Welcome and thank you for taking a bible break to test your knowledge of God's word.

This week's question:

To Luke chapter two we go to find a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, who was righteous and devout and the Holy spirit was upon him, and a promise was made to him by God. The Lord warns us about making promises or vows without thought about whether we can or intend to keep them. But we are to make our 'yes' a 'yes' or our 'no' a 'no'! That does not mean we cannot make them at all, or that wedding 'vow' was a big error. Or how about Paul who kept a vow in Acts 18:18? So what is the Lord saying? We are to make our 'yes' a 'yes', that is, do it! And our 'no a 'no'. So the next time you are ready to say "I promise!", you might want to leave yourself a little more room for things that we cannot control.

Matthew 5:33-37 "Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, you shall not make

false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.' But I say to you, make no oath at all,

either by heaven or by earth, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the

footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you

make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your

statement be, 'Yes, yes.' or 'No, no.'; anything beyond these is of evil.

Jesus says in John 17:17 that the "word is truth". Also in Hebrew's 6:18 "it is impossible for God to lie." So we understand that God's promises are true. Just as the promise made to Abraham of his descendants would number as the sands of the seashore, and he did not waver in unbelief and it was 'reckoned to him as righteousness' (Romans 4:13-22) and as to his seed which was Christ (Galatians 3:16).

Paul says in preaching the good news:

Acts 13:32-33 "and we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers,

that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also

written in the second Psalm, 'You are My Son; today have I begotten You.'"

So, indeed, Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise made to the Old Testament Law for the coming of the New Testament of faith as seen in :

Galatians 3:11-14 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for,

"The righteous man shall live by faith. However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary,

"He who practices them shall live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the

Law, having become a curse for us-for it is written, "cursed is everyone who hangs on a

tree"-in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so

that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

So: Hebrews 10:23-24 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for

He who Promises is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and

good deeds.

As we rightly divide the word of God we find the true knowledge of Him and our faith:

2 Peter 1:2-4 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the true knowledge of God and of

Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to

life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory

and excellence, for by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises,

so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the

corruption that is in the world by lust.

So back to Simeon and our answer to today's question. When Mary and Joseph brought

the child Jesus at eight days to him, he took the babe into his arms and blessed God and said:

 Luke 2:29-32 "Now Lord, You are releasing your bond-servant to depart in peace,

according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared

in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the gentiles, and the glory of your

people Israel."

For he had been promised by the God through the "Holy Spirit that he would not taste of death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." And so there we have our answer.

Let us too be as Simeon who believed the Lord's promise would be true, And so for us who believe and prove ourselves doers of the word (James 1:22) to whom the promise is given: "eternal life" 1 John 2:25