I Kings 8:56 Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.	 
This evening, I would like embark on a journey into the heart of God as opened unto His people. Let me preface this with the caution that I am not trying to declare that I know the heart of God with some special ability or gift. Neither am I trying to place myself into the dreadful position of claiming that I know something that no one else knows. Heaven forbid that anyone would be so foolish as to declare that he or she knows the full intent of God. No human can know nor understand the full truth of what God is doing through the victory of Our Lord Jesus Christ. There is so much that is beyond human comprehension or even imagination as to what has been completely accomplished in Christ Jesus. No, I am merely stating that the journey upon which we are to embark this evening concerns some of the promises of God in our lives. These are laid before all of us in the Word of God, His divinely inspired scriptures. Our prayer is for the Lord to open up, in all His fullness, that which concerns His people and the testimony of His people before man and before all the created beings witnessing the truth of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
All that we experience and witness on this earth is bound up in the Word of God to His people, to His church. We are daily learning to rely solely upon His Holy Spirit to open in life the truth of the Word of God that He has so bountifully made available to us as the complete witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. One tremendous aspect of that truth is the verity of the promises that are ours in Christ Jesus. God has made certain promises in His divine Omniscience and Omnipotence toward us, His body of believers. These promises are sure. These promises are life for us on this earth.
Please let no one begin to think that these are promises to satisfy our human selves. They are not promises such as those made to children to keep them quiet or to get their attention or to get their cooperation. That is never the case with God’s divine promises. What He declares, He accomplishes. What He accomplishes is always with the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ in His heart. While we are the specific recipients of these promises, they are not fulfilled in their entirety until the Lord Jesus Christ is plainly in view. He is the purpose and the beneficiary of each one of God’s divine pledges. 
God’s marvelous promises are offered with the intent of bringing forth those men and women of God who will proclaim, with all certainty and assurance, that Jesus Christ is Lord of all creation. They are given with the expressed intent of bringing us through the lives that we live on this earth with the glory of God as our portion and the Holy Spirit as our guide and strength. 
In line with this, let us first consider that which is held in the first passage of our contemplation, that God’s Promises are unfailing …according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise... God is very specific with regard to how much importance is placed by Him on the Word that He speaks. Everything will be accomplished in accordance to His divine plan and purpose. Every word that goes forth from His mouth unto His people will be completed. This was true, even of the Law of Moses as given to the Israelites of old. In Matt. 5:17+18, we have the recorded words of Christ, Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Jesus Christ, Himself, held the promise of The Father in the highest esteem. The law that was such a burden to the human spirit and soul was the very word by which Jesus Christ led His life on this earth. He treasured the Word of God. He kept it in His heart. He mediated on it. He lived it. It had the exact purpose that was always in the heart of God toward man. However, mankind, in his imperfection, was incapable of living unto the high standards of the Law. As such, mankind even came to the point of despising it because of man’s dark heart. None the less, it served the promise of God. It showed the holiness of God and the love of God in sending Jesus Christ to accomplish that which mankind found impossible to do. The promise of God was that man could live in relation with Himself only if the nature of sin was eliminated and the holiness of Christ covered all.
Please note that the promise of God, all promises of God are unfailing. They cannot be altered. They cannot be faulty. They cannot be ignored. They are the Word of God, carried out with His Omnipotent Holiness and Grace. They are the expression of His very heart toward man in the knowledge that only Jesus Christ can be the Savior of all who call upon Him. 
Not only are His promises unfailing, they are assured by His Divine nature. Rom. 4:21 And being fully persuaded, that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. God cannot be untrue to His Own Word. There can be no duplicity or loose interpretation of His intent in all that He puts before us in His Word. Many emperors, kings, and politicos have made promises which they have declared divine. It was once thought that the emperor of Rome was a deity unto himself, and his word was law. It was the law of the land until another emperor changed it with his ascension to the role of leadership. There has never been a promise made by man that has stood the test of time. At some point, many times through violent revolutions, those man-made promises died at the sword point of another man. Death took away the power of man to make a lasting promise. That same death, however, could not affect God’s spoken promise. Rather, God used death as the means whereby His promise came into fruition. It was because of the death of Christ on the cross that man received the promised salvation of God into his heart. It was in that death that all the debts of sin were cancelled with the perfect sacrifice of the Son of God for all mankind. It was in that same death that the world found the redemption it had been promised by God unto Abraham, unto Israel, unto Moses, unto Isaiah, unto all the people of God.
