Promises of God

I want to first thank this this production team this this sound and media and praise singers they have led us into a supernatural presence of God and I'm excited about what God is about to do through his word he has already started speaking he has already started speaking through every song and the atmosphere that's been created in this sanctuary you're not here today I know and I know things are different in your home it's not like being in church and we miss gathering and one day we're gonna be back together but until then the Holy Ghost is still moving the Holy Ghost is still doing great things and I just believe today God's got a word for somebody somewhere I hope you came expecting on this Sunday morning that God was going to meet you right where you are

if you have your Bibles turn with me to numbers chapter 23 verse 19 numbers 23:19 gives us a word picture a description of the Lord and I want you to read it with me if you have your Bibles or if you're seeing it on your screen God is not a man that he should lie neither the son of man that he should repent have he said and shall he not do it or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good 2nd Peter 1 in 4 whereby are giving unto us exceeding somebody's say exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust but the next few moments of time and I'll try to be as brief as possible I want to preach to you today and possibly for the next few Sunday's on this simple subject the promises of God

when you think of a promise or when someone makes the statement or makes a promise to you it piques our interest it it engages us into whatever they're saying it brings us into here what else they have to say and possibly even want to experience what they are offering something like this be said to you I promise you it tastes good you're gonna want to know what their what they have to offer I promise you that you will love it that's going to get your attention we know that he or she ever who may be making those statements are doing their best to interest us and try to get us to try something new but I stand before you on this Sunday morning and tell you when God makes a promise he is hoping that we will do the same he's trying to get our interest heard of so that we can experience the fullness of the exciting journey the exciting life he is purposed for you and I I don't know about you I know that we're in trying times we're in challenging times

but I'm glad that I can boldly declare before you that God is still a God that keeps his promises if you believe that say man hears lies the issue with us in mere humanity because we have had promises given to us we have had other people break our hearts or tell us things and they didn't quite match up to what they said they were going to do and when we think of the word promise it doesn't mean as much anymore

every day couples promise to stay together in good times this is and as well as bad times and yet many marriages fall apart only after a few years political leaders promise hope and change yet most rarely follow through with their campaign promises at least they'll make a promise to the next election comes around and then possibly they may fulfill whatever they have said employers and business owners promised to take care of their employees but the promised raise never comes and soon if you're not careful you're replaced by a less capable employee no doubt you have heard plenty of promises in the past any chance is there some that are listening right now I'm sure you would say there have been promises that had been broken maybe it was at home maybe at school on a job or sadly even in the church

when you look at the word promise this morning a promise can be defined as an offer with a guaranteed result it's no surprise that God is the only one who always somebody say always always keeps his promises when our God makes a promise he always comes through it may not be fulfilled on our time clocks it may not be fulfilled in the manner of which we think it should be but God always comes through exactly the right time if you've ever experienced that you ought to say Amen right now he is a he when you look at God he is the only man that can keep his word and cannot lie when he gives his word he keeps it because when we looked at everything that's happening right now today we're standing on promises that he'll never leave us nor forsake us he'll never leave us over he'll stay closer to us then you can ever dream nor imagine when you're looking his word God makes his promises seem very simple in fact they are so simple at times that we expect immediate fulfillment and when this doesn't happen in the timeframe that we think is right we begin to lose faith in the inerrant Word of God it becomes one more soundbite in the weekly mix of information overload we begin to hear the promises but voices on the other side begin to drown out the information that you know to be true that you've even experienced in days gone by

when God doesn't come through on our timetable it's tempting to dismiss his promises as untrue or even say it's for somebody else but it's not for me that's exactly what the enemy wants us to believe but this is when we must hold firm to our faith our faith is not simply a mental agreement with a set of facts but it's quite different it's on the contrary it's a firm reliance it's a trust that he will do what his word said he would do many of you today you've experienced his healing power you've experienced his delivering the power you know that God keeps his promises and no matter how it may look right now no matter what you're going through no matter what the future may seem to you I stand on this Sunday morning and declare unto you that God is still righteous God is still just God is still faithful you ought to rejoice right now with your hands and thank God that he is still a faithful God hallelujah

