Good morning. Thanks.
I want to start with an apology. I apologize that I didn’t get my haircut first. I generally like to do that before I share. I don’t like it to get kind of shaggy-looking.
But anyway, that reminds me of a story. I recall watching a tennis match years ago. It was the U.S. Open final between Andre Agassi—some of you may have heard of him—and Pete Sampras.
Andre Agassi, when he came onto the tennis scene, used to have this real long hair, and it was kind of his trademark. Later on, it came out that it actually was a wig, believe it or not.
He related in a book that he wrote that one time, when he was playing a match, it was coming loose on his head. He was more concerned about that wig falling off than losing the match, which I thought was amazing.
But anyway, in this match between Agassi and Sampras, in the final of the U.S. Open, John McEnroe—the notorious tennis player—was the commentator. He made the comment that when Agassi came out, he had just gotten a fresh haircut.
After he did away with his long hair, people thought he cut it off. He actually took it off. He always shaved his head. So I thought it was very interesting that McEnroe would say, “Here’s this guy coming out with a fresh haircut.” How do you tell, when a guy basically shaves his head and then it grows maybe a very little centimeter and then he cuts it again?
But anyway, I guess the moral of the story was that Agassi lost the match. So maybe it’s good I didn’t cut my hair. I don’t know.
Anyway, let’s all open to 2 Corinthians, chapter 1. We’ll be reading verse 20.
I’m going to read it first out of the NASB version, and then after that I want to read it again out of the King James Version.
For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes.
Therefore also through Him is our amen to the glory of God through us.
That is the NASB.
The King James reads:
For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Let’s just have a word of prayer.
Lord, we do want to commit this time into Your hands. Lord, we remember that truth that apart from You, we can do nothing. Whether it be speaking or hearing, Lord, unless Your Holy Spirit enables us, we just can’t do it. It’s all in vain.
So, Lord, we commit this time into Your hands. We just pray, Lord, for that anointing of the Holy Spirit, that there would be something of value that could come out of this time. We just pray in Jesus’ name.
Well, obviously we want to consider this verse today, and we want to share briefly on what it has to say to the believer.
Now, I would imagine if I were to go around this room this morning and ask everyone if they could share of a time when the Holy Spirit used one of the promises of God to encourage them, or to take them through some difficulty or crisis, we all would probably have several. I don’t think that would be unusual.
We don’t read very far into the Bible before we come across the first promise of God. We find it in Genesis 3:15.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise Him on the heel.
We almost have to go to the end of the Bible, the next-to-the-last verse, to see the last promise. I believe this was the theme of our conference two years ago. In Revelation 22:20, Jesus says:
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.”
Yes, I am coming quickly.
God has given us many promises. But just how many promises of God are there?
I found this little interesting article, and I’ll read a little quote from it. It is an introduction by Dr. Herbert Lockyer. He had a classic Christian book called All the Promises of the Bible. He said this:
It has been computed that there are 30,000 Bible promises. No indication is given as to how this colossal number is reached. Altogether, there are 31,173 verses making up the Bible: 23,214 verses comprising the Old Testament and 7,959 in the New Testament. Doubtless, this total of verses gave rise to the 30,000, every verse being a promise.
But then there was an article in Time magazine, December 4, 1956. That was the year I was born, for those of you that may wonder.
It carried an item to the effect that schoolteacher Everett R. Storms of Kitchener, Canada, reckoned the 30,000 figure to be off the mark. During his twenty-seventh reading of the Bible, this devout student tried to tally up the promises, a task which took him a year and a half.
Storms came up with 7,487 promises by God to man; two by God the Father to God the Son; 991 by one man to another, such as the servants who promised to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; 290 by man to God; twenty-one promises made by angels; one by man to an angel; and two made by an evil spirit to the Lord. Satan made nine, as when he promised the world to Christ if He would fall down and worship him.
Storms then gave us the grand total of 8,810 promises. So Storms concluded that there are some 7,487 promises of God to man. Now, if you want a task or some homework to do, you can take that up.
But we have to ask the question: What is the interest of the promises of God to the believer? I think 2 Peter 1:3-4 gives us a clue into this.
Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
We see in this passage that God’s promises are tied to His eternal purpose. So, for believers to enter into His promises means that they will line up with His purpose.
Now, before touching upon verse 20, I’d like to read this verse in context, to get a little background in why Paul wrote this verse. Let’s turn to 2 Corinthians 1 and read verses 12 through 23. Again, I’m using the NASB.
For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.
For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end; just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.
In this confidence I intended at first to come to you, so that you might twice receive a blessing; that is, to pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea.
Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time? But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no.
For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes in Him. For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes. Therefore also through Him is our amen to the glory of God through us.
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.
So, in context, Paul was writing these things to the Corinthian believers because he had told them that he was hoping to come back and visit them. We find that in 1 Corinthians 16:5-7:
But I will come to you after I go through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia; and perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go. For I do not wish to see you now just in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord permits.
Paul wanted to visit them, but concluded it would be better if he did not do so. Because of this, the Corinthians accused him of being fickle. They accused him of being double-minded—not a man of his word—in not coming to visit them.
We read in verses 15 and 16 that Paul wanted to visit them twice and stated that he was not vacillating in not coming to see them, but was sparing them because he had already given much correction to the issues they had in their midst. He did not want to cause extra sorrow, but wanted to give them extra time to work through their problems.
He was writing in this section to vindicate himself and assure them that his yes was yes and his no was no—that he was being straightforward with them.
We read in verses 18 through 20 why Paul states that he must always be straightforward, always honest, always true. It is because he is a minister of the gospel. As one who declares the good news of Jesus Christ, his life must reflect that message.
To be otherwise, Paul would misrepresent Jesus Christ, who alone is the true and faithful witness, who is without any guile, without any misleading. He is the One who is the embodiment of truth. Even as Christ said in John 14:6, “I am the truth.”
So we come to verse 20, which says, “For as many as are the promises of God.” Now, when you hear this word promise, what comes to your mind? Let’s start by maybe giving a definition of this word. A promise is a declaration that something will or will not be done.
Maybe some of you here, when you hear this word promise, don’t put very much credence into it. That may be because of the source that made the promise to you.
But here in our verse, it is referring to the promises of God. It is referring to Him whom Hebrews 6:18 says cannot lie. It is referring to Him of whom Joshua 21:45 says:
Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made failed. All came to pass.
To amplify this thought, note that the King James translates the beginning of this verse, “For all the promises of God in Him are yea.” All the promises.
Man might be content if he keeps seven or eight promises out of ten, but not so with our God. He must be faithful in all His promises. He must be true to Himself. His word is tied to His character.
The evangelist D. L. Moody said, “God never made a promise that was too good to be true.”
We already stated earlier that God’s promises are tied to His eternal purpose. What He has determined in His heart, He promises to carry out, and He is well able to do so. Why? Because He lacks no ability in fulfilling His promises.
Man sometimes makes promises only to find out that he cannot carry them through because he does not have the resources. But not so with our God.
Notice in verse 20, it says, “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him”—that is, in Christ—“they are yes.”
God can and will keep His promises because Christ has fulfilled them all.
If you come away with anything this morning, I pray you come away with that. Christ has fulfilled all the promises of God. Christ is the fulfillment of all God’s promises to man.
Now, not to be redundant, but let’s consider a few promises believers have in Christ. These verses will be very familiar to most of you, and may the Holy Spirit just burn them afresh in our hearts.
Consider the assurance of God’s love in Romans 5:8:
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Or the forgiveness of sins: Colossians 1:14. Our brother opened with this—how the Lord had wiped away all our transgressions.
In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
What about acceptance? Ephesians 1:6 says, in the King James Version:
We are accepted in the beloved.
Justified—just as if you had never sinned. Romans 5:24 says:
Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
How about the promise never to be forsaken? Hebrews 13:5:
I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.
How about partaking of the glory of God? Colossians 1:27:
Christ in you, the hope of glory.
What a wonderful promise.
Deliverance from sin: Romans 6:6-7:
Knowing this, that our old self—some versions say “man”—was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.
We died with Christ. We have that co-death with Christ when He died on the cross.
How about being sanctified? 1 Corinthians 1:30, a very familiar verse:
But by His doing—God’s doing—you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us sanctification.
