How to Claim a Promise - Part 1

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, May nineteenth. Do you ever wonder which promises are guaranteed in the Bible? Let's learn more about claiming a promise from God on today's In Touch Podcast. There are many, many wonderful promises in the Bible. And a promise is simply a declaration by God of His intention to graciously bestow a gift upon us in some form or fashion. And in the Scriptures, promises are a major part.

All the way from the beginning, throughout the entire Bible, you find one promise after the other. Expressions of God's love for us. Expressions of God's care for us. Expressions of what God intends to do for us, in us, and through us. And expressions of the will and purpose and plan of God, not only for our life, but for His whole kingdom. Promise after promise after promise.

And think about this. In all these centers that have gone by, not one single promise has been forgotten. Not a single promise He's made has ever been broken. That's the kind of God you and I serve. So, when we think about all those promises and think about the fact that He made them for us. They bring Him glory, but they made Him for us.

Then, they should be a vital part of our life. Every single day of our life, we should be grateful for all the promises that God has given. And if you'll think about it, everything you believe about Him, everything you believe about Jesus, your whole belief system is all based on the promises of God. He's the one who made such promises that if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's a promise from God.

And we could go through the Scriptures. Over and over and over again, He's made promises. I will never leave you nor forsake you. And so, if you think about your life, not only is our belief system all about His promises, but our life every day is lived out on the basis of the promises of God. How very important they are. And when I think about how God demonstrates His personal intervention in our life by keeping these promises. And even though some of them are conditional and some unconditional, the unconditional promises of God are those promises He makes that nothing can change and it will happen no matter what. Those conditional promises are promises that He makes conditioned upon how we respond or what we do in the process of being involved in that promise. And so, when I think about how important they are, I realize the tragedy in many people's lives. Hear all of these promises and it's like having this wealth. This wealth that is so deep and so wide, it's uncountable, immeasurable, and people live right by it every day and never stop to claim it. What a terrible sin for a child of God to be a follower of Jesus Christ and in possession of innumerable promises made by God and we just neglect them.

We just let them lay. We complain, we moan, we groan about what we don't have and what's going on within us and all the things we're going through in life, not realizing or insensitive to the fact exactly what we need is found right here in the Word of God. So, it's so very important that you and I understand the promises. And we're talking about today, how do you claim a promise? A promise is nothing but words on a paper unless it is applied. And so, I want to challenge you to listen carefully.

Take some notes. Because you have promises that you probably quote. Do you understand why? Do you really and truly believe that these promises apply to you?

I hope so. So, I want you to turn, if you will, to Hebrews chapter ten. And I just want to read a couple of verses here that just give us a word of assurance because all through the book of Hebrews we are assured and these people are going through some difficult times and the Scripture says, concerning them, in verse thirty- four of chapter ten, for you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one, going through great times of loss. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward.

Listen to that. Our confidence in the promises of God has, listen, that confidence has a great reward. For you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what He has promised. If I should ask you what is your favorite promise in the Word of God, many of you could tell me immediately.

Many of you could not. Because somehow you've just sort of neglected the idea that a promise in the Scripture also applies to you. So, I want to clarify some things in order to help you to understand why the promises are so very important in your life and how you personally would be able to choose for yourself to believe what He said and claim that promise. Now, the first question that comes up, and in order to talk about promises fully, we have to ask some questions.

And the first question is this. Are all the promises in the Bible meant for us today? No, they're not. All the promises in the Bible are not meant for us today. For example, let me ask you ladies. You think God would say to you, when you get to be ninety, you're going to have a baby.

No, He's not. And that is not a man in here that thinks he's going to be a father at the age of a hundred. That's a promise He made to Abraham and to Sarah, not to us today. So, the promises that God gave in the Scriptures, the specific purposes and specific times and specific situations and circumstances that don't apply to us today. Most of the promises that God has given will apply to us. But many, many, many promises do not.

For example, when God said to Joshua, here's what I want you to do. I want to tell you how we're going to conquer Jericho. You march around the walls seven times.