Not only that, but in the death of Jesus Christ, the promise was opened unto all the nations of the earth. It was such a perfect expression of the heart of God, that even the gentile nations were included and made part of the expressed promise of God. Christ’s death on the cross was so essential, so powerful, and so faultless as to pay the debt of the unholiness of mankind before the throne of the very Being of Holiness, the Lord God Almighty, Creator of all things, in Heaven and on earth. Christ suffered the curse of death in our stead because He chose to live the Promise of God unto His people.
But the love of God did not just stop with the payment for our sins in Christ’s death. By the divine nature of the Love of God, His promise found complete and eternal fulfillment in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The chorus of the song we often sing at Easter, the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, contains the truth of what He accomplished for all mankind. 
Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph over His foes. He arose the Victor of the dark domain, and He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose. He arose. Hallelujah, Christ arose. 
It was a victory that can never be equaled. It can never be undone. It can never be overturned with the whim and the fancy of men. It is eternal. It is final. It is perfect. It is the complete fulfillment of the divine promise of God to each one of us in this room, in this country, on this earth. Whereas His death paid the price of all the sins of the ages, His resurrection brought into fruition the promise that we would have a right standing in the very heart of God. He not only made the promise, but He made the way of its fulfillment at the cost of the life of His only begotten Son. His Son, in the divine nature of His love for us, died, but the grave could not hold him. The icy grip of the curse of death was shattered asunder with the glorious triumph of Christ. And, not only that, but in that triumph, He pulled us up into the heavenlies with Himself for all of eternity. Eph. 2:4-7 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the  ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus:
While the death of Christ fulfilled God’s promise of holiness, it was the resurrection of Christ which fulfilled the promise of God for our salvation. It established the continued promise of God’s eternal relationship with us. All of it was in Love in Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior. Only by the divine nature and power of God could this tremendous miracle of redemption be finished and final. It can not be undone in any fashion. It was the perfect response of the heart of God to His creation in which His glory is to be manifested throughout the element of time and beyond. No other man could accomplish this awesome deed that will stand the test of the ages upon ages of ages to come. What man does turns to dust that is scattered with the breath of God. What God does stands forever more to the great Glory of His love for each of us.
This brings us to the next aspect of the divine characteristics of the promises of God to us, His people. They are all grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have already touched upon this truth in the miracle of our redemption, our salvation unto God. There is more in Christ, however. Salvation, redemption, as awesomely glorious as that is, is not the complete accounting of the promise of God to His people. There is far more in the Heart of God with man, in Christ Jesus than we have yet considered, or will ever realize in the short span of our life on this earth. In II Cor. 1:18-20 we read …But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us,…was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
We, as the church, need to come into the recognition that we are called upon, not only to give our lives over to the Lord, but to be completely unto His glory on this earth. There is a grave responsibility set upon us, in Christ Jesus, to be the effective ministers of the very heart of God unto others. We are not asked to do anything on our own, but we are asked to present Christ, the risen Lord Jesus Christ, in life in the realm of our lives. Everywhere the church resides should have the covering of the Lord Jesus Christ placed upon it in the name of our Heavenly Father. What does this mean? It is the living reality that we can do nothing of ourselves, but only as Christ guides and provides the means of becoming the living expression of Him to this earth. Our promise in Christ is that we will become that which is holy in His heart. Through the church, through His people, there will be a stand for Christ on behalf of the lost of this age. Our corporate expression must be of the same heart in which we were drawn unto Christ. There must be, in evidence, the complete reliance upon our God, to become the watchmen on the wall, as it were. This in nowise indicates that we are to lord our spiritualism over others. That is never what will please the Lord God Almighty. Rather, we are called upon to bring before Him the needs that present themselves in our families, in our fellowship, in our place of work, in our schools, in our media, in every aspect of our sojourn on this earth. We have the promise of God, fulfilled in the power of His Holy Spirit, established in the Lord Jesus Christ, to be the bulwark of Him in this world. Deut. 2:25 This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee. The entirety of this realm is trembling in the presence of God and awaiting the outcome of what He has accomplished in Christ. It knows the consequences of not being able to hold Christ in the grave, and it is awaiting the final doom that is to come. In that dread, it is trying to cast down as many of the peoples as it can delude and deceive, again with the corrupt intent of bringing dishonor to the name of God. This world’s power knows that Christ is Lord, and is doing all that it can to deny Him the honor of that place in the hearts of the people whom He came to Love. 
