Brother Doug Bates "Yea Promises" (7-9-23)

Welcome to Life City. This podcast was created to celebrate what God is doing

and what protects us. Our vision is to reach the hungry, the hurting,

and the hopeless. God has given us our heading. Join us today

as we listen to the Word, and we pray that God speaks to you

in this message, our word towards you, not yea and nay. For

the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who has preached among you by us,

even by Me and Silas and Timothy, was not yea and nay,

But in him was yea. Verse twenty says this, for all the promises

of God, all the promises of God in him are yea that means yes.

And in him amy, all the promises of God in Him are yes.

And so be it onto the glory of God by us, thank you

for standing in reverence with word of the Lord. You may be seated for

the next four hours and twenty three minutes. More like well, I won't

say twenty three minutes, because I will be forty three. More than likely

every person in this room at some time has made a promise. This morning,

when I forgot to bring this book I was going to read to y'all,

I called my wife, and I said, Shelley, you're still at

home, right, and she said yes. I said, can you please

bring that book because I'm gonna read it to everyone. I didn't really tell

her that. I told her a different reason why I needed it, and

she said, yes, I will. She made me a promise, and

guess what when she showed up, Paxson brought me the book. So her

promise was fulfilled by bringing it and Paxson bringing it to me. We've all

made promises. We've all each of us have made a promise to someone.

You probably promised your boss you were gonna do something by a certain date.

You probably promised your child at some point, yes I'll get you that toy

you want, or yes, I'll get you that glass of milk that you

desire. We've all misses. Sometimes we keep those promises. There's probably times

though we don't. Each of us can probably remember a time where we promised

something something and we broke it. Each of us can probably remember a time

that we said we were gonna do something but we didn't do it. If

you come up to me after church and say, don't tell anybody this,

but I'm not gonna promise you I'm not gonna tell anybody that because I'm gonna

be texting pastor so and so tell me this. We've all probably had a

promise broken to us. We've all had someone say I'll do that tomorrow and

then they didn't, or I'll take care of that for you and they didn't,

or I'll get that for you and they don't. That's the way it

is when you're a human. Sometimes humans break promises. Sometimes humans say we're

gonna do something and we don't do it. We might have a really good

reason for not doing it. We might have had a really good explanation why

we chose not to do it, but we didn't do it, and so

we broke a promise. I would like to tell you this morning you'll never

have another promise broken on you in your lifetime. But I would be a

lie, because somebody will break a promise on you. It'll happen. I'm

sorry, it's the way it is. I can't control everybody. If I

could, you wouldn't want me to. Everyone makes promises, and sadly,

each of us probably breaks promises. Fortunately, though I have good news for

you this morning. The whole message that I'm going to preach today is the

opposite, because humans might break promises, but that does not happen when it

comes to God. When it comes to God, every promise he says will

happen. Corinthians tells us that the promises of God are not yes and no,

but simply yea or yes. When God makes a promise, it will

happen. This morning, I'm gonna preach you for a little while about the

subject yea promises, yea promises, Promises that are guaranteed, promises that will

happen, Promises you can grab a hold of because they're guaranteed to be true.

In numbers, Chapter twenty three, Balem Bayloc are there, and Bayloc

to give you the backstory here, he is not one of God's people.

And Bayloc asks Balem if he would curse the children of Israel, and so

Baalem says, well, let's see what we can do here. So Bayloch

and Baalem go to this mountain, and Baylock goes up there, and Baalim

hasn't build seven altars, And on each of the seven altars they offer some

brisket and some ram. We'll take the brisket that was good last week.

Wasn't it, Yes, all right? And so they offer the seven and

the seven altars, each one a bull and a ram, and so then

Baalem goes off to talk to the Lord. And so Baalum goes off and

talks to the Lord, and he's over there and he talks to the Lord,

and he's the word from the Lord, and he comes back to Bayloch

and Baylock is standing there next to his altar, and the King of Mobe

is standing there with Baylock, and they're all excited because they think that Bayalem's

about to curse the children of Israel. They think Baylock's come back with a

word to curse the children Israel. And they're pumped up, and they're cheering,

and they're waving their number one flags like they're in a football game.

