Years ago Donald Grey Barnhouse told the story of living in
France during his student days when the Lord used him to lead a young woman to
Christ.
Several years later this woman became the wife of one of the
French pastors in the South of France. She often went to the Barnhouse home to
visit. One day she saw him taking verses from a “promise box” – a small box
that held about two-hundred promises from the Bible printed on heavy paper and
curled into cylinders. Barnhouse said, “We used to take one out and read it
when we needed a special word of comfort.” So this woman made a promise box of
her own, writing these same special divine promises in French.
Throughout the years the promise box was used regularly by
her family. She used it with her children when they were young, and the result
was that each one of her kids grew to trust the Word of God and believe in His
promises.
But during the Second World War she and her family were
impoverished. Her husband was still preaching and teaching, but no one had much
money to support his work. In fact, the only food they had were the potato
peelings that were generated by a small local restaurant. Her children were
emaciated; they cried to her for food. Their clothing was almost in rags, and
their shoes were worn through.
In one of her most tragic moments she turned to the promise
box in desperation. She prayed, “O Lord, I have such great need. Is there a
promise here that is really for me? Show me, O Lord, what promise I can have in
this time of famine, peril, and sword.” She was blinded by her tears, and in
reaching for the box, she knocked it over. The promises showered down around
her, on her lap, on the floor; not one was left in the box.
Suddenly, she said, “I knew at that moment a supreme joy. In
that moment the Holy Spirit suffused me with divine power and light. I realized
that all of the promises were indeed for me in the very hour of my greatest
need.”
Of all the meanings of Christmas none are truer or more
reliable than this one – God keeps His promises. Indeed, the whole testimony of
Scripture is that in Jesus Christ all of the promises of God are yes and amen!
Simply put, everything God ever intended to do He does in Christ Jesus.
That is why this Christmas Sunday we are going to look at a
set of seven promises that God makes to Abraham, Moses, and Jeremiah. Each one
finds their complete fulfillment in Jesus Christ.
Like that woman in France, God intends for us to remember
His promises. For many of us two-hundred are difficult to keep foremost in our
minds. So how about seven of them? If only you and I could every day remember
these seven, oh, how much richer and more productive our lives would be.
In preparation for the message entitled, “The Promises of
God,” you may wish to consider the following:
1. Read Exodus 6:1-8 and Jeremiah 31:31-34.
2. What does Exodus 6:9 say about you?
3. What seven promises of God can you pick out of Exodus 6:2-8?
4. What is the significance of the number seven in Scripture?
5. What is the difference between us and the Israelites when it
comes to these promises?
6. What three promises can you find in verse 6?
7. What do the words, “And I will take you to be my people”
mean in verse 7?
8. What two promises can you find in verse 8?
9. What is the big deal about a promise of land?
10. What is the big deal about a promise of the possession of
it?
See you Sunday and Monday!
