Focal Point

Pastor Mike Fabarez: The little bumper sticker, have you ever seen it? Try God. Have you seen that one? Try God. Come on, I know it sounds too good to be true, just give it a shot.

If he's God, what he says we bow down to. I'm telling you sometimes it won't fit immediately with your reason, sometimes it won't fit immediately with what you think God should be, but you better embrace it because God is God.

Guest (Male): There was a time when agreements were made with a handshake, but today's transactions are usually accompanied by lengthy contracts and legal jargon. Why? Well, because a person's word isn't always trustworthy. Thankfully, God doesn't operate that way.

Welcome to Focal Point with author and pastor Mike Fabarez. Today we're in a series in the book of Hebrews called "When God Makes a Promise." For the next half hour, we'll explore why we can be absolutely confident in everything God says. Our message is titled "Impeccable Promises and Divine Character."

Pastor Mike Fabarez: I'd like you to open your Bibles right now and turn to the middle of the book of Hebrews chapter six. The writer of Hebrews is giving us reasons to be assured that what God says is true. The point of it is this: If you will get to the place where the writer of Hebrews is, you'll find your attitude, your life is totally turned around. As a matter of fact, you will be as the text is about to tell us, greatly encouraged.

Take a look at it. We're coming off the heels of the story of Abraham who becomes for us a template of how God fulfills his promises. He doesn't answer right away all the time, but you can be sure he's going to come through. If he said it, he's going to do it. So much so that in the middle of Abraham's life, he gave him a promise and confirmed it with an oath.

Here's where the text picks up, verse number 16. The Bible says men swear by someone greater than themselves and that's still going on today when people lay their hand on a Bible in a courtroom and say so help me God. Truth, whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help me God. God doesn't have anybody greater to swear by. Who's he going to say, so help me who? Who's he going to swear by? He's got to swear by himself.

Which is exactly what he did. When he did that, much like an oath in a courtroom, it should be a place where people say if he's doing that then I guess we'll believe him. All the disputing, if that's what he's saying, if he's willing to commit to it on oath, okay fine. The Bible says God went to that extent with Abraham because, verse 17, he wanted to make the unchangeable nature of his purpose very clear.

Not just to Abraham. Here's the interesting part: To the heirs of what was promised. Now that's not just Abraham and it's not just singular Isaac. This is, as the New Testament continually says, everyone who falls under the umbrella of the Abrahamic covenant, which is not only the nation of Israel, but those who through the coming of the son of Abraham, the ultimate son of Abraham, Jesus himself, would be brought into this promise of the blessing.

Therefore, the writer of Hebrews sees us, not just Jews but Gentiles as well, as heirs of the promise. That's why the Bible says God confirmed his promise to Abraham with an oath. He did this, here's the purpose clause, verse 18, so that by two unchangeable things, what are they? The promise and the oath.

I promised Abraham. He promised in chapter 12, he promised in chapter 15, he promised in chapter 17 of Genesis, he confirms it on oath in chapter 22. I swear, he says by myself, solemnly swear. I'm not lying to you Abraham. You've waited for years, but I'm telling you your promise of offspring through you and all the world being blessed, that's going to be true.

So here it goes, purpose. We who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be, here's the whole punchline of the whole three verses, greatly encouraged. That's what he wants. God wants us to be encouraged. Encouraged by the fact that what he said is true and no matter what makes you think it's not going to happen, you ought to be encouraged because God's telling you the truth. And because of that, he wants us to be greatly encouraged.

The book of Hebrews has a lot to say about Abraham. I'd like you to go to the end of the book. I know you know chapter 11 and I don't want to steal the thunder there, but there's so many things said about Abraham himself and how he showed faith and resilience and, on the flip side, how God showed himself to be faithful to the covenant.

Not only would there be this great savior to come from Abraham's lineage, there would be a blessing. Remember, the point was I'm going to bless you. Not just will you bless the nations through your descendants, you, Abraham, will be blessed. Well, he had a lot of problems, I know, like leaving Ur of the Chaldeans, leaving Haran in Southern Iraq, moving to a place he didn't know, being a nomad.

