Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies VIII

#8—Exploit the Promises

Fred R. Coulter

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Is one of Satan's lies—as the public purports—that there is no devil? I would have to say that that is one his lies but this book—Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies—are those not related to the public in general, but are related to what happens to Christians after they believe.

If you can get people to the point that they really do not believe in Satan, then you know for sure that he's got them. The next step is Satan is god. People are going to follow some sort of spiritual thing.

Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies, p 95:

The most remarkable book that has ever appeared on the human scene is the Bible. Written over the course of 1,500 years by more than forty authors, it claims and demonstrates that it is more than the words of eloquent men. It is indeed the very Word of the living God.

During the Feast of Tabernacles I went over is that the numerics of the Bible itself prove that God had to write it. Let's look at one of the promises that God has given, which is a very good promise.

Exodus 20:12: "Honor your father and your mother so that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God gives you." That's what Paul says is the first commandment with promise. God has given promises. God has shown that He will fulfill his Word.

Let's look at a promise that God gave in the form of a covenant. Here's one that we see quite often as a promise and a reminder of the Word and power of God. To us, light appears as one color, but there are actually seven colors in what we call the light spectrum. You can see this when you see a rainbow. You're actually seeing the colors because they are defused by the mist of the water. God made a promise in the covenant.

Genesis 9:8: "And God spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 'Behold I, even I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living creature that is with you—of the birds, of the livestock, and of every animal of the earth with you—from all that go out from the ark, to every animal of the earth. And I will establish My covenant with you. Neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood. Neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth'" (vs 8-11).
For those of you who believe in 'localized flooding' then why would God make this promise. If you only had localized flooding in one area, why would you make this promise, because the other area would have survived? God makes this promise because He destroyed the earth.

Verse 12: "And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living creature with you, for everlasting generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the rainbow shall be in the cloud. And I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth'" (vs 12-16). There is a promise in the form of a covenant.

Sometimes when things are a little difficult it's kind of hard to rely on the promises of God, let alone exploit them.

Psalm 77 is quite an interesting Psalm because this is a pattern on how to re-establish our faith and belief in God and in His promises, though they may not be fulfilled in the exact way that we think. That's an important thing to always remember.

Psalm 77:1: "I cried to God with my voice, to God with my voice; and He gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble I sought the LORD; my hand was lifted up, and my tears ceased not in the night; my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God and was troubled; I moaned, and my spirit fainted. Selah" (vs 1-3).

He was really in a terrible, terrible condition. Had a sore or sickness so bad that it just refused to be healed. It said that it ran in the nighttime. He complained to God, probably because of the pain, misery and suffering that went along with it.

Verse 4: "You keep my eyes awake… [could not sleep] …I am too troubled and I cannot speak. I have pondered the days of old, the years of ages past" (vs 4-5).

Here's how to begin to remember the promises of God. Go back to what God has said. Go back to what God has done, and see that He has completed it.

Verse 6: "I remember my song in the night; I commune with my own heart, and my spirit made diligent search. Will the LORD cast off forever?…." (vs 6-7). He apparently felt that not only could he not exploit the promises of God, but the promises of God were not forthcoming to him.

"…And will He be favorable no more? Is His mercy gone forever? Has His promise failed for all generations?" (vs 7-8). That's a pretty tough situation when you get down to feeling that God's promises have failed. But maybe we tend to look at the promises, not in the way that God would want us to look at them.

Verse 9: "Has God forgotten to be gracious?…. [Those are pretty strong words. This is almost as strong as the arguments that Job had.] …Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah. And I said, 'This is my grief, that the right hand of the Most High could change.' I will remember the works of the LORD; surely 'I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your doings. Your way, O God, is in Holiness; who is so great a God as our God?'" (vs 9-13).

The rest of it goes on showing the great powers and might that God has, and He will fulfill His promises. But there are times when He let's us get way, way down, way low.

