Untitled article by Isaac Sanborn

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, October 1, 1867.

THE HOPE OF THE PROMISE.

By Isaac Sanborn

BY ELD. ISAAC SANBORN.

TEXT. “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers, unto which promise our twelve tribes instantly serving God day and night hope to come.” Acts xxvi, 6, 7.

In the investigation of this subject, we shall notice

The nature of the promises here referred to.
The reason why they hoped.
The strength of that hope.

1. The promises. As Paul asserts that they were made unto the fathers, we understand he refers to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and especially to Abraham, whom he calls the father of the faithful. “What shall we say, then, that Abraham, our father pertaining to the flesh, hath found?” And speaking of believers, he says, “Who also walked in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham.” Rom. iv, 1, 12.

Let us then carefully notice some of the promises made by God unto Abraham. “Now, the Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee; and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Gen. xii, 1–3. Here we see seven distinct promises made to Abraham on condition that he would leave his father’s house, his country, and his kindred, which you must all readily see could not be performed by Abraham unless he believed God, and had perfect confidence in what God had said.

Paul says Abraham believed God, and “it [that is, his faith] was imputed to him for righteousness,” because “he staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” Rom. iv, 20. I often hear people talk about having perfect faith, without which it is impossible to please God, which can only be developed by perfect obedience to all of God’s requirements. Jesus says, “If a man love me he will keep my words.” John xiv, 23.

Again, “The Lord said unto Abraham, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land that thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” Gen. xiii, 14–17. Here are two particular things we wish you to notice. The first is, the multiplication of the seed; the other is, the land that Abraham looked over and walked through is what God promised to give him and his seed.

“And when Abraham was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect.” Gen. xvii, 1. Here we again ask you to notice with care that God calls on Abraham to be perfect. How often you and I have heard people say, It is impossible for any one to be and to live perfect in this world. Now as we trust that all our hearers believe the Bible, we will read some more on this subject. Jesus says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.” Matt. v, 48. Says Paul: “Whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” Col. i, 28. “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” Col. iv, 12. How clearly we can here see that the perfection which God required of Abraham and of us, is perfect obedience to his holy law, which David says is perfect. Ps. xix, 7.

Now as God is making the same promise to Isaac that he made to Abraham, he acknowledges that Abraham did all that he told him. “And the Lord appeared unto him [Isaac] and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land that I shall tell thee of; sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee and unto thy seed will I give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham, thy father; . . . because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” Gen. xxvi, 2–5. What was God’s charge here referred to? You answer, To be perfect. So we see the father of the faithful did the will of God perfectly. Said Jesus to a certain class who claimed to be the children of Abraham, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” John viii, 39. Dear brethren and sisters, do we profess to be children of Abraham, or the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus?

Then let us remember and keep God’s charge, which reads thus: “Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.” Matt. v, 48. “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.” 1 Pet. i, 15, 16. May the Lord help us to keep this solemn charge, that we may be numbered with those of whom the Lord says, “They are without fault before the throne of God.” Rev. xiv, 5.

But we return to notice that Abraham obeyed God’s voice when he offered up his son. God said: “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, . . . and offer him for a burnt-offering.” And without a murmur or a complaint, we see him taking his dear son three days’ journey to a certain mountain that the Lord shewed him, and there build an altar and lay the wood in order upon it, then bind his son and lay him upon the wood, and take the knife to slay him, and thus obey the voice of God. Paul says that he believed that God was able to raise his son up even from the dead. Heb. xi, 19. Then “the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of Heaven . . . and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.” Gen. xxii, 15–18.

Here are two things in particular which I hope you will remember: first, that God showed the strength of Abraham’s faith by the quality of the sacrifice which he called upon him to make. Just so the strength of our faith is being made manifest now by the sacrifices we make for the glory of God’s name, and the advancement of his cause. Secondly, the oath of the Lord here referred to, by which we understand he designed to give unto all the heirs of promise strong consolation. See Heb. vi, 17–19.

