A Promise and A Covenant: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24. First off, we must remember the difference between a promise and a covenant. Listen: Every covenant is a promise; but not every promise is a covenant. A promise is made by one party only; but a covenant consists of two promises made respectively by the two contracting or covenanting parties. It is this fact that explains that difficult passage, Galatians 3:20, where all is seen to depend on this distinction. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one Galatians 3:20. The land is not the inheritance of Israel according to the Law, because the Law was confirmed by a covenant, to which there were two parties (Exodus 24:4-8), as was proved by the fact that there was a mediator, in the person of Moses; for where there is a mediator, there must be two parties. But Israel broke their promise, and there is a breach in that covenant. How then does that affect Israels inheritance? The answer is— NOT AT ALL!l! Why? Because that inheritance does not depend on a covenant, but on a promise; and that promise was made 430 years before the covenant of the Law was made. I pray you are with me on this. A Look At God’s Promise To Us: “...And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost {literally: Spirit} not many days hence” Acts 1:4-5. Was This Promise Of The Holy Spirit Only For First Century Believers? Listen: “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” Acts 2:38-39. So, the Promise IS: 1). To everyone there and then 2). To their children {the next generation} 3). To ALL that are afar off {in every nation} 4). To AS MANY as the Lord our God shall call... {thats US}!!!! Why are so many denominations teaching contrary to Gods Word when they promote the idea that this Promise is NOT to us but only to those in the First Century?? It saddens me that so many are missing out of this precious Gift from God the Father by Jesus Christ...because sinful men get involved in trying to understand spiritual things with their fleshly minds! But the natural {the unregenerate unSpirited} man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned 1 Corinthians 2:14. Considering the Biblical text, no matter where you are in your spiritual development, the Promised gift of the Holy Spirit is for you!!!! God DOES NOT, indeed He CANNOT LIE! It is an impossibility! We have His WORD on it my friends >>> Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18... Are You Unworthy of this Promised Gift? In my humble opinion, this is a believers greatest hindrance to spiritual growth and maturity. The minute a person begins to seek the gift of the Holy Spirit Satan begins to point out their sins, shortcomings, and failings. He is always condemning us and telling us we are not good enough and are unworthy of the gifts. He slyly whispers to us, “God does not want to do this for you; my goodness, look at you, you are pathetic and unworthy of anything from God...” and he gets us looking at ourselves. There is nothing more devastating in being honest in looking at ourselves. Well, at times people listen to Satan and never bother to ask God for His gifts and never expect a blessing because, ‘How could He bless someone like me as imperfect and wretched as I am...’ Listen: The Bible tells us that we really cannot know ourselves, because our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9); however, God knows our hearts (Psalm 44:21; Jeremiah 17:10). Self-knowledge is difficult; however, God knows more about us than we will ever know. We MUST TRUST God the Father in Jesus Christ because He Knows what is best for His Children. David wrote, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24. So many people are in the position James spoke of when he wrote, “...ye have not, because ye ask not” James 4:2; it’s just that simple. You could have if you would ask, but Satan, by pointing out our flaws and weaknesses, has bullied us into not even asking. Lets further this thought on Gods Gift...
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 17:53:59 +0000
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