no children; God took him outside and He says,

446
00:31:07,454 --> 00:31:11,894
"Look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them."

447
00:31:11,900 --> 00:31:14,959
Well, the fact is we can't count them.

448
00:31:14,965 --> 00:31:18,006
They are so many that we can't count them.

449
00:31:18,012 --> 00:31:23,845
You know like exceeding abundantly beyond all —

450
00:31:24,996 --> 00:31:29,651
and He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."

451
00:31:29,657 --> 00:31:32,975
Then Abraham believed in the Lord.

452
00:31:32,981 --> 00:31:35,115
It's an impossible promise.

453
00:31:35,121 --> 00:31:38,392
He believed in the Lord, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. (P)

454
00:31:38,398 --> 00:31:45,830
In Genesis 17, Abraham is 99 years old and Sarah was 90.

455
00:31:45,836 --> 00:31:50,252
God spoke to him and gave both of them new names.

456
00:31:50,258 --> 00:31:53,420
Let me read the verses to you: Genesis 17:4-6,

457
00:31:53,426 --> 00:31:56,915
"As for Me, behold My covenant is with you,

458
00:31:56,921 --> 00:32:02,973
and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.

459
00:32:02,979 --> 00:32:05,323
No longer shall your name be called Abram

460
00:32:05,329 --> 00:32:09,267
but your name shall be called Abraham

461
00:32:09,273 --> 00:32:11,535
(which means father of a multitude of nations,)

462
00:32:11,541 --> 00:32:15,485
for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations

463
00:32:15,491 --> 00:32:17,830
and I will make you exceedingly fruitful,

464
00:32:17,836 --> 00:32:22,505
and I will make nations of you and kings shall come forth from you."

465
00:32:22,511 --> 00:32:25,971
And then in verses 15 and 16, "Then God said to Abraham,

466
00:32:25,977 --> 00:32:29,003
As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai

467
00:32:29,009 --> 00:32:31,415
but Sarah shall be her name.

468
00:32:31,421 --> 00:32:34,970
And I will bless her, indeed I will give you a son by her.

469
00:32:34,976 --> 00:32:39,957
Then I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations

470
00:32:39,963 --> 00:32:42,274
(Sarah means princess,)

471
00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:49,033
she shall be a mother of nations, kings of peoples shall come from her."(P)

472
00:32:49,039 --> 00:32:50,877
Now you're talking about a step of faith:

473
00:32:50,883 --> 00:32:57,042
Abraham is 99 and he has no children;

474
00:32:57,048 --> 00:33:02,339
and Sarah is 90 and she's been barren all her life anyway.

475
00:33:02,345 --> 00:33:07,435
And it almost seems cruel what God is asking them to do.

476
00:33:07,441 --> 00:33:12,334
I think I mentioned this when I spoke on the name of Isaac.

477
00:33:12,739 --> 00:33:16,889
But Sarah comes in, they come in and sit down on the breakfast table;

478
00:33:16,895 --> 00:33:19,564
and she looks across at him and says,

479
00:33:19,570 --> 00:33:24,172
"Good morning, father of a multitude of nations."

480
00:33:24,178 --> 00:33:27,323
It's like salt in the wound.

481
00:33:27,329 --> 00:33:31,394
They don't have any children!

482
00:33:31,719 --> 00:33:35,572
And he looks at her, all her life she's wept and wanted children,

483
00:33:35,578 --> 00:33:37,133
she's barren.

484
00:33:37,139 --> 00:33:40,906
When she was a young woman, she was barren.

485
00:33:40,912 --> 00:33:42,265
And she's 90 years old.

486
00:33:42,271 --> 00:33:48,081
And he says, "Good morning, princess - the mother of nations."

487
00:33:48,087 --> 00:33:51,077
It's absurd. (P)

488
00:33:52,006 --> 00:33:55,862
And God is stretching him more and more and more,

489
00:33:55,868 --> 00:33:58,268
and Paul comments about this in Romans 4.

