Promise

2Peter 3:8-13 Promise
Last Saturday night I visited the grocery of Chul Do Kim in Fort Macleod. His grocery usually closes at 11 pm. But he said to his wife,
"Today we have not many customers because of the big hockey game of Calgary Flames. How about closing the door earlier ?"
His wife replied, "The customers know our grocery closes at 11 pm. We did not promise with the each of them personally. But it is the tacit promise, isn't it ?"
I was really impressed with the word 'tacit promise'. On the way home, I dropped by the Staple in front of the Chinook mall where it is always open 24 hours for copy.
But what a thing happened ? The store was closed, maybe because of the hockey game. I thought, "What a terrible ! This store has broken the tacit promise."
Then I drove my car to the copy center in the downtown where it opens 24 hours. But what a thing happened again ? This store was closed too.
They broke the tacit promise so that I could not copy the Sunday service order, and I wasted time, and my heart was hurt. I realized that the tacit promise is very important.
Brothers and sisters, have you ever promised ? And how many promises do you think you have broken ? Of course, all of us try to keep promise. But we sometimes cannot keep promises.
But if we do not keep an important promise, we will not be trustworthy, and the relationship with the others will be worse.
I have a daughter named Joo Hee Kim. She is 10 years old. She often asks me and my wife, "Promise ?" It is a kind of try to turn the situation to her advantage.
At this time I and my wife usually say to her, "I cannot promise." It is because, if we break the promise, my daughter will be hurt, and we will be liars. But sometimes parents use promises to encourage their children, and to lead them to the better way.
"If you clean up the room, I promise I will buy you a pizza." Then my daughter tries to clean up the room with eagerness.
As a result , the room is cleaned, and the promise leads my daughter to have a good habit of cleaning the room. And we can have a pizza together.
How nice it is ! It is a two-bird-one-stone solution. That is, if we use promises well, and if we keep promises well, it makes each others trustworthy.
Brothers and sisters, what do you think of our God ? If you are clever, you can think, "Yes, God is the God of promise !"
Right ! God is the God of promise who gave us the old testament(promise) and new testament(promise). And there are lots of promises in the bible.
Humans cannot keep their promises 100 percent because humans' ability is limited and they cannot see the future. But God is omniscient and omnipotent so that he can keep his promises 100 percent.
What do you think is the most important and best promise of God to the humans ? It is that God would send Jesus to us.
Humans lost the everlasting life because of their sins. But God promised us, if we believe in Jesus, we will be saved and have everlasting life.
If God is incapable like us, or if he sometimes lies, we may think believing Jesus is a waste of time ,and biggest failure.
But God neither deceives nor lies to us. He is a faithful God. It is the perfect promise that if we believe in Jesus, we will go to the kingdom of heaven and enjoy everlasting life there.
God also promised to give us rich blessing and prosperity when we believe in Jesus. That's why there was prosperity wherever the gospel spread.
God also promised to give us healing and health when we believe in Jesus. Therefore the divine healing is not a superstition but the truth and precious gift of God.
God also promised to give us the Holy Spirit when we believe in Jesus. By his Spirit we can rejoice always, we can thank in all circumstance, and we can live happy life. These promises of God are not given to only Israelites but also to all the people who believe in Jesus. That's why we can enjoy good health, prosperity, rich blessing, joy and happiness even in this foreign country. And we can enjoy everlasting life when we die even in this foreign land.
Without the promise of God, we will be terrible persons. But don't forget. We have the promises of God. And God keeps his promises. You and I are the children of promise. (Gal 4:28)
Brothers and sisters, what promise did God make with you ? If you think God never made a promise with me, you are blind or deaf spiritually, or you did not read the bible, the book of promise.
Today, why don't you open the book of promise and why don't you look at it ? God promised to give us his rich blessings spiritually, physically and financially.
In Genesis 12, God promised Abraham, "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you ; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing." (Gen 12:2)
Abraham could leave his hometown when he was 75years old because he had received the promise of God. Without the promise, he would not emigrate to the foreign country.
But even if he had the promise of God, he faced a severe famine there, he was humiliated because he was deprived of his wife, his nephew Lot became the prisoner of war, and his family was in big trouble because of the discord between his wife and his concubine.
Furthermore he had no son until he was 100 years old. Why was the promise of God not accomplished ? Did God forget his promise ? Or did God slip away because he could not keep his promise ? Or did Abraham misjudged the promise of God ?
In this situation, common people might think, "Oh, God failed to keep his promise. I will not believe in God."
But "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed- the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead- since he was about a hundred years old- and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised." (Romans 4:17-21, Heb 6:15)
And bible says, "By faith Abraham, even though he was past age- Sarah herself was barren- was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise." (Heb 11:11)
That means, we have to persevere under trial. As for this, the bible says, "Blessed is the man who persevere under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." (James 1:12)
"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." (Heb 10:36)
Brothers and sisters, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness." (2 Peter 3:9) God keeps his promise when the time comes fully.
Therefore don't be dejected. Don't shrink back. don't give up. But believe God's promise to the end, and persevere like Abraham, and receive what was promised.
Bible says, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Gal 3:29)
Just like Abraham received what had been promised, by faith we will also receive what was promised. Therefore look for the promise of God. Look forward to a new heaven and a new earth in keeping with his promise. (1 Peter 3:13)
God will accomplish his promise when the time comes fully. Amen !