Sermon Central
-
How To Claim A Bible Promise Series
Contributed by Jim Butcher on Jul 22, 2013 (message contributor)
Summary: This sermon looks at four major verses to claim in your life as well as talking about four important things to remember when you're claiming a Bible promise.
Some Examples Of Bible Promises:
1. When you have a tough decision.
- James 1:5.
2. When you’re facing a financial need.
- Matthew 6:33.
3. When you don’t sense God’s presence.
- Hebrews 13:5.
4. When you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Things To Remember When You’re Claiming A Bible Promise:
1. You can’t use your sword if you don’t know it’s there.
- We leave so much on the table when we don’t know that the Bible actually promises us.
- This is one reason that we need to be in the Word. Even if you don’t have the whole thing memorized, you still can get familiar enough with it that you know enough to know where to look it up. You need to know what’s available to you.
- In Ephesians 6, Paul writes about the armor of the Lord. Most of what’s been given to us are defensive things. The one offensive weapon is the sword of the Lord – the Word of God.
- Can you imagine a soldier going into battle without his weapon? He would no longer be thinking about victory in that battle, but instead simply survival. God wants more for us than mere survival. He wants us to win victories for the Kingdom of God.
- For those victories to happen, we have to know how to use our sword.
- When you’re faced with discouragement, do you have any idea what promises the Bible gives you to deal with that? Worry? Job loss? Feelings of worthlessness? Uncertainty about the point of life? How to see God move through your life?
- The answers to all those questions is in the Word. You have to be in the Word regularly if you’re going to win battles for the Lord.
2. Pay attention to the conditions.
- Matthew 6:33.
- It’s essential to always read the Bible in context. What does that mean? It means that you have to understand what the larger passage is saying and read the words in the proper context of what’s being said.
- You can pull words from the Bible out of context and make them say things that were not originally promised. The danger with that is that God is under no obligation to fulfill a promise that He never made.
- For instance, Matthew 6:33.
- This is, as we talked about earlier, a wonderful promise concerning financial supply. It’s a verse that I come back to frequently.
- But to get to the second half of the verse (the promise part), you have to understand the first half of the verse (the condition part). The promise is that God will take care of our financial needs. The condition is “Seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness.” In other words, this promise is only available to those who are putting God first in their lives. Not just anyone can claim that verse.
- A second example is Romans 8:28.
- It says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
- It would be easy to say that the Bible promises that in everything God works for our good, but that’s not exactly what it says. It says in all things God is working for the good of those who love Him. That means the promise really only applies to those who are following Christ, or as the verse puts it “who have been called according to His purpose.”
- Not just anyone can claim that promise.
- A third example is 1 John 1:7.
- “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”
- A fourth example is Matthew 11:28.
- “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
- Another problem that happens, since we’re talking about this, is that there are also folks who claim promises that are not found in the Bible at all.
- The biggest of these is probably physical healing.
- There are obviously times when God does intercede and miraculously heals someone, but we do not have a Biblical promise that we can claim that guarantees physical healing. It’s just not in there.
- Despite that, many people will say they “just know” that God is going to bring healing. That’s a dangerous thing to say, especially around non-Christians or immature baby Christians. The reason it’s dangerous is that when the answer doesn’t come (as it often does not, since God doesn’t always bring healing), those people presume that God didn’t fulfill His promise. They aren’t mature enough to realize that the person was claiming a promise that God never made.
