“God's Promise To The Church"
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
INTRO.A promise is a wonderful thing, if it is kept. But mankind, even with good intentions and motivates, seem to frequently break their promises. In fact, each one here today has had to break a promise made at one time or another. Some unforeseen circumstance has arisen and we had to break our promise.
But I am glad to say today that I have one friend who never breaks His promises to me. This friend of mine sticketh closer than a brother, He listens to all I have to say, and although I may hurt Him, He still loves me and is my friend! My friend is JESUS CHRIST! I pray He is your friend too. I want to title the message today, "God's Promise To The Christian." It is believed there are almost 30,000 promises found in the WORD OF GOD. And each one of these promises God has already or will perform. HE NEVER BREAKS A PROMISE!
In 2 Peter 1:2-4 the Scripture says, "Grace and Peace be multiplied unto you through the Knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." If only we would take hold and claim the promises God has made to us, OH, what great things we could accomplish for the LORD and His cause!
D.L. Moody, the great evangelist said, "Take the promises of God. Let a man feed for a month on the promises of God, and he will not talk about how poor he is. You hear people say, ‘Oh, my leanness! How lean I am!’ It is not their leanness; it is their laziness. If you would read from Genesis to Revelation and see all the promises made by God to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to the Jews, to the Gentiles, and to all His people everywhere-If you would spend a month feeding on the promises of God-you wouldn't complain how poor you are. You would lift up your head and proclaim the riches of His grace, because you couldn't help but doing it."
We are "rich" if He is our LORD and SAVIOR! Christ in Revelation 2:9 told the Christians at Smyrna, "I know thy poverty, (but thou art RICH)..." If we will claim the promises of God, He can bless us in a mighty way!
Let us see, in our text, some promises made to God's people.
HE PROMISES:
(1) "I Will Dwell In Them"
Text: 2 Corinthians 6:16a—“And what agreement hath the temple of
God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living
God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them…”
- WE ARE HIS TEMPLE (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The word “temple” is translated from a Greek word “Naos” which means “Sanctuary.” He dwells in us and should feel welcome in our lives (Romans 8:1, 5-11; 1 John 4:11-15). Notice the words in v16—“For ye are the temple of the living God…” Paul here is making reference to the Church. Since the Church is made up of individual Christians this applies to each of us in a special way. “God intends to make the heart of every believer his own house.” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary On The Bible).
B. WE ARE TO HOLD FORTH A HOLY TESTIMONY (Philippians 2:15-
16a). Each member of the local New Testament Church should hold
forth a holy testimony before this world. As the Church we are to be
“…the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15b). We
accomplish this is in two ways:
- Separation (2 Corinthians 6:14-17).
- Sanctification (2 Corinthians 7:1-2).
(2) “I Will Walk In Them”
Text: 2 Corinthians 6:16b—“For ye are the temple of the living
God…As God hath said…I will..walk in them.”
*The word “walk” comes from a Greek word which means "to walk about
in.” God desires to walk about us corporately (Zephaniah 3:17; Matthew
18:20) and individually (Galatians 2:20). HOW DOES GOD WALK IN
US? :
- By His Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25).
- By His Sacred Word (1 John 2:3-6).
(3) "I Will Be Their God"
Text: 2 Corinthians 6:16c—“For ye are the temple of the living God…
and I will…be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Ezekiel 36:26-28
*AS OUR GOD WE RECEIVE:
- His Power (Isaiah 40:29-31).
- His Presence (Hebrews 13:5-6).
- His Provision (Philippians 4:19).
(4) "I Will Receive Them"
Text: 2 Corinthians 6:17—Wherefore come out from among them,
and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the
unclean thing; and I will receive you.”
John 6:37-40
*WE ARE RECEIVED BY:
- GRACE (Ephesians 2:8, 9)
*WE WILL BE RECEIVED UNTO:
B. GLORY (John 14:1-3)
(5) "I Will Be Their Father"
Text: 2 Corinthians 6:18—“And I will be a Father unto you, and ye
shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord
Almighty.”
- AN INCREDIBLE TRUTH (John 1:11-13). “I WILL BE A FATHER UNTO YOU…” In Galatians 3:26, 27 we read, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
- AN IMPLICIT TRUST. In Romans 8:14-17 we see this relationship that exists between God and those who are His. In v15 we see the words “Abba, Father” in the Greek the words mean “Papa, my father”, expressing IMPLICIT TRUST! The word "Abba" signifies "my Father", and is expressive of interest and of faith in it; and read backwards is the same as forwards, God is the Father of his people in adversity as well as prosperity; it is the word used by Christ himself in prayer, and which he directs his people to; to say no more, it is a word which the Jews did not allow servants, only freemen to make use of, and to be called by (John Gill’s Exposition Of The Entire Bible).
CLOSING:God has given us some great and precious promises in HIS WORD! If we will read, claim, and apply them God will RICHLY BLESS US!
LOST FRIEND, God has made you some wonderful promises also: John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10, 13! Will you claim those promises and become a CHILD OF THE KING!
CHRISTIAN, We saw some precious promises we have because we
belong to Him! But there are many more promises for us in HIS
WORD! Will you claim, apply and carry out the promises He has
made for you?