490
00:33:58,274 --> 00:34:03,900
He says, "In hope against hope, he believed,

491
00:34:03,906 --> 00:34:08,485
in order that he might become a father of many nations

492
00:34:08,491 --> 00:34:12,228
according to that which had been spoken (the promise)."

493
00:34:12,235 --> 00:34:18,045
He believed in order that this might happen, what God had promised.

494
00:34:18,052 --> 00:34:22,373
He through faith and patience, inheriting the promises.

495
00:34:22,379 --> 00:34:25,853
"According to that which had been spoken, so shall your descendants be.

496
00:34:25,860 --> 00:34:30,596
And without becoming weak in faith (faith again),

497
00:34:30,601 --> 00:34:36,610
he contemplated his own body now as good as dead since he was about 100 years old,

498
00:34:36,616 --> 00:34:39,003
and the deadness of Sarah's womb,

499
00:34:39,009 --> 00:34:45,167
(yet with respect to what? He saw what it was, he contemplated it.)

500
00:34:45,172 --> 00:34:51,274
But with respect to the promise of God,

501
00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:59,132
he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith giving glory to God,

502
00:34:59,138 --> 00:35:07,128
being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform."(P)

503
00:35:07,374 --> 00:35:12,600
Now, beloved, are you getting this?

504
00:35:13,448 --> 00:35:14,925
The writer to the Hebrews says,

505
00:35:14,931 --> 00:35:20,432
"Look you're gonna have to have faith and patience to inherit the promises."

506
00:35:20,438 --> 00:35:24,638
And you say, "Well, that's nice theory, give me an example."

507
00:35:24,644 --> 00:35:27,395
He says, "Here's an example: here's the father of the faithful.

508
00:35:27,401 --> 00:35:30,483
He set an example for you." (P)

509
00:35:30,959 --> 00:35:36,266
In other words, as a Christian, there will be times

510
00:35:36,272 --> 00:35:39,723
(maybe not every time; maybe if we really understood it,

511
00:35:39,729 --> 00:35:42,519
it would be every time, the things that God has promised.)

512
00:35:42,525 --> 00:35:47,221
But there are going to be times where you will be called upon to believe God

513
00:35:47,227 --> 00:35:54,425
when all the circumstances appear, and not only appear, but are the opposite.(P)

514
00:35:54,431 --> 00:36:00,375
Faith is not pretending that it's not as bad as it looks.

515
00:36:00,381 --> 00:36:03,236
It says, "He considered his own body now dead —

516
00:36:03,242 --> 00:36:06,548
he's looking right in the face of reality and he said,

517
00:36:06,554 --> 00:36:13,197
"This is impossible," and yet he believed God.

518
00:36:14,523 --> 00:36:16,144
These are scary things.

519
00:36:16,150 --> 00:36:21,050
These are things where you're moving into stuff like Wow!

520
00:36:21,056 --> 00:36:25,595
And you need to know that you've got a promise in these areas

521
00:36:25,601 --> 00:36:27,514
or you can't do this.

522
00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:33,330
But there's a lot in the Bible where God says, "I'll do this!"

523
00:36:33,336 --> 00:36:36,663
And you don't have to doubt or question, "Did He really say He'll do it?"

524
00:36:36,669 --> 00:36:41,062
He said He'd do that. (P)

525
00:36:43,646 --> 00:36:46,987
And it seemed like (and it says) the worse things got,

526
00:36:46,993 --> 00:36:50,272
the stronger Abraham's faith grew.

527
00:36:50,278 --> 00:36:54,602
The more impossible it became, the more certain it was.

528
00:36:54,608 --> 00:36:55,694
How does that happen?

529
00:36:55,700 --> 00:37:03,191
Well, the way it happens is: God is the One who gives and sustains faith.

530
00:37:03,874 --> 00:37:08,246
You don't get it yourself and you couldn't maintain it yourself.