They're just so excited. And Bayleum begins to talk and he says, this

Bailoc brought me here. The King of Mobe is here too. I paraphrazine

and he said, come curage accounts Israel. But how can I curse whom

God has not cursed? How can I denounce who God has not denounced?

Who can count the dust of Jacob or the number of the fourth part of

Israel. Obviously, Balem and the king of Mob are not happy. They

just came came here. They built seven altars, they sacrifice seven bulls and

seven rams, and they wanted the children of Israel to be cursed, but

instead Balem puts a blessing upon them. So they have his bright idea.

He says, hey, Baalem, Bailok says. He says, Balem,

come over here with me. We're gonna go to this other mountain and I'm

gonna show you just just a portion of the children you could see from this

mountain, and then we're gonna try this again. So they try. They

build the seven altars. They have seven more cows they wasted that could have

been good eating, but they wasted them, and seven more rams. I

wouldn't have eaten them, so they could waste those. That's okay. And

they do that, and Bailim goes off to get the word of the Lord

again and comes back and Bailak standing there and he's all excited, thinking,

this time's it. I've done fourteen altars, I've done fourteen bulls and fourteen

rams. This time's it. This time they're finally gonna curse the children of

Israel, and Bailac simply says this. He says, is God a man

that he should lie? How can I curse whom God has not cursed.

You See, Baialim and Bailac had gone to two different places, and they

had offered these seven offerings each place to God. Bailak going with the intention

of cursing his enemies. He's not happy when the first time. Imagine how

angry he was the second time. Apparently he didn't learn that what you keep

doing the same thing over and over again, you're gonna keep getting the same

result. But regardless, he's not happy. But Baylock teaches something very important

there. He says, God's not a man. He can't lie. God

gave me a commandment to bless, and so I bless. God told me

to bless, and I'm going to bless. God's words are true. They

can't be reversed. When God speaks it, that's the way it's going to

be. When God speaks it, that's what's going to happen. You can

write it down because it's solid. You can rest assured in it because it's

not going anywhere. It's not going to change it's stone. It's unalterable.

God's word is true. When God gives you a promise, it's going to

happen. The Psalmist wrote his words or thy word is true from the beginning

in Psalm one nineteen, verse one sixty. A little bit of light reading

that chapter right there, one hundred seventy six verses. His promises are yea.

His words are yea. His word is truth. If he says it,

it's true. If he says it, that's the way it's going to

be. It's going to happen. His promises are yea promises. Josh was

born in Union City, Michigan. He was one of five children born to

Wilmett McDowell senior. A biographer that wrote about McDowell, says that when he

was a young boy, he struggled with self esteem. His father was an

alcoholic and abusive. He enlisted in the Air National Guard, received training,

and assumed duties in a mechanical maintenance of aircraft. While in the Air National

Guard, Josh received the head engineer and was discharged from the service. He

intended to pursue legal studies, going for a political career, and began studying

at Kellogg College in Michigan. According to McDowell, he was an agnostic when

he started attending college and decided he would prepare a paper that would examine the

historic evidence of the Christian faith with the attempt to disprove Christianity was real.

However, he says he converted. He converted to Christianity after he found more

evidence for it and none against him. He subsequently enrolled in Wheaton College was

awarded a Bachelor of Arts. Then he studied and was rewarded a Master of

Divinity. Thereafter, Josh decided to publish book. Now you know why I

brought a book. It's not to read it to you. This is the

book Josh McDowell wrote when he was attempting to write a paper to prove that

God's words were not true. Instead, he ended up with a six hundred

and eighty seven page book, God's Words Are True. When he was attempting

to prove that God's words were not true, of tempting to prove that what

was written in the Bible was not true, he ended up with this book,

six hundred and eighty seven pages of historical information of bibilin thoughton of finding

remains and such that all proved things in the Bible are all true. God's

word is always true. Whatever he says, that's the way it is.