from the very beginning of time God began to kill promises to his people however much like today they didn't always fully comprehend or walk in the promises that were available to them when we read the history of God's chosen people the nation of Israel we discover that God made for significant promises to his children at the time the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt many years before they made that that trip to Canaan land in order to survive the famine that had so dead stated the land as the Hebrew population increased he flipped that coin the Egyptians felt more threatened and eventually forced the Jewish people to become slaves they were growing but yet they were coming under the harsh taskmaster of Pharaoh but you hear me this morning God was not about to leave his chosen people in bondage in a foreign land God raised up a man God raised up a chosen vessel God raised up Moses to lead his people Israel to a new home to a promised land after Pharaoh didn't live up to his end of the deal to let the children of Israel go God revealed his power by unleashing a series of plagues on the Egyptians Moses eventually came to a stalemate with this stubborn leader who refused to let God's people go the final the final act that God would display was the Angel of Death which was allowed to visit each household the Egyptians and the Hebrews alike and claimed the life of every firstborn male however however the angel was instructed here me to pass over any home where the doorpost had the blood of the Lamb applied thereby allowing their children to live at the time of this dreadful display of power God made it clear that not only would he spare his people but he would also lead them to a life of freedom that they could not ever imagine I'm speaking to somebody you're watching this right now and you're saying if it had not been for the blood if it had not been for that day that the Lord changed me I wouldn't be where I am today you wouldn't be sitting in that home where you're sitting yeah you wouldn't be driving the car you wouldn't be in your right mind had it not been for the Lord that was on your side hallelujah when you look at this context and you at the tax he gave clear instruction to Moses to speak to his people

I want you to listen Exodus 6 6 to 7 therefore say to the children of Israel I am the Lord some of you need to know this today I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians I feel this in the Holy Ghost right now I will rescue you from their bondage I will redeem you with an art straight outstretched arm with great judgments I will take you as my people and I will be your God somebody say my god then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians

I want you to I want you to get these four principles this morning God made his children four promises I will free you from your bondage I will rescue you from your slavery I will redeem you with my powerful arm and I will claim you as my own people these four I will statements in Exodus 6 laid the foundation for the nation of Israel and become crucial elements of their annual celebration of God's faithfulness which they still observe today known as the Passover at this year's celebration four cups of wine are used to remind God's people of his four promises these four cups of promises as they are called a bridged the distant past with the hope of their better future for Jewish families it's like celebrating Independence Day a time to remember when God brought them out of slavery and into freedom into redemption into fulfillment and these same four promises are true for you and I today for those of you that have been grafted grafted into the family of God through his death say death through his pareil somebody say burial through resurrection that's repentance baptism in Jesus name and the infilling of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues we have become recipients of these promises offered here me offered with a guaranteed result this morning

the first cup I want to talk about it's the cup of sanctification it's based on God's promise therefore say to the children of Israel I am the Lord I will bring you out from underneath the burdens of the Egyptians let me slow down just a few moments I feel such an anointing here in this in this church you would think this church was filled this morning when you look at the word sanctification it sounds like a deep theological word but it's derived from the word sanctified

you would have to come to our home at Christmas time to understand what I'm about to say my wife I would call her the Christmas queen she loves to decorate our home at this special time of year if you were to walk in our front door and you would see that elegant beautiful round table underneath that chandelier you would see our dining table and under that chandelier you would see some of the most beautiful special China that is placed on that table place settings every Christmas these dishes the other 11 months stay in a cabinet they're beautiful they are no doubt valuable and definitely priceless to her I can count on one and maybe two hands in almost 23 years that we've ever used them when we do we have to we have to be extra careful because god forbid if I were to drop one and break one I would literally fear for my life what I want you to glean from this short illustration is that these special pieces of China are set aside for a special occasion on purpose they are not something that we take for granted daily they have been sanctified most believe that sanctification means righteous are perfect but when something is sanctified who I feel the holy it's not necessarily perfect it simply means it's been set aside or designated for a particular unique purpose our Christmas China it isn't perfect it's just set aside for special occasions it's it's set aside for important family dinners