531
00:37:08,252 --> 00:37:10,463
What does it say? Jesus praying for Peter;

532
00:37:10,469 --> 00:37:13,338
He says, "I have prayed for you that your faith fail not."

533
00:37:13,344 --> 00:37:15,790
What does that mean?

534
00:37:15,796 --> 00:37:18,064
Peter's faith is in the hands of God

535
00:37:18,070 --> 00:37:23,196
and He's looking to the One who is ultimately holding Peter's faith.(P)

536
00:37:23,202 --> 00:37:26,928
The reason Abraham's faith didn't fail is God was upholding it

537
00:37:26,934 --> 00:37:30,714
and putting him in these situations and stretching his faith out.

538
00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:33,678
Don't you think that hurt?

539
00:37:33,684 --> 00:37:36,818
He felt it.

540
00:37:37,810 --> 00:37:42,655
And God is sustaining it all the while to keep it from failing,

541
00:37:42,661 --> 00:37:48,277
so that he might be able to believe God and give glory to Him;

542
00:37:48,283 --> 00:37:55,026
and be fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform.(P)

543
00:37:55,501 --> 00:37:57,221
You think of Romans 5:3,

544
00:37:57,227 --> 00:38:01,939
Paul says, "We glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation works perseverance."

545
00:38:01,945 --> 00:38:03,830
Well, it doesn't look that way.

546
00:38:03,836 --> 00:38:09,413
You look around at professing Christians, tribulation works falling away.

547
00:38:09,419 --> 00:38:11,667
But for the true believer, what happens is:

548
00:38:11,673 --> 00:38:15,373
they may fall on their face initially,

549
00:38:15,379 --> 00:38:18,752
but the Spirit of God is working within them and eventually,

550
00:38:18,758 --> 00:38:22,146
that tribulation causes their roots to go down deeper;

551
00:38:22,152 --> 00:38:26,360
causes them to get before God and cry out to Him.

552
00:38:26,366 --> 00:38:31,772
And lo and behold, supernaturally, you see that believer walking on the water,

553
00:38:31,778 --> 00:38:38,277
in terms of the trials and difficulties, and he's making it!

554
00:38:38,283 --> 00:38:40,626
Tribulation to the believer, Paul says,

555
00:38:40,632 --> 00:38:46,329
"We glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation works perseverance.

556
00:38:46,335 --> 00:38:53,073
And perseverance, proven character or testedness.(P)

557
00:38:53,079 --> 00:38:56,594
I mean, there's something after you've been through a trial that you have,

558
00:38:56,600 --> 00:38:59,810
that you just can't have that when you're a new Christian.

559
00:38:59,816 --> 00:39:02,276
That's testedness.

560
00:39:02,282 --> 00:39:05,373
I've seen old believers in Romania,

561
00:39:05,379 --> 00:39:08,499
you know, some little guy sitting there in the meeting.

562
00:39:08,505 --> 00:39:13,399
I don't know whether there's too much of that guy;

563
00:39:13,405 --> 00:39:16,629
you get to talking to him through a translator and find out all the time,

564
00:39:16,635 --> 00:39:18,947
he's been kicked and beaten and what have you.

565
00:39:18,953 --> 00:39:22,873
He's got something that a new believer, no matter how joyful they are, [doesn't have].

566
00:39:22,879 --> 00:39:28,375
This guy might be real quiet but he's got testedness.

567
00:39:28,381 --> 00:39:32,070
He's been through [tribulation] and God has sustained his faith,

568
00:39:32,076 --> 00:39:35,005
and tribulation in him has worked perseverance,

569
00:39:35,011 --> 00:39:38,278
and perseverance has worked testedness (proven character),

570
00:39:38,297 --> 00:39:40,066
and proven character works hope.

571
00:39:40,072 --> 00:39:42,696
You say, "Here I am still here." (P)

572
00:39:42,702 --> 00:39:45,327
I am really grateful when I see somebody;

573
00:39:45,333 --> 00:39:49,492
maybe I knew them 30 years ago, they were weak and struggling as a Christian.

