The Promises of God Part 1
One Life-Changing Verse
(This is the script of an audio sermon)
I want to talk about the promises of God. The Bible is filled with God’s promises, which belong to all of us. They are available to us, but not all make the most of those promises. Have you ever asked God about something and been led by Him to a certain promise in the scripture? I am sure you did. But what did you do with the promise?
We tend to forget, but that is a human attribute, not a Godly one. God does not forget. God does not need to repeat. Besides, God cannot lie. If the word has gone out of His mouth, it will accomplish that which pleases Him, as has been said in Jeremiah and Isaiah.
Jere 1:12
“I will hasten My word to perform it.” Or “for I watch over my word to accomplish it.” csb
Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
I read the life story of Oral Roberts and learned that one verse changed his life. In 1947 At the age of 29 when he stretched his hand to pick his Bible it fell open at the Third Epistle of John, verse 2: “I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” The next day, he resigned from his job as a part-time preacher at Pentecostal Holiness Church in Georgia and founded his Oral Roberts Evangelistic association. One verse, ladies and gentlemen; one verse!
Martin Luther is a man we all owe him the copy of our Bible. I am not denominational, but anybody from any denomination owes his or her bible copy to Luther. His life was changed with ONE verse: An old verse from Habakkuk’s book repeated 3 times in the new testament “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith.’ A verse that Paul sets forth in the book of Romans.
It was quite amusing watching the movie made about Luther and how he would lock himself in a room and repeat that verse that made him think.
How the just shall live by faith?” And this was the theme of the whole gospel. It was a promise and affirmation that Luther understood and got hold of it and told everybody that God made it available to be justified by receiving grace passively by faith, not by achieving it by works, but would receive it by faith, and by which a person could be reconciled to a holy and righteous God. Not only was his life changed, but in consequence, millions and billions of people who after him could have personal access to a copy of the Bible which was legally hidden from ordinary people before him. One verse, ladies and gentlemen.
Joyce Meyer’s life was changed by one verse: 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17
“Behold old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.” She received the verse and transitioned from her daily job into a full-time ministry. One verse that she took hold of it!
So what about you, honey? What did you do with the many verses you have received each time you asked God? Did you know you could keep the first one and didn’t need to ask again for the same problem? Oh hallelujah! For a God who doesn’t change His word. Hallelujah for a God who is faithful. Hallelujah for a God who listens to your problem and replies when you call on His name. Stick with your promise, take and keep it, apply it, wage war with it, and possess the land! If you don’t possess the land, God will not possess it for you! Stand up, apply the promise and possess the land. Hallelujah! Glory! Glory to His holy name!