Psalm 89—look at who wrote it: Ethan the Ezrahite. Who were the Ezrahites? Those were the ones who were the disciples of Ezra! Ezra helped re-establish the temple after the Babylonian captivity. So, he starts out praising God, how great He is and so forth. He recalls everything that God has made.

Psalm 89:11: "The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; You have founded the world and all its fullness. The north and the south, You have created them…" (vs 11-12). That shows that they knew north and south. How are you going to tell north and south unless you have a compass? So, they were technically well along there.

Verse 15: "Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance…. [v 18]: For the LORD is our shield; yea, our King is the Holy One of Israel."

Then he goes on, he reminds God, v 34: "I will not break My covenant, nor change the thing that has gone out of My lips. Once I have sworn by My Holiness, I will not lie to David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, and like a faithful witness in the heavens. Selah…. [Selah means amen, pause, think on this!] …But You have cast off and rejected us; You have been full of wrath against Your anointed. You have turned away from the covenant of Your servant; You have defiled his crown by casting it to the ground" (vs 34-39)—talking about God's covenant with David.

When they came back out of captivity, did they have any seed of David to sit on the throne as king? Jehoiachin went into captivity and died in Babylon childless! Hezekiah and his sons were killed. Here they come back out of captivity and here's the Ezrahite and he's complaining to God that God is not fulfilling His promises or His covenant.

He recalls all the things to David, which are true, v 40: "You have broken down all his hedges… [defenses of protection] …You have brought his strongholds to ruin. All who pass by the way plunder him; he is a curse to his neighbors. You have set up the right hand of his enemies; You have made all his enemies rejoice. You also have turned back the edge of his sword and have not made him stand in the battle. You have made his glory to cease and have thrown his throne down to the ground. The days of his youth You have shortened; You have covered him with shame. Selah" (vs 40-45).

He's complaining to God; listen to the next one, v 46: "How long, LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Shall Your wrath burn like fire? Remember how short my time is; for what vanity have You created the sons of men? What man lives and never sees death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah. O Lord, where are Your former loving kindnesses which You swore to David in Your Truth?" (vs 46-49).

And we could add right there: 'Lord, where is the descendant of David to sit on the throne, as You have promised. Lord, you have broken your promise to David, because we see no one on the throne.' That's the sum of the whole Psalm.

What was the answer to the Psalm? Study the life of Jeremiah and the ministry of Jeremiah. He ended up with the king's daughters. Why would Jeremiah end up with the king's daughters? Why were not the king's daughters executed as well? In the book of Ezekiel it talks about the 'tender young boughs' that were to be transplanted. That's why later in Irish history we find a man called 'Jeremiah, the prophet of God' brings Tea-tephi the princess to marry the prince in Ireland. Go back and realize that that was still of the line of Judah.

Judah had two sons and the first one born put the hand out and the midwife put a red thread on his hand and he pulled it back and the other one was born first. Therefore, the firstborn was called Pharez—a breach; and the other one was called Zerah; he was actually born first, but there was a breach in the firstborn because Pharez came first.

Jeremiah took the daughters of the king and remarried into the line Judah through Zerah and the throne of David continues to this very day, which is now residing in Westminster Abbey. That is a very short summary of a very long history. But the Ezrahite did not know that.

He's accusing God of not keeping His promises, which is kind of the opposite of exploiting the promises. But I wanted to bring that out here from the point of view that all of God's promises, and the fulfillments, do not necessarily seem to be exactly as we would perceive them.

Our whole purpose as Christians is based upon some very fundamental promises. What are those promises? Those promises that God gave: the resurrection, hope of eternal life—based upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ—are based upon promises given to Abraham. Not one of those promises given to Abraham were not fulfilled in a way that Abraham thought. Nevertheless, they were fulfilled.

You can go back and study about Abraham and all the promises that God gave, and they were fulfilled. He had to wait 25 years for Isaac. They had the mistake of Ishmael for 13 years into that 25. We're still stuck with the problem today—the problem of the Jews and the Arabs.

