The Promise: Faithfulness & Fulfilment | 2 Corinthians 1:20 and Jeremiah 33:14-16

[0:00] Welcome to Ontario Community Church, where we're dedicated to encouraging, equipping, and engaging lives for Christ. Located in Ontario, Oregon, Pastor Patrick Daly preaches insightful sermons from the Word of God, offering practical applications for modern living.

[0:16] We're delighted to share this sermon with you. Well, good morning Ontario Community Church. It is great to be here this morning, and let me tell you, it's getting cold.

[0:28] They got the frost on the vehicles. I checked the weather this morning, 20 degrees. It says warm as can be. Gotta love that nice fall heat going on.

[0:40] No, I'm just kidding. It's definitely been a change of weather. It's definitely getting used to the temperature change here. It's just been really, really amazing.

[0:50] Well, today we are continuing our series on Journey to the Major. Prophets, promises, and the Prince of Peace. And I hope that all of you have your notes here today.

[1:02] We have quite a lot of reference verses, but don't worry, it'll be easy to understand. So we began this series about the idea of Christ coming from the stump, from the shoot of Jesse, and how Christ was to be born in Bethlehem.

[1:21] That was our first week, our second week, this last week. We talked about the idea of anticipation, that there was the telling of John the Baptist and the telling of Jesus Christ.

[1:35] That John the Baptist would prepare the way for Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ is like that refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. We had that imagery of soap that's washing a garment, so it will be suitable for the dying process, so changing the color in there.

[1:54] For Christ is the one who takes away the sins of the world. And he refines us in our spiritual walk when we believe in him.

[2:06] How many of you have seen change in your own life from when you first became a Christian? I am sure that all of us should be raising our hands, amen, because God molds us.

[2:17] God is the great potter and we are the clay. God molds us into the men and the women that God wants us to be. This leads us to our third week before our time in Advent.

[2:30] You know, Advent's coming up so soon. It's crazy, look, we're at the end of November. We're gonna be starting in December. It's the end of the year. What is going on here?

[2:40] So we're talking about the promise, and that's the title of the message for today, the promise, faithfulness and fulfillment.

[2:51] And the sermon today is gonna be based off of two verses, set of verses of scripture. And it's gonna be found in your notes. The first verse is going to be from the prophet Jeremiah.

[3:02] You'll see on your notes the key verses, Jeremiah chapter 33, right? It's gonna be verses 14 through 16. And it's gonna be from the prophet Jeremiah who is speaking how our God will fulfill the promise by providing a righteous branch who will spring up for David.

[3:25] And the beautiful thing is, is that we will learn that this is one of the great qualities about our God, about God the Father, that he keeps his promises, that our Lord, our God is constant.

[3:41] And I don't know about you, but I need a constant in my life. With so much technological changes, cultural changes, just changes every day.

[3:52] I'm getting tired of turning on the news and seeing all of the radical changes that are happening. We certainly need a constant in our life, and that constant is in our Lord, our God.

[4:02] The second verse we're gonna go into is Second Corinthians. It speaks of the idea of Christ being the fulfillment of all prophecy, of Christ being the yes, and how we say amen to that.

[4:18] And what a great God we believe in. One that is constant. Our God is holy. Our God is righteous. And our God will never leave you.

[4:30] He will never abandon you. But before we go any further, I'd like for us to take time to pray. Will you pray with me? Let's pray together. And Father, we come before you today as we are in our current situation, in our current circumstance.

[4:48] We're here in this present moment. As we are, we come before you. We thank you for being that solid rock, that firm foundation, that anchor for our souls, for our lives.

[5:01] We thank you for being everlasting to everlasting, the constant in our lives. For it is you, God. Yes, you. You are holy.

[5:12] You are mighty. You are strong. And you never fail us. And as we're learning today, Father, help us learn today that you fulfill your promises.

[5:24] You keep your promises. You are the Lord of our lives. And I pray for every single person who is here with us today, and those who are not here today.

[5:35] We pray for protection. We pray for your divine leading and guidance. And I pray for those who listen later today to our podcast or our video recording.

[5:48] I pray that you will be with all of us today, wherever we are at in our life. And Father, we realize that in this world that we live in, there's so much that it's changing, so much evil, so much inconsistency, so much confusion and such brokenness in this world.

[6:06] But you, God, provide the solution to that through your Son, Jesus, the Christ. You, God, give us an alternative to the fleeting things of this earth.