When he says it, it's going to happen. When God says something's required,

it's gonna be required. There's no doubt about it. When God makes

you a promise, it's gonna happen. There's no doubt about it. Because

his word is true. His word is forever settled, his word is fact.

His word is a true word. John chapter three. There's a man

of the Pharisees called Nicodemus. He was the ruler of the Jews. This

man came to Jesus by night. He didn't want anyone to see him.

He didn't want anyone to know he was going to talk to Jesus. So

he goes at nighttime and he says, Rabbi, we know you're a teacher

from God, for no one can do these signs except God is with him.

Jesus answered him and said, truly, I say unto you. Unless

one is born of the water or born again, he cannot enter into the

Kingdom of God. Nicodemus said, hang on, now, how can I

be born again? I'm old, I can't be born again. And Jesus

said, truly, I say unto you. Unless one is born of the

water and of the spirit, he cannot enter in to the King of Heaven.

We've already established God's word is true. Six eighty seven pages. If

you want to read it. I've read some of it, not all of

it. I've had this in my library for twenty years. It's a big

book. There's good stuff in there. Though we established his word is true,

and this is Jesus answering in verse five, it's Jesus says this.

Jesus says, you must be born of the water and the spirit. His

word is true. If his word is true, and his word says that,

then guess what we need to be born of the water and of the

spirit. Each of us has made mistakes. Each of us has done things

we shouldn't do, like Cody eating a dairy queen. I got you,

Cody. Is he even back there? Yes, he told me last time.

He's disappointed. I didn't make fun of him, so I have to.

It's not bad to go to dairy queen. It might be gluttonous if

you go there too much. Though Brahms is so much better man. All

this advertisement for restaurants. But each of us makes mistakes. Each of us

has done something, or said something, or looked at something or read something,

or watch something or listen to something that we shouldn't do. Each of

us has fallen short of the glory of God. How do I know that?

Because the Bible says everyone has sinned and his word is true. So

I know it's true. You're not perfect. I'm sorry. You might be

now, but at some point in your life you messed up. At some

point in your life, you failed some point in your life, you made

a mistake. At some point in your life, you did something you shouldn't

have done. Probably everyone, at some point in their life has lied to

a parent. If you haven't, you're astonishing. Even Paxson, he's five

and he lies already. Everyone makes mistakes. But fortunately there's a way out

of it. Fortunately there's a way that Jesus provided for us. Fortunately he

didn't tell Nicodemus, I'm really sorry, dude, you messed up. It's

over for you. But he said, hey, no, there's a solution.

You can be born of the water in the spirit. Fortunately there's a

solution for our sins. Fortunately, in Acts chapter two, it teaches us

the solution to our sins. It teaches us that we can repent of our

sins. That's to turn around. That's to go the other direction from dairy

queen. That's to go walking towards God, not walking towards the evils of

this world. We confess our sins, we say are sorry, we turn

from that. It teaches us we can be baptized in Jesus name. That's

what Jesus meant when he said buried in baptism. That's what Jesus meant when

he said we had to be born of the water. When we're baptized in

the name of Jesus Christ, we can receive that forgiveness of sins. Our

sins are washed away, and then we can receive the gift to the spirit.

I'm so thankful today that we can have that way, that our sins

can be washed away, that we can we can repent, that we can

tame from our sins, that we can walk with Him, that we can

receive His spirit. I'm so thankful today for those true words. I'm so

thankful today that I have those true words. I'm so thankful today that Jesus

gave a solution for my mistakes and my sins. I'm so thankful today.

His true word gives me an answer for every time I failed and every time

I faltered. I'm so thankful his true word is there that his promises are

yea and amen. His word is true. His word gives us promises.

His word tells us things that we can hold onto. His word tells us

things that we can be assured of. In First Peter, chapter three,

it tells us that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in

the night. The heavens are gonna pass away with the roar. The heavenly

bodies will be burned up and dissolved in the earth, and the works they're

in done on it will be exposed. We're gonna skip to verse thirteen,

not gonna read it at all unless you want the verse thirteen says, But

according to him, it's a promise. According to his promise, we are

waiting for a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. According

to his promise. His word is true. His word is forever settled.

