The Unchangeable Promise of God

40 Days of Prayer 

The Unchangeable Promise of God

"Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged."  Hebrews 6:16-18

"Faith in God is not a blind step into the dark. It always involves believing a specific promise of God. In Abraham's case, this meant believing a promise that defied every logical human basis for hope. Humanly speaking, it was ridiculous for Abraham to think that he and Sarah could have a child when she was more than ninety years old. Yet he believed, beyond all possible hope, because he believed in God's power to keep His promise." Francis Schaeffer, The Finished Work of Christ

In the 1580's, Spain's king Philip II planned to conquer England. He placed his hope in the large ships of what he deemed 'The Invincible Armada.' Pope Sixtus V gave his blessing hopeful that England's defeat would bring this rebel protestant isle back into the Roman Catholic fold. In May of 1588, Spain set out to destroy the British naval fleet. They sent out 130 ships carrying 2,500 guns, 8,000 seamen and 20,000 soldiers. Their hope for victory was in these skilled soldiers. If they could get broadside the British ships and grapple them, then these soldiers would board and overwhelm the sailors.

All hope for victory seemed assured -- an invincible armada, the pope's blessing, the world's most elite soldiers and a good plan. BUT, the weather was unpredictable that time of year and several storms forced them to return to port. Once good weather did come it was now July and the British had time to install long-range cannons on their ships and bombard the Spanish ships outside the range of their smaller guns. Then the British lured the Spanish ships into a narrow straight and sailed into them eight ships on fire filled with a flammable oily substance that floated fire on top of the water. The Spanish ships panicked, cut their anchors, rammed into each other, caught on fire, moved out of formation and then one by one the smaller British ships shot them to smithereens. The 'Invincible' Spanish Armada limped back to their port with less than half their fleet and the loss of over 15,000 lives. Hope for victory gone forever.

Praise God that our hope in the gospel's power does not depend on how great our strategy, how numerous our membership or how mighty our faith. Our hope is secure in the unchangeable promise of our God. This hope is 'an anchor for the soul, firm and secure' (Heb. 6:19), for 'Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him' (Heb. 9:28).  God has promised; and he will do it!