God Keeps His Promise, Part 2

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. In other words, instead of the pain of this life causing what it causes so often in us, anxiety, worry, fear, what did it cause in Paul?

Peace, joy, and hope. He had the same suffering. He'd been through it. He said, but I know the end game.

Why do you know? He's promised. He keeps his promises. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana.

Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. It says, So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abram in his old age, and then this phrase, at the appointed time. At the appointed time.

That Hebrew word means exact specific. At the appointed time. In fact, if you turn a page back to chapter 18, remember what God said in verse 14?

We covered this before, but look at 1814. God speaking is anything too difficult for the Lord at the appointed time? I will return to you. He said at this time next year and Sarah will have a son. It becomes even more specific at the appointed time.

Not just any time. Hold your place here and go with me to Ecclesiastes chapter three. Ecclesiastes chapter three. Very familiar verses to you.

I believe it was Simon and Garfunkel that sang this. I'm going to start in verse two. Solomon, the wisest man on the planet at the time, writes this. A time to give birth and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost. A time, he says, to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together. A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.

26 times, time, time, time. The verse I didn't read is verse one. There's something else. There is an appointed time.

Wow. Same phrase as Genesis. There is an appointed time for everything. There is a time for every event under heaven.

From what perspective here? From God's. There's an appointed time. You see, this is interesting. God keeps his promises.

There's no doubt about that. But the idea is God said, I want you to understand something. I am sovereign over my creation. I am sovereign over time.

That's astounding. By the way, some of you don't like that. A lot of people don't like God's sovereignty at all. They just don't.

A lot of them say, I don't like that. If God's sovereign, then I'm somehow diminished. No, you're not diminished.

You're not diminished at all. In fact, God's sovereignty, it's clear, doesn't exclude our free will at all. We still have free will. But God's saying, I'm sovereign over everything.

A second point might be this. Free will is not that good a deal. I know you might go, no, it's wonderful. It's the most wonderful thing about us that we have free will. No, that's not the most wonderful thing about us. The most wonderful thing about us is we're created in the image of God, which includes free will. But let me ask you, when Adam and Eve exercised their free will, how'd that work out?

What happened? You see, they exercised their free will. They became less like God and became slaves to sin. And we inherit their nature. So the whole idea is I want our free will. It's man and our free will is what reigns. Okay, man's will is free. And let's look at it historically.

How's it worked out? How has man treated man with his free will? How many men have murdered men? How many countries have destroyed countries and created genocides?

How many? We're exercising our free will. Be careful. Our free will is not really as wonderful as we might think it is. God says, I am sovereign over all of this. God's plan is to redeem us from our free will and our evil desires and choices. It's just part of God's plan. He has an appointed time. He's not responsible for all of our actions. He said, I don't even tempt anybody, but I'm sovereign over it because I see it all at once. Old Testament scholar Walt Kaiser says this.

This is a beautiful plan. Yet men and women do not end, as a matter of fact, cannot apprehend it because of the prevailing worldliness. So vast, so eternal and so comprehensive in its inclusions. He said is the plan that man is both threatened and exasperated in his attempts to discover it for himself.

Nevertheless, being built by God and made in his own image. Man possesses a hunger within his heart to know the vastness of eternity and of God's plan. But he can't know it.

That's our problem. That's why we don't like God sovereign. He knows something we don't know. And what he knows that we don't know is everything.

You see, that changes it completely. God keeps his promises. Now watch verse three. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Esauch. A great name. One of the things I love most about God, when you study the word, he has a great sense of humor. He doesn't get enough credit for that.

By the way, go just look in the mirror and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. God has a great sense of humor. He said to Abraham, whispers in his ear, I'm sure, here's a great name for him, Esauch. He laughs.

That's what he's named. He laughs. Now why would God name the boy he laughs? Well, if you remember, Abraham fell down on the ground laughing when God told him he's going to have a son with Sarah. He laughed at him. And then Sarah overheard the angels talking to Abraham and she was at the tent and she laughed to herself. And God confronted her with her laughter. He said, how about this? You like laughing about the promises of God so much, how about you name the boy he laughs?