What his word says is what's going to happen it's what's going to come to

pass. And his word says, according to his promise, we're waiting for

a new heavens and a new earth. That's the first promise that we have

this morning that we can grab a hold of, after the other one I

already talked about, is that when he's coming back, we can grab a

hold of the fact that he's coming back. We can grab a hold of

the fact that he's returning. We're not gonna have to stay here forever,

but he's preparing a new heavens and a new earth for us. He's coming

back. When he comes back, there'll be no darkness, There'll be no

fear, there'll be no tears, there'll be no sickness, there'll be no

pain. I'd sing the song if I had the song book. But it's

going to happen because it's a yay promise. God's promises are all yea promises.

He said he's going to return, so he's going to return. He

says he's preparing a place for you. That means he's preparing a place for

you. There's a day coming when you won't have to be in pain anymore.

There's a day coming when you won't have to deal with sickness anymore.

There's a day coming where you won't happles anymore because He's preparing a place for

you. It's a yay promise. In Hebrews chapter thirteen, it says,

let your conversation be without coveniusness, however you pronounce that, and be content

with such things. There's so many teachers here, they probably could all fix

me, fix my speaking for me, my talking, and be content with

such things as he had. For he has said, I will never leave

Thee nor forsake Thee. That's a yay promise straight from the book of Hebrews.

No matter what happens in your life, God's not going to leave you.

No matter what happens in your life. He's not going to forsake you.

No matter what happens in your life. He's going to be right there

with you on good days and bad days, on rainy days, on windy

days, on sunny days, on snowy days, whatever trouble you're having,

maybe your days all of those above combined in one. He's there with you

when you're on the top of the valley or the bottom of the mountain.

And I know what I said, and I stand by it. When you're

on the top of the valley or the bottom of the mountain, He's right

there with you, no matter what you go through, no matter what you

have to go across, no matter what trials or troubles come your way.

It's a YA promise. It's a ya promise that he's never going to leave

you, never going to forsake you. The very last book or the very

least verse in the Book of Matthew, Jesus speaking and it says, behold,

I am with you always. He's going to be with you always.

In red, in red Jesus's words speaking right there, it says, I'm

going to be with you always. Jesus's last words to his disciples before he

ascended into Heaven was to remind them that hey, I might be going there,

but I'm still there with you. It's a promise, it's a YA

promise. It's his words, because all of his promises are yea. All

of his promises are a man, and all of his promises are going to

happen there. He promises there, yes promises, because he set him so

that's the way it's gonna be. He's never gonna leave you. He's never

gonna forsake you. He's gonna remain faithful because he's there with us. It's

a ya promise, A yea promise. W. F. Boorman tells of

visiting a minister's widow's house in a quaint cottage in England. I won't do

my English accent for you this morning. Sorry, sorry, this is live

stream. That means it be forever settled, and we don't want that.

Pulling up the blinds beside her bedside, he noticed written in the windowpane four

carefully etched words. The four words say this is the day. He inquired

as to the engraving, and the woman explained this. She said, in

my life, I've seen any troublesome days. I've seen many days of fear,

and many days of trials and troubles, and many times I found myself

in fear of what was going to happen next, what was going to happen

tomorrow. But one day, she said, I read the words of Psalm

one eighteen, which said this is the day that the Lord has made,

Let us rejoice and be glad in it. She says. She thartled at

that moment, and it occurred to her that that burst was speaking of that

very bay home. Scratched those words into the glass of her window. So

every morning when she drew her blinds, she would read the simple words,

this is the day. Knowing that this was the day, she was no

longer troubled by what was to come. You see I mentioned it earlier.

Not every day in your life is going to be perfect. There's going to

be days where things happen because we live on earth and it's called life.