574
00:39:49,498 --> 00:39:53,098
You think maybe they're not going to make it, maybe they're not even real.

575
00:39:53,104 --> 00:39:54,852
And lo and behold, 30 years later,

576
00:39:54,858 --> 00:39:59,580
I see them in a meeting like this, they're still here.

577
00:39:59,586 --> 00:40:01,880
That's glorious.

578
00:40:01,886 --> 00:40:03,821
You say, "Well, they haven't made much progress."

579
00:40:03,827 --> 00:40:09,341
Well, I'll tell you one thing: they're still here. (P)

580
00:40:11,563 --> 00:40:16,786
Charles Wesley said this about Romans 4:

581
00:40:16,792 --> 00:40:20,848
he says, "Faith in thy power, Thou seest I have —

582
00:40:20,854 --> 00:40:23,888
this is one of his hymns —

583
00:40:23,894 --> 00:40:29,748
Faith in thy power, Thou seest I have; for Thou this faith has wrought."

584
00:40:29,754 --> 00:40:32,240
God gave it to you.

585
00:40:32,246 --> 00:40:37,913
"Dead souls Thou callest from their grave and speakest worlds from nought.

586
00:40:37,919 --> 00:40:43,787
In hope against all human hope, self-desperate I believe.

587
00:40:43,793 --> 00:40:48,085
Thy quickening Word shall raise me up; Thou shalt Thy Spirit give.

588
00:40:48,091 --> 00:40:52,143
The thing surpasses all my thought"

589
00:40:52,149 --> 00:40:55,471
Have you ever run up against anything like that?

590
00:40:55,477 --> 00:40:59,902
"But faithful is my Lord.

591
00:40:59,908 --> 00:41:06,635
Through unbelief I stagger not, for God has spoke the Word.

592
00:41:06,641 --> 00:41:10,546
Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, and looks to that alone;

593
00:41:10,552 --> 00:41:15,165
laughs at impossibilities and cries, 'It shall be done'." (P)

594
00:41:15,171 --> 00:41:18,168
Looking at the promise.

595
00:41:18,834 --> 00:41:21,956
Now one thing I would question about that is "Faith, mighty faith."

596
00:41:21,962 --> 00:41:29,744
It's usually little piddly faith but by the grace of God, looking at the promise.(P)

597
00:41:29,750 --> 00:41:32,658
Well, there's so much about Abraham's faith that we could say,

598
00:41:32,664 --> 00:41:33,581
but listen to this:

599
00:41:33,587 --> 00:41:39,508
The writer to the Hebrews also says that we ought to look at Abraham's patience.

600
00:41:39,514 --> 00:41:41,521
Look at his patience, he's an example.

601
00:41:41,527 --> 00:41:43,088
Imitate him in that.

602
00:41:43,094 --> 00:41:44,814
What did Abraham know about patience?

603
00:41:44,820 --> 00:41:52,071
Well, he's 75 years old when God first told him that he would be the father of a nation,

604
00:41:52,077 --> 00:41:54,183
and I can imagine Abraham saying,

605
00:41:54,189 --> 00:41:58,552
"Well, I know that promise. It's surely going to be fulfilled very soon.

606
00:41:58,558 --> 00:42:04,540
For I'm 75 years old and my wife is 65,

607
00:42:04,546 --> 00:42:06,429
and she's been barren all along,

608
00:42:06,435 --> 00:42:10,097
and it's going to get impossible here really quick.

609
00:42:10,103 --> 00:42:14,903
I know one thing: God's going to fulfill this one quickly." (P)

610
00:42:14,909 --> 00:42:21,625
And so, 5 years pass; and 10 years pass;

611
00:42:21,631 --> 00:42:26,391
and after 10 years of waiting, Sarah gets impatient,

612
00:42:26,397 --> 00:42:30,370
and brother Mike talked about that thing that happened with Hagar,

613
00:42:30,376 --> 00:42:35,757
and Ishmael was born when Abraham is 86 years old.