He is our sanctification.
Philippians 1:6 also says about being sanctified:
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Hang that one above your mirror in your bathroom.
How about glorified? Romans 8:29-30:
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these He also glorified.
Notice that past tense.
And, of course, one that we all love: eternal life. John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Also, 1 John 2:25:
This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.
We could go on quoting how Christ gives rest to the weary in Matthew 11:28; peace to the troubled and fearful of heart in John 14:27; hope to the hopeless in Colossians 1:27; joy to the sorrowful in Romans 15:13; and even that amazing promise regarding the church in which He said, “I will build My church.”
Allow me to read a quote from our brother T. Austin-Sparks on what he has to say of Christ being the fulfillment of God’s promises.
Every promise is gathered up in the Lord Jesus, is fulfilled already in Him in glory. It is important to realize that. There are no promises unfulfilled so far as He personally is concerned, though there is much yet to be of a further outworking.
There is a sense in which He has yet to come into something, but His position now as crowned with glory and honor declares beyond any approach of doubt, or question, or risk, that every promise is fulfilled.
Exaltation is a present exaltation, far above all rule and authority, principality and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but in that which is to come. He is established on high, so that in Him and in His present position, every promise is fulfilled.
It is a matter of importance to our faith and to our procedure to recognize that in Christ, God has already secured for us the fulfillment of His promises.
It is necessary for you and for me to recognize and fully grasp the fact of the completeness of the divine work in Christ. Is it not true that a good deal of our failure is due to the fact that we have some doubt, some question as to the outworking of things? Or, to put it in another way, that we have not fully and sufficiently recognized that in the exaltation of the Lord Jesus, the complete work of God is accomplished.
It is only honoring to God to believe that His work in Christ is perfect. The whole work is done in Him. There is nothing to be added to the work of God. It is complete. It is final.
Now, I’ve got to get my breath.
As a coin has two sides to it, we have set forth one side of the coin, which is God’s side. God wants us to be assured that His promises are true. They cannot fail. We can take them to the bank, as the expression goes, because Christ has fulfilled them all. He is the affirmative of God’s promises to us.
But the other side of the coin concerns the believer’s side in this matter of the promises of God. We see what our response is to be in the latter part of verse 20.
Let’s read it again out of these two versions, the King James and the NASB. We have to say that we believe, in this part of the verse, that the NASB translates this closer to what Paul is saying in the context of this section.
First, I’ll read out of the King James Version. I’ve got to quote it all again, or it sounds kind of flaky if I read part of it.
For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Notice that the latter part of this verse reads, “And in Him amen, unto the glory of God by us.”
Now then, the NASB says:
For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes. Therefore also through Him is our amen to the glory of God through us.
Do you see the difference in these two translations? The King James says all the promises of God in Him are yes and in Him amen. The NASB says the promises of God in Him, they are yes; therefore also through Him is our amen.
I don’t think the King James Version is inaccurate in declaring that Christ is the yes and the amen of the promises of God. But Paul is here affirming how he is straightforward, not vacillating, as a minister of the gospel.
It is because he has laid hold of Christ as the yes of God. Paul is able to be what he preaches because of the outworking of the promises of God in his life. And how is he able? It is because of personally responding amen to the promises of God.
Paul, by faith, laid hold of the promises. Does it not say in Hebrews 6:12 that through faith and patience we inherit the promises?
Needless to say, there are many examples of those laying hold of the promises of God. If you turn to Hebrews 11, you see many examples of those who laid hold of God’s promises.
I think we have a beautiful example of this with Mary. When she was told by the angel Gabriel that she would bear a Son and call His name Jesus, after Gabriel had given her the explanation of how it could come about, Mary replied by saying what?
May it be done to me according to your word.
She was given a promise of God, and she replied with amen to the promise.
Let me further reiterate that there is no problem on God’s side regarding His promises. God is true to His word, as we have already stated. But we do not automatically enter into His promises. This requires faith, which is our side of the coin.
It is possible to fail in this matter of entering into the promises of God. Paul mentions that what has been written in the Scriptures is for our instruction. We find in the book of Hebrews the example of those who could not go into the land.
