Holding Onto God's Promises

TRANSCRIPT

I wanted to start this morning's message with a little bit of a disclaimer. So for those of you that have journeyed with us for the last 10 years or so, it won't be new information for you. But if you are new to our church family or you're new to faith, it might just sound a little bit different.

And on a regular basis, probably on a very regular basis, as we've just heard this morning, Pastor Kev always talks about unhitching from the old and living under the new. I would say, and I've got no effort or I can't bother to find this out, but Pastor Kev would probably share about that every single time he speaks.

Yeah. So someone wants to find that out, go back through all the messages, all the years, I reckon he would share about it every single time. He speaks which is funny because i'm actually talking about it now to myself But what he talks about is mixing the old covenant So the the first part of the bible mixing it with the new covenant.

So the new part where we live under jesus And when that kind of first happened and he was talking about that idea. I struggled to understand with my simple little brain well, we've got a book here and it's the old and the new and how do I not do the old and the new? What is that? So I, I came up with a phrase, whether I came up with it or I just heard it.

But the phrase that I like to use is I learn from the old, but I live by the new. And that kind of helped me understand how to process this. So I don't disregard or chuck out everything written in the, the old Testament or the old covenant. I still am able to read from it and learn from what happened in there.

But I live under the new. I live under what Jesus has done for me, has done for you. Under what Jesus came to this earth to do. I live by the new way. Okay, so now we've done the disclaimer, so you can't throw rocks or anything at me. If anyone does, direct them to Kev. He's the one who instigated this. So, but we, we, we heard a great message from Ruth last week in our first of Under the Circumstances, and Ruth always talks so genuinely and heartfelt.

whenever she shares in her message. So I thank you Ruth for, for sharing. And my takeaway was that even if it doesn't look like it, God still cares for you. And that was a story around Lazarus as well. And the bottom line of this series is holding on to God when it appears God is no longer holding on to you.

Which I think, as people that have followed Jesus, that's something that we probably deal with on a daily basis. It's like, where is God? Why is he, why is he not here? Why does it feel like he's distanced himself from me? We also got to hear from a, a beautiful story from Carolyn around her journey through breast cancer.

And we, we heard her testimony around how she was able to hang on to God's peace and his comfort through a really testing and troubling time. And it's really inspiring to, to be able to hear that and see that, that regardless of her circumstances, she was able to hold on to God. She was able to hold on to God's peace and his trust.

And that inspired me and it impacted me as well to, to see that. When you see someone going through some really rubbish times, but they're still positive, they're holding on to God, you're like, wow, what have they, how have they got that? It's, it's really contagious. Much what Lynn was talking about.

People need to see that. It, it inspires other people and it draws them into, into God because they see that outworking in their life. It was an amazing story and I encourage you to go back to watch it, Ruth, and hearing from Carolyn. Carolyn is my mum, if you didn't know. And I know she's blessed to have a son like me and I do remind her every day.

So don't worry She's well aware that I I don't know about jimmy though. I don't know. I take after my mom Let's just say that

but it was amazing to see that in it's a it was a crap situation But it was I know god is with me moment. That's what it was all about which is really easy to say when You're on the outside when you're not going through a tough time. It's really easy to say Yeah, you know we can dig in have faith. You don't know how strong your faith is until you need it But it's really easy to look on it from the from the outside But sometimes when we look at our circumstances They might not be going the way that we want them to go.

They might not be In the position that we want to be in they might be rough We might be in a really tough spot and we start to question where is god and why has he left me? And I believe we've been sold this idea with faith. That our faith comes with real world guarantees. When in actual fact, we don't.

It doesn't. And I think that can lead to more disappointment when it doesn't pan out. We have a thought process that if I, then God. Or if it's a, if I do, then God. That's the mentality. That's the process that we have. We almost see our faith as a transactional agreement or contract where my actions lead to God doing things for me.

That's how we see it. Or, on the flip side, we see my lack of faith. My lack of obedience has caused God to distance himself from me or not to bless me when I'm looking at my circumstances. And I'm sure all of you that have a faith journey have asked those questions or have been in those circumstances and we start to question where God is and how can I do things or what can I do to make things right again.

And I think that process, when we start to have that mentality, we start to ask questions of why do good things happen to bad people. And what I want to talk about this morning is there might be a belief or an understanding of God or his promises that has led us to believe this. To believe that how close God is to me is based on my circumstances.

Based on where I am currently. And I believe that we hold God to promises He never made to us. And it's this mixing and matching that Pastor Kev always talks about. The old and the new. And that's where that kind of confusion can come into place. So when we start to understand that there's two separate covenants, it will actually help change our thought process.

The old covenant that God made was with ancient Israel. So it means there was an agreement between Israel and God. It was like a contract made between them. And it was a hundred percent if I do, then God must. But it was more of a like, if we do, then God will. It was a covenant for the nation of Israel.