[6:17] For a life without you is meaningless, but a life to have a relationship with your Son by believing in Him is meaningful.

[6:27] You give us purpose, God, you give us potential. And most importantly, you provide salvation through your Son. We love you. We thank you for your Son, who is the living hope for the world.

[6:40] Be with us this morning as we go further into learning more about the promises that you keep. You are the promise keeper. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray, and we all say together, amen, amen.

[6:54] So our opening question, I wanna go ahead and put that on the screen here, is can you think of a time when someone made a promise to you and kept that promise?

[7:05] Or maybe you can think of a time when you made a promise to someone and you kept that promise. What I'd like you to do, let's turn to the person next to us, and let's give a couple minutes.

[7:15] Let's share a time when someone made a promise to you and fulfilled that promise, or when you made a promise and fulfilled in that. So let's go ahead and turn to those around us. All right.

[7:30] To fulfill a promise, to keep your word, to follow through on a commitment that you've made is a beautiful thing.

[7:41] Whether someone has made a promise to you and kept it, or whether you've made a promise to someone, right? It's that keeping of a promise. That's so beautiful, and we can think of human interactions, right?

[7:55] Our relationships with other people, our friends and our families, and the promises that are made. To give your word is something that is no different than making a promise to someone.

[8:07] Do you know what I mean when I say that? When you give your word to someone, your word should have weight to it. You know, as a child, I remember when my parents would always make sure that I was telling the truth.

[8:19] And I know as children, we have times where we may tell a story a little bit, a little bit more exaggerated, or completely, completely out there, right?

[8:29] And as parents, it's up to us to teach our children to tell the truth. And I remember when my parents, and even my grandparents, would always make sure that I'm telling the truth, and that when I gave my word, when I made a commitment to someone or to something.

[8:46] And of course, we're talking about fruitful things here, right? Seeing that that promise, that commitment, was fulfilled, that it was seen through to completion.

[8:57] And it wasn't always easy to do, right? Let's be honest here, when we're learning as children, it's like, oh, I have to keep going to baseball practice. I have to tell the truth. What do you mean? And you have to keep going.

[9:09] You have to make sure that the words that you say, the promises that you make, that you fulfill them. When you make a promise, do you keep it?

[9:20] Have you ever made a promise before to someone that you couldn't keep? I know that's always an unfortunate one, where you can't complete it, or you can't fulfill a commitment, or a promise that you've made before.

[9:32] I know with new years coming up, how many of us have, let's be honest here, we've made a new years resolution. A commitment to try a new habit, to go to the gym.

[9:43] I know I've done that one before. I'm gonna go to the gym every single day, and I don't follow through, right? Let's be honest here, that's happened before. Maybe you've made a promise to yourself. It seems so common now that there's a lot of promises that are made, but are we mindful of the promises that we make to people and follow through?

[10:03] How unfortunate is it for us not to be able to fulfill or to complete what we've started? Now let's think, as we've turned to those around us, we've talked about a time where a promise was kept.

[10:17] When what good feeling that is to see that promise fulfilled? How did it feel when you kept your word or when someone kept their word for you?

[10:27] It was a wonderful feeling, knowing that your word or their word had weight to it. And let's be mindful, and let's be aware when we make a commitment, we follow through, we see it through to completion.

[10:43] And this reminds me of God. The difference between us and God is God keeps his promises, every single time, right? And that's not for us to feel bad.

[10:54] I know we're human, right? We make mistakes and sometimes things happen, but let's think about God for a moment here. God fulfills all of his promises.

[11:05] God is consistent to the point where every promise he's made is fulfilled. Every covenant, every prophecy, it may not be fulfilled immediately, but it will be fulfilled.

[11:20] And that's the beauty of our God is that consistency, that knowing that God will fulfill all of his promises. For God is the promise keeper, he is the light in the darkness, that constant, that consistency in, well, in our lives.

[11:38] It's something that is beyond this world, isn't it? You know, when we hear about things on the radio or things in the news, people breaking their promise, but our God does not break his promise.

[11:52] God's love, for example, is everlasting. God will never abandon and God's love never fails. And this leads us to our first reading, which is found in Jeremiah chapter 33, verses 14 through 16.

[12:06] Let's turn our Bibles here, because what we're gonna see here is that this is one of many examples of where God has seen it through, where God fulfills his promises.

[12:18] Our God is faithful, isn't he? Let's turn to page 787 in our ESVP Bible, or Jeremiah 33, verses 14 through 16.

