The Promise of the Father
Pastor David T. Elms 10/26/2025
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43:28
Summary
Pastor David T. Elms explores 'The Promise of the Father,' urging believers to move beyond cold logic into a vibrant, spiritual relationship with God where His ancient promises become literal, transformative realities through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Key points
- •The Bible is hyper-real, illustrating the structural foundations of life through stories like Cain and Abel, which teach the danger of envy and the necessity of giving God our best sacrifice.
- •True spiritual transformation requires moving beyond mere logic and intellect to engage with God in the spirit, allowing scripture to move from metaphor to literal reality in our lives.
- •God is a faithful promise-keeper whose word is 'yea and amen' (affirmation and confirmation) to both the Gentile and the Jew, spanning from the Old Covenant to the New.
- •The Promise of the Father is the Holy Ghost, an enduement of power from on high that is available to everyone who seeks, knocks, and surrenders their pride.
- •God's correction is an act of fatherly love designed to bring us into right standing (uprightness) so that we may receive the fullness of His blessings and mercy.
Scripture
Holy Spirit
Faithfulness of God
Surrender
Spiritual vs. Natural
Repentance
Life application
This week, move from a 'metaphorical' faith to a 'literal' one by physically responding to God in your private worship-lifting your hands in surrender and speaking your heart aloud-to break through logical barriers and invite the Holy Spirit to quicken your soul.
Reflection questions
- In what areas of your life have you been offering a 'Cain-like' sacrifice-doing things on your own terms rather than submitting to God's ways?
- Pastor Elms mentioned being 'afflicted with logic.' How does your own intellect sometimes get in the way of you experiencing the move of the Holy Spirit?
- When you think of God's judgment, do you see a 'monster' or a 'father' weeping in a field hospital? How does that image change your willingness to repent?
- What 'miles' are you currently walking that require you to lean specifically on a promise from God's word?
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Full transcript
0:00saying, "Lord, follow me. Follow me.
0:00Follow me. Follow me." I'm going to
0:00speak for the next few moments on the
0:02subject, the promise of the father.
0:05Master, you know every person in this
0:08house. You know, you're working in their
0:11life. You're very aware of the dreams
0:13you have given them, of the words you
0:16have spoken to them, words of healing
0:19and not of hurt, words of restoration,
0:23words of building them to a place of
0:26holiness and righteousness. Let this be
0:29a capstone moment in which their
0:33understanding comes alive that it lights
0:37up by the fire of the Holy Ghost and it
0:40elevates them. If there's anybody here,
0:43oh Lord, for all who are here who have
0:45never received the Holy Ghost with the
0:47initial evidence of speaking in a
0:50heavenly language, let this day be their
0:53day. Let them not leave this house
0:56without having received your spirit
1:00today. Let them know that you have come
1:03to give them life and that you have come
1:05to give them more abundantly. We thank
1:07you for your word. In Jesus holy name I
1:10pray.
1:12Amen.
1:13>> Amen.
1:15I love this Bible.
1:18This Bible is
1:21a book that is beyond our capacity
1:24to really
1:26understand the miracle that it is. It is
1:30taken for granted because it has become
1:34so common. But it is not common because
1:38it arrived here with all the help of
1:43everyone through many fires and floods.
1:47through many kingdoms that have tried to
1:50burn it up and shut it down. Through
1:54those even in religious circles who have
1:57tried to keep this from the common man.
2:00Those who have discouraged people from
2:03learning the Bible because they tried to
2:07propose that this could not be handled
2:10by common people. All of these forces of
2:15false prophets that have come and they
2:18still come that take this Bible and they
2:21twist it to their own what the Bible
2:24says destruction. They rest wrestle the
2:29words to take them to a place where they
2:33hear the word but it is not pure to
2:36them. Even in this hour where there are
2:39many different additions and versions of
2:42the Bible, there are small but subtle
2:46manipulations from the original that
2:49have turned scripture to where it has
2:51lost some of its authority and some of
2:55its force. They have essentially taken
2:58commands of God and converted them into
3:02the tones of suggestion. They have taken
3:06things that God says do not do and make
3:09it sound as if it was a negotiable. They
3:13have taken the word and tried to make it
3:15soft so that somehow there would be no
3:18rugged edges to it. But this is not a
3:22children's book although children are
3:25healed from it. It is not an elers's
3:28book even though it's an a book that
3:30elders relish. It is a book of life.
