God’s Delays are not Denials

God’s Delays are not Denials

Why does God make us wait for a promise?

Answer: Waiting teaches us to seek the Promise Keeper and not just the promise.  

Luke 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

The Greek verb, kathizo, is translated “tarry” only here. In 47 other uses it is translated “sit” or “sit down.” 

• To tarry for power, then, means to sit down quietly before God and wait. 

• We, too, need to learn to sit down, to take a break from the daily rush or routine, and be willing to wait, no matter how long, for power from on high.

Do you notice that Promise is capitalized? 

• Not as a noun but as a proper name. We think that the promise is something separate from God. But in the Jewish world, the promise of God was not something separate from God. 

Examples: 

1. Jehovah Jireh – The Promise of Provision was in seeking the Provider himself

2. Jehovah Rapha – The Promise of healing was in seeking the Healer Himself 

3. Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Promise of righteousness was in seeking the Lord of Righteousness Himself. 

4. Jehovah Shalom (the Lord is peace) whole world is seeking peace, but not the Lord of Peace and the Prince of Peace. 

5. Jehovah Rohi (the Lord my shepherd), Everyone wants to seek direction, but not the Lord of direction. 

In our text, the Holy Spirit is referred to as the “Promise.” 

• Q. Are you seeking the promise (lower case p for noun) or are you seeking the Promise (Capital P and Proper name) 

The promise that you are waiting for is actually waiting on you! 

• Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you;

  • The verb send is in the present tense: ego apostello 

  • Jesus said, “I send or I am sending”

  •  Not “I will send” 

1. Waiting places our faith in the Miracle Worker, above the Miracle. 

• Waiting places our faith in the Healer, not in Healing. 

  • Many people desire a sign more than they want the Spirit. 

  • They will chase a miracle ministry but have never learned to become a God chaser in their daily lives. 

  • God must be your first love and desire above all!

• There is a priority to spiritual things 

  • Nothing must be desired and sought more than the Lord. 

  • Just because you are seeking something from the Lord does not necessarily mean that you are seeking the Lord! 

• We must love the Lord more than we would love to be healed! 

  • We must seek the miracle worker more than the miracle! 

  • We must seek GOD more than the gift. 

  • We must learn to seek His face more than what is in His hands. 

  • The true gift is a relationship with Him, and that is the greatest healing 

    • When Apostle Paul was suffering, he said I have no cause for shame because ‘I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED” 2 Timothy 1:12

Example: I believe in divine healing, but that’s what. 

• It’s good to know WHAT we believe in, but it’s better to understand WHO we believe in. 

• The healing may not come to us in the time we desire, but the HEALER is always with us and will never leave us forsaken.

Matthew 12:39-40 “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

This sign of Jonah has obvious connections to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

• A.N.E. saw symbolism in the reference to the “great fish” (Jonah 1:17) that swallowed the runaway prophet. 

• In many ancient Near Eastern worldviews, a sea serpent or leviathan represented death and hell.

  • The great fish was a metaphor for the leviathan, the mouth of hell, the great deep, Sheol, and death.

What a healing! We have been healed from Death, Hell, the Grave! 

• Our spirits were DEAD, and now we are born again!

• This is our identity in Christ – totally healed in the Spirit 

• A future total healing in the bodily resurrection as well. 

In addition to the overt reference to the sign of Jonah in Matthew 12:39, there is the gift of the HOLY SPIRIT! 

• For instance, Jonah’s name is the Hebrew word for “dove,”

  • There is a sign to represent the descent of the Holy Ghost upon Jesus as He came up out of the waters of baptism.

  • [Genesis 1:2]’ like a dove hovering over the face of the deep. 

  • The return of the dove with an olive leaf was a sign to Noah that the flood waters of destruction were abating (Genesis 8:11). 

  • Doves were an acceptable animal to sacrifice in the temple,

    • The sacrifice of doves foreshadowed and pointed to the “great and last sacrifice” performed by Jesus Christ.

II. Don’t let your pain stop your purpose while you wait!

The first healing in the Bible happened when Abraham prayed for Abimelech while his own wife was barren. (Gen.20:17). 

• Jesus healed someone on the way to the cross. 

• Jesus led someone to salvation while hanging on the cross. 

  • Our physical pain should not be an excuse to stop serving others completely.

Apostle Paul wrote most of the NT in jail.

• A perfect example of this is Paul and his thorn in the flesh. It was allowed to keep him humble and usable. 

• Paul’s affliction served to keep him dependent on God, rather than allowing pride to take root. 

  • There is a direct correlation in the Bible between the release of God’s power through Grace and human weakness:

    • God revealed to Paul that His grace was sufficient for him and that His power was made perfect in weakness. 

III. Don’t let the power of miracles distract you as you wait for Heaven!

•  Daniel 3:17-18.“Our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. BUT IF NOT, LET IT BE KNOWN TO YOU, O KING, THAT WE DO NOT SERVE YOUR GODS.” 

  • All of Babylon had a testimony of the One True God because of their willingness to die for their faith. 

  • Instead of dying, it invited a miracle!

• “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.” Matthew 5:12.

  • As great as healings, deliverances, and breakthroughs are, they do not compare to our eternal salvation. 

• That is why Jesus told His disciples to anchor their joy in their salvation, and NOT in successful exorcism. 

  • (Luke 10:20) – “rejoice not that the demons are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in the Lamb’s book of Life”.

IV. Guard your heart from fear and doubt while you are waiting on the Lord. 

In other words,  while I can’t control my situation, I am responsible for exercising my faith for what is happening in my spirit.

• 3 John 1:2.“I pray that you prosper and be in good health as your soul prospers.” 

• It is important not to allow sickness in the body to become sickness in the mind. 

Example: The Titanic did not sink because there was too much water in the ocean, but because that water got inside of Titanic. 

Example: Jesus calming the storm. All of the disciples were afraid of the wind and the waves. Jesus awoke and rebuked the storm, and it subsided. 

• Mark 4:40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

• Fear penetrated their pitch, and the spirit of fear flooded their hearts and minds. 

  • There is a difference between a storm outside and a storm inside! 

2 Timothy 1:7  Power, Love, and a Sound Mind. 

• Faith is not a storm-free life. 

• If life were storm-free, you wouldn’t need faith! 

How to combat FEAR and DOUBT?

Humble Worship is the answer: Just remember that during the storm, bend so that you don’t break.

• Palm trees during the storm bend, and therefore they withstand the storm and don’t break. 

  • “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship.” Job 1:20. 

• God is good. He is always with us. We may feel like it’s not fair what is happening to us, we did not deserve this. 

Conclusion: Signs, Wonders, and Miracles happen in God’s timing! 

1. To Confirm the Gospel and Its Reception: To lead as many as possible to Christ for eternity’s sake.

   • THIS TAKES TIME! 

• Mark 16:19-20, KJV  So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.

  • We preach and teach His word throughout the world, 

  • God faithfully confirms it with supernatural signs. 

  • WE DON’T FOLLOW SIGNS, SIGNS FOLLOW US! 

2. They are given to bring God glory. This takes time – 

• • Example: Lazarus was sick for 4 days and then died. Jesus said this sickness will not end in death. Which death was Jesus talking about? 

    • John 11:3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.” 4WhenJesusheard this, He said,“This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”