[12:30] And that should be on the screen. 787. All right.

[12:43] All right, are we all there? All right. Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord. When I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

[12:58] In those days at that time, I will cause a righteous branch. It's a key word right there, right? A righteous branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

[13:13] In those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called. The Lord is our righteousness.

[13:25] We start off with verse 14, where it says, behold, the days are coming, right? It's a declaration from the Lord. God is saying, behold, or see here, or listen up, that there's going to be days in the future, the days are coming where God will fulfill his promise.

[13:43] Now, sometimes when God makes a promise, like I said, it may not happen immediately, but it will happen one way or another. God will fulfill his promise. And right off the bat, contextually, God specifically is talking about a promise that was made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

[14:04] We can come to the understanding that God is speaking here to the 12 tribes. For our God is not a liar. God is truth, and God will never fail us.

[14:16] When God is saying that the days are coming, it's prophetic language, right? The days are coming, right? In the future, this will happen. It's divine declaration in the timeframe in which this will be fulfilled is God's timing.

[14:30] When God is saying that he will fulfill the promise, you must understand that there are many promises or many prophecies that have been made to be fulfilled.

[14:41] In your notes, you'll see in Isaiah 11, 1 through 10, you don't have to turn there. We went over in our first week the idea of the shoot of the stump of Jesse, which was its prophetic language of the coming of Jesus Christ out of the Davidic lineage.

[15:00] In other words, there's the genealogy, right? There is the lineage that is supposed to lead to Christ. So that was one of the verses here. We talked about Micah 5, 2, which spoke of a ruler who had come out of Bethlehem.

[15:14] So these are all promises of the coming of Jesus Christ. Now, these are not only the prophecies in regards to what we're talking about, the coming of Jesus Christ, but we're also talking about a ruler.

[15:32] I want us to keep in mind, in 2 Samuel, chapter 7, verse 12, there's a mention of the Davidic throne that will be established forever.

[15:43] So there's always going to be that lineage that exists. And although that's not the scope of this message, I'm just bringing all of this to show you that God will fulfill, God will see to it, and God will make sure that his promises are fulfilled, that Jesus Christ, as we've talked about in week one, will come through the stump of Jesse, will be born in Bethlehem.

[16:04] He's like the refiner's fire. He's like the fuller soap. The verse is talking about the house of Israel, the house of Judah, the 12 tribes of the kingdom of Israel.

[16:16] So what is being said here, we are talking about, behold, listen up, the days are coming. I will fulfill the promise. Well, what promise are we talking about?

[16:26] That goes to the next verse in verse 15. In those days, we're talking about the future time, I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, talking about the lineage that Christ is going to be the fulfillment of the genealogy, so to speak.

[16:45] The language is talking about, like I said, the future time period where God promises, where God's prophecy will be fulfilled. The righteous branch is speaking of Jesus Christ.

[16:58] And what's great about this is it's the same similar language that we found in the Isaiah passage. Talking about out of the stump of Jesse, there will be a branch.

[17:10] Same language here. There will be a righteous branch in this specific verse. Just as there was mention about the chute of the stump of Jesse, so too is there the reference to the righteous branch that comes up from David.

[17:23] I want us to turn to these additional verses. We don't have to turn to there. But I'm just showing you about how God is making promises that will be fulfilled by the coming of Jesus Christ.

[17:36] The Isaiah passage, like we talked about, the chute from the stump of Jesse, the Zachariah passage, the branch who will build the temple, Matthew 1 1, the royal lineage of David through Joseph's line, Luke 3 23 through 28, the genealogy from Adam, Romans 1 3, Paul is identifying Christ as a descendant of David.

[18:01] And then in your notes here, Revelation 22, 16, Jesus himself is proclaiming himself as the root and the descendant of David.

[18:11] And I'm saying all of this to show the connections with the other verses in scripture that show that Christ is from David's lineage and that Christ is a fulfillment of God's promises.

[18:22] I know that's a lot here. But it's just saying there's a righteous branch that's coming from David's line. That is prophetic language that is speaking of the coming of Jesus Christ.

[18:35] In other words, here is one of many verses that's talking about the coming of Jesus Christ. And that is going to be fulfilled when Jesus is born in a manger.

[18:46] All of it lines up. It's showing the consistency of God. The verse goes on to say that the righteous branch shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

[18:56] Christ executes justice and righteousness by coming to earth, by being born in the manger, by conducting his earthly ministry, his healings, his teachings, his example, showing himself as the fulfillment of the old covenant.

