Living by God's Promises — K.P. Yohannan

The Human Longing for Love and Belonging

So, the fundamental longing of human hearts, it is to be loved, to be embraced and to be near. As a matter of fact, did you know that there was a time, unfortunately, that some weird, strange reasons, breastfeeding of babies became like a secondary or not necessarily thing to do.

So, the bottled milk became, you know, the most popular thing. And I am sure some marketing people did a good job on that. But then, what happened, the serious deep level study revealed, consequence like we have today, worldwide of humanity, the isolation, the aloneness and even parents who spend millions or crores of rupees to educate their children, there is no deep feeling in their heart toward their parents.

Why it is? Because there was not enough closeness and not enough touch, not enough belonging. And while we are two individuals and ten individuals, there is a longing for humanity to be touched. And I am, you know, of course, you know, having gone to western countries, I am surprised by seeing two brothers holding hands and putting their hands on the shoulder and walking.

And I think if they did that in America or some other country, they would think, something is wrong with them. But I know for sure, you are not thinking anything sexual about walking down the street holding hand of a brother or sister.

But the more we understand the complexity of what is happening in the world today, we are shying away from other people. And so now you cannot hug a boy, a boy cannot hug a girl and a girl cannot hug a girl and boy cannot hug a boy.

Following Christ Through Difficulty and Suffering

So what happened? We are slowly being killed again. Now, you know Paul's life story. The enemy of God, he was against Christ. He met the Lord and he came to know Him. And was his life easy in his following Christ?

No. As a matter of fact, 30 years of his life, if you want to read an abridged version of his life, read 2 Corinthians. Now this is important because in our day, Christianity or following Christ, at least we are told all these lies by a lot of people.

You will have peace, happiness, joy and success and great family and great future and all the blessings of life. You will not face difficulties, no accusation, no misunderstanding. You will have good health and wealth and then you will go to heaven.

That is what the evangelical or the protestant world tell us. But that is the difference between the old ancient orthodox faith and the lost Christianity in our time. That is, for the people of God in the first centuries, nothing mattered other than the greatest longing they lived with every single day.

Today Christ is coming back. Tomorrow He will be back. And as a matter of fact, some people were so obsessed with this wonderful dream and hope that they said, why we were working? We don't need to work anymore.

Why we work and make money? It has no sense. But then Paul had to correct them and say, don't do that. Don't be lazy. Work hard and make money to meet your needs and help other people. What happened? These people are so overcome by the one thing.

Life on earth is so short, so temporary that just spend 24 hours praying and fasting and just following the Lord. Nothing matters. Nothing else matters. And so Paul lived a life, and you need to know, Paul was a married man when he met Christ.

And obviously his wife told him, now you got a problem. You got this Jesus that I hate and now you want me. You can pick either one. You can pick him or me. He could not have been the member of Sanhedrin if he was not married as a Jew.

But then he said, all I want is Christ. And he decided to spend the rest of his life alone for Him who died for him and his entire life. So when you read that passage, that is just before the very last few hours of his life, when he writes 2 Timothy, there he talks about, man, this Christ I followed for 30 years.

It all been one of a bloody trail, all I can see. Shipwrecked, being stoned and hungry, misunderstood and abused. And people helped turn against me. And all I have, he says, but Christ stood with me. Nobody could see it.

He found something invisible so powerful that kept him without giving up. So he says, I finished this race. I fought this fight. Now I'm so glad. Why this is so important for us to know this? Unless you alone make a decision of following Christ means difficulties and suffering.

You will miss being a follower of Christ. Should I repeat that sentence again? Jesus had many people want to follow him. One time a man came with a lot of money. And you see, even when I say these things to you, I know some of you sitting here who understand English very well, saying that, can you just talk further and get over with this kind of talk?

But I'm telling you the difference you're going to find when your life come to an end. You will not take your car, your prestige, your degrees and whatever else you dreamed about. Nothing will take you with you.

And you will find out you are just like a dog dying, but only that you are a human being. But no reality left. Following Christ, Jesus said, unless you deny yourself and pick up your cross daily and come after me, you cannot be my disciple.

The Cost of Discipleship and Total Surrender

He didn't say, let me try to figure this out, how to help you. No. The rich man who came to Jesus, he said, alright, I'm happy you want to follow me, but give up all your wealth to the poor, then come and follow me.

It says that the guy got really sad, said, oh no, this is insane. I want to help him. I can give you some money. But he just wanted me to give away everything I have, I worked for. And now if I am to be his follower, and then the scripture says he walked away sad.

Whereas people like Peter, who were common laborers with their canoe and their nets, making a daily living. When Jesus said, come and follow me, they left their nets and their boards with their family and followed him.

And then, some time later, Peter says, Lord, we left everything and followed you. What are we going to get? See, the reason I'm saying this to you is that so much we read in the Bible, we don't believe it anymore.

And I'm convinced it is because, this is my personal feeling, I don't mean this is accurate. For me, I think our churches, we lost God because we began to follow western theology. People who believed life for God means affluence and riches and good life and no problem, no persecution.

And they cannot comprehend this. But you read the book of Acts, you will find every page in the book of Acts, 30 years, filled with pain and rejection, agony, inconveniences. And we are always trying to figure out what we can get for ourselves and not give up.