Let's just remember why Abraham was counted righteous. Very simple, the Bible tells us 'He staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith giving God the glory, and was fully persuaded that that what God had promised He was able also to do.'

Galatians 3:16: "Now, to Abraham and to his Seed were the promises spoken. He does not say, 'and to your seeds,' as of many; but as of one, 'and to your Seed,' which is Christ."

• There was the promise to the nation.
• There was the promise of the coming Christ.
• There was the promise to the sons of Abraham that they would be as the stars of heaven, etc.

Here Paul is focusing in on Christ; that through the seed of Abraham, the house of David would come the Savior. That was fulfilled.

Go back and look at all the fulfillments of the prophecies of Jesus Christ: his birth, life, death, resurrection, and so forth. You find that many of these promises were fulfilled in such a way that some people didn't understand that they were fulfilled. What was the first controversy concerning Jesus? That He was to be born in Bethlehem, but there was no record that they lived there. The truth is, they didn't live there. They only came to Bethlehem during the days of taxation and for the Feast. They were only sojourners there when Jesus was born. You can go on and on with many of the promises and prophecies concerning Jesus. But they all happened!

Ephesians 1:13—the most important promise that we have, right today; one of the very reasons why we are here: "In Whom you also trusted after hearing the Word of the Truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in Whom also, after believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." Whom does God give that Spirit to? Those who believe in Him, and those who obey Him! He gives the Holy Spirit to those that obey Him' (Acts 5:32).' Obviously, you're not going to receive the promise of the Holy Spirit if you don't believe. Will God fulfill all of His promises to you? Yes!

1-Kings 8—we find that in the establishing of the temple of Israel during the days of Solomon a very interesting thing that Solomon said in his prayer to God: I-Kings 8:54: "Now it came to pass as Solomon finished praying all this prayer and petition to the LORD, he rose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. Then he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice. saying, 'Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promises which He promised by the hand of Moses His servant'" (vs 54-56).

God fulfilled all of His promises up that point, there were many other yet to be fulfilled. Every one of the promises that God gave to Moses concerning the children of Israel, the nation of Israel, the temple, the priesthood and the presence of God, has taken place. Let's look at the other hand of that:

• What about exploiting the promises of God?
• How can you exploit the promises of God?
• What do you mean exploit the promises of God?
• What would that mean in your mind, to exploit the promises of God?
  • by taking advantage of the promises of God
  • by twisting it around
  • When you twist the Word of God what happens?
  • It's twisted for your own convenience and later will end up in your destruction!

John 8:31: "Therefore, Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him… [they believe on Jesus to a certain degree] …'If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. And you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free.' They answered Him, 'We are Abraham's seed, and have never been in bondage to anyone. What do You mean by saying, "You shall become free"?'" (vs 31-33). What were they relying upon? Their physical inheritance of being Abraham's seed!

Jesus said, v 37: "I know that you are Abraham's seed…" But Abraham wouldn't do these things. So, they're trying to exploit the promises of God so that they could continue in their own sin. That's the whole key, that God must do this because He's promised it 'regardless of who I am, what I am and what I do.'

People take advantage of that concerning God's grace. God has promised to forgive our sins if we confess them—right? But we also have to repent of them. We can't exploit that promise of God and say, 'God, You must forgive my sins, therefore, I am going to go and do this and You've got to forgive my sins.' Doesn't quite work that way!

It becomes very interesting when you really put it all together and see how this is. We have, I'm sure, lived through quite a few of these things. We'll get into the book and show the examples that he shows on how people exploit the promises of God.

Acts 13:22: "And after removing him [Saul], He raised up David to be their king; to whom He also gave testimony, saying, 'I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will perform all My will.' Of this man's seed has God according to His promise raised up to Israel a Savior Jesus." (vs 22-23). There were some who didn't believe in that promise. They wanted to exploit the promise that they were Abraham's seed, and only to Abraham's seed would this promise of the Savior come.