[19:14] Just as Christ said on the cross, it is finished. So all of this, let's think about this. The righteous branch coming forth from David's lineage is going to execute justice and righteousness.

[19:32] Christ lived a sinless life. He took upon the sins of the world by becoming the sacrificial lamb, the lamb that was slain, the atoning sacrifice by going to the cross to die once and for all for those who believe, whoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life.

[19:56] You see, in the Old Testament, all of these prophecies are pointing to the coming of Jesus Christ when we're talking about the righteous branch, the stump of Jesse, the ruler from Bethlehem.

[20:09] All of these are all pointing to Jesus Christ, who is the savior of the world, who's changing the course of history.

[20:21] God sent his son to earth to make salvation available for all who believe. And this is the core of Christianity that all who believe shall receive salvation.

[20:33] We then go to verse 16, where it says here, in those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name which is to be called, the Lord is our righteousness.

[20:46] There will come a day where the people of God will be saved. There will be a time of peace and security. Contextually speaking, the prophet Jeremiah is speaking of deliverance to God's people from the dark days that the people of God were facing.

[21:05] At the time, the prophet Jeremiah is speaking of a time where the Jewish people will live in a time of peace and security. But it's also speaking of a time where Christ will provide salvation by being the righteous branch.

[21:20] And this is the great lesson that we can learn here, that even in the midst of dark times where there seems to be no hope, there is hope in Jesus Christ.

[21:31] There is salvation. There is security. There is safety in knowing who Christ is. For Christ being that righteous branch is a beautiful language that is describing what is to come.

[21:45] And that's what gets us excited about this Advent season, is we are remembering. We are preparing the way, so to speak, for Christ to be born in the manger.

[21:56] There's the wording in that verse 16, the Lord is our righteousness. Now what's very interesting about this is that phrasing is only found, you'll see it in your notes, with the little asterisk here, the Lord is our righteousness.

[22:11] It's only found two times in scripture in that specific wording. And it's only found in Jeremiah. The Lord is our righteousness. It's saying here, it's describing the name and the attribute of God.

[22:27] And it's showing that God being our righteousness will provide a way for us to be righteous in Him. Did you know in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21, it says, for our sake, God made Him, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin.

[22:49] So that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God. And so there is existing a connection here, that God provided His Son that we can be saved from the wages of sin, which is death, and that we can receive life everlasting, that we can no longer be separate from God but closer.

[23:10] Because to be disconnected from God is no different than being separated from the Lord. You might have heard me say this before, but sin separates us from God.

[23:20] And God is providing a way for us to be connected, reconnected with Him. Despite sin being in our lives, God provided a way through His Son.

[23:31] And this is our Lord, our God, that He delivers on His promises. What was said so long ago, we here, we today, can discover the love, the consistency of our God, that all of these promises that you're seeing in your notes are to be fulfilled.

[23:51] And they are to be fulfilled in Christ. If we go to our second verse in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20 on page 1145, it's saying here, 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20.

[24:18] Let's read it together. For some of the promises, none of the promises. Now what does it say? For all the promises of God find their what, their yes in Him.

[24:35] And that is why it is through Him that we utter our what? Our amen.

[24:45] What powerful language. Our amen to God for His glory. In a world of uncertainty, again, we find consistency in God.

[24:59] All of the promises that God made, they find their yes in Him, their yes in Christ. That is why through Him we say amen.

[25:11] Because when we say amen, we are saying yes. I believe, or as it has been defined before, let it be.

[25:23] So be it. I believe there's different ways to interpret that. Contextually speaking in this verse, the apostle Paul is speaking of the change in his plans.

[25:33] He's reminding the church in Corinth that he had his intention to visit the people. But because of the change in plans, people were questioning Paul's reliability, right?

[25:45] Sometimes when our plans change, sometimes we get a little upset about that. But Paul is going on by defending himself, but he's also defending the faith by defending the consistency of God.

[25:56] Paul is basically saying, just because you think I'm inconsistent, God is not inconsistent. I need you to understand that. Now, sometimes our plans change. Sometimes things happen, just like when we were talking about earlier, about our promises.

[26:12] Sometimes we make a commitment and we can't see it through. Things just happen. But when it comes to the matters of God, God will keep his promises and it will be seen through to completion every single time.

[26:28] Paul is saying that no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ. And we respond by saying amen.

[26:40] That's just a wonderful language here because the yes is an affirmation. It is a certain type of yes. This yes is that God is what God promises God will fulfill.

