Scripture
- 2 Chronicles 7:14
- Joshua 23:15
- Isaiah 24:5-6
- John 14:11-15
- John 16:23-24
- 2 Corinthians 11:24-28
- John 16:2-3
- Proverbs 22:6-7
- Exodus 33:21-23
- 2 Chronicles 7:13-14
- Hebrews 12:6
- Luke 11:9-13
- Gen 39:4
- Gen 39: 20
Outline
- Introduction
- Promises to Israel
- Promises to the Disciples
- Common Mistakes in Interpreting Scripture
- It Doesn't Hurt to Ask
- The Danger of Blaming God
- God Will Be With You
Introduction
Which prayers are always answered?
- Idolatry has been removed from your life
- Pray for What God Has Already Decreed
- Don’t pray selfishly
- Pray in accordance to God’ will
- The motive is God’s glory
- The motive is to turn people to God
- God commanded you to do it
In the last lesson we talked about praying God’s word back to Him
What happens when you pray His word back to Him and it doesn’t work?
- Was it because of something you did that prevented it from happening?
- Was it something God didn't do?
- Did the verse mean something different?
- Was the promise not for you?
When bible promises don’t come true
Let’s talk about when bible promises don’t come true
Promises to Israel
The Church Wide Fast Scripture
2 Chronicles 7:14
and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
We often hear this scripture in reference to the church fasting and/or praying together.
- Or the country praying together
Does it apply to us?
- It was originally for Israel
Do the Promises Apply to Us?
God made promises to:
- Noah
- Abraham
- Israel
- The Disciples
- The ancient church
Can we apply all of them to ourselves?
- Individually
Which ones can we apply to ourselves?
What About Threats
- We don’t just assume the negative scriptures apply to us today
We don’t assume that God will stop the rain because of idolatry.
Joshua 23:15
"It shall come about that just as all the good words which the LORD your God spoke to you have come upon you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the threats, until He has destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.
Is anyone standing on that promise?
Threats
Isaiah 24:5-6
5 The people have ruined the land. They did what God said was wrong. They did not obey God’s laws. They made an agreement with God a long time ago, but they broke their agreement with God. 6 The people living in this land are guilty of doing wrong, so God promised to destroy the land. The people will be punished, and only a few of them will survive
- Does this scripture apply to us?
- Is this a threat from God to us?
- What’s the difference between this and the promise?
Promise to the Disciples
Greater Works Than These
John 14:11-15
11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.
12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
13 "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
Greater Works
- Did the disciples do greater works?
- They raised people from the dead
- They had the signs and miracles of Jesus
Ask Anything in My Name
John 16:23-24
23“In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. 24“Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.
- Which day is Jesus talking about?
- After His resurrection
Until now they had asked for nothing in His name
What does “in His name” mean?
- By the authority of Jesus
- E.g “stop in the name of the law”
How Did That Work Out For the Disciples?
We think: “God always delivered them in the Bible days”
- We think God always showed up for them in a supernatural way
Did the disciples get delivered from all of their worries?
- Were all of their prayers answered?
- Were they always deliver from their problems?
In the New Testament they were actually almost never delivered
Well right before this Jesus made all of those great promises He also said…
Paul Had Problems
Compare your issues to Paul’s ...
2 Corinthians 11:24-28
24Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 26I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; 27I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.
- Do we think Paul forgot to ask that this not happen?
How The Disciples Died
- Bartholomew was skinned alive and beheaded
- James the Less was stoned and clubbed to death.
- Andrew was crucified, tied upside down in an x-shaped cross from where he preached for two days before he finally died.
- Peter was crucified, at his request, upside down.
- Thomas was impaled by a spear.
- James the Great was beheaded.
- Phillip was thrown into prison, scourged and finally crucified.
- Matthew (conflicting accounts)
- he died a natural death or
- he angered a local king who ordered him nailed to a bed, covered his whole body with paper, brimstones, oil, asphalt and brushwood and set him on fire.
- Jude Thaddeus (conflicting accounts)
- he was crucified in Edessa, Turkey,
- clubbed to death
- Simon the Zealot was crucified
- John, the beloved apostle, was thrown in boiling oil but survived, to live to a ripe old age
If the disciples didn’t get everything they wanted can we expect to get whatever we want?
People Will Try to Kill You
Wouldn’t it be great if all Jesus’ promises to the disciples all applied to us?
Jesus said this in between those two promises...
John 16:2-3
2“They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. 3“These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.
- Jesus told them “they’re going to kill you”
This was just for the disciples not us
Same context that promises answers to your prayers
- “If they persecuted me you will be persecuted also”
Does the promise apply to us but not the threat?
Common Mistakes in Interpreting Scripture
Confusing a promise with a principle
Promises are always fulfilled.
- Principles state general truths
Example: the early bird catches the worm
The book of Proverbs is often mistaken for a book of promises, when in fact it is a book of principles.
Proverbs 22:6-7
6Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.
This is wise advice to follow not a promise from God
The principle of “train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6) is generally true and wise to heed. But it is not a guarantee that every child raised with godly instruction will remain a believer in Jesus.
Ignoring the context
We often apply a promise to ourselves before considering its original audience or its:
- historical
- cultural
- textual
context.
In some cases, a promise was made to a specific person for a specific reason and has no further application beyond its immediate context. In other cases, the application can only be properly made after the promise is understood in its original context.
Does this apply to us? ...
Exodus 33:21-23
21Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23“Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
- Does this apply to us?
