Bible promises. Sermons to children

Front matter

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

BIBLE PROMISES.

DR. NEWTOX'S BOOKS.

Preface

When the apostle Paul was speaking about these " Bible Promises/' he said God's purpose was, that " by these we should be partakers of the divine nature." This does not mean that poor sinful creatures, such as we are, can share in the divinity of God our Saviour. This is impossible; just as it would be impossible for you or me to take up the water of the ocean, in the hollow of our tiny hands.

"What the apostle means, by the above language, is, that God wishes us, by the right use of these "Bible Promises," to learn to "tread in the blessed steps of the most holy life " of His dear Son; that we may have "the same mind

that was also in Christ Jesus," "and become daily

6 PREFACE.

more and more like Him." This is what these promises are given to us for. And I have written these sermons about them, in the hope that my young friends, who read them, or hear them read, may be helped and encouraged in their efforts to love, and serve the blessed Saviour. And if this should be the case I shall feel abundantly rewarded for writing them.

My heart's desire and prayer to God, is that His blessing may rest upon this book, and make it useful to the lambs of His flock.

Eichard Newton.

Philadelphia,

CONTEXTS.

I. The Nature of the Proposes . . 11

II. The Promise about Prayer ... 43

III. The Blessing Promised in Christ . 71

IV. The Promised Help 99

V. The Promise of finding God . . 129

VI. The Promised Blessing .... 159

VII. How Christians are a Blessing . 189

VIII. The Promised Eefuge 219

IX. The Promise of the Dew . . . 251

X. The Promised Grace 283

XI. The Promise to the Righteous . 315

THE NATURE OF THE PROMISES.

I. The Nature Of The Promises

"Exceeding great and precious promises." II Petee i. 4.

We enter now on a new course of sermons for the young. Our last course we called " Bible Models." The one now before us, we call " Bible Promises ."

In the words selected for our present text we have the description of these promises given us by the apostle Peter. In speaking of them he tells us that they are — "exceeding great and precious."

These promises belong to you, and to me, and to all who are trying to love and serve Jesus. If God had come and spoken some of these promises to us personally, we should have been sure that they were intended for us, and that we had a right to lean on them,

(ID and expect them to be fulfilled. God has not done this: but yet we may feel towards all God's promises, just as we should if they had been spoken to us personally. If your father should leave you an inheritance; the money thus left, would be as truly yours as though you had earned it yourself. But St. Paul tells us that "the promises" are our inheritance, through faith (Heb. vi. 12). They are our fortune in this world. And we have a perfect right — the right which God has given us, to use them as our own. And so, as we go on examining these promises, we shall be like a miser, when he opens the box which contains his treasures. He finds great pleasure in counting over his gold and silver, and calculating how much his gems and jewels are worth. These "Bible Promises" are our treasures. But they are worth ten thousand times more to us, than all the gold and silver, and jewels of the richest man on earth are worth to him.

These promises, the apostle tells us are — "exceeding great and precious."

The question now before us is — in what respect they are so " exceeding great"? They are so in three respects. In the first place these " Bible Promises" are " exceeding great" in their — number.

The Bible is a book of promises. If any one should begin at Genesis, and go through to the last chapter of the Revelations, and count up all the promises there, he would be astonished to find how many there are ! These promises were given to different people, under different circumstances, and at different times, and yet they all belong to each of God's children.

See how many precious promises God gives us, about what He will do with our sins, when we repent of them, and believe in Jesus. In one place He promises that "they shall he forgiven'" (Isa. xxxiii. 24). In another He says — they shall be " blotted out" (Isa. xliii. 25). Again He says they shall be "put aicay" (Heb. ix. 26). They shall be "covered" (Romans iv. 17). They shall "not be remembered" (Heb. viii. 12).

They shall be "made an end of 11 (Daniel ix. 24). They shall be "sought for and not found" (Jer. i. 20). They shall be "cast hehind his back" (Isa. xxxviii. 17). "Though they be as scarlet they shall be as tvMte as snow " (Isa. i. 18). They shall be " cast into the depths of the sea" (Micah vii. 19).

Here is an interesting story to illustrate one of God's promises, about the sins of His people. We may call it —

THE CLEANSING BLOOD.