When we get out of here today, you might discover you have a flat

tire. And I can't tell you if it's gonna be raining or the heat

and decks is gonna be one hundred and ten, but it's gonna be one

of those two. And you might have to change that flat tire, either

in the rain or the heat and decks of one hundred and ten. And

it's not gonna be fun. But bad things happen to everyone, Unfortunately.

Things happen in life. Unfortunately. If you own a house, you know

this is true. There's always something that's breaking down in your house. It's

the way it is. It's the way life is. Things happen. You

have to deal with trials, you have to deal with troubles. You have

to deal with stuff just as part of life. But this lady found a

way to not live in fear. She found a way to not live in

fear by simply writing those four words, this is the day, you know.

I can't tell you what's going to happen tomorrow, but I can tell

you that scripture teaches as God has not given you a spirit of fear.

I can promise you that it says that this is a day. I can

promise you that God's promises are true, and when troubles come, his word

is still true. I can promise you that if God's keeping an eye on

an annoying little black sparrow, that He's keeping an eye on you. God's

got your back. God's watching you. His promises are yea. His promises

are yea and amen. He said he's gonna watch out for you. He

said he's not gonna leave you or forsake you. You can rest assured in

that you can grab ahold of some of these yay promises this morning. You

can believe in them this morning, grasp him when your heart, when troubles

and trials come, because God's still there with you. No matter how dark

the storm clouds are, no matter how bad the situation is, God's still

there walking with you because his promises are yay promises, and he said it,

so it's gonna happen. He is going to be there. He's not

going to leave you nor forsake you. Say yay promise. Isaiah gives us

another promise, not all Isaiah the Book of Isaiah. He might give us

this promise though, too, but I don't know. It says fear not,

for I'm with you. It's Isaiah forty one, verse ten, Be

not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I

will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous hand. There's a

lot of yay promises in that verse right there. Fear not, for I'm

with you. Be not. He's going to strengthen you, he's going to

help you, he's going to uphold you. These are yay promises, These

are guarantees. These are things you can take to the bank. These are

the things that are gonna be true. It's not going to be a no

when it comes to God. It's going to be a yes. His words

said it. So when you need strength, call out to him when you

need help, Call out to him, when you need someone to hold you

up, call out to him. Don't be dismayed, and don't fear,

because it's a yea promise. God's a kind of God who fulfills his promises.

His promises are all true. His promises are yea promises. Second Corinthian

says, if my people, who are called by my names will humble themselves

and pray and seek my face and turn from my wicked or their wicked way

is not mine, that'd be terrible, then I will hear from heaven and

will forgive their sins and heal their land. If my people, if you

humble yourself, if you pray, if you seek your face, your face,

his face, I need to give up. I think if you seek

his face, he's gonna hear, he's gonna heal. It's a ya promise.

He said it, It's gonna happen. Don't let the enemy or your

mind tell you something different. Oh. The mind's a powerful thing. The

mind can twist you in places you don't need to go. The mind can

twist your thoughts into places they don't need to be. The mind can lead

you down, pass you shouldn't go down. If your mind or anyone else

is telling you something that's contrary to God's word, don't believe it, because

his word is true. If he said it, it's gonna happen. You

could take a hold of that. Yea promise. You could take a hold

of these promises, because God's promises always come to pass. It's a YA

promise. He'll help, he'll forgive, he'll strengthen, he'll be with you.

It's a YA promise. It will happen. I say aggressions, he

was crushed for iniquities upon him was brought the chastisement of our peace, or

that brought us peace. By his wounds, we are healed. When you're

sick, it's a YA promise. By his wounds be healed. I believe

that's whether it's a spiritual hurt or a physical hurt. I believe that if

you're sick in that pain, if you're seeking peace, that He's gonna do

what his word says. He'll bring you peace. His wounds will bring you

healing. It's a YA promise, it will happen. Philippians chapter four says

that my God shall supply ten percent of your needs. My God shall supply

some of your need. My God shall supply forty eight most almost all all,

all every need. My God shall supply your every need according to His

riches in Glory by Christ Jesus, not every want. Sorry, you're probably

not getting your five hundred thousand dollar fished moat this afternoon, probably not getting

your two million dollar house, because that's not a need. You can try

to convince God it's a need. Good luck with that, He'll supply all

your need. It's a yay promise your needs when you need something, it's

a promise. Oh. I hope we grab a hold of some of these

promises this morning. I hope you bury some of these promises in your heart

this morning. His promises are all yea and amen. You can keep believing,

you can keep praying, you can keep pressing. Don't give up,

and don't walk away. Don't start thinking it's not gonna happen, because every

promise God made to you is going to happen. Every promise He made to

you is a guarantee. Every promise He made to you is a yay promise.