You read the rest of the chapter, and of course, this is in the synagogue of the Jews that He's talking, 38: "Therefore, be it known to you, men and brethren, that through this man the remission of sins is preached to you. And in Him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses" (vs 38-39). This really got to the Jews because they figured that the Law of Moses was enough to justify them.

Verse 40: "'Take heed, therefore, lest that which is spoken in the Prophets come upon you: "Behold, you despisers, and wonder and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work that you will in no way believe, even if one declares it to you."' And when the Jews had gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles entreated him that these words might be spoken to them on the next Sabbath" (vs 40-42).

Verse 45—the next Sabbath: "But when they saw the multitude, the Jews were filled with envy; and they spoke against the things proclaimed by Paul, and were contradicting and blaspheming."

pp 96-98—Any Christian will be greatly encouraged when he studies the Word of God and lists for his own soul's satisfaction the promises of God.

But there is a danger here. Danger because Satan's next doctrine has to do with a presumptuous relationship to the promises of God. The eighth doctrine of the devil is "exploit the promises."

We learn of this doctrine from a further statement by Satan during the temptation of Christ.

What a scene that must have been! "Then the devil takes Him up into the Holy City, and sets Him on a pinnacle of the temple" (Matt. 4:5)….

…With this in mind, listen to the words that Satan now speaks to Christ. "If You be the Son of God, cast Yourself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning You: and in their hands they shall bear You up, lest at any time You dash Your foot against a stone" (Matt. 4:6)….

…To this passage, the devil turns when he would corrupt the spiritual life of our Savior. He quotes a valid promise from God, not merely a piece of philosophic reasoning. It is not impossible that Satan expanded on this, reminding the Lord of the spectacular results that could come from such an exploit as jumping off the Temple, but landing safely on the pavement below. Surely, thousands would be impressed with this magnificent feat, and they would turn from their lesser pursuits to follow Him.

The only one I can think of is, when I was reading this, is Mighty Mouse! How he would swoop down and all the mice would cheer, yell and follow him. Or Superman or something like that.

In the same fashion, Satan appeals to would-be spiritual leaders of our present world, tempting them to move in the realm of the spectacular. Just as he invited Jesus Christ to become a superstar, he tempts men today to resort to one form of magic or another. He suggests that this is the key to success. He awakens the hope of making a lasting impression on people, obscuring the fact that the spectacular, even if successful, only impresses superficially, the response lasting no longer than other fascinations; and soon, the people are calling for better, more spectacular tricks from greater magicians.

That's sure true! This is true in any sport. They go along and do something great, and then they do something bad and all that what they have done that is great is all forgotten. It's exactly the same thing here.

But has not Satan in a great measure succeeded in his call to spiritual presumption? How many are those in places of religious influence today who have forsaken piety for public relations?

We've all experienced that—haven't we? More concerned with what the press thinks; more concerned with what other people think; rather than whether the individual is in right standing with God or not.

Promotion has become king, even in the work of the Lord. Large segments of the church have ceased to believe in the power of prevailing prayer and have expanded their dependence on the power of hidden persuaders.

Such as putting hidden persuaders on tapes or on music that they send out, or on television programs that they put on; not relying on the faith of God to provide what God said He would provide, but 'we're going to help the Lord along.' Does the Lord need any help? I would say, no!

We remind ourselves that the biggest men in popular religion today hire public relations firms and ad men to tailor their image for the newspapers and television sets of waiting and impressionable multitudes.

We've seen that happen today. It was recently mentioned that some religious programs that now they've stopped all radio broadcasting and they've gone just to television—which may or may not be right or wrong—but the philosophy behind it is that 'what we are interested in is our market share compared with other religious programs.'

That's exactly what is happening here: being presumptuous in exploiting the promise of God to leave off preaching the Gospel as you should, but claiming the promise that you're doing the work of God, and you're not!

p 100—By contrast there are those who announce that they are "living by faith," meaning that they do nothing to support themselves or the work of Christ.