The Church is the Lord’s stand for righteousness on this earth. It is the Church that brings forth prayer unto the Lord for those who are being besieged with all the lies of this age. It is the Church that answers the call of God in their hearts to stand on the behalf of those in dire need of rescue. It is the Church, the Body of Christ, which expresses the Lordship of Christ in the lives that are lived in the testimony of Christ. It is the earnest prayers of the Church which reach into the sanctuary of the Almighty God of Heaven and Earth and call forth unto Him to have His way in all of creation. It is the Church which stands forth against all the raging storms, in the power of Christ, and declares that He is Lord and that He alone reigns for eternity, now and evermore. It is those prayers which are the yea mentioned in II Corinthians. It is in the power of Christ that the promise of Deuteronomy is forthcoming in the Body of Christ, His willing servants on this globe.
This world is in dire dread and fear of the stand of the Church. It is the living witness that Christ is alive and that He does reign in the lives of His people. This world power trembles at the idea that the Church is the substantiation of the truth that Jesus Christ lives. He was hated and so feared that the world nailed Him to the cross in its futile efforts to put out the Light that shined so brilliantly into the darkness of its soul. The Church likewise is the target of the anguish of this age because of its witness of the risen Lord. The power of this age will do anything in its vain attempts to diminish the brightness of the light of Christ. But be of great courage in Christ. We are not standing alone in this testimony. We have the Holy Spirit Who brings forth the Word of Life in us. We have the strength of God surging through the enlivened souls that are in the constant presence of Our Lord. 
This promise to the Church is further delineated in Deut. 4:6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. The Lord has made every provision for the Church, through His Holy Spirit. We have the wisdom and the understanding that eludes mankind apart from Christ. This is in evidence as we rely upon Him in every situation and circumstance of our walk on this earth. As we endure, no, overcome each trial and tribulation, the people of this earth will marvel at the manner in which we are so confident in the Lord to see us through. They want to know what makes us different. They want to know why we can love and forgive and not hold grudges, even in the most terrible situations. They are seeking after something to fill the void of their lives. That spiritual void was created in man, by God to be filled with His Holy Spirit, alone. They want to know and they want to have what we have. This is why there is such a terror in this realm at the witness of the Body of Christ. As the prisoners of this age see the truth, those shackles which bind them are broken asunder in the power of God. Be it the personal testimony, the corporate testimony, or the intercessory prayer of the Church, each aspect serves only to establish the greater and holy glory of God throughout all of His creation. 
That is the desire of the Church, it has to be. Apart from seeking after Him and His glory, we are merely time servers. That is holding on until the day of Christ. It brings to mind the parable of the ten servants as recorded in Luke, Chapter 19. There were ten servants who were given charge of the treasury of the master. Each was to do as best as possible in order to multiply the amount entrusted unto him. The increase was measured at the return of the master. Those who had brought forth more than was left to them received rewards in measure to their increase. The one, who had simply put the money away, hidden unto himself, was left with nothing. Even the initial pound was removed from him. Please realize that we are those servants. We must never look to the increase for ourselves, but always, always with the view given to the Lord Jesus Christ. In those hearts will the promise be fulfilled, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. Always let our hearts seek to increase the glory that is due unto God. In everything we do, say, or think, in every area of our lives, at home, at work, at play, in everything everywhere, our heart’s desire must be the increase of the glory of God. He, Alone, deserves to have every particle of our effort focused on pleasing Him to the utmost. This is how the promise of God is seen in the Body of Believers which He created. 
Another characteristic of these divine promises is that they are of infinite value. II Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. All our abilities to bring glory to God pale in the value of His Word of Truth in our hearts. He has spoken those golden pearls of truth which put to shame, even the earthly riches of King Solomon. Nothing can compare to the knowledge that we are partakers of the very divine nature of God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. It is in Him that all fullness dwells for all the eternal ages of ages to come. In that light, we are complete partakers of the whole treasury of God, fellow heirs with Christ. Even so, the full glory of God, seen in Christ, overwhelms our human soul in His brilliance. We are unable to comprehend all that He has accomplished for us. We are not yet able to absorb the fullness of His Love for us. All the riches of His Grace alone are beyond our scope of understanding. So much has become part of our lives in Christ, all with the view of bringing glory unto His name throughout the entire universe of His creation. Let our hearts choose to value His promises for us. Let us seek after the Holy Spirit to create in us the wisdom and the understanding which places His truth above all else that we value on this earth. Allow the Lord to show forth His great love through us unto all those around us with no concern for our benefit, only with Him in view. Please, please choose to see the life that we live on this earth in the triumphant reality of how it will bring glory to God alone, day in and day out for all the days of our lives.
Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.