It wasn't an individual agreement. So when their leaders were faithful to God and the ways that God intended them to live, their whole nation was blessed. Their people were blessed. Their crops were blessed. People knew by looking at their circumstances that they were close to God and they were in God's favour.

But on the flip side, If the nation's leaders were stepping out of what God had asked them to do, or they weren't holding up their end of the agreement, they were violating God's commands, then the whole nation would suffer. And God would judge them. Even the prophets would try and encourage the leaders to turn from worshipping other gods because they knew what would happen and God would judge them because of that.

The people of Israel could tell by their circumstances how close they were with God. They could look around and know where they stood with God. And that's just how the covenant worked with them. But we aren't ancient Israel. We are new covenant people living under Jesus. you under the new covenant that he has established for us.

It's a covenant where we don't look to our circumstances to determine where we stand with God or where he loves us or whether he cares for us or not. Instead of looking to our circumstances for God, we look to a single event that took place on a hill where God sent his only son, to pay for all of our sins, to take something that we deserved upon himself, and to give us what we didn't deserve.

What he did is he removed all obstacles between us and God. He allowed us to have an unrestricted relationship with our creator, where he can hear your prayers regardless of our sins, where he can comfort you, where he can love you unconditionally. I'm going to say that last thing again, where he'd love you unconditionally.

God loves us unconditionally. And I think sometimes we really forget that. And it might be hard for some people to understand if they've never understood, like never felt or received that unconditional love. But what it means is, there's nothing we can do to deserve it, and there's nothing we can do to take it away.

Unconditional love from God. And the challenge comes, so that's the new covenant, that's what the, what we're living under, and the challenge comes when we mix these two, the one between God and ancient Israel, and us, God, and the human race, we start to look to our circumstances. And the reason I believe that that is true is because Jesus said it himself.

He talked about it himself. Jesus established a new covenant between God and the human race. And he did this during the final Passover. So we're going to look at Luke 22, 20 which is in the New Testament. So the new part of the Bible, and these are called the gospels. So the eyewitness accounts of Jesus written down for us to learn from.

And so before Jesus goes to do what he does to die on the cross, to do what he was put on this earth to do. He wanted to share this with his disciples. So it says in the same way after the supper, he took the cup saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. That's very clear.

Like, that's blatantly clear, which is very uncharacteristic for Jesus, I believe. He would always talk in parables and all these big sayings, and I feel like he was really trying to hit the simpletons. I don't know if his disciples or me, but that just makes sense to me. It's super, super clear. This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

It's clear as day is what Jesus is talking about. The new covenant starts here. Out with the old and in with the new. The old covenant is finished. It also means the old covenant promises are finished. God is finished with those. Those are not our promises. It's not hold on, bring over, bring to the new the things that you want, the things that you like, where you want to pick out those promises.

No, the old covenant promises. are not your promises. Yours are better. There is no longer, if I, then God. If I do, then God will. There's none of that, which isn't really what we want to hear. We want to hear that there's a give and take in that. On the surface, our promise doesn't promise us things in this life.

It doesn't come with real world guarantees, which isn't a real flashy thing to say. There are no real world guarantees with our promises from Jesus, but this is what our promise is. It's in Hebrews nine 15. It says, for this reason, Christ is the mediator of a new covenant. Very clear. Again, super simple that those who are called may receive the promise eternal.

Inheritance. There it is. The our promise, internal inheritance. Now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. Jesus has promised us eternal life and eternal fellowship with God. This is the promise we hold onto. This is what we have been promised.

Eternal life with God, the life we live here. is nothing compared to the promise of eternal life. The promise he gave us through his son Jesus. God's covenant with Israel didn't promise eternal life. Most ancient Jews didn't believe in an afterlife because their scriptures didn't really teach about one.

But when we hold on to the old and the new, we can actually run the risk of being disappointed by God's unwillingness to keep a promise he never made to you. I think that's a really big thing, being disappointed by God and holding him to things that he didn't promise to us. And then when we do that, we're tempted to do what ancient Israel was supposed to do.

And that was judge God's presence by your circumstances. It was to look around to see whether God was there or not. Or to judge God's faithfulness. by your circumstances. We as New Covenant people, we don't look to our circumstances to determine where we stand with God, but to that single event on a hill where God allowed his son to pay for our sins so that we have assurance that we are and always will be in right standing However, there is one Old Testament promise that does apply to us, and it precedes God's covenant with Israel by hundreds of years, and it was His promise to Abraham.

God promised to bless the world through Abraham, and He did 2, 000 years later when Jesus was born, a King and a Saviour. He came with a covenant, with better promises. And I believe the, the author of Hebrews wanted to speak directly to the issue of this, of how the new covenant people should know that God is with us.

So we're going to go through quite a little bit of scripture, so bear with me. He wanted to remind all of the people of great faith of their circumstances. So he wanted to remind people of their, all of these people over the time of all their great faith and their circumstances. He wanted to remind us.