In Hebrews 11, God was with him. God blessed him. Even in the crisis of faith on Mount Moriah when he was told to kill his son Isaac. When it was all said and done, who was there? God was, providing what? A ram caught in the bush. Here, I'm with you. I'm going to bless you. I'm going to be with you. I'm going to strengthen you. I'm going to be your paraclete. You're going to be okay.

Bottom of the book, end of the book, chapter 13. Final exhortations in the book. He says this, look at verse number five: Keep yourself free from the love of money, Hebrews 13:5, and be content with what you have. Now that seems totally unrelated, but it's not because here's the thing. Some people having financial problems, we already found out in the book of Hebrews that their property was being seized and they're going home without stuff that they'd worked hard for.

He says don't worry about it. Why? Because there's a promise, Abrahamic promise being fulfilled, not just a hundred years from now, but even right now. Here it is: I will never leave you and I'll never forsake you. That's true for us, he says, verse six. So we can say with confidence: The Lord is my helper, my paraclete. He props me up. He helps me through this.

I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Paul's going to say lots. Sit down and I'll tell you a story of all the things they've done to me. Oh, but they're inconsequential ultimately because my 100-year plan is solved and between here and there he's never going to leave me and he's going to help me in the midst of my trial. He's going to give me grace.

You've got to have faith in the promises of God to get to that place. Then he gives some examples and they flooded their minds back with their leaders, not just the Abrahamic patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, but guys that actually taught them. He said remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you.

Perhaps Paul was one of those. Writer of Hebrews wasn't Paul, obviously, but maybe they'd heard of his trials and his struggles and early on they'd been exposed to his teaching. He says consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their, what does this take? Circle it. What's it take? Faith. You've got to trust God.

Be encouraged by God's promises. I don't have time to get into the details of all the promises of Scripture, obviously, and just spend some time looking at all the things God says he will do. When you're reviled, you're earning rewards in heaven. When you're hurt, he's close to the brokenhearted. I mean, you go on and on and on.

God is a God who keeps his promises. So be encouraged by his promises. That's what the whole point of this paragraph's about. Back to Hebrews chapter six and jump into the middle of verse number 18. There was a little phrase and I said it was parenthetical, but I think it's important for us to pause here and to examine what he's saying. To try and ponder the implications of this in the middle of verse 18.

God did this, did what? He made a promise and then made an oath. Those are the two unchangeable things. Then he throws in this phrase, in which it is impossible for God to lie, so that we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. That little phrase is worth stopping and saying now let's think about that.

Because when we were kids on the playground and the atheist's son walks up to us and says hey can God do anything? We always said sure. Then he popped off with that smart-aleck question, well can he make a rock so big he can't move it? And we were like oh dude, darn, I don't know, no yes, yes no. And we struggled with that.

Because our childish theology was God can do anything. The Bible clearly says God can't do anything. There are some things God cannot do. There are some impossibilities with God and those things, and it may seem counterintuitive, are the things that should encourage us the most. They should assure us.

The Bible says it is impossible for God to lie. Let's examine that. Steal part of this concept and I developed it throughout the rest of Scripture, but John Owen in his classic 13-volume commentary on Hebrews, he says you know just remember this: Every promise of God is built on four pillars. The more I read that and examined that and thought of that, it's true.

How is it that God cannot lie? Well, because his character does not allow it. Because there are things his character will not allow, because the minute he allows those, he ceases to be God. Therefore, we can be assured by that. I put it this way: Be assured by God's impossibilities. There are things that God cannot do because of the nature of who God is.

That is so important for us to catch. Be assured by God's impossibilities. By the way, can God make a rock so big that he can't move it? Yes or no? Say no with confidence. No way, man. Ain't no way God can make a rock so big. Well, he can't do anything then. That's where you say to the grade school bully, you're absolutely right, atheist punk.

He can't. And you should say I am so glad he can't. Because if God could do anything then we don't have God. Because God by the nature of his perfection, he has to limit himself in areas. Including the first one I want to talk about based on a most fundamental attribute.