As we now wish to know more of the nature of these promises, we will hear Paul in Gal. iii, 16. “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” This proves clearly that God has promised his Son Jesus Christ all these countries for an everlasting possession, which agrees with Ps. ii, 8, where the Lord says, “Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” Again, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Matt. v, 5. But you ask, If Christ is the seed, then how will God multiply the seed? Says Paul: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus; for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. iii, 26–29. Here the Lord has clearly shown that none of those national titles or names can possibly give us an heirship or title to the promises, but faith in Christ

Jesus, with a holy obedience to his gospel, will.

But some of my hearers may wonder how God can bless the nations in Abraham’s seed, which is Christ, as he promised. Hear Jesus: “All power is given unto me in Heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations.” “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.” See the Bible translated into more than two hundred different languages, and missionaries sent among all nations known to us on the globe, preaching a crucified and resurrected Saviour. Thus all nations have been and are being blessed. John says he saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stand before the throne. Rev. vii, 9. “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth.” Rev. v, 9, 10. Thus we see how perfectly God will fulfill his promise to Abraham.

But as some may think that Abraham and the seed have had the promises, we will read again: “Then said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken: The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Charran; and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession.” Acts vii, 1–5.

Paul says, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. . . . These all died in faith, not having received the promises.” Heb. xi, 8–13. We see then that Abraham did not have enough of that land to set his foot on before his death, and that Jesus said of himself that he had not enough to lay his head upon, but he was buried in another man’s grave, and that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah and Joseph, were all buried in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan. Gen. xlix, 29–31.

But here short-sighted unbelief says, Then the promises of God to them have failed. But it is that unbelief that will fail. Now hear the Lord again: “Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again.” John xiv, 1–3. Therefore says Paul: “The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. iv, 16–18. Now that we may know what their condition will be when thus raised from the dead we will read again: “Behold I shew you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Cor. xv, 51–54. Here we see that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the seed (or twelve tribes), both living and dead, will receive immortality (that is, everlasting, unending life). “But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Verse 57.

Where do they go when they thus get the victory over death and the grave? Answer: To the Father’s house as we have already shown from Rev. vi, 9, and v, 9, 10, where John says he saw the throne of God and the Lamb, the streets of gold and walls of jasper, and in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river of life, was there the tree of life. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, which must therefore be the one that Abraham looked for, and which John says came down from God out of Heaven upon the new earth. Rev. xxi. After the first resurrection, the saints will reign with Christ a thousand years; then after the second resurrection and destruction of the wicked, they will reign upon the earth renewed forever and ever. Rev. xx, and Isa. lxvi, 22, 23.

You will notice that in the text Paul speaks of the twelve tribes, and that John saw twelve gates to the city, and over them the names of the twelve tribes, and therefore all that ever enter through those gates into that city will certainly have to belong to one of the twelve tribes; and as there may be some confusion in the minds of some on this subject, we will notice the following scriptures, which we think will set all right: “For they are not all Israel which are of Israel, . . . but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh [that is, Jews by birth], these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” Rom. ix, 6–9. God has given us a sample of counting the seed. See Gal. iii, 26: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Then there is no possible way of becoming a child of the promise and an heir with Christ but by faith in Jesus Christ, and repentance toward God, Acts xx, 21, which is to cease to transgress his holy, just, and good law, and be baptized for the remission of their sins. Acts ii, 38. “Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” Rom. vi, 3–5.

2. The reason why they hope is, first, because they believe God and have a strong desire to obtain the promises that God has made, and secondly, because they have now complied with the conditions upon which the promises are made; which shows that the hope is a compound, made of desire and expectation. They are now hoping to receive the promise, not because they merit it, but because they believe in Jesus and obey him, which is only their reasonable service.

3. The strength of their hope. Paul says: “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have STRONG consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the vail,” [that is, to Jesus]. Heb. vi, 17–19.

This hope was sufficiently strong to keep Paul so faithful as to induce him to give up his life for it. It sustained and held the martyrs, so that while suffering in flames and tribulation they rejoiced in the blessed hope. It led Job to say, “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job xix, 25–27. It caused Moses to esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompence of reward. Heb. xi, 26.

“Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin [of unbelief] which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb. xii, 1, 2. Now, my dear hearers, as Jesus has set all that same joy before us, saying to the faithful steward, “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,” Matt. xxv, 20, will we not also be faithful, and endure the cross, and despise the shame, and thus suffer with Jesus that we may reign with him? For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.