Do you remember the story? God had promised the children of Israel in Numbers 33:53:
You shall take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.
But what was the response of the people of Israel? We find that they did not believe God’s promise, and they failed to enter or inherit the land. Hebrews 5:19 says:
So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.
But in contrast, we find that Joshua was an example of one who declared amen to the promise of God. Joshua literally, step by step, inherited the promise. Joshua laid hold of the promise that was given to him:
Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you.
I think we all know that the land is a type of Christ. As Joshua inherited the land by each step he took, even we are to inherit the promises of God found in Christ, one step of faith at a time. We are to appropriate more and more of Christ.
As we do so, what will happen? We will find that we will bring glory to God.
Though we enter into the promises of God by faith, we do not focus our attention on faith per se, but on Christ, who is the fulfillment of the promises of God.
Why is it that we so often are assaulted with the likes of fear, doubt, or double-mindedness? It is because we lose sight of Him who is the fulfillment of God’s promises.
There is a part of verse 20 that we did not make mention of, and it is this: “Therefore also through Him is our amen.” Therefore also through Him—that is, Christ—is our amen.
The person of Christ is intertwined with the promises of God. We cannot, in reality, enter into a promise of God apart from Him. As we look unto Him, we will be able to rise up in faith and enter God’s promises in experience.
Having said all this, what is the practical outworking by which we may enter in and declare amen to the promises of God? Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 again.
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.
Note that it is God who establishes us in Christ, who is the fulfillment of the promises of God. How does He do this? It is through the person of the Holy Spirit.
No spiritual progress can be made apart from the Holy Spirit. All entering into truth, all entering into reality, is by the Holy Spirit.
You remember our Lord said in John 16:13-14:
When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.
We call this revelation. It is the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all truth. Any so-called progress that is not of the Holy Spirit is false. It is counterfeit.
To reiterate again, apart from the working of the Holy Spirit, all truth of Christ will only remain objective truth. But by the working of the Holy Spirit, we are able to enter into subjective truth. We are able to enter into the reality of what Christ has done.
Verses 21 and 22 state that God has anointed, sealed, and put a pledge into our hearts. These three things speak of an outworking of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. The operation of these three is to secure us in the promises of God.
So, I’d like to take a few minutes and just look at these three things: this anointing, this sealing, and this pledge. Then we’ll close our time.
Anointed. Well, I think most of us are familiar with 1 John 2:27, which reads:
As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
Christ is the Anointed of God. As every believer is in Christ, we have received that same anointing, which is of the Holy Spirit.
The anointing speaks of the activity of the Holy Spirit in the area of illumination, instruction, and service.
As we read earlier, the Holy Spirit is the One who leads us into all truth. He will use the Word and various circumstances to reveal to us, firstly, what we are in ourselves, and secondly, who Christ is.
He never—He never—operates apart from the Word or the cross in leading us into the reality of God’s promises. The various circumstances often bring about a crisis in your life, but it is an opportunity to take up the cross and respond yes to the promises of God.
The Holy Spirit’s end in His instruction is that believers would enter into all the promises of God—or, to put it in other words, that Christ may be all and in all in the lives of believers individually and in the church corporately.
That self would be set aside and Christ would have the preeminence in our lives. The Holy Spirit works to set Christ before us, that we may learn to abide in Him and thus enter into the promises of God.
Without this anointing, without the instruction and leading of the Holy Spirit, we will be consumed with ourselves, and we will wallow in unbelief.
Now, sealed. Ephesians 1:13 reads on this matter of the seal:
In Him, in Christ, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed—you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
In this verse, we read of an accomplished fact: when we first believed, we were sealed in the Holy Spirit. Now, what does that mean?
We see an example of this in the Scriptures, in Matthew 27:62-66. This is speaking about the time after the Lord had already been crucified and buried.
Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day; otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.
Of course, the seal spoken of in this passage is the seal of Caesar. Caesar’s seal spoke of something sealed for him. The seal spoke of the marking and identifying of property.
It was a symbol of certainty and assurance to the thing being sealed that it was protected, secured, and belonged to the owner of the seal.