I want us to state the most basic attribute of God. The one that if you put angels flying around in the presence of God they would just start spurting out. They would say what about God? Holy, holy, holy. So jot it down. God is holy. What does holy mean? Holy means you are perfect, you are set apart from sin, you cannot sin.

Now God lying is a big statement. Picture it this way. Don't miss this distinction. God lying is a big statement. That means what he says he does, okay? That's the point. Now the aspects of that are number one. One aspect of that, and John Owen is right in this, the first pillar is that he's holy.

And if he's holy, there's one thing that can lead to lying or one thing that constitutes lying, and that is, and you need to understand this as a subset, is deception. If you're holy and perfect and set apart from sin, you cannot deceive. Put that on the other side of the pointy finger. God is holy, therefore he can't deceive, okay?

Now think about it. I can say things that aren't true and not be engaged in deception. Your kids do that sometimes? And you realize I know you didn't mean to deceive me here. You misspoke, you said it wrong, you didn't have enough information, you couldn't see how this would be, but whatever, you still said something that wasn't true.

Now that's what we mean by we saying God cannot lie. Well, the first part of it is he will never deceive. Why won't he deceive? Because he's holy. If he deceives anyone, he's not holy. And when he ceases to be holy, he ceases to be God. So he cannot deceive. He has to tell you forthrightly the truth with good motives and good intentions.

So he says to us, trust in my Son and you will march into the kingdom and I will say blessed are you. Come on into this great place prepared for you from the foundation of the world. You do that and I'll do this. Now how do I know he's not lying? Well, the first thing is I know he would never deceive.

The problem with how we view God sometimes is based on our view of God. We start to bring God down to a place where he is a lot more like us. And if he's a lot like us, then he starts to appear as a guy kind of offering something on an infomercial. He's got some good thing here and it's this great product, it's called Jesus, and so come on.

It reminds me of the swap meet. Do you go to the Orange County swap meet sometimes? Now I don't mind going to the swap meet and it's fine walking down the aisles of the swap meet, but every now and then you get to the guy who's there on a little platform of some kind with that little microphone like right here.

And he's yelling at you about his shoe cleaner or his pots and pans thing or his wok or whatever. I don't know what else they sell with the microphone. Mops, right? I don't know what they got. All kinds of stuff. Now those are the things that kind of irritate you. And yet what they say is amazing. And not only is it amazing, they're trying to show you examples.

Look at this tennis shoe. It looked like that, that's the left one, this is the right one, look, it's amazing. You need some of this. And so my wife and I walk by and go well maybe, maybe there's something there. I'll keep your shoes clean for the next two years. That's too good to be true. Doesn't sound right. So here you are you're just kind of evaluating it.

And then you may be so enamored with the pitch that you walk over and you say okay I'll try it. How much is it? Okay, all right, I'll buy some. We'll try it out. Now someone like God who makes a promise to us is not a pitchman at the swap meet where we try his product. And you say well nobody thinks that way. Oh yes, they do think that way. The little bumper sticker, have you ever seen it? Try God. Have you seen that one?

Try God. Like a tennis shoe cleaner, maybe he'll work for you, right? Well just try him out. Come on, I know it sounds too good to be true, but just give it a shot. As opposed to a transcendent God who speaks from heaven as Isaiah 66 says and people who hear him speak and what he says is so true because he's so perfect and he would never say something that is wrong. We would all, as Isaiah 66, just tremble at his word.

We don't go wow let me evaluate. Let's put God on trial here and see maybe, maybe let's check it out. We don't check it out. If he's God, what he says we bow down to. I'm telling you sometimes it won't fit immediately with your reason, sometimes it won't fit immediately with what you think God should be, but you better embrace it because God is God.

And when people start mixing that up, they start believing things they shouldn't believe and they start putting God on trial. I know this is hard because we're always taught in Sunday school Job is such a righteous guy. But in the Old Testament Job, and I know he's presented to us in the beginning of Job as a righteous guy and at the end of Job as a righteous guy, but in the middle, don't things get a little messed up there?