3:34This book tells us through metaphor and
3:38parable, through promise and through
3:41instruction how the world really works.
3:45It's not a dusty relic. These stories
3:49are not nice stories. They are hyper
3:53real.
3:54>> They are super
3:56>> natural. They are both natural, but they
3:59are super in a natural way. They are
4:02more real than the evening news. They
4:05are more accurate than your news reports
4:09because they describe the very structure
4:11of life itself. The story of Cain and
4:14Abel isn't about farming versus
4:17shephering. It's the origin of envy.
4:22Cain sacrifices, but he does it on his
4:25own terms. Abel gives his best and he
4:29does it in submission to the Almighty.
4:32God notices. He still notices. And when
4:36he saw that, he told Cain, "I'm not
4:39receiving your offering." And Cain
4:42wanted God to receive it because it was
4:45the way he wanted to give it. But God
4:47said, "I don't take things from you as
4:49you would like to have them. Remember,
4:52I'm the God and you're the created one."
4:55And because of that, there was no
4:57self-examination in Cain. There was no
5:00self uh searching. It was murder. And
5:04the first man was killed on the earth.
5:09Abel was slain because of murder. Cain
5:13went and built the first city. The first
5:15city was built by a killer. And he built
5:18that city on the foundation of envy. And
5:21it was built on the idea that the world
5:23is unfair and somebody has got to pay.
5:27If the world doesn't let me do it my
5:29way, then I'm going to make others pay
5:32for it. And selfishness began to reign.
5:35Cain would rather burn the world than
5:38admit that he brought a lousy sacrifice.
5:42And so that's the story. It tells us
5:46bring your best to him. Nothing less for
5:50him. We can fool people that this is our
5:53best praise. But you're not fooling God.
5:56We can fool others that we're bringing
5:58him our sincerest form of worship, but
6:01you cannot fool God. That's why he
6:04refers to living for him as coming into
6:06a furnace in which the gold will be
6:09brought forth, but the dross will be
6:11burned away. He likens the people to
6:14wheat and tears that grow together. But
6:17it's when the wind blows, everything
6:19that doesn't come with gravity and
6:22weightiness will be blown away. But
6:25everything that one that brought the
6:27substance of their soul, the integrity
6:29of their mind, the truth of their
6:31approach, God said, "I will receive
6:34you." Ah, take the flood. What was that
6:37all about? Sister Teresa uh Neapolitano
6:41went to Turkey just three weeks ago and
6:43she sent a picture to us standing in the
6:46mountain range of Ararat, right beside
6:49where the ark lie in the ground. You can
6:52see it. satellite pictures have seen it,
6:55but she went and saw it on her by her
6:58own self with a group and she sent me a
7:01picture of her standing by that ark. And
7:04uh I want to tell you uh that God said
7:07by sending a rainbow after that flood
7:09that he will not flood the earth again.
7:12And I would like to pause right now and
7:14ask you to join me in a prayer for
7:16Jamaica. Uh, Hurricane Melissa is
7:20building up into a very frightful
7:22frightful storm. Many of you have family
7:25and friends and properties in uh, in
7:27Jamaica. Will you pause with me and pray
7:31that God would have mercy on that
7:33nation? Master, right now I'm pleading
7:36for the mercy of God. Oh Lord, you know
7:40how to stop a storm, but you don't stop
7:43all storms. The most important thing is
7:46not our setbacks. It's that we're able
7:48to make it through. Let your mercy shine
7:51upon that nation of Jamaica. Let your
7:54mercy shine upon the nations that are
7:56also in the path, whatever islands it
7:59hits after it goes through Jamaica. Oh
8:02Lord, let your mercy be on those people
8:05and let your strength be upon them.
8:08Preserve them, protect them, be over
8:11them. Let them know, oh God, that they
8:14will not be destroyed by this storm. And
8:17we pray it in the name of Jesus Christ.
8:20I pray it from the bottom of my heart
8:22with the intensity of my spirit. Let
8:25there be survivors. And let there be
8:28people that thrive in this middle of the
8:31storm. And let your strength be with
8:32them all in Jesus precious name I pray.
8:37>> Hallelujah.