And it says Hebrews 11, 32 to 40. And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson Jeff, Jefe Jafe. I actually wrote Jeff th 'cause I was trying to remember how to pronounce it, but couldn't do it. About David and Samuel and the prophets, who, through Faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice and gained what was promised, who shut the mouths of lions.

Keep going. It quenched the fury of the flames and escaped the edge of the sword, whose weakness was turned to strength, and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. That's powerful. That's amazing to hear these people of great faith, the amazing achievements that they achieved through their faith.

However, there were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning. They were sawed in two. They were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated.

And the world was not worthy. Their faith was there through poor circumstances, regardless of their circumstances, despite their circumstances, they held on to their faith. It keeps saying, these were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had been planning something.

He'd been planning something better for us. Better for you. Better for me. And that regardless of our circumstances, they still remained faithful. They were people of great faith. of amazing stories and amazing, amazing achievements and amazing lives. But there were also people's lives that were not spectacular, who were tortured and tested and had horrible lives, but they remained faithful.

And the world was not worthy of them. It keeps going. Therefore, Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, surrounded by all of these amazing men and women of faith that chose to never quit trusting in, following in, believing in, and did not interpret hardships as God's absence, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily.

entangles. Throw off everything that's going to distract you from holding steadfast in your faith. That holding steadfast to the promises that God has made under the new covenant with Jesus. Don't allow a hard time to let you depart from God. Departing from God doesn't always change your situation or your circumstances.

It's just the same but without God. And as we understand the promise that God has made to us, we feel less disappointed by God. Because He hasn't promised us a life of daisies and roses. But we seem to hold on to that and that idea and we get angry when it doesn't go like that or doesn't plan out like that.

And the author continues, And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. In a race, there can be hard times, easy times, uphill times, downhill times. That's what I've been told. I'm not a runner. I'm not an athlete. But that's what they tell me. They tell me these hard things. I'm not a You can tell.

Anyway you know, I meant to laugh, but you might be in a downhill time now. You might be going, man, life is going good, right? Life is smooth. I'm happy with everything's out. Life is going good. But this time still requires perseverance because you will be tempted to abandon your faith or you're tempted to abandon your heavenly father.

But for others of you, you might be in the windy, the zigzaggy. The uphill, rock crawling, massively hard overnight in the rain section of the race. You might be facing divorce. You might be facing relationship challenges. Could be family challenges. Health challenges. A loss of a loved one. a job crisis, a financial crisis, and it feels like you've just turned a corner and then bam, you're in the thick of it.

You're like, where did this come from? And you know what? We start to think, where are you, God? When you look around at your circumstances, it looks like, God, you've left me. But these are the moments where we need to look to Jesus. And the author has reminded us what to do. It's fixing our eyes on Jesus.

That's how we get through this race. There might not have been a happy ending to some of the challenges faced by those of you in this room, but you held on to your faith regardless of your circumstances. No matter how painful, you are still here now. And some of you, you're walking through the valley of the shadow of death, but you keep trusting, you're keeping believing, and you're keeping holding onto God when it appears.

He's not holding on to you, and to that, the world is not worthy of you. It says, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and the perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the Lord. Right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Jesus did what he did so that we don't need to grow weary and lose heart. That is what we hold onto in those times. And because of the promise that Jesus brought to us, he invites us to fix our eyes on him in confidence. Hebrews 4 verse 16 says this, Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

So that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. If that's not enough for you, I want to try something this morning. We are surrounded in this room and online by a great crowd of witnesses, of people who have remained faithful, regardless of their circumstances, despite of their extraordinary circumstances, through horrible times, through testing times, through troubling times, but who have held on to God and held on to his promise.

And if that is you, I want to ask you to stand as a great crowd of witness. If you've gone through those moments and you've remained faithful,

take a moment to look around this room. Oh, I didn't expect that.

This is what is inspiring to each and every one of us. That we have all gone through challenging times, tough times, but we have chosen to stick it out. We have chosen to keep true and to hold on to our faith.

We are still standing. We have experienced God's sustaining grace. And if you're in this room, if you need a touch of God's sustaining grace and you're not standing, please stand. Look at the people here. This is inspiring stories. We have all gone through it. God cares for each and every one of us. He has promised us eternal life with Him, regardless of our circumstances.

His grace and strength are there for those who lean into Him and ask for it. Now, I just want to quickly pray.

Thank you, Jesus, for what you did on that cross. Thank you, Jesus, for bringing this new covenant, this new promise of eternal life for us. I thank you for the great crowd of witnesses in the past and in this room. I pray that we see it as an inspiration and an encouragement. I thank you for your mercy and your grace that can sustain us through this time on earth, through our circumstances.

And I just want to pray for those of you that are amidst the challenging times, I pray that you will receive God's sustaining grace, that you will take inspiration from the people standing in this room and the people we read about. I pray that we can fix our eyes on you, Jesus, and not on our circumstances.

Thank you, Jesus. Amen.