In the middle, Job is putting God on trial, is he not? Oh come on God, get down here, you said this and that and you're not doing it and I don't know God, I want a hearing. Bring God down, let's talk to him. He wants to put God on trial. And you know how God responds to that?

First of all, he listens to all the peanut gallery come, his three friends and then the fourth one Elihu. He's a little brighter, but they're all sitting here talking about God, God well maybe God maybe this. God says fine okay I'm ready, I'll talk now. And you remember how the book of Job ends? What's the last part of the book of Job about?

It's like a walk through the zoo and the planetarium or something. Have you read the last four or five chapters of Job? God goes off. I mean he goes off for chapters on dinosaurs and hippopotamus and fish and bizarre just stars and the planets and the earth. What's God doing right there?

God spends chapters trying to say who are you talking about here, Job? Can you put me back where I belong and put you back where you belong? Do you know how that all ends? Job chapter 40. This is worth looking at. Turn to Job 40. Job finally after all of his debating and wanting to put God on trial, here's what he says. Really doubting, that's what the middle of the book of Job is all about. It's about doubt.

Look at verse three. After all this discussion for chapters about this, God says do you want to do it again? It's like a kid who gets in trouble for poking his sister in the eye and after the discipline, Mom says you want to do it again? Go ahead. Come on. Go ahead you want to poke her in the eye again?

He says this, verse two: "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?" You got something to correct me on now? You just had a lesson on I'm God and you're not. "Let him who accuses God answer him." I'm waiting Job, you got something to say? Think I'm not fair? Think things I've said aren't going to come true? Think my promises are in question?

Job answered the Lord, here's the only answer Job has: "I am unworthy. How can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth." And God says thank you. "I spoke once, but I have no answer. Twice, I'll say no more."

And he's not done yet. God just goes on. Lord spoke to Job out of the storm: Brace yourself like a man. I'm going to I want you to answer a few things for me, okay? I'll question you, you answer me. Dude, I got the point. You're God, I'm not. I'll shut up now.

Do you see how that works? When we can get God back to the place where he is God, then we open his book as Isaiah 66 says with some fear and trembling and we believe it. We don't put it on trial. We say this is what God said. That's different than most people approaching Bible study these days.

Because God cannot deceive. He's not going to lead us astray in his words. One more passage just to tie this all together real quick. Go to Proverbs 30. Proverbs chapter 30. Now I'm sure because it comes as an appendage to the collection of proverbs mostly by Solomon, this guy who adds these to Solomon's wise proverbs who was the wisest of all, he's going to be very humble. And he is here.

As a matter of fact, verse three he says "I haven't learned wisdom. Nor have I knowledge of the Holy One." Now of course he's writing in the Bible here so he knows God, but he says man I don't have a profound understanding of the Holy One. And it's interesting he calls him the Holy One, the perfect one.

"Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who's gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who's wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who's established all the ends of the earth? What's his name and the name of his son? Tell me if you know."

The next thing he says is a natural complement to seeing God high and exalted. Verse five: "Every word of God is flawless." I'm not going to sit on judgment on it. I'm going to stand back and listen to it and I'm going to believe it. "He's a shield to those who take refuge in him. Don't add to his words." No, don't do it. Job did it and he got in trouble for it. "He'll rebuke you and prove you a liar."

And then the next thing practically for his Christian life if you will that he says: "Two things I ask of you, O Yahweh, do not refuse me before I die. Keep falsehood and lies far from me." I want to fellowship with the Holy One and I know one thing about the Holy One: When he speaks, it's flawless, it's perfect.

Read Psalm 119 on the way home, take the long route home, okay? Have your wife or somebody in the car just start reading that to you. God's words we ought to stand back and say wow. God can't deceive us. He's not going to deceive us. Why? Because he's holy.

If he's holy and perfect, he's going to tell us the truth. That's why 2 Timothy 2:11 quotes one of the early Christian hymns. When they got together for worship, they started writing some new songs. We had 150 psalms in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, we see them quoted from time to time.