His promises are all yea and amen. Florista could come to the piano.

This morning. I could talk all day if I wanted to, But

you don't want to, and I don't want to, about the promises that

God has made. As you read through the book the Bible, you probably

stumble upon your own. You probably might be thinking of one right now that

I didn't speak of this morning. I mentioned just a handful, but there's

so many more. We talked about healing, where we could talk about how

he'll protect us, how he'll keep us, how he'll deliver us, how

he'll bring you joy, how he'll give you courage, how he'll bring you

hope. We could talk about how he helps us. We could talk about

how he could give you rest. We could talk about how he gives you

grace. We could talk about we could talk about how he brings peace,

strength, patience. We could talk about how he takes care of us,

how he directs us, how he'll give us wisdom, how he'll empower us,

how he'll supply all our need. His promises are all yea, his

promises are all yes. His word is true. So whatever his word has

said, it will happen. You See, you can trust in that word

this morning, because his promises are forever settled. You can hold onto it

that his promises will come to pass. You don't need to fear, you

don't need to doubt, because if God made you a promise, it will

happen. His promises are all yea promises. Let's stand this morning. We

read when we opened this morning, Second Corinthians one twenty for all the promises

of God in him are yea and amen. All his promises are yea.

All his promises are amen. Or so be it. Whatever God has promised,

when he makes a promise, it's a yea promise. Perhaps you're holding

on to a promise this morning that He made to you many years ago.

Let me encourage you this morning. That's still a yea promise. It doesn't

matter if you made to you yesterday, I made to you seventy five years

ago. It's a yea promise because when God makes a promise, it's fulfilled.

When God makes a promise, it's going to come to pass. His

promises are all yea and amen. God's promises are all truth. So I

ask you this morning, perhaps you're here and you've been waiting for a while

for a promise. Perhaps you're here this morning. He've been waiting for years

for a promise to come to pass. Sir hadnot that there was a promise

that he made to you. But now you've seen it and you want to

grab hold of that promise. This morning is your opportunity. This morning you

have the opportunity. You have the chance to grab hold of these promises.

You have a chance to seek the face of God and grab firmly onto those

promises that he's promised you to draw closer to him, to remind him that

you're there with him, and be reminded that He's always there with you.

So I ask you this morning, do you want the promises of God fulfilled

in your life? Are you looking for a promise of God to be fulfilled

in your life today? Because you can grab hold of his promises. They're

all yea promises. If you've never repented of your sins, you can do

that this morning. You can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost because it's

a yea promise. If you're sick and you need a healing, you can

receive that today because it's a yea promise. If you need strength, you

can find that today because it's a yea promise. Whatever you need you can

find this morning. So as I opened these altars this morning, I asked

you, what is it for? Why don't you come and take hold of

those promises? Why don't you come and grab hold of those promises? Why

don't you come and take a grasp on those promises that He promised you?

They're all yea promises. How about it this morning? Does anyone want to

find a place to seek his face? Does anyone want to grab hold of

one of their promises, one of the promises that God made you? They're

yea promises. He'll meet your every need. You just gotta reach out and

grab it. He'll heal your body. You just have to reach out and

grab it. He'll do whatever you need. You just have to reach out

and grab it. Thank you so much for being with us today. We

hope you were blessed in some way by the message. To learn more about

us, check out www dot my Life City Church dot org, or you

can contact us at info at my Life City Church dot org. Thank you

once again for joining us, and we hope you have a great week.