Seventh day, you march around seven times in the seventh day. Then you blow the trumpet. Then you shout, and I promise you, I will pull the walls down. Well, can I claim that promise today?

No. So, you can go all through the Old Testament. God made promises to His servants and to the people. Many promises, for example, He made to the nation of Israel. He said, I'm going to give you the land of Canaan.

And what did He call it? The Promised Land. So, it's a promise to them.

Listen, it is still their land no matter who does what. God didn't make that a conditional promise. It was an unconditional promise. And so, there are conditional promises that are based on something we do. Unconditional promises are those promises that God makes.

Nothing can change it. So, there are many promises in the Old Testament that don't apply to us. But there are multitudes of them that do. And so, when somebody says, well, can we claim any promise we want?

Not necessarily. And so, what we have to ask is this, and that is, what are these promises that we can claim? How can we claim them? And how can we know that God is going to do exactly what He said He would do? So, let me just say this. Now, listen carefully.

It's very important. While many of those promises were not made to us, they were made to those to whom He spoke for us. That is, if you go back and look how God worked in Abraham's life or Joshua's life or Joseph's life or David's life or Daniel's life, you see the principles by which God operated what He did. Now, while He didn't make those promises to us, He made them to them for us and for every generation that followed because we see how God works among men and women in those days, He still works in the same ways and different ways for us today. So, on the one hand, He will do something equal to that, but He didn't make that promise to us, He made it to them. And we learn how God fulfills the needs and desires of our heart as we see how God worked in our lives. For example, one of the most teachable of all the lessons in the Scripture is when God deals with Joseph, how many lessons we learn in the life of Joseph. What He promised Joseph, He promised to Joseph. When I read what He did in Joseph's life, I get great blessing and great encouragement out of that. He made the promise to him, watch this, but He also made the promises for us. Did you get that? He made promises to them, but they're also promises for us that we learn from them.

A second thing that's so very important, that's this. To answer the question, who has a right to claim a promise from God anyway? Well, what would you say? Would you say everybody has a right to claim a promise from God?

No, they absolutely cannot. Only believers can claim a promise from God with one exception. The unbeliever, the person who is unsaved, who desires to be saved, can claim this promise. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. So, God has made promises that apply to everyone. The unbeliever can claim only the promise to be saved.

Following that, they can claim others. But for the unbeliever, he can't pray for, oh God, I need this, I need that, please supply my need here. Has no right because not a child of God. He's outside the family of God. Somebody says, well, but didn't He create all of us?

Yes. And when you rebel against God, you refuse to acknowledge His Son as your Savior, you're out of the family, you do not have the right, you do not have the privilege to call for the promises of God that He has made to His children. And therefore, once a person trusts Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, then they come under the canopy of the family of God and they have the right to claim promises. So, first of all, the unbeliever cannot. So, when somebody says, well, who has the right? The children of God have the right to do it.

Now, watch this. Every promise that God made applicable to His children in His time, His purpose, and His plans, they fit us. Except, here's something we have to remember, that even a child of God can get in a position where the promises of God won't work. And if you turn to the fifty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, when he says, for example, Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities, that is, your sin has separated you between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. When a person is living in disobedience to God, they forfeit their right to claim the promises of God.

Except this one, that is, if they're willing, genuine to come to God and say, as He says, if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, so when I get my life cleaned up, then I follow the canopy of God willing to do what? To fulfill His promises in my life. And so, obedience is very important. And secondly, not only must there be obedience, but there must be trust. He says in James, that first chapter, which we often quote, and we quote it more often than we live it, I'm afraid, sometimes, he says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously and upbraideth not or does not reproach them, and it'll be given to him.

But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven by the winds and tossed by the winds. That is, the unbeliever does not have a right or the authority to claim a promise from God. When a believer is living in disobedience, not trusting God, we forfeit our right to claim the promises of God because God, under no condition, will contribute to my disobedience. If God blesses me and fulfills His promise and honors me when I'm living in disobedience, He's contributing to my sin and my disobedience, and He's not going to do that. So, we say, well, can an unbeliever claim a promise? How to be saved. Can an unbeliever claim other promises?