- Is God promising if we stand in a rock He’ll show Himself to us?
- But the bible said it …
This is a recording of God’s conversation with Moses. It doesn’t apply to us.
You have to look at the context...
Overlooking the Conditions - “if”
Promises that contain an “If” require some form of obedience before we can expect them to come to pass in our lives. They are conditional. If we want to claim them, we had better be ready to act in obedience to what they require.
Often “if” promises of blessing are accompanied by corresponding “if” warnings about disobedience.
2 Chronicles 7:13-14
13 "If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people,
14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
- This is specifically applying the the “if’s” in the previous verse
- God lists 3 scenarios where this is applicable
- We can likely safely expand it to any situation where God is punishing for sins
- But not just for anything we want to stop happening
God is saying that if he is in the process of punishing the Israelites for sins that they have committed and they repent and humble themselves and cry out to him he will stop the punishment and revert the consequences.
We saw this promise fulfilled by Elijah
- After Elijah killed the prophets of Baal, the Israelites turned back to worshipping God
- After that, Elijah prayed to God and the rain came back
This is not to say that God won’t answer prayers from the church.
- But that’s not what that verse is saying.
- It is specifically referring to God ending the punishment for sin.
Choosing a promise selectively
We tend to celebrate God’s promises of blessing and sideline his promises of chastisement, though both point to a faithful God.
We tend to favor those promises that appeal to our own best-case scenario.
We feel like we can just randomly take any verse out of the bible and apply it to our situation.
Hebrews 12:6
6FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”
Limiting a promise to your own understanding
Even when we rightly recognize a promise as intended for us, we often impose our own understanding of exactly how it will be fulfilled. Or we are tempted to impose our own timeline on its fulfillment.
Intellectual Arrogance
To assume that you have a total understanding of the bible and that you understand all the ways that God works
The danger of intellect is that it tends towards pride and arrogance.
- It also falls in love with its own productions
- And then assumes that there is nothing outside of what it thinks
Using a promise selfishly
God’s promises to us should help us submit to his will, not bend Him to ours.
Creative Application
If we come up with an application that would have been foreign to the original audience, there is a very strong possibility that we did not interpret the passage correctly.
It Doesn’t Hurt To Ask
Luke 11:9-13
9“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10“For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. 11“Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12“Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
Whether you are 100% sure that the scripture applies to you or not… It doesn’t hurt to ask
The Danger of Blaming God
The damage only happens when you respond incorrectly to not getting the results you want
People become bitter and angry when they feel God let them down.
The worst thing I can do is lie to myself
- “God always lets me down”
- Negative self talk
What are you telling yourself?
If I say God promised to always heal and he doesn’t do it
- He’s a lier to you
- Because you believe it’s true to you
God let my loved one die
- God let me down so I’ll no longer go to church
You tell yourself God ...
- Doesn’t care about me
- Isn’t trustworthy
Be ever so careful what we say to ourselves or we may be blaming God and getting emotional about things He never taught
God Will Be With You
Are you seeking God’s hand or His face?
“I don’t pray that you take them out of the world, I pray that you protect them in the world”
God doesn’t always deliver us from problems
- Sometimes He holds our hands through them
God doesn’t say He’ll take us away from all of our troubles
- He says he’ll never leave you or forsake you
- God means He’ll be with you as you go through it
Gen 39:4
4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge
- Joseph found God’s favor, but Joseph was a slave
- The favor did not free him the favor gave him a good slave position
- Who would you consider favored?
- Joseph or his master?
Maybe you’re measuring success wrongly
Gen 39: 20
20So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the jail, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the jail. 21But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
- Joseph was in jail
- But Joseph was favored
- God was with Joseph but he was in jail
Being favored does not always involve being freed from your troubles
- Or solving your problems
Jail
Joseph was favored while in jail
Is your current situation worse than being in jail?
Prison toilets are used to:
- Wash clothes
- Communicate (like a walkie talkie to another cell)
- Cook - in a bag
- Hide contraband
- Workout
- Make prison wine
- Flush contraband
- Cooler
Would you rather be in jail with God or free and wealthy without God?
Are you seeking His hand or His face?
Presenter: Michael Leadon
Presenter: Michael Leadon
References
Is God Ignoring Me? Making Sense of God's Silence - Dr. Gary Habermas
Which Promises Are For Me?
The Many Uses Of Toilets In Prison…
Extra
Promise to the Disciples
John 15:7-10
7“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
Can I make the earth stop spinning?
Which commands are Jesus’?
John 15:17
17“This I command you, that you love one another.
Common Mistakes in Interpreting Scripture
Jeremiah 29:10-12
10“For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 12‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you
Yes, God does have a plan to prosper you and not to harm you (Jer. 29:11), but as in the case of the people to whom those words were originally written, that “you” is more likely a collective reference to the body of believers, and that plan may play out across centuries in ways we can’t possibly predict.
Proper biblical interpretation is built on the following principles:
1. Context. To understand fully, start small and extend outward: verse, passage, chapter, book, author and testament/covenant.
2. Try to come to grips with how the original audience would have understood the text.
3. Consider the width of the chasm between us and the original audience.
4. It’s a safe bet that any moral command from the Old Testament that is repeated in the New Testament is an example of a "timeless truth."
5. Remember that each passage has one and only one correct interpretation, but can have many applications (some better than others).
6. Always be humble and don’t forget the role of the Holy Spirit in interpretation. He has promised to lead us into all truth (John 16:13).
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