8:38And let the church say, "Amen."
8:40>> Amen. And so the Bible gives us so many
8:43stories about the ways of of God. And
8:47then we get to the story of the cross
8:49and Christ. And some people look at the
8:51story of the cross as if it was God uh
8:54being caught off guard as if he he
8:57didn't know what was going to happen.
8:59And they try to interpret it and
9:01misinterpret it. And they misunderstand
9:04that the cross was according to the forn
9:06knowledge of God that he was crucified.
9:10Yay. Even before the foundations of the
9:12world, God in his mind already had a
9:14plan of how he was going to redeem man
9:17before he made man. He had already
9:21formed a plan. And the closer you get to
9:23the word, the more you understand these
9:25things. And these stories that we have
9:27in the Bible, they are written sometimes
9:30in a manner that if you want an excuse
9:32to say, "I don't understand it," you can
9:35grab that reason and say, "I don't
9:37understand it." The Bible said that
9:39Jesus himself said, "Having ears, they
9:42will not hear, having eyes, they will
9:44not see." It is something that that
9:47they're going to get enough of an excuse
9:49to say, "Well, I don't get it." And
9:52God's going to let them say that. He
9:55could write with his finger in the sky.
9:58He could come and show a theophony of
10:01who he was. And so, no one really had an
10:04excuse. But Romans the first chapter
10:06says, "Creation declares the glory of
10:09God in such a manner that they are
10:12without excuse." They're already without
10:15excuse. From the rising of the sun to
10:18the going down of the same, our excuse
10:21to say we don't believe in God or we
10:24don't understand God or we don't get
10:26God. That excuse is taken away. Yes, his
10:30way is higher than my way. Yes, his
10:33thoughts are higher than my thoughts,
10:36but the simplicity of the cross of
10:38Christ that I am a sinner undone. I
10:41don't need somebody to tell me I'm a
10:43sinner. My conscience tells me I'm a
10:46sinner. You don't have to wonder. Just
10:49look at a baby before they've learned
10:51any theology. I'm telling you, my
10:53children before they could even talk,
10:56they knew when they had done wrong.
11:00Before they even knew how to communicate
11:03with me, their spirit was already highly
11:05educated on the fact that I'm doing I'm
11:08missing the mark. That's what sin is.
11:10Sin means to miss the mark. It's not the
11:13mark that everybody puts. It's a mark
11:15that God puts down there. What is just,
11:17what is righteous, and they already know
11:19it. It's their own conscience that is in
11:22them. And so when you read through the
11:24Bible, you read through it literally.
11:26But if you read it all literally, you
11:28miss the power of it because it's not
11:30all literal.
11:33But if you only read through it
11:35metaphorically, you also lose some of
11:37the strength of it because it's not all
11:40just metaphor.
11:42>> It's this holy seeking of God to reach
11:45between metaphor and the literal. He's
11:48literally coming back. It's not a
11:50metaphor. He's literally coming back.
11:53They thought it was all metaphor the
11:55first time, but the shepherds came from
11:58the east to a Bethlehem manger and a
12:01star sang at night and shepherds heard
12:04sing glory to God in the highest and on
12:07earth peace, goodwill. He literally came
12:11>> and he's literally coming again. But
12:13metaphorically, I'm telling you, he's
12:16coming back again. He's coming into this
12:18house today right now. In fact, he's
12:21walking these aisles touching you where
12:23you are sitting right now. He's reaching
12:26down to get to you. And he's trying to
12:29work at you and knock at the door. The
12:31Bible said, "Behold, I stand at the door
12:34and knock. If any man will open the door
12:37unto me and let me in, I'll come in and
12:40suck with him." But you're the only one
12:42that can open the door. You got to be
12:44willing to move from the metaphor to the
12:48literal and say, "Oh God, I'm not just
12:51metaphorically saying come in. I'm
12:53literally lifting my hands. I'm
12:56literally lifting my spirit. I'm
12:58literally saying come in, Lord Jesus.
13:06>> Come into my heart.
13:10Come into my heart.
13:13Come into my heart,
13:17Lord Jesus.
13:22Come in
13:24today.
13:27Come in
13:29to stay.
13:33Come in
13:35to my heart,
13:38Lord Jesus.