But something has happened here. Your mocking laugh has now turned into joyful laughter. This is the laughter of joy.

There's no mockery here at all. He then says, Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old. He said, as God had commanded him.

Just as God had said. Please understand, this wasn't the first little boy ever circumcised. The Egyptians have been doing it for a long, long time.

But for a different context. The International Standard Biblical Encyclopedia, the man who wrote the article says this. He said, Egyptian temple paintings show that circumcision had been part of the human culture since 4000 B.C. Usually however, boys were circumcised when they reached puberty as part of fertility rituals. God changed this starting with Abraham.

The Hebrews were the only ancient practitioners of circumcision. He says, to observe the right in infancy. Thus freeing it from the association of the fertility rituals. And making it the sign of the covenant people.

It's kind of an interesting thing. He follows God to the T. God keeps his promises. He's not in a hurry, he never forgets them and they're always given in a context. But there's a second point and a very important point for you and me. God's promises ultimately and always bring us joy. God's promises ultimately and always bring us joy as believers. Notice what happens here with Sarah. Verse 6, Sarah said, God has made laughter for me. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.

Not at me, with me. She said, look at the joy that she has. And she said, who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? She's 90.

It's an amazing thought. She gets it, yet I have borne him a son in his old age. It says in verse 8, then the child grew and was weaned and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. Why did he do that? He's happy. He's joyful. What made him joyful? The fruition of the promise of God.

You see, the promises of God are extremely important. Abraham and Sarah went through a lot. Since they heard the first promise, they gave up their families. They gave up their home. They gave up everything that they knew to be common. They became wonders in a very unusual place in the land of Canaan. You see, they gave up a lot. They found themselves in a sense in a nomadic life and all they really had for all of this was this grandiose promise of God. And they got to see it in fruition. One of the reasons that God gives us promises is to change our perspective now. He understands how difficult life is. So he says, let me give you some promises that you can hold on to.

Now I'm going to illustrate that. I want to go to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. And one single verse there.

The Apostle Paul. He says in verse 18, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time. By the way, he knew sufferings. He is stoned.

Left for dead. On several occasions beaten with rods. He was hated everywhere he went. He found himself shipwrecked on more than one occasion.

Crawled ashore off a shipwreck and then be bitten by poisonous snakes. I mean, Paul had a very difficult time of suffering. And when we do that, what do we often want to do? If you're facing it at all. Why God? Why? How could you let this happen? I mean, how could you let this happen? This is awful. This is painful. This hurts.

You see, how could this happen? And we all go through that. The Apostle Paul went through that. He knows what it means to suffer. But what's what he says? For I consider that the sufferings of this present time. Are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. What are you talking about?

The endgame. He's talking about glory. Well.

Where do you get that idea? I think someone promised them. You see, I think that's one of the promises of God. He promises it over and over and over again.

I mean, Paul was very aware of what Jesus said to the other apostles. I go and prepare a place for you. You see, so that where I am there, you may be also. He knew that. He knew the endgame. He knew that the idea that ultimately hidden up in a place would have no more sorrow and no more tears. He understood all that.

And he said, you know what? When I understand what the content is of the promise that God has given. He said, then I consider the sufferings of this present time not even worthy to be compared to it.

In other words, instead of the pain of this life causing what it causes so often in us. Anxiety, worry, fear. What did it cause in Paul?

Peace, joy and hope. He had the same suffering. He'd been through it. He said, but I know the endgame.

Why do you know? He's promised. He keeps his promises. You see, and his promises always and ultimately work out for our good.

You see, for our joy. That's what Paul says, and it makes all the difference in his life. Think of the promises of God. I mean, think of all of the Old Testament promises that a Messiah would come, a Savior.

Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, most of them are on 700 years before Christ was born. He's coming and he came. We'll call his name Emmanuel, God with us.