Humility, Repentance, and True Righteousness

Luke chapter 18, and what is that about? It's the two people coming to pray to the church, right? In the church. One was a bad guy, you know, he was a real sinner. He was tricking people, taking money and not doing right.

The other one was a religious fundamentalist. I call him a pure, wonderful protestant. And the bad man said, God, I can't, I'm so bad, I can't even talk to you. Please have mercy on me. And the other guy said, God, you look at this fellow, such a deathly scoundrel.

He's a char saw beast. He spoke in Hindi, I think. He said, I don't like him. I thank you, but I don't like him. And Jesus said, here is the problem. He created his own spiritual standard. And he went away as he came.

Nine Assumptions for Living by God's Promises

So living by God's promise, how do you do it? First of all, based on these four passages, let me tell you nine assumptions. That is, we must assume these nine things. There could be more, but I just read through this several times and I said, okay, what does the scripture say?

These are the nine assumptions. One, we can, you can, I can live without following God's promise. Are you surprised by that? And people do that all the time. You do that, I do that, without us knowing.

That is, when you say living by God's promises, that means we can live without following God's promises. Second, this is to be assumed. We are given a choice. We are not helpless. There's no neutral zone.

When you read the scripture, when you read God's promises, we have a choice to say yes or no. Number three, we can follow God's promises or obey partially. Like you write an exam, you get 10 marks. You get 30 marks.

You get 60 marks. Or you get 98 marks. That is, partial obedience can be. Take for example, I'm asked by the Lord to be faithful with my tithes and offering. So, I get 1 ,000 rupees and 100 rupees belong to the Lord.

I say, giving 100 rupees is too much, so I pocket 50 and give 50 to God. So, am I living by God's promises? That is, a lot of people. Nobody knows about it. Forgiveness, for example. We have to forgive all people.

And I say, okay God, I can forgive everybody but not that two people. So, this helps us to see that we can do things partially. And you need to know that this is one of the master deception of the enemy.

Number four, God's promise must mean it is for our best. If God is a good God, that we all believe. Living by God's promise should help us to assume that God's promises must mean whether we choose it or not, it is really for our best.

Number five, God must know our entire life from beginning to end and will have made a specific plan based on the ultimate goal He has for us. We must assume that. So, living by God's promises. So, he must have, Acts 17 talks about that by the way.

And number six, there are plenty of examples, events that help us to choose whether we do it or not. And you can read through from Cain and Abel to the parents Adam to Abraham to Moses. The Bible is filled with stories like Orpah and Naomi and endless number of people, good and bad, all kinds, examples.

Read through that. People who followed wholeheartedly and people who didn't. And Paul talked about Demas. In Thessalonians, he says, Demas, my co-worker, greet you. Then six years later, he writes in 2 Timothy, the book we are reading today, says, oh, Timothy, I don't know what to tell you, but Demas having loved this present world, he just walked away.

Six years before he was a mighty servant, a godly individual. But then as time and difficulties began to be a real issue, he said, I don't want to do this thing. So, the good examples and bad examples we have.

And you can assume easily God would tell all his promises because other people went before us also. Number seven, also it assumed we must get to know what his promises are to walk in it. Now, living by God's promises, but what are those promises?

We will have no way to know unless we read, we learn, we look for it. So, there is an assumption must be made, where are those promises? Well, it is in God's word. Number eight, it assumes without faith, we will not be able to walk in it.

Now, that is very simple, right? Promises are in the future, right? I promise to give you a hundred rupees. The promise is, whether I give you or not, it is in the future, right? So, if I promise to you, you can believe it, but how do you live by that?

You start making plans for your life, whatever, based on a promise. So, it assumes that you have to have faith, that is, I must have faith. God said it, and he says, Abraham, he believed God. Twenty-five years he waited, and he walked with God.

Okay, and number nine, it is a call to a long haul. It is a day by day, year after year. So, living by God's promise is not a seasonal thing. It is not, this month I will do it, this Bible school years I will do it, or this place I will do it.

No, wherever he leads me, I will follow, whatever he says, I will do. Wherever I find myself in this journey, I do not know. But all I can tell you is that I will stick close to him. And that is actually, it is all about.

Knowing the God Who Makes the Promises

So, now, there are four principles that I would like to draw from these passages. One, for us to live by God's promises, we must know who is promising all this to us. The value of the promise depends on who is making it.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Even though I walk the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. It is not all wonderful journey, but I know for sure, he will never leave me, nor will he forsake me.

Faith, Trust, and Absolute Surrender

He makes promises, he keeps it. And that God is your father. Number two, the only way to live this supernatural life is by faith or trust. And how do you say that? Simple statement, you are the potter and I am the clay.

I do not ask how, I don't, I can't. Lord, here I am, absolute, total surrender. Logic don't make no sense. Come and walk, and Peter tried to figure this out, he couldn't, he just walked on water. So when you see God's word and his promises, all you can do is to walk and do it.

And only you can do that by faith. And number three, past failures, sins, lost years, dumb things we have done, and people saying you lost it, this and that. None of those things should determine your future.

Because God said, if you follow me, don't worry about fixing those things, I will make it up. Number four, the only source, the only source, the only source for us to know the promises of God, and what he says, it is the Bible.

The Bible as the Only Source for God's Promises

Not some prophets. You know, people are destroyed daily by television preachers and false prophets and stupid books that explains human rational reasonings and they don't read the Bible. And the only hope you have is to know what God says is his word.