614
00:42:36,098 --> 00:42:41,745
Well, God is utterly displeased with that,

615
00:42:41,751 --> 00:42:46,395
and 13 more years pass.

616
00:42:46,401 --> 00:42:49,084
13 more years.

617
00:42:49,521 --> 00:42:53,014
Patience. Patience. God is not in a hurry.

618
00:42:53,020 --> 00:42:56,161
And finally when Abraham is 100 years old, Isaac is born. (P)

619
00:42:56,167 --> 00:42:58,044
We see this all through Scripture.

620
00:42:58,050 --> 00:43:00,287
Beloved, think of Moses.

621
00:43:00,293 --> 00:43:04,114
Stephen said in his sermon in Acts,

622
00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:06,858
that Moses thought that his brethren would understand

623
00:43:06,864 --> 00:43:08,959
that he was supposed to be the deliverer.

624
00:43:08,965 --> 00:43:10,763
He was 40 years old at the time.

625
00:43:10,769 --> 00:43:14,001
God had evidently showed him.

626
00:43:14,007 --> 00:43:16,878
And we read these things so lightly.

627
00:43:16,884 --> 00:43:22,494
But when he went out into the desert, he was not out in the desert for 10 years.

628
00:43:22,500 --> 00:43:28,636
10 years is a long time. He wasn't in the desert for 10 years.

629
00:43:28,642 --> 00:43:32,601
And he wasn't in the desert for 20 years.

630
00:43:32,607 --> 00:43:35,618
He wasn't there for 30 years.

631
00:43:35,624 --> 00:43:42,161
He was there the entire length of his previous life before that.

632
00:43:42,167 --> 00:43:45,460
He lived as long in the desert as he had lived his whole lifetime

633
00:43:45,466 --> 00:43:48,922
up until the time he left Egypt.

634
00:43:48,928 --> 00:43:55,379
40 years! 40 years! (P)

635
00:43:56,109 --> 00:43:59,525
You think of king David, a young man when he's anointed king.

636
00:43:59,531 --> 00:44:02,720
What did he do from then on? Run from Saul.

637
00:44:02,733 --> 00:44:05,815
Year after year after year.

638
00:44:05,821 --> 00:44:09,724
Joseph, a young man, I think he was 17 when he had those dreams.

639
00:44:09,730 --> 00:44:14,943
God gave him those promises and spoke to him.

640
00:44:15,479 --> 00:44:22,584
He lived until his age was double of what it was when God gave him that promise.

641
00:44:22,590 --> 00:44:24,657
He lived until his age was double,

642
00:44:24,675 --> 00:44:29,731
and everything that happened to him seemed to be going against the promise.

643
00:44:29,737 --> 00:44:32,472
I mean, he's sold as a slave, he goes down,

644
00:44:32,478 --> 00:44:37,061
Potiphar's wife tries to seduce him, Potiphar turns against him,

645
00:44:37,067 --> 00:44:39,332
he goes down into the dungeon, he goes down;

646
00:44:39,338 --> 00:44:43,192
and every step of the way, it looks like this is more and more impossible

647
00:44:43,198 --> 00:44:47,826
that God's promises were ever going to be fulfilled. (P)

648
00:44:47,832 --> 00:44:56,495
And maybe how old are some of you? Let's say if you're 25, so double that.

649
00:44:56,501 --> 00:44:57,889
God showed you something.

650
00:44:57,895 --> 00:45:00,225
You say, "God showed me something that He is going to do.

651
00:45:00,231 --> 00:45:02,027
I believe it really is God.

652
00:45:02,033 --> 00:45:03,742
I've laid a hold of this promise.

653
00:45:03,748 --> 00:45:04,929
I'm 25 now."

654
00:45:04,935 --> 00:45:05,793
Well, alright.

655
00:45:05,799 --> 00:45:11,502
So that would make you 50 maybe, when that promise is ultimately fulfilled.