Likewise, we and every believer have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. We are now God’s property, and as such, we are held secure. We can have assurance that we belong eternally to God.
2 Timothy 2:19 says:
Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His.”
I think that we can all agree that after we were born again, we had a knowing. We had a knowing that did not originate in our minds, because we could not explain it. But somehow, we knew we were the children of God.
Why? It is because the Holy Spirit, as the seal of God, testified with our spirit that we are a child of God.
There is another meaning to a seal: it bears the image of something. In the case of the seal placed on the stone of the grave of Jesus, the seal bore the image of Caesar.
Likewise, in the case of the believer having been sealed with the Holy Spirit, now having the Holy Spirit in us, we are able to bear the image of Jesus.
I imagine most of you have had someone come up to you before in a certain circumstance and say, “There’s something different about you. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something different about you.”
It is not that there is really anything different with you, but that now you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. Christ is in you, and as such, there is a resemblance of Jesus.
We find that there is to be a progressive work of the sealing of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer until the believer is conformed to Christ’s image.
Consider Ephesians 4:30:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
This verse, to me, speaks of the sure and persistent nature of the Holy Spirit completing that work of redemption in our lives—that full redemption.
We have not only been sealed by the Holy Spirit to secure ownership, but He is the One who will complete the work of redemption, thus leading us all into the promises of God.
Did you not notice when we read Ephesians 1:13 that it defines the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of promise? He is the One who leads us into all the promises of God, which speak of Christ. He is the One who will do the work of conforming us to the image of Christ.
The Holy Spirit is ever working toward that end, and nothing will stop His progress except if we are grieving Him.
When the Holy Spirit arranges circumstances, when the Holy Spirit brings the cross into our lives to lead us into that full redemption, will we comply? Or will we respond negatively like the children of Israel did when they were led by God in the wilderness?
We can say no to the promises of God. But may we be those who, when the Holy Spirit prods us on, respond with an amen of faith—an amen of faith.
Objectively speaking, we have already arrived. We have been sealed unto the day of redemption. We are complete in Him. But the Holy Spirit wants to lead us into all the truth subjectively.
As we agree with the Holy Spirit’s working, as we say amen to Him, He will be able to work that likeness of the character of Christ into our lives.
The Holy Spirit knows Christ is the answer to our every need. We have been sealed with Him whose office is to reveal Christ to our hearts.
We must learn to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and be careful not to grieve Him, or we will come short of the promises of God.
Lastly, the pledge. I’m going to read a definition that one gave of a pledge. He said:
It is a small portion of contract money which is given at the making of a bargain, as an assurance that the whole amount will be paid in due time.
The latter part of verse 22 says, “God gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” God has given us His Holy Spirit as a pledge, as that assurance that we would indeed inherit our inheritance.
As we already read earlier, that which He has begun, He will complete. We need not be concerned that God, at some point, is going to give up on us.
Once the pledge has been given, there is the certainty that the transaction will be completed. We do not need to fret that we will fall short of the promises of God. We can rise up in faith and say a confident amen to the promises of God.
Consider these two other verses where this word is found. We read a part of one of them already. Ephesians 1:14 says:
Who, the Holy Spirit, is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Also, 2 Corinthians 5:5:
Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.
Let me ask you a question. Do you have a sensing of destiny in your heart? Do you have a sense of purpose?
God has placed that in your heart. We are not to float through our existence as if somehow we are controlled by this thing called karma. We have a sense of purpose because it came from the true and living God, with whom we entered into a relationship.
Let me inject a word of caution here, because the enemy of our souls is aware of this pledge that God has placed in our hearts. He will try to mislead us into thoughts of grandeur, to get us to think great thoughts of ourselves entering into great things and large things, as if it is all about us.
True, the Holy Spirit will speak to our hearts concerning the promises of God, but they will be in connection with Christ and His glory.
We read in Ephesians 1:14 that the Holy Spirit is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
But yes, we are to be joint heirs with Christ. That is our purpose, but it is all to His glory.
So, in closing, may we keep our eyes on Him who is the fulfillment of God’s promises. May we allow the Holy Spirit to do that work in our lives, so that we may be those who respond with a resounding amen to the promises of God.
Amen.