THE GOD WHO KEEPS HIS PROMISES
Luke 2:23-32
It is time to do the math of God’s faithfulness. God promises and He keeps His Word, but do we keep our promises to God. God is keeps His promises to those who are faithful. None of God’s words fall to the ground without being fulfilled.
I. GOD KEEPS HIS WORD (30-32).
A. The Jews had been waiting for God all of their lives. Year in and year out they were wondering, “Will the Messiah come this year or not?”
B. Enemies come and enemies go, and people continue to look for deliverance. Often times their misery was due to sin. They had sinned and rebelled and God had sent them a conquering army to call them to repentance, but the Messianic hope was kept alive always.
C. God was faithful to His promise even when people were not. Their prayers reflected their trust in God. A very good example of that is to read together Psalm 136. I will read the first part, and I want to you to read aloud the second part of the verse.
D. I would like to take a couple of minutes in silence to think about the promises of God that have been fulfilled in your life this year. Now can we stop and express God our gratitude in prayer.
II. PEOPLE’S FAITHFULNESS.
A. Some people have a “Santa Claus” view of God.
1. They see Him as the giver of good gifts and themselves as worthy for Him to put their gifts under the tree or in their socks.
2. They get this idea from looking around and seeing the wicked people prosper and they don’t.
3. There is some truth to that when we consider that God allows His sun to rise and rain to fall both on the wicked and righteous (Matt 5:).
B. God promised to King Solomon riches, a strong kingdom and a long life in addition to discernment to rule God’s people, because He asked for the last and not the previous (1 Kings 3)
1. He was the wisest man who ever lived.
2. He was the richest man who ever lived.
3. In his lifetime, the Kingdom of Israel had the largest territory extension.
4. But, his life was short.
5. Why? It was conditioned on obedience by that small-two letter-one syllable word “IF.”
C. When others were looking for Messiah, Simeon was among the few who actually saw it.
1. Why did he see it and others not?
2. Because he was waiting actively.
3. He was serving God, while He was waiting for the Lord’s promise of Messiah.
CONCLUSION:
God is faithful to keep His promises IF we obey Him. Therefore, let’s count the cost of following Him and pay it.