An old blind man who was very ill, was taken to a hospital in London to die.

He had a little grand-daughter, who used to go in every day to read the Bible to him. One day she was reading the first chapter of the first Epistle of St. John. Presently she came to these beautiful words, and read them out: "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." On hearing this verse read, the old man raised himself in his bed, and said to his little grand-daughter, with great earnestness:

44 Is that there, my dear?"

"Yes, grandpa."

"Then read it again — I never heard such blessed words before."

She read the verse again, "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin."

"You are quite sure those words are there?"

" Yes, quite sure, grandpa."

"Then take my hand and lay my finger on that wonderful verse; 1 cannot see it, but I want to feel it."

So she took the old blind man's hand, and placed his bony finger on the verse, when he said: "Now read it to me again."

With a soft, sweet voice she read, "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin."

"You are quite sure these words are there?"

"Yes, grandpa, quite sure"

"Then if any one should ask you how I died, say that I died in the faith of these words — ' The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.' "

After this the old man withdrew his hand, his head fell softly back on his pillow, and he passed peacefully away into the presence of that blessed Saviour, whose blood cleanseth us from all sin.

This is only one, out of a great many promises, that refer to the pardon of our sins. And so there are multitudes of promises that refer to all our other necessities in this life. We are exposed to danger at all times ; and there are many precious promises in the Bible, in which God engages to protect us in times of danger. We have one of these blessed promises, in the seventh verse of the 121st Psalm. Here we read: "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil." And here is a story which shows how this promise was fulfilled on one occasion.

We may call it —

DIVINE PROTECTION.

An English merchant, who was a Christian, left home, on one occasion, to go to the city of Bristol, to purchase some goods. On the way he was taken sick. His wife went to nurse him; and as soon as he got better she took him home.

Several years after this, he happened to be present when a man was going to be hung for murder. Before the execution took place, the prisoner beckoned this gentleman to him, and said: — " Sir, do you recollect one occasion, when you were going to Bristol, to buy goods, and were taken sick on the way ? "

M 0, yes," replied the gentleman — " I remember that very well. But why do you ask that question?"

" Just to let you know what a lucky thing it was, that you were stopped on the road. I knew oi your going; and that you would have a large sum of money with you; and I had arranged with two of my companions, to rob you on the way, and then murder you to avoid being detected."

God knew the evil which those wicked men had planned to do to His servant, and He made use of that sickness to preserve him from it.

When we are in trouble from the want of food, or clothing there are many promises that seem to have been made on purpose for us, at such times. One of these is that which God made to Abraham, when lie revealed His own name to him as — ''Jehovah Jireh — The Lord will provide."

How many of God's suffering children have been comforted by this promise !

Here is an incident which illustrates this.

We may call it —

jack's breakfast.

Jack's mother was a poor widow, who was trying hard to support herself and her little boy by sewing. But she had been sick for some days, and unable to work. Her money was all gone, and there was not a morsel of food of any kind in the house. She did not mind so much for herself; but, " Poor, dear Jack, — what will become of you ? " she asked, as the big tears rolled down her cheeks.

"The Bible says, — 'The Lord will provide/ " said Jack. He was his mother's little comforter; and the words he had just spoken went to her heart, like a beam of sunshine.

"Are you sure, Jack, the Bible says so ? " she asked, as she lifted the child to her lap.

" Yes, I'm sure," said Jack. " It's in the hymn, I learned in Sunday School. Let me tell you one of the verses: —

" ■ In some way or other the Lord will provide; It may not be my way, It may not be thy way, But yet in his own way The Lord will provide.' "

"There, now, it's true mamma. God will give us something to eat. I have asked Him, and I know He will."

It was dark and cheerless, in that little garret room, as Jack and his mother went to bed without any supper. But Jack's words had put new faith into his mother's heart; and when Jack asked her, before falling asleep: — '• Mamma, do you think God will send us some bread in time for breakfast, in the morning?" her cheerful answer was — "I think He will."

Early the next morning, the sun was shining through the attic window of their little room ; but it was a knock at the door that first awakened Jack. Eagerly the hungry child watched, as his mother opened the door.

A neighbor was there, with a large plate ot rolls. " I baked more than enough for myself, Mrs. Jones," she said, " so 1 thought you and Jack might like them."