I stand before you yes in an empty sanctuary but your homes are filled today with imperfect individuals our church isn't perfect this sanctuary that I'm standing in isn't perfect I promise you it's beautiful but it's not perfect but hear me it's a building that's been set aside for us to gather in worship and it won't be long until we're back together again did you know marriages are not perfect today but it's a relationship that's been set aside for all relations for all other relationships by a commitment between a wife and a husband I use these examples I use these examples to define sanctification because everyone understands Christmas China wedding China special dishes maybe special furniture you understand church buildings you understand marriages aren't perfect but that does it credit that they are called out and set aside from others of their kind it's important to understand what sanctification is and is not if we're going to grasp the scope and magnitude of God's first promise he wants us to be set apart because to him were special he had never created nor ever will create anyone exactly like you you can try to mimic someone you can try to you know dress like someone you can try to behavior like somebody else but you'll never be anybody else we're not perfect but we've been designed to be set apart for God's purpose when God promised to bring his people out of bondage the bondage of Pharaoh he made a way through the blood of the sacrificial lamb he made the same kind of promise to us and provided a way out of our bondage to sin through the sacrifice of himself on the cross even though the enemy of our souls would do everything he could to thwart us we are no longer slaves to sin the desire to set people free from their captivity remains at the center of the Lord Jesus heart throughout the Ministry of Jesus on earth he made it clear that his mission was to seek and to save that which was lost when God sees his children who are still enslaved in sin he wants them to be free he promises to free his people out of the bondage of sin

I had a little bit of an emotional moment this week as I began to prepare for this message and I felt compelled to share a little bit of my personal testimony because I remember the bondage of sin that I was in many of you viewing this live webcast I put myself in a horrible situation most of you view me as pastor I was raised in a great church and two wonderful parents what more could you ask for but I never really got it for myself I grew up all around it I was kind of in my own bondage going through the motions playing the part oh I played the drums every week I was playing the part I self-described myself years and years ago God gave me this revelation when he he said you become a great pretender although I was raised right my parents my grandparents my pastors had some of the best they all saw something to me at an early age they would even say to me there goes little David you've got to call a God on your life one day you're gonna pastor it took God several years to get my attention in place and anointing on my life I ran from my calling I ran from my ministry most of my life I ran from God I tried to feel the void on the inside of me with people with relationships and even with a career hear me loud and clear on this Sunday morning you can run but you can't hide I've made some poor decisions but I always knew God was on my trail God knew right where I was I remember the day I found myself so miserable at my lowest point of life I was at the brink of a divorce I was at the point of losing my mind I couldn't run from God any longer it was on that day I'll never forget I'll never forget that day my wife prayed for me prayers that pulled me out of the crippled hell I remember the day that I for the very first time truly truly truly drink out of the cup of sanctification no more half-hearted commitments no more fronts no more masks I truly came to the realization that God was truly trying to set me apart that God was truly trying to make something unique and special out of me out of the brokenness out of the ruins of the faults out of the God look beyond my faults and saw my needs God look beyond the brokenness and the bondage and said I'll take you and you're gonna become hell's worst nightmare I'll take your past and what the enemy meant for harm I'll raise you up one day I'll place you in a city and you'll be a beacon of hope to a people to a world all across this globe I've had the privilege of preaching and it's been some of the highest honors of my life but you got to go back to where I drink from the cup of sanctification to really truly realize how far God has brought this old boy

perhaps you find yourself sitting in your living room this morning maybe you're sitting in a vehicle maybe you're riding down the road maybe you're watching the archive in a few perhaps you find yourself and some type of bondage right now it could be an addiction it could be a secret habit that nobody knows about it could be an unhealthy relationship it could be in its obsession with appearing successful in the eyes of others but regardless of what holds you down and what holds you back you may find yourself as a slave to something that you know is not it's not what God's called you to do it's not what God created you to be and for today with the coronavirus with coca in nineteen all around you and you sit and you wonder God where are you maybe you're already thinking I'll being unemployed next week you're already thinking what am I going to do about my future what am I gonna do here my 401k is crashed what am I gonna do hear me this morning I'm coming to you I know it's a cross live stream God is not far from you in fact he's made a promise he's made a promise to us and it's always pursuing you whether you realize it or not when you find yourself wondering why you are where you are it's because the sense of Destiny he placed in your heart listen to the word of the Lord right now and sons 139 you saw me before I was born every day of my life was recorded in your book every moment was laid out before a single day has passed maybe this morning this step just seems too difficult for you I know the enemy is telling you you don't need to drink out of that cup today that promise today is not for you maybe you sit on the other side of the coin maybe you've experienced you maybe you have an experienced salvation because you think God wants something from you first maybe you're listening to the lie of hail this morning you got to get everything right before you can get God drinking from this particular cup is not hard it's actually the easiest thing that you'll ever do but when you're in bondage when you're lost and far away from your true home it can all feel complicated if religions have one thing in common it's they all require you to do something to get their God all except Christianity so many people including Christians believe that God requires us to make changes before we approach him but that's not true we don't get our lives together in order to give God we go to God to get our lives together

