Article July 12, 1919 Issue

God's Promises and Their Fulfillment

ELIZABETH E. FISHWICK

The Bible is full of promises to help lift mankind to a higher and more harmonious sense of existence. There are promises of health, prosperity, happiness, harmony. God has not only made these promises but also vouched for the fulfillment of them. He has said of His word, "It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Then, too, we find numerous accounts of these promises being fulfilled. A strong testimony of the fulfillment of God's promises was that given by Joshua, when he was one hundred and ten years old, to the children of Israel who had assembled to hear his last words. He said, "Ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof."

Have we not the same God that Joshua had? Are not all of God's promises for all of His children? He is no respecter of persons. Many people have read some of God's promises over and over again and have concluded that they were only intended for those living in past ages, and have not expected them to be fulfilled in their own experience. They have no faith in them. The last words of instruction which Jesus spoke before his ascension, as recorded in the last chapter of Mark, were given in the form of a promise; for he said, "These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Thousands of people all over the world who are familiar with these words say that they believe on Christ Jesus, and yet do not think that these words were meant for them. The reason that they have no faith in these words is that they have not gained the true significance of Jesus' teachings.

Jesus said, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." This promise, as is true of all God's promises, was made conditionally, showing that one must believe even before he has received. If one is traveling abroad, and receives a letter from a friend at home stating that if he will send his next address he will receive a gift on his arrival there, what will the traveler do? Will he not sit down at once and not only send the required address but also a word of thanks for the gift, even before he receives it or knows what it is to be? Do people have more faith in their friends' promises than they have in God's? When they read promises made to them in the Bible do they look to see if they are fulfilling the conditions required? Are they grateful for the fulfillment before they have consciously received them,—that is, before the fulfillment is apparently made evident? Christian Science teaches us how to be grateful for all blessings and how to believe that we receive our heart's desire even before it is manifest.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

God's Promises and Their Fulfillment

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access