You have the opposite extreme. It's even been that some even quit their jobs and just lay back and pray to God and say, 'God, supply every one of my needs.' Then run around and intimidate people with preaching to them by saying, 'Oh, I quit my job; God is going to supply every one of my needs. And by the way, brethren, I see that you have a little extra money. Would you mind sharing that with me?' What was Paul's answer to that kind of behavior? If you won't work, you won't eat!

There are people who will do that. There are people who do that with welfare. They're exploiting the promises of the government. It's all going to make us go broke!

They become charity cases, adding to the bad reputation that the church already has in some places for spiritual foolishness. In their case, living life by faith becomes an excuse for laziness or incompetence. They presume that their need will be supplied no matter how irresponsibly they live.

That is the whole key to presumptuously exploiting the promises of God. Ask God to put His angels about you when you drive, but you drive 99 mph down the freeway. You may just have a wreck. I don't think you're going faster than the angels, but if you drive 99 mph wherever you go, you're surely tempting God!

You shall not put the Lord your God to the test!

It is Satan who tempts us to perform a dangerous "act of faith," thereby forcing God to work a miracle to save us. In the face of this insane call, we have the absolute command of Christ. "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." Who are we to force the God of the universe to do anything?

Exodus 17—here is a good less about what the children of Israel did in the wilderness. Of course, God was doing plenty for them at that time. The whole experience in Exodus could have been a whole lot different if they would have remembered the miracles. Remember what we studied in part seven—Miracles on Demand? Miracles do not produce belief! So, they didn't believe God! It would have been so much easier if they would have remembered the miracles and say, 'If God did all of this to bring us out of Egypt, surely it's no big problem to feed us.' But they said, 'Oh no, God brought us out in the wilderness to kill us and to kill our children.' In Exo. 16 we find that God sent the quail; then He began sending the manna; so they come here:

Exodus 17:1: "And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim. And there was no water for the people to drink. And the people argued with Moses and said, 'Give us water that we may drink.' And Moses said to them, 'Why do you argue with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?' And the people thirsted there for water. And the people murmured against Moses and said, 'Why is this, that you brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?'" (vs 1-3).

Then the Lord heard it. He sent them water, out of the rock. Quite a thing! Wouldn't it have been much more different if the people would have all prayed to God, all at once, and said, 'Oh, God, we saw what You did with the quail; we saw what You did with the manna; and there's no water here. Could You provide water for us? we know that You want us to live. We trust in Your promises, our Great God, to provide everything that we need.' There would have been a river running right down the middle there.

Sometimes we get impatient with God; tempt God; exploit the promises of God, misunderstand the promises of God, be presumptuous with the promises of God in such a way that it destroys us and destroys faith.

p 101—Make no mistake about it, if we would master another language, we must study.

With the exception of the miracle of tongues temporarily.

If we would have a church building, we must build it. If we would preach and teach well, we must learn the Word of God. The same God who wrote the Scripture ordained that the law of gravity would operate on all normal occasions. The Christian, no matter how spiritual he pretends to be, is a fool if he expects that God will cancel that law in his favor whenever he chooses or pleases.

And we can put there: to ask God to do so! If you're cutting with a sharp knife and you cut the wrong way and you cut your hand, don't blame God. It's one of those things that happens. You can say: Why did God allow it?

I cut myself pretty bad one time. I skinned back the top of my thumb. It was not God's fault; He was not involved in it. I did something I should not have done. I should not have cut toward me. What's one of the first lessons you learn using a knife? Cut away from you lest you cut yourself!

Or whatever the case may be. I wouldn't have gotten in a wreck if I would have looked. There are times when God protects us and we don't even know that something is about to happen, or has happened, or could happen, and He protects us from it. That's a different story.