Paul says this to Timothy about a song they were singing in the early church. 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 11: Paul says these lyrics, they're trustworthy: "This is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we'll also live with him." If we are identified with him in his death, then we're going to live with him. We trust in his death, we're going to live with him.

Verse 12: "If we endure, we're going to reign with him. And if we disown him," if we reject him, if Christ is presented and his message is presented and we reject him, "then he'll also reject us." Last phrase: "If we're faithless, He will remain faithful." Why? Here's another cannot: "He cannot disown himself." He can't say it and then change.

That's the God we have. He doesn't deceive. It's not contingent. It's unconditional stuff we're talking about in the Bible. Be assured by God's impossibilities. First of all, that he's holy. He cannot lie. Pillar number one: Because he's holy. And if he's holy he won't deceive us, okay?

But there are times I don't try to deceive my kids. I don't. I tell them stuff and I mean it. Hey this summer we're going to a Padres game, you can count on it, okay? I say that in May. Then it's September and they say hey Dad, where's the Padres game? We're back to school now man, you didn't do it for us.

Now I'm thinking to myself I should have done it. But it wasn't because I was mean when I said it and I was deceived, I'm going to tell them I'm going to take them to a game and I'm really not. Live with that disappointment. No, I mean it. Sometimes I say oh I probably did say that, I just don't remember.

If God cannot lie, pillar number one, he is holy and if he's holy he cannot deceive us. But there's another reason someone might lie to us and tell us something that's not true and it's not because they're deceiving us, it can be because they don't remember and that's true for us all the time.

Number two pillar here: God is omniscient. He's omniscient. And if he's omniscient, here's the thing: He can't forget. He can't forget. In 2 Peter chapter 3, here's how Peter puts it: Oh I know God promised stuff a long time ago. He said but remember this: He said a thousand years is like a day and a day is like a thousand years.

Now some people think that's some eschatological equation and they're going off making all kinds of charts. It's not about eschatology and making charts. It's about this: God didn't forget. I'm God, I'm God and I remember everything.

Guest (Male): We can be confident that God won't forget any of his promises. You're listening to Focal Point and the message from Mike Fabarez titled "Impeccable Promises and Divine Character." If you've missed any portion, you can find these teachings, along with Pastor Mike's sermon notes, over on our website focalpointradio.org.

Or bring us along wherever life takes you by downloading the Focal Point app at no cost from your App Store or subscribe to the Focal Point podcast. Well along with a guarantee comes hope for its fulfillment. But when we've experienced repeated letdowns, it's easy to give up on hope entirely.

Perhaps as you listen today, you couldn't help thinking about all the ways life hasn't turned out the way you expected. Well, we've set aside a book that we think you'll enjoy. It's titled "All the Promises of the Bible" by Herbert Lockyer.

This exhaustive resource catalogs every divine promise found in Scripture, organizing them thematically and explaining their significance for your life today. You'll discover fresh confidence in God's faithfulness as you explore his unchanging commitments to his people. Just request the book "All the Promises of the Bible" when you give over the phone by dialing 888-320-5885 or go online to focalpointradio.org.

Here at Focal Point our mission is straightforward: Proclaim God's Word through careful verse-by-verse teaching that equips believers to live faithfully for Christ. We're committed to delivering biblical truth without compromise, helping listeners develop a deeper understanding of Scripture and apply it to everyday life.

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If you've been blessed by these daily programs, we invite you to join us in this mission through a generous donation today. Simply call 888-320-5885 or go online to focalpointradio.org. Well next time we'll continue our discussion about the promises of God. Come back for more Bible teaching with Pastor Mike Fabarez Thursday right here on Focal Point.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Pastor Mike here. You know we live in a culture where every point of view demands affirmation. It'd be easy to tell people what they want to hear. But we must teach the Bible accurately, unapologetically, and without compromising and without editing it. God's Word is true. If you want to send me a question, I encourage you to get in touch with us at focalpointradio.org.

Guest (Male): Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.