Between her sobs and tears, the mother told the story of their hunger, and of Jack's prayer. u Why, it's better than we asked for," said Jack. " I only asked for bread, and God has sent us beautiful warm rolls instead."

Jack and his mother would never forget this precious promise — "The Lord will provide."

And so, in the first place, we may well say that the " Bible Promises" are " exceeding great" — in their number.

But, in the second place, these " Bible Promises," are "exceeding great and 'precious," in their — certainty — as tcell as in their number.

And the certainty of a promise is the most important thing about it. If a person, who never keeps his word, should promise to give you, or me, a thousand dollars; how much would that promise be worth? Nothing at all. It is the certainty of a promise that gives it all its value. But, in the promises that men make to each other, there is often very little certainty. You cannot depend on them. There is an old proverb which says that — " promises, like pie crusts, are made to be broken." This is often the case with men's promises. There is very little certainty about them. But it is very different with the "Bible Promises," of which we are now speaking. These are God's promises. And He always means what He says. His prom ises are all certain. We may apply to them the words of the hymn, which says —

"Each of them is the voice of God, Which spake — and spread the heavens abroad, And firmer than the solid poles, On which the wheel of nature rolls."

These promises are the words of Jesus; and He had them in mind when He said, — " Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." The apostle Paul assures us that "all the promises of God in Jesus are yea and amen" (II Cor. i. 20). This means that they are all entirely sure, and certain. We may trust them, and depend on them, without a moment's doubt, or fear. Here is a little story which illustrates the certainty of God's promises. We may call it —

THE SURE WORD.

An eminent minister of the gospel lay on his dying bed. To a brother clergyman, who visited him, he said: — "In spite of all I have written, and all I have preached, in the forty years of my ministry, there is but one thing that gives me any comfort now, and that is the promise: — ' Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out,' Do you think I may venture my soul upon that promise ? "

" If you had a thousand souls," said his friend, "you might hang them all on that one promise."

Surely that minister believed in the certainty of God's promises. He could have taken up the language of the hymn which says —

" 'In no wise cast thee out;' the word is spoken, — And, Jesus, never can thy word be broken; Here then I lay me down and take my rest, Calm as an infant on its mother's breast.

"'In no wise cast thee out;' I live, I die, And fearless pass into eternity, Leaning on this alone : Thy word is given, That word secures my safety and my heaven.'"

This shows us how the certainty of the promises secures the salvation of our souls.

But it also gives comfort and happiness to God's people, when they are in trouble. Here is a little incident to illustrate this. We may call it —

TRIED AND PROVED.

A good Christian lady was visiting an aged widow woman. She was very poor, and very ill; and yet she was bright and happy. A Bible, which she had used for many years, was lying on the table. Her visitor turned over its pages. In doing this she noticed here and there, a verse which had a line drawn round it, while on the margin opposite were printed, in capitals, the letters T. and P. The lady asked her aged friend what these meant. u They mean Tried and Proved" was her reply. "The promises of God's blessed Word have been my support and comfort, under all my trials. And as I have used them, one after another, and found how true they were, I have put these letters opposite to them, to show that I have tried them, and proved them. When I first saw myself a sinner, I read that sweet promise: — 'Come unto Me, and 7 will give you rest.' I believed what Jesus said. I came to Him, and found rest. Then I put

T. and P. opposite that promise, because I had tried it, and proved it. When I was left a poor widow, with a family of helpless children, my heart was full of sorrow and sadness. But I read these precious words: — 'Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in Me/ Jer. xlix. 11. Then I committed myself and my children to God's care and protection. That promise was fulfilled. Then I put T. and P. opposite to it. Since then I have had many trials and troubles; but I have always found some precious promise of God's Word, that seemed to have been written on purpose to comfort me. And I have never found one of them fail." They are sure and certain promises. And if we only make a right use of them, we shall be able to write T. and P., tried and proved, opposite them all.

I have just one other story to illustrate the certainty of God's promises. We may call it —

SIMPLE TRUST.