Why is it that God tells us never to put Him to the test? The reasons are obvious. The first is that we may have the wrong understanding of the promise.

Do we understand it correctly; that's very important. For example: If one takes the attitude of saying that 'I know God can heal all of my diseases. Psa. 103 tells me that and that is a promise, therefore, God must keep His promise.

(go to the next track)

We must take care of it, and if a person takes the attitude that 'I'm going to do anything I want to do and God has got to heal me, because He's promised,' He just might let you die. We have to know that we understand the promise.

For instance, when we read the promise, "My God shall supply all your need," we may really have little idea as to what our real need is. We may tell ourselves that we need great riches when our real need may be severe discipline.

I've used this example before: 'Oh, God, provide me with a car, and let it be a brand new Mercedes Benz, and let it have all of the good things.' So, you're able to buy a Dodge for $1500; your prayer is answered! You got the Dodge; you didn't need the BMW; a Dodge will be quite sufficient; it'll get you around.

If you've seen some of these BMWs you can almost pay the same price for one of those as a house. Some of them are pretty close to a $100,000. Try a Rolls Royce! How many of these 'religious leaders' have we known—so-called Christian—who got around in Rolls Royces? To impress whom? The world! Jesus didn't run around in a Rolls Royce. He didn't even have a slick donkey to ride on. He walked! We're not here to impress the world.

We may think our most pressing need is the love of this man or that woman, but we may be asking for hell on earth.

Sometimes that may be the case!

p 102—Our understanding about ourselves and about God is limited enough so that we should be careful about prescribing to God how He shall fulfill this promise to us.

That's why in our prayer we pray, 'not my will, but Your will be done.'

A second reason we must be careful about putting God to the test is that we may be attempting to claim a promise that simply does not apply to us at all.

Then he gives the promise of several things going through about land; the promise of tithing—in the sense of Old Testament tithing.

p 103—A further reason we must be careful about putting God to the test is that we may not be in a condition to receive God's promise. We remember that David said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." The person who is not saved, or the Christian who is allowing a sinful condition to continue in his life, is in no position to receive a promise of God except the promise of judgment.

Or, we might add at this point, to be presumptuous to claim the blessing of God while you are in a state of sin. It won't work!

One of the great qualities of discernment that we must be given of God is the ability to tell the difference between faith and presumption. Faith has been the basis upon which God has produced marvelous results in the lives of believing people. Presumption, on the other hand, has produced nothing but spiritual disaster.

Much of this presumption comes in the way of ministers—or supposed ministers—coming to new truth, such as we have recently heard that we no longer need to fast on Atonement. That is a very presumptuous declaration. I would be afraid—in reading Lev. 23 what God says to those who keep the Day of Atonement and do not fast—as to what the results may be.

We can recall some of these:

• When the Church got into the temple-building business, did not presumptuous disaster happen? Yes, indeed!
• When we in the Church were led by someone called the apostle, was that not spiritual presumption a disaster?
• When we were convinced that preaching the Gospel without the name of Christ in various places around the world was going to convert a lot of people, was not that a spiritual disaster from the presumptuous attitude of leaving out the name of Jesus Christ? Yes! Yes! Yes!
• Do people suffer because of that?
• What about David in numbering the children of Israel?
• Was that not a spiritual presumption upon his part? Yes! look at the disaster!

The fine line between faith and presumption is obscure to many people. This obscurity, of course, is due to a lack of knowledge of the Word of God. and therefore, a deficiency of the spiritual discernment, which such knowledge produces. Faith is a wonderful gift form God, but presumption is one of Satan's most widely distributed products.

I love that paragraph! That is terrific! In a real good summation, in a nutshell, it really tells you how important it is concerning the promises of God, and the faith of God. It all hinges upon His will and our spiritual condition, too.