Micah says, oh, by the way, he'll be born in the house of David in Bethlehem. These are all promises, and when they came to fruition, there's tremendous joy. If you believe the promises. Now think of all the promises that God has made that are still yet to come. You see, think of that. Think of the promise that Paul writes in Romans 8.

You see, if you took right across the page to verse 28. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. That's a promise. He didn't say everything was good. All the things in your life are good.

You say, whoa, but individually they're not so good. No, it'll all work together for the good. How do you know that? God says, I promised. You see, I promised. See, God's promises are so important to us in that particular way. God's promises always and ultimately bring us joy. That's what he is saying. So two simple truths this morning.

One, God keeps his promises, and ultimately they work out always for our joy. I want to close by giving you just a few words. Five words.

The first word is this. Remember. Remember that God is never accidentally late. Remember that God is never surprised by something that went on in your life.

Ever. Remember that God's plan unfolds in time. And remember that his plan is always accomplished because of his power. You see, God keeps his promises. We need to remember that.

The second word is forget. Forget your own agenda. I know you don't want to. You have an agenda for your life.

I'm going to make it happen. I know we have agendas, but I just want to tell you something. God disrupts a lot of personal agendas.

You see, there's no question about that. I thought I was going to be an architect at one time. And living in western Pennsylvania.

Playing in the snow. Thank God he had other ideas. You see, be careful with that.

Forget your own agenda. I look a light through a straw and so do you. That's all I see. God sees all of it. He sees everything in the future.

I can't see any of that. Remember, forget, ask. You're going through a difficult time. You have to ask God for wisdom and strength and comfort.

You know why? He promised those. He said, you go through a tough time. You ask for wisdom, I'll give it to you. You ask for strength, I'll give it to you. You ask for comfort. But by the way, I hate to say it, it's a conditional promise. You have to ask believing. Oh, I asked for comfort, didn't get any.

It doesn't really sound like you believed it very much. Remember, forget, ask, forgive. Forgive yourself for being self-absorbed.

Forgive yourself for being short-sighted. We are human. We wallow in our free will. We always think we know what's best.

We often don't. Remember, forget, ask, forgive, and live. Live under the shelter of God's sovereignty. Live under the protection and the hope of God's promises. It makes such a difference in our life. Look, if you want to just stay focused on all the terrible things that is going on in your life, you'll have plenty, plenty to stay focused on for the rest of your life.

But you won't benefit at all. You see, Paul took a promise that was out there and he said, all of this here can't even compare to what I know is coming my way. So I'm not full of anxiety. I'm not full of worry.

I'm not full of fear. I'm full of joy and peace and hope because I believe the promises of God. God keeps His promises and His promises ultimately and always bring us joy.

Let's pray. Father, I realize that there are times when your promises seem very far away. We become completely focused on the circumstances of our life. And Father, I must say that so often pain and suffering make us spiritual cowards and we just wallow in it.

We feel so sorry for ourselves that we can't get by our own victimization. Father, I just pray that the next time or if somebody's in the midst of it right now that they simply look at the promises that you have made them, the assurance that those promises will come true and that they deal with what is real suffering and real pain in their lives. But they deal with it from a perspective of the promises that are yet to come. Father, it makes all the difference in the way we live our lives.

And when we live our lives with that kind of peace and that kind of joy and that kind of hope, regardless of the circumstances around us, we truly live our lives out of salt and light and we impact our world because that's not the way in which the world usually reacts to difficulties. I pray, Father, that for your glory and for our good, we believe with all our heart that you will keep your promises to us. In Christ's name, amen. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called OnePlace.com. That's OnePlace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

At that website, you will find not only today's broadcast but also many of our previous audio programs as well. At Fellowship in the Word, we are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible. We ask all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help this radio ministry continue its broadcast on this radio station by supporting us monthly or with just a one-time gift. Support for our ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word 4600 Clearview Parkway, Metairie, Louisiana 7006. If you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format, that is as a sermon that Pastor Bill delivered during a Sunday morning service at Fellowship Bible Church, then you should visit our website, fbcnola.org.

That's fbcnola.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word. .