There was an old Scotch woman named Nancy. She had been a happy Christian for many years. Her home was a lowly thatched cottage, in one of the quiet glens of Scotland. She was now sick, and was quietly waiting for death to end her sufferings, and take her into the presence of that Saviour whom she loved. By her bedside, on a small table, lay her spectacles, and her well-thumbed Bible. She called it " her barrel and her cruse," which she said had never failed, and from which she had fed continually on the " Bread of life."

A young minister often called to see her. He was a good Christian man, but he did not understand the gospel as well as old Nancy did. Yet he loved to listen to her as she talked of her precious Saviour. And when she spoke of her home in heaven, it seemed very near; and he almost fancied at times that he could hear the glad songs which the ransomed sing there.

One day the young minister put this startling question to the happy saint: —

" Well, Nancy, what, if after all your watching, and waiting, and prayers, and hopes, and expectations, God should suffer your soul to be lost forever ? "

The faithful old Christian raised herself on her elbow, laid her right hand on her precious Bible, which lay open before her, and turning an earnest look to the young minister, she quietly said: —

" And is that a' ye know about the Bible, mon ? " And then, as her eyes sparkled with heavenly brightness, she continued, — " God would hae the greater loss. Poor Nancy would only lose her soul. That would be a great loss indeed; but God would lose His honor, and His character. Haven't I hung my soul on His 4 exceeding great and precious promises ' ? and if He should break His word, He would prove Himself untrue, and a' the universe would rush to ruin ! "

How simple! how scriptural! how sublime, was the confidence of that dear old child of

BIBLE PROMISES.

God in the certainty of His promises! These Bible Promises are "exceeding great and precious," secondly — in their certainty.

But thirdly, these promises are "exceeding great and precious " in their — power.

Suppose you and I were on board a sailing vessel. The wind has driven us out of our proper course. We have come in sight of land. We are getting very near to it. It is a rocky coast. The waves of the sea are rolling and dashing upon the rocks, in foam and thunder. We are drifting directly towards them. We cannot put the vessel about, and sail away from the danger, because the wind is blowing us right on shore. Every moment we are getting nearer to those terrible rocks. Before long our vessel will be driven upon them, and be dashed to pieces. Can nothing be done to save us? Yes, there is one thing that can be done. And hark! there is the captain's voice telling the men to do it. Above the noise of the wind and the waves he is giving the command: — "Let go the anchor ! " He is heard. He is obeyed;

and down goes the anchor. It stops the vessel from drifting towards the rocks. Now w r e are safe. The heavy anchor has gone down among the rocks, and the strong iron cable, fastened to it, keeps the vessel steady. No matter how much the waves dash, or the winds blow, there is power in the anchor to prevent the ship from drifting, and to keep her safe.

And just what the anchor is to the ship, under these circumstances, God's promises are to His people, as they sail over the sea of life. The apostle Paul uses this very illustration. He says the hope which God's people have, growing out of His promises, is like "an anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast" (Heb. vi. 19). And this anchor is better than any that our sailors have. No matter how good the sailor's anchor may be he cannot always use it. If a storm overtakes him out at sea, the water is so deep that his cable is not long enough to reach the bottom, and so the anchor cannot be used. But, in sailing over the sea of life, the Christian never

BIBLE PROMISES.

reaches any point, where the water is too deep for the anchor of God's promises to reach the bottom, and hold him safe and steady, while the wildest storm is blowing. How wonderful is the power of these promises! They are able to comfort, and cheer, and bless God's suffering people, in every time of trouble.

Now let us look at some illustrations of the power of God's promises. Our first story shows the power of the promises — in doing good to one sinner.

Some time ago, an infidel delivered a lecture against the Bible, in a manufacturing town in England. In his lecture he said that the story of Christ in the New Testament was not true, it was all a fable.

When the lecture was ended, a plain working man, from one of the mills, rose up in his place, and said he would like to ask the gentleman a question.

" Ask any question you please," said the lecturer.

Then the man spoke as follows —

" Thirty years ago, sir, I was the curse of this town. No one would speak to me, who had any respect for himself. I often tried to make myself better, but in vain. The temperance people got hold of me; but I broke the pledge so often, that they said it was no use trying any longer. Then the police took me up. I was brought before the magistrates and tried. They sent me to prison. There the wardens tried what they could do; still I was nothing better, but rather worse.

