Rev. David Holwick F
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
February 24, 2002
Genesis 28:20-22
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I. It's often a hair thing.
A. My daughter Rebecca's shaved head.
1) She was cut, shaved, then painted. Pretty bizarre.
2) Foolish college prank, sign of insanity, or divine vow?
B. Not quite a Nazarite.
1) Bible study on Acts with James Brafford. Acts 18:18
a) Apostle Paul cuts off his hair for a vow.
b) Why did Paul the Christian make a Jewish vow?
1> Some commentators - he sinned!
[i.e., Roy Aldrich, Bib Sac, April 1951, page 172]
2> It was no sin for him to follow Jewish practices.
He didn't make them binding on others.
2) Paul the Nazarite. Num 6:2ff
a) Paul had no problem with Jewish practices.
1> They were not a requirement for Gentiles - or him.
b) Vow is similar to what Samson and others practiced.
1> Long hair was a reminder they were committed to God.
3) Cutting ends vow, doesn't start it.
a) Cut hair was offered as a burnt offering in Jerusalem.
b) Best that Becca can say is she is having a daily Bible
study with her fellow baldies...
II. People have always made promises to God.
A. Important part of religious life in Old Testament.
1) Sealed with specific offerings.
2) You can't promise God what already belongs to him (tithes).
3) Usually a tit-for-tat understanding.
a) Jacob promises to tithe - if God protects him. Gen 28:20
b) Most promises/vows are actually bargains.
1> If God does this for me...
c) Covenant relationship is not a negotiation.
1> God proposes, we accept. No negotiation.
2> We can promise anything we want but he is under
no obligation to give us something in return.
B. Promises can have unintended consequences.
1) Promises must be kept. Numbers 30:2
a) They are not required, but if made, must be kept.
b) Can't break vows you don't make to begin with.
1> Keep your promises. Deut 23:22-23
Back in the 1970s a young man came up to Pastor Ray Stedman
after a service.
He was rather nervous and very disturbed, and he said, "I want
to tell you a story."
So the pastor sat down with him and he told him, "Two years
ago I was in Vietnam.
Our company was pinned down under an enemy barrage.
I was in an exposed position, bullets were whistling over my
head, shrapnel was exploding all around me, and I was
scared stiff.
I was sure I would not get out of there alive.
I prayed and cried out to God (he was already a Christian):
'Lord, I know what you want: you want me to enter the
ministry.
If you'll get me back safely, I'll go to school and
start training for it.'
And God answered that prayer and brought me back safely."
Then he said that the minute he got out of the Army he went
into business and started making money.
He put the promise in the back of his mind.
"But," he said, "you know, an amazing thing has happened.
At first I made lots of money.
I was a success.
I almost forgot this promise I had made, and I thought God had
forgotten it.
But strange things have been happening recently.
Despite the general success of my type of business, despite
the favorable conditions for business, despite everything
I can do, I've been gradually losing money.
In very odd ways my business has been falling apart, and, just
yesterday, I lost the whole thing.
I know what God is saying to me.
He has taken me at my word.
He has taken my business away, and I know what I've got to do.
I just wanted you to hear the story.
I don't need any advice; I know what God wants me to do."
He enrolled in seminary the next day and today he is still in
the ministry.
God holds us to that kind of legalistic bargaining.
#22681
2) Promises must come from a sincere person. Deut 23:18
a) "Sinners" [prostitutes] can't make deals with God.
3) Promises must not be rash.
a) Jephthath. Judges 11:30
1> Sincere but misguided.
2> Makes a vow to God in exchange for victory.
A> Expected an animal to cross threshold.
B> His daughter came out instead.
b) Did he carry it through?
1> Ancient Jewish tradition is she couldn't marry.
2> More likely he did what he said.
4) Best promises are motivated by grace and gratitude.
If we promise God certain things in moments of danger,
or if we try to bargain with him, God expects us to
pay to the full exactly what we promise.
But if a man recognized that he didn't have what it took,
that he was too poor to pay the price, he could still
give a promise to God out of thanksgiving & gratitude.
The priest, the representative of God's grace, would enter
the picture and, in a sense, intercede on his behalf and
establish a valuation he could meet.
This is a beautiful picture of those vows and promises we
make not to bargain with God but to express to him our
thanksgiving for all that he has been to us.
When our hearts are melted by grace and we stand awed in his
presence and say, "Lord, here I am, take me," or "Here
are my children, Lord, take them and use them as you
like,"
these are vows made on a gracious basis, and God promises
to meet any need himself.
What the people of God cannot gain by the law they can have
by grace.
And, as the New Testament puts it, "immeasurably more than
all we ask or imagine. (Eph 3:20)
That is the way God always operates in grace.
#22681
C. Jesus and promises. Matthew 5:33-37
1) Don't back up promises with empty oaths.
2) Your word should be enough. "Yes" should mean "yes."
III. Promises YOU should make to God.
A. Salvation.
1) Baptism is pledge of a good conscience to God. 1 Peter 3:21
2) We are promising God we will follow him.
B. Repentance.
1) Promise to leave sinful lifestyle.
2) As a Christian, promise to leave a particular sin.
C. Good works.
1) Promise to do something good for God.
IV. What do you need to promise God?
A. It is not always spiritual to avoid promises.
1) Old Testament says you can't break something you never made.
2) But more often for us this is just way to avoid commitment.
3) God wants you to push yourself.
B. Christianity begins with a commitment.
1) Have you made it?
C. Christianity is sustained with commitment.
1) Give more of yourself to God.
2) There is probably an area of your life you need to give
more of to God.
3) Perhaps there is a special mission you can make.
a) A lonely person who needs a friend.
b) Special ministry.
1> Some visit sick, others go to prisons...
V. God's promise to us.
A. In Bible, promises are generally from God and not humans.
1) He promises to accept us if we turn to him.
2) Honor him, and he'll deliver you.
B. God's promises are "Yes" in Christ Jesus.
1) He will never fail to keep them.
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#22681 "A Soldier's Promise," in sermon by Rev. Ray Stedman, catalog
number 524; April 30, 1972; #5187 in Kerux sermon database
This and 20,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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