I read about a man who was very seriously ill and called the pastor to come pray with him for his healing. He said, "pastor, If you pray for me and I am healed, I will give $25,000.00 to the church building fund." Well, shortly he was back on his feet and well again but there was no sign of any check forthcoming. The minister waited and waited and then finally went and tried to gently remind the man of his promise. The man replied, "I promised that! Well, that will give you some idea of how sick I really was."
Today, most promises are in written form so that we live by contracts, not by the trust we should have in other people's words. Two weeks ago today, I sat in the office of a funeral director who was reneging on the understanding and intent of promises made when my father prepaid for a funeral and burial. To prove his point the man pulled out a contract to show that according to the letter of the contract, he was correct. However, according to the spirit and intent of what was promised, a trust had been broken.
What are some of the broken promises you have experienced in your life. Some may have been simply annoying little irritations. Others very likely were crushing blows. Promises are powerful things upon which we make decisions and base our life. 24 years ago this month, Judy made some promises to me that have carried us through difficult and wonderful times alike. I don't think that could've happened had she not promised to love and stand by me in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health in plenty and in want.
Several years after that, Judy and I both stood in front of a congregation and made promises that we would raise our two children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Those promises have been constant reminders to us of our parental duty before God and they have influenced the way we raised our family and continue to shape our life
Promises are powerful things. But as powerful as promises of a human nature are, promises made by God to us are even more important. Gods promises are always faithful and trustworthy. Numbers 23:19 says;" God is not a human that he should lie nor the child of a human that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"
Deuteronomy 7:9 says: "Know therefore that the lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."
Gods promises are true because God is a God who is perfect. As a perfect God, there are only a few things that God cannot do for these things would speak of imperfection. God can neither lie, sin, change his mind or deny himself.
We see such promises being fulfilled every day and we learn to rely upon them and take them for granted. Yet think what our life would be like if these promises were not true.
In a sense natural laws are promises of God - we learn to rely upon them so that our lives can take order and meaning.
God has promised that he would never leave or forsake us. That God would stand by us in the midst of trials. Joshua 1:5 cf.:
Would God be God if these promises made were never kept. God by definition is the eternal sovereign who always says what he will do and always does what he says. God's word is trustworthy and sure.
Therefore, when God promised that the Spirit would be poured out on all flesh, it was a promise that people looked forward to with great expectancy even if they didn't know all that it may entail. But sure enough, just as he promised, God did indeed pour that Holy Spirit out at Pentecost.
The birth of the Church on Pentecost as a result of Peter's preaching is a miracle. It is the powerful fulfillment of God's promises kept:
the promises to the prophets and to David which promised one who would sit on the throne of David forever;
the promise of Christ and the prophets that he would rise again from the dead;
And to Joel, the promise was given that the spirit would be poured out on all flesh, Young, old, married single, parent child.
The promise was to those who were near by virtue of being Jewish in their descent. But it was also to those who were far off Separated from God. Strangers to the Covenants.
To Peter, the promise was given that the church, a people after God's own name, the called out ones, the elect - would be founded on the confessional base which Peter affirmed in Mat 16.
Let's reflect for just a few moments on what those promises kept mean to our spiritual life.
The promise is to those adults who were in Peter's audience, to their children and to their children's children. The promise is handed down all the way to you and to me.
We are the recipients of the faithful covenant promises of God and we are indebted to what God has done in the lives of those who have gone before us
We do not exist in a vacuum. The church exists today because men and women, heirs of God's promises, filled with the holy Spirit lived faithfully before us and passed that torch of faith down from one generation to the next; preserving the church and the gospel until Christ returns
that is the legacy of faith which we celebrate today
As a result of that legacy, we have received not only the gift of eternal life, the down payment of the holy Spirit, guaranteeing our salvation and eternal inheritance, we have also received a group of supportive, loving family members who are called to help us bear one anther's burdens, weep when we weep, rejoice when we rejoice; encourage and admonish us; pray for us; love us with Christ's love and lock arms with us in serving the world in Christ's name and as his Body.
Now sometimes that doesn't always seem like a gift. Sometimes it can be very hard. One person quipped that being in the church is like being a porcupine; you need to be close to others but sometimes it is a painful experience.
And yet notice that the first order of priority for the fledgling church in Jerusalem in the days right after Pentecost was to meet together in each others homes, devote themselves to prayer, teaching, the breaking of bread and to fellowship.
They knew that there survival was dependent upon the supportive fellowship of other believers . Have you known that kind of support in your experience? I can't begin to tell you how important that support has been to Judy and Melissa and I during these days following my dad's death. There has been an outpouring of love and support from those who have been through it and those who haven't. People have offered to help in any way.
But there have been other times when other believers have come alongside me and challenged me, dared me to believe in Gods promises, and showed me ways that I was maybe not in full harmony with God's plans and design for my life.
But the body of Christ is the gift and fulfillment of the promise. I will build my church on this foundation. It is not just a touchy feely thing. It is gritty reality. It is tough love. It is doctrinal purity but most of all it is the fellowship of Gods people.
I look at what happened at Pentecost and I see not just the birth of the church, but a picture if heaven. There gathered in one place are people from many different places and languages. All ages are there. Different language groups are represented. In short, there was a conglomeration of people who are together in one place and find their life together because of what the Lord has done.
That is exactly the picture that Jesus gave of heaven. He said it is life a mustard tree that starts out as a tiny seed but soon grows into a large bushy tree in which all the birds of the air can fly and find shelter
The church, if it is anything at all is a microcosm of what heaven will