" Thus I tried ; the temperance people tried ; the police, the magistrates, and the wardens of the prison all tried to make me better, but in vain. At last Jesus took me in hand. He spoke to me some of the sweet promises of His word, such as these: — 'Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.' 'I am He that blotteth out thy transgressions.' c I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee.' 'My grace is sufficient for thee.' These melted my heart, wxA made a new man of me. And now, I am a member of the church, and a superintendent of the Sunday School. And the question I wish to ask is this: — If the story of Christ is not true — is a fable, as you say, then how can you explain, that it should have produced so blessed and wonderful a change in my poor sinful heart ? " The lecturer had no answer to give; and the working man continued: — u No, sir, you may say what you please, but the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. "

This story illustrates the power which the promises exercised on one poor sinner. Here is another which shows how that same power was exerted on a number of persons at once. We may call it —

BIBLE TRIUMPHS.

A Bible reader visited a work-house in London one day. On meeting the superintendent, he said to him: " Sir, have you any room, in this Institution, where such of the inmates as are bad-tempered and unmanageable {ire confined?"

"We have, sir," was his reply; " and a lot of very hard characters are confined in it."

u Will you allow me, sir, to go in there by myself? I wish to try if I can't bring them to order, and do them some good."

"Impossible!" exclaimed the superintendent; "it is very dangerous to go among them alone. I should be afraid to trust you; I never venture in myself without being armed."

" Oh ! if that is all," said the Bible reader, " I am not afraid; I have arms in my pocket; please let me go."

At last the superintendent reluctantly agreed to let him enter. He gave him a private signal, which he was to use if he should find himself in any danger. Then the stranger was allowed to enter the prison of the work-house, and the door was quickly closed behind him.

As soon as he found himself among the prisoners, he drew his arms out of his pocket, They consisted of a sword, not of glittering steel — but the sword of the Spirit, which is

BIBLE PROMISES.

the word of God. With the Bible in his hand, he sat down on the nearest bench he could find. Then he opened the Bible and read for about fifteen minutes, without adding a word of his own. The portions which he read, were chiefly those which contained the invitations and promises of the Bible. The prisoners listened to him in perfect silence. When he had finished reading, he said to them: — " Would you like me to come to-morrow, and read to you again?"

They said they would be very much obliged if he would do so. He went the next day, and did exactly the same. He kept on doing this, day after day, till he had been there twelve times.

When he went the thirteenth morning, the superintendent said to him: — "You might have saved yourself the trouble of coming this morning, sir, for there is not a single man left in the refractory ward. Every one has come out in a quiet and orderly manner, and they are all behaving themselves perfectly well, among the other inmates of the house.'" This was a blessed work. Here was a whole company of people, with disagreeable tempers, and evil ways, led to a better state of mind and feeling, and to behave themselves properly, through the simple reading of God's blessed word. What wonderful power there must be, in the truths and promises of the Bible, when we see them producing such good fruits as these ! Here is a story that we may call —

THE HEART'S EASE OF THE VILLAGE.

Heart's ease is the old English name, of a pretty little flower that we call the pansy. This story shows us what power there is in the promises of the Bible, to make us happy and useful, no matter what our troubles are.

A Christian lady was spending the summer in a beautiful little English village. She was walking through the village one day, with a young girl, whom she had employed to do sewing for her. As they went along, this girl told her various interesting things, about different people in the village.

Among the rest she pointed to a nice little white cottage on the other side of the road, and said: — "A good Christian woman lives in that cottage, whom we call 'our village heart's ease.'"

"And why do you call her that?" asked the lady.

" Because, although she has had so much trouble herself, she is always so happy and cheerful. We all go to her when we are in trouble; and she talks so kindly to us, and has so many comforting things to say, that we call her — 'our heart's ease."

The next day, this lady went to the little white cottage, to make the acquaintance of the good woman living there. The following is the account she gives of her visit.

"Her name is Alice Fern. I found her busily sewing on a little child's dress. In the course of conversation I learned that she was a young widow. Her husband was a sailor, and died two years ago, just when she was expecting him home. Not long after her baby died, leaving her all alone in the world.

" How much trouble you have had," I said to her.

"Yes," she replied, "but the blessings always come more thickly than the troubles."

11 So you have found the silver lining to the cloud," I said.