Five important conditions for the promises of God:

p 104—…The following are some simple rules for relating to the promises of God:

#1) The promises of God must not become a substitute for faithfulness…

In other words, it is not a condition of faithlessness and you quit keeping the Sabbath, but you send more offerings to the Church relying on the promise that God is going to give you blessings because you tithe and are generous, then you are substituting a promise of God for your faithfulness—the lack of it. That's why I use the term faithlessness. If you substitute the promises of God for your faithfulness, then you are faithless, or the lack of faith.

He uses the example that God promises to fulfill all your needs (Rom. 8:32).

…must never lead a person to become a thief under the argument that all things belong to him anyway….

The FBI doesn't believe that!

#2) Our interpretation of the promise must be consistent with the whole of Scripture.

…"With long life will I satisfy him" (Psa. 91).

Long life today is anything more than three score and ten. Could be four score; maybe five score—100; maybe it's six score—120. But that's about it, because God has put a limit on that. We can't live as long as they did before the Flood because we don't have the same conditions.
#3) Our faith must not violate moral principles. "Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7).

A person cannot presumptuously rely upon the promises of God and be living in sin. Just cannot do it! There will be times when people will sin, and one of the promises of God is that 'if you be any otherwise minded he shall also reveal this' to you as He did to David with Bathsheba so he could repent.

#4) We must remember that God may have a greater plan in mind.

Then he talks about how things are changed and circumstances change.

p 105—Any of us would be a fool to forget that God may have a plan that is greater than our physical deliverance from distressing circumstances.

Then he talks a little bit about martyrdom.

#5) We must not let the promises of God obscure the Person of God.

That becomes very important! You must not let it obscure the Person of God.

[transcriber's note: In the book, p 106, the author quotes a poem by A. B. Simpson, then comments]:

p 107—Well said. Mr. Simpson has give us eloquent testimony of the path toward spiritual maturity that he followed. His immature faith wanted the things of God. His mature faith then sought for only the Lord Himself….

That is very profound! I think that the longer you are in the Church, the more that you are seeking God Himself, rather than the things that God can provide—right? Rather than the things that God's promises will provide.

If someone is driving along this road and suddenly a tire blows, he might be in great trouble. The car bounces against the retaining fence, returns to the road, and the damage is slight. But for the retaining fence, the driver and the automobile would have been in deep trouble. The fence and its implied promise became a source of deliverance.

This is something like the manner in which we are to relate to the promises of God. the normal course of events in our lives is that needs are supplied through work; health is sustained through diet, exercise, and even the help of a physician (as was the case with Paul). The extreme circumstances in life are rare. At that point, man's extremity may well become God's opportunity. The Lord may choose to avail Himself of this opportunity. Whether He does or does not, has nothing to do with His love or justice in the eyes of a trusting soul. It is, therefore, good to remind ourselves again of the imperative principle "The just shall live by faith."

1-John 2 becomes important for us to understand as far as the promise of the Spirit of God, the promises of God and so forth in our very lives today.

1-John 2:20: "But you have the anointing from the Holy One, and you have knowledge of all things pertaining to salvation." Obviously, that doesn't mean you know everything there is in the world. But it means you discern all things concerning the Truth.

Verse 21: "I did not write to you because you do not know the Truth, but because you know it, and you understand that not one lie comes from the Truth. Who is the liar if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is the antichrist—the one who denies the Father and the Son. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. Therefore, let what you have heard from the beginning dwell in you; if what you have heard from the beginning is dwelling in you, then you will be dwelling in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us: eternal life" (vs 21-25).

That is the key, overall, overriding promise. How do you receive eternal life? Through the resurrection! How do you get to the place where you can be resurrected; that is if you don't live until Christ returns? You die! So, part of the fulfilling of the promise of eternal life is that first in this flesh you must die. That is the promise.