656
00:45:11,508 --> 00:45:14,022
Now it doesn't have to be like that, but I'm just saying,

657
00:45:14,028 --> 00:45:22,277
He's giving us a feel for what's involved in real, Bible faith and patience!

658
00:45:22,283 --> 00:45:26,771
And it may be 40 years!

659
00:45:26,777 --> 00:45:29,334
Think of that.

660
00:45:29,340 --> 00:45:33,154
You think God is going to forsake you during that whole 40 years?

661
00:45:33,160 --> 00:45:36,652
He's teaching all the time, He's working all the time,

662
00:45:36,658 --> 00:45:43,851
He's stretching all the time, He's faithful all the time.

663
00:45:45,048 --> 00:45:49,360
But it does require patience. (P)

664
00:45:51,732 --> 00:45:54,446
I wanted to use George Mueller as an illustration again.

665
00:45:54,452 --> 00:45:58,378
I remember that he had prayed for a couple of men for years,

666
00:45:58,384 --> 00:46:05,353
and I thought that I heard that he prayed for 40 years for those two men.

667
00:46:05,359 --> 00:46:09,744
And then I thought, No I think it must have been 30, I better look that up.

668
00:46:09,750 --> 00:46:13,725
So I looked it up (and this was an interview with him shortly before his death)

669
00:46:13,731 --> 00:46:15,457
and this is a quote from George Mueller:

670
00:46:15,463 --> 00:46:20,139
He says, "I've been praying everyday - everyday -

671
00:46:20,145 --> 00:46:29,545
for 52 years for two men, sons of a friend of my youth."

672
00:46:29,551 --> 00:46:31,932
It wasn't even his immediate family.

673
00:46:31,938 --> 00:46:40,159
He's praying for sons of one of his old friends for 52 years everyday.

674
00:46:40,165 --> 00:46:44,660
"They are not converted yet, but they will be."

675
00:46:45,663 --> 00:46:47,606
And some of you know the rest of the story,

676
00:46:47,612 --> 00:46:50,871
they were converted after he died.

677
00:46:50,877 --> 00:46:57,242
He never saw it himself but God did it. (P)

678
00:47:02,419 --> 00:47:04,590
Faith and patience. Faith and patience.

679
00:47:04,596 --> 00:47:08,475
God has told us over and over, as clearly as He can tell us,

680
00:47:08,481 --> 00:47:12,192
that the instant mentality and the unbelieving mentality

681
00:47:12,198 --> 00:47:15,512
is not going to work in the Christian life. (P)

682
00:47:15,518 --> 00:47:18,551
So how do we sum this up?

683
00:47:18,557 --> 00:47:23,773
Well, we have a book full of exceeding great and precious promises,

684
00:47:23,779 --> 00:47:28,046
and these promises have been given by One who is infinitely powerful,

685
00:47:28,052 --> 00:47:34,597
and who is perfectly truthful, and who cannot lie, utterly trustworthy;

686
00:47:34,603 --> 00:47:37,419
and they've been given to us.

687
00:47:37,425 --> 00:47:41,040
And only two things are required to obtain them: Faith and patience.

688
00:47:41,046 --> 00:47:45,566
And God is the One who gives and sustains the faith and patience. (P)

689
00:47:45,572 --> 00:47:47,930
What am I saying?

690
00:47:47,936 --> 00:47:52,872
This is not the time to get discouraged and give up.

691
00:47:52,878 --> 00:47:59,837
This is the time to press on, to lay hold, to enter in to new things.

692
00:47:59,843 --> 00:48:02,903
May God help us.

693
00:48:03,634 --> 00:48:08,951
May He forgive us for how little, how little we've entered in,

694
00:48:08,957 --> 00:48:12,081
how slothful we've been, how sluggish we've been.

695
00:48:12,087 --> 00:48:18,595
And He will help us to be imitators and followers

696
00:48:18,601 --> 00:48:24,587
of those who through faith and patience, inherit the promises. Amen.