[26:54] In other words, Christ is the yes for the promises that have been made. How remarkable is that? That Christ is the answer.

[27:06] That Christ is the yes. And when we think about it, we say amen. It's a firm yes. It's a declaration.

[27:17] It's an affirmation. When we say amen, we say I believe. We're saying yes in response to what God has done for us, to the promises that God has committed to us.

[27:31] Just think about that. Well, the question that comes up is, how does Christ, being the yes to God's promises, affect us today? I want us to think about that. Because Christ is the yes, that should affect us.

[27:45] That should affect us in how we live our lives. If we don't know the Lord by Christ being the yes, we can respond to God's call for our lives by having that relationship, by believing in the Lord.

[27:59] And for those of us who believe in the Lord, our yes, our response to amen, is through the things that we do in the name of God. We are saved by grace through faith.

[28:10] It is through belief. And through that belief, in that belief, in that salvation, we go and respond to what God has called us to do. And in a world that is full of uncertainty, in a world that is full of broken promises, inconsistency, the truth of God should provide us stability and hope in our lives.

[28:32] We need hope more than ever, my friends, especially when we hear of, I'm getting really tired of turning on the news. I don't know why I do it.

[28:42] How many of you guys have found a good thing on the news recently? Can you name one story? Because it used to be, OK, you might have a cute story about a dog returning to their owner.

[28:58] You might have a cute story. Where are those stories anymore? I feel like every time I turn on any sort of television network, it's all negative. Bashing politicians, talking about the economy, talking about the job market, all of it's so negative.

[29:16] It brings you down. But with all of that, though, we need hope in our lives. We need Christ, because Christ provides hope for us.

[29:27] And in all of this, I want us to think, I want to tell you a real short story about my grandfather.

[29:40] My grandfather being a hard worker, a good man of God, would always tell me as a kid, you always tell the truth. As far as I can remember, tell the truth.

[29:52] Why he would say this is because seeing through to completion the commitment you've made, talking about your word. And I remember as a kid, I'm like, yeah, whatever, grandpa, whatever.

[30:05] One of the last words he told me before he went home to be with the Lord, tell the truth. That was the most consistent lesson I ever got from my grandfather, is to tell the truth.

[30:19] And in context of his life was, you tell the truth because your word should have weight. It should be consistent. And it reminds me of our God, that our God is constant, and that he sees through with his promises that our God is faithful.

[30:38] And that is an encouragement for us to be like our Lord, to see through to completion our promises, to be a promise keeper.

[30:50] And so what we've seen for this is just keep in mind that Christ being the yes, how do we respond to that?

[31:05] So let's think about that as we close our time for today. As we close our time here together, I want us to take to heart the truth that is found in God's word, that God keeps all of his promises.

[31:21] Just as the example as we have learned today, I want us to remember today that God was providing a what? A righteous branch. Can you say that with me? A righteous branch.

[31:32] Because when somebody asks you, what did you learn in church today, God provided a righteous branch. And what is the righteous branch? That is Jesus Christ.

[31:42] And so that is what our takeaway. It's just a simple takeaway. God providing the righteous branch, the coming of Jesus Christ.

[31:52] Let us take to heart that the word of God is living, and that it is active, and that Christ is the yes to God's promises.

[32:03] And that we, as the people of God, we say amen to the God who provides salvation, who is always there for us, who keeps his promises, and will never leave or forsake us.

[32:16] Let's pray together. And Heavenly Father, we are in awe of who you are, that you are that constant, and that you never change, and that your love is everlasting, and that you never fail.

[32:32] We thank you for showing us in your word that you keep your promises, and that you have provided a way in salvation through your Son Jesus Christ. As we have read today, you are providing that righteous branch who is Jesus Christ.

[32:48] And what we've also learned today, may we take to heart, may we implement in our lives that Jesus is the yes. May we remember that from today.

[32:58] May we be inspired by your word. We ask for strength, wisdom, and guidance in our everyday lives. Help us to live this life knowing that you are the promise keeper, and that your Son is the yes to your promises.

[33:15] May we remember that. And may we respond by saying amen to you for you and your honor and your glory. It is in the holy and the mighty name of Jesus that we pray.

[33:28] And we all say together, amen. Thank you for tuning in to the Ontario Community Church Sermon podcast. For more about our church and how you can get involved or support our mission, please visit ontariocommunitychurch.org.

[33:44] May God's blessings be with you.