Verse 25: "And this is the promise that He has promised us: eternal life…. [That's the whole key thing! All other promises that God has are subordinate to that.] …These things I have written to you concerning those who are leading you astray. But you yourselves have dwelling in you the anointing that you received from Him; and you do not have need of anyone to indoctrinate you… [the context here is anything other than the Truth] …for the same anointing instructs you in all spiritual things, and is true, and is not a lie; and if you do exactly as it has taught you, you will be dwelling in Him. And now, little children, dwell in Him, so that when He is manifested we may have boldness, and not be put to shame before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been begotten by Him" (vs 25-29).

The promises of God can be absolutely and totally relied upon, but we are not to exploit the promises and go out and live in sin and then come and claim those promises. The promise you might claim might not be the promise of blessing, but the promise you claim—if you've been living in sin—may be the promise that God has given of discipline, correction, or whatever it may be. I've seen how that works; we've all experience that, too.

Hebrews 6:9: "But, although we speak these things, beloved, we are persuaded of better things concerning you, even the fruits that accompany salvation. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work, and the labor of love… [God will remember that] …by which you have showed honor to His name, in that you have served the saints and are continuing to serve them. But we earnestly desire that every one of you be demonstrating the same diligence, unto the full assurance of the hope until the end" (vs 9-11)—which is the promise of eternal life. Notice, there's diligence, obedience, work, faith—all of that is implied there.

Verse 12: "So that you do not become lazy, but that you be imitators of those who through faith and steadfast endurance inherit the promises. For God, after promising Abraham, swore by Himself, since He could swear by none greater, saying, 'Surely in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply you.' Now, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise" (vs 12-15). We saw that Solomon said, 'He has fulfilled all of His promises.'

There are a lot of promises in the New Testament that we can look to; that we can hold onto; we can claim. But we have to ask it according to the will of God and not follow the satanic thing of exploiting the promises, do everything that you want to do and God is going to have to save you in spite of yourself.

Verse 16: "For indeed, men swear by the greater, and confirmation by an oath puts an end to all disputes between them. In this way God, desiring more abundantly to show the heirs of the promise the unchangeable nature of His own purpose, confirmed it by an oath; so that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to lay hold on the hope that has been set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both secure and steadfast, and which enters into the sanctuary within the veil; where Jesus has entered for us as a forerunner, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchisedec" (vs 16-20).

2-Peter 1:1—here are the promises that we need to rely on; here are the things that are laid out for us: "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained the same precious faith as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord" (vs 1-2). That's quite and introduction there—isn't it? We wish, pray and hope all these things for everyone of us to be brought upon us.

Verse 3: "According as His Divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and virtue." Having this promise of eternal life and glory ahead of us becomes the most important, absolutely all consuming thing that we need to look to, that God can give us. But we must not let anything become between us and God:

• No thing!
• No attitude!
• No sin!

Rely on Christ to really bring us to God the Father.

Verse 4: "Through which He has given to us the greatest and most precious promises, that through these you may become partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Hebrews 13—here is the promise to always remember, regardless of your circumstance of what you are in, or where you may find yourself. Hebrews 13:5: "Do not allow the love of money to influence your behavior, but be satisfied with what you have; for He has said, 'In no way will I ever leave you; no—I will never forsake you in any way.'" That's the greatest promise you can have, that God will not ever—never—leave you or forsake you.

That's the one we need to rely on, v 6: "So then, let us boldly say, 'The Lord is my Helper, and I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'" Don't exploit the promises of God!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in its Original Order, a Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

• Exodus 20:12
• Genesis 9:8-16
• Psalm 77:1-13
• Psalm 89:11-12, 15, 18, 34-49
• Galatians 3:16
• Ephesians 1:13
• 1 Kings 8:54-56
• John 8:31-33, 37
• Acts 13:22-23, 38-42, 45
• Exodus 17:1-3
• 1 John 2:20-29
• Hebrews 6:9-20
• 2 Peter 1:1-4
• Hebrews 13:5-6

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Acts 5:32
• Exodus 16
• Psalm 103
• Leviticus 23
• Romans 8:32

Also referenced: Books:

• Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies by Dave Breese

FRC: bo
Transcribed: 1-27-13