so what are we supposed to do pastor the answer is in God's first cup a promise it's found in Exodus 6 6 therefore say to the children of Israel I the Lord I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians as I close right now I want you to say these words with me I will bring you out right in your living room wherever you are I will bring you how can I say that I don't feel God do it anyway I don't know what's next in my life do it anyway I really wish God would show me my future I wish God would just really point me he is he's pointing you right now to trust his word I will bring you out hear me this morning his motive is always focused on your movement his expectation is always centered around your escape no matter if your present placement is the result of disobedience maybe you didn't make a bad choice maybe you have made poor decisions maybe maybe your life right now doesn't make sense maybe selfish selfish excuses have held you captive hear me this morning loud and clear he doesn't desire to leave you in your chaos he doesn't desire to leave you in the condition or circumstance he found you your mess your mistake your misery I don't care what it is his promise is always I'll bring you out I'll see you through I've never left you I've never forsaken you I can testify this morning that God can and God will bring you out past failure God will bring you out past fear past your mistakes past your shortcomings past your constant failures God can and God will bring you out of that dead-end relationship God's speaking right now all across live streams in America and around the world I feel like there's a liberation from dried up dead religion that's taking place right in the middle of this virus there are going to be people that hear the gospel the acts 2:38 message unlike they have ever heard before why because God's desire is to have a church God's desire is to have a people God can bring you out of every addiction every attachment to this world God can and will bring you out of every shameful habit every sinful hold that has you bound

as I prepare to pray for you baby this morning is maybe it's been a rough morning maybe you turned on the news before you turn on this live stream and everything you hear is negative everything you're hearing right now is unknown yes I understand we don't know what's gonna happen Monday we don't know what's gonna happen by Friday it seems like everything we have seen over the last several days it changes from day to day but God never changes so

right where you are I want you to bow your head I want to pray a prayer over you I want to pray a prayer over you maybe you're sitting beside your wife take them by the hand maybe you're sitting by a child maybe you're all alone and you just need to kneel right where you are right in that living room you need to kneel you need to get before God and you need to you need to pray right now father Heavenly Father I come before your throne in the name which is a member of your name God there are people that have listened this morning and they have heard a word that says that you will bring them out Lord I'm praying right now that you would go into cities into neighborhoods you would go right now and people are gonna begin to pray prayers of God I'm sorry for my sins God forgive me a sinner God accept me as I am but don't leave me the way you find me god I need deliverance God I need a miracle God I need a breakthrough put this marriage back together again God delivered me from these sinful habits pray that kind of prayer right now I'm speaking to somebody in the pray that prayer hallelujah God wants to raise you up out of that God wants to bring you up out of those situations

and hear me this morning if you prayed this prayer if you're praying a prayer right now of repentance and you've never been baptized in Jesus name I want you to call me I want you to text me I know we're socially distancing ourselves but I want to baptize you in the name of Jesus I want to meet you at our church and I want to bury you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth what what baptism does it washes away all of those sins it's the burial of Jesus Christ being applied to your life and the greatest thing that could happen to you today is for you to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost God wants to feel you with the Holy Ghost you can lift your hands right now and receive the Holy goes right there right now why don't you just open your mouth and begin to say I love you Jesus God I thank you for forgiveness I thank you for the blood that's been applied to my life fill me with your spirit God wants to fill you with your spirit God wants to fill you with his spirit this morning God wants to make all things lord I thank you for what we have felt this morning lord I believe I'm gonna get a call I'm gonna get a text there's gonna be somebody that says I heard that message and I want to be baptized in the name of Jesus Lord I'm asking angels of peace and comfort come over our church our families our guests that are watching this morning I'm asking you Lord keep us in the shadow of the cross Lord and let us drink from the cup of sanctification let us realize the day we've been set apart on purpose for your glory in Jesus name may God bless your sanctuary community church I pray you have a great week and may you have received something from the word today god bless you