Not really. Can a believer claim all the promises of God? Those that fit, those promises that God intended for those of us who are His children in whatever season of life and whatever time period that we're living in. So, what He said to Abraham, what He said to Adam and Eve, the principle is there, but now, listen, I love the Old Testament and all the, for example, if you take the Psalms alone and read the promises that God has made you just in the Psalms alone, it's overwhelming. And you put the Psalms and the Proverbs both together?

When it comes to living out your daily life, that's a treasure. And I think many believers do not realize what a treasure we have just in those two books of the Bible. Then, of course, why should we expect God to promise us anything? Well, first of all, because He loves us. And He loves us absolutely and unconditionally.

And when you think about how to measure His love, there's no way He promises guidance. He promises direction. He promises to provide our needs. He promises to protect us. And on and on and on we go with the promises of God.

Why? Because He reveals Himself to us in those promises. He says, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Nobody else in the world can promise you that. He says, I will teach you in the way in which you should go. I will guide you with my eye upon you.

Only God has an eye for every single person. And we can just go through the Scriptures thinking about all the promises God has made. And many of God's children are living in promise poverty.

Do you get that? Promise poverty. That is, the promises are there and they don't claim them. The promise is there and they don't believe them. The promise is there and they go in need. The promise is there and they doubt God and complain why things aren't going their way. Look at the promises of God.

The Bible is full of them. And they're there for you and me because we're His children. And so, when we say, Well, what can I do to deserve them?

Not one thing. God made it possible for us to live this awesome life in relationship to Him and to have our needs fulfilled and have our desires. He says, Listen, if you delight yourself in Me, I'll give you the desires of your heart. Nobody can promise you that but God. And the truth is, as you go through the promises, you can't even begin to name the promises that you and I could possibly do anything about except depend upon God to supply them. When you've lived a while and you've been a Christian for a while, it becomes less and less and less and less and less and less reasonable for people to choose to be disobedient to God, who loves them absolutely unconditional, who wants them best, who has the power to provide the best, who's promised the best. Why would you want to be disobedient to that kind of God? Why would you want to be so foolish as to think that you're wiser than God is? Why would you want to live your life absolutely apart from His will and His way, thinking you're going to get by with it? All you have to do is to look around and realize there's no such thing as escaping the penalty of sin.

No such thing. The only thing that deals with sin adequately is the cross. And when a person who's trusted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior lives in sin, listen, I'm telling you, the chastising, disciplining hand of a loving Father is going to be there.

He's not going to let you get by with it. If He did, He'd be contributing to sin. So this awesome God who's given us all these promises and He has all the power necessary to provide every single one of them in your life. Why would you want to choose to be so foolish, to be disobedient to Him?

But that's the way the world thinks. Wise people do not. Now, how can we be sure that God will keep His promise? Because, listen, He says He will. And God, the Bible says, cannot lie.

It's against His nature to lie. So therefore, by His very character, God will not and cannot because He doesn't change. If God is perfect, He's always perfect. If He's truthful, He's always truthful. If He's powerful, He's always powerful. If He's holy, He's always holy.

He doesn't change. Therefore, when it comes to the promises of God and the things that He has promised us in His Word, can we be sure? Yes, we can be sure. We have this treasure. Do you understand that? That you have this awesome treasure. Well, it's deposited in the Word of God. And we claim it out of the Book.

And as we said before, if you don't apply it, it's meaningless. And so, the Scripture says He cannot lie. And therefore, why should I believe in the promises of God?

Because of the character of God, that He's absolutely truthful and all-powerful. Thank you for listening to How to Claim a Promise. We would also like to invite you to join us in celebrating 45 years of God's faithfulness. Stop by InTouch.org slash 45 years to learn more. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.