13:43I'm not talking about going past the
13:45third rib into the beating muscle that
13:48we have labeled the heart. I'm talking
13:50about the essence of me. I need him in
13:52my mind. I need him in my soul. I need
13:55him in my body. I need him in my feet. I
13:57need him in my eyes. The literal and the
13:59metaphor comes together and God forms a
14:03soul that's going to live forever
14:05somewhere.
14:07And we've got to get this flow and the
14:10understanding as the presence of God
14:12walks in the church. This is why this
14:13church will never just be logical.
14:16>> I'm afflicted with logic. I'm always
14:18logical. I can't shake it no matter what
14:21I am. And I've argued with God about it.
14:23But I'm also very spiritual. And so are
14:26all of you. You're both logical and
14:29you're spiritual. And if you don't know
14:31how to bring those two parts of you
14:32together, you'll never get to God.
14:35Because you're not just a body. You're
14:37not just a amalgamation of chemicals
14:39that put together makes you worth just a
14:42few dollars in literal terms. You are a
14:45spirit that has a song and you have love
14:49and you have tears and and you have joy
14:52and you have chill bumps and you feel a
14:55ferveny come over you and it's not empty
14:58inside of you. Sometimes it makes you
15:00want to run. Sometimes it makes you want
15:02to dance. Sometimes it makes you want to
15:05weep. Sometimes it makes you want to
15:07joy. But whatever it is, it's not just
15:10your logic. It's your spirit.
15:22>> If the sermon only comes to your logic,
15:24you will never be transformed. If it
15:26only reaches to your mind, you'll never
15:28be changed. sit there and figure it all
15:31out in the laboratory of your mind and
15:33you'll never have transformative power.
15:36But when you begin to spread the wings
15:37of your heart and you let the metaphor
15:40of the word come over you and it impacts
15:43you literally, literally. You want to
15:45stick up a hand in the air. Do you think
15:47we do that because we've got a list of
15:49assignments? You five stick it up at
15:51this time in the service. No. That's
15:53your spirit that wants to respond to the
15:56word. If you want to stay dead, that's
15:58your prerogative. But if you want to
16:00come alive, you let your spirit
16:03literally inform your face and inform
16:06your heart and get into your hands and
16:09preserve in your feet.
16:17That's not theology. That's reality.
16:21God said in his book that I will come in
16:25Acts the first chapter, he said, "Go
16:27tear at Jerusalem until you be endued
16:31with power at on high." They didn't
16:33metaphorically go to Jerusalem and say,
16:35"Well, I'm imagining I'm in Jerusalem."
16:38They literally went to an upper room in
16:41Jerusalem and Terry until you be dued.
16:44Okay, now we're moving out of the logic
16:47into the spirit. You got to understand
16:50that's what the only way you'll get the
16:52Holy Ghost
16:53>> is being endued.
16:55>> You're going to have to have something
16:56from on high.
16:58>> It can't come from your logic. It can't
16:59come from your reasoning. It can't This
17:01is a spiritual church. God is a spirit
17:05and they that worship him must
17:10>> must
17:12worship him in spirit and in truth.
17:15>> That's reality.
17:17And he said, I you go and you wait for
17:21that which the pro is called the promise
17:24of the father which saith he you have
17:27heard of me. Jesus has told them that
17:30there's a comforter coming. He's told
17:33them there's a spirit coming that's
17:35going to endure them. He said you got to
17:37go and wait. They didn't know how long
17:38to wait. They couldn't put could
17:40couldn't put God on the clock. They had
17:42to wait until I' My mother waited years
17:45before she got the Holy Ghost. It's not
17:48the will of God. But you don't know all
17:49the things that people go through to try
17:51to disattach from their logic and get
17:54down in their spirit. Some people,
17:55they'll do it a heartbeat at some kind
17:58of a setting because they're accustomed
18:00to thinking this is a safe place to let
18:02my spirit out. But when they come to the
18:04house of the Lord and the preaching
18:06makes their soul kind of say,
18:10>> they don't give themsel permission to
18:12let their spirit out.
18:14>> This is why I need all of you spiritual
18:16people to stay spiritual
18:19>> because the world will never know how to
18:21get spiritual unless they see somebody
18:23modeling a move of the spirit.
18:30Songwriters often write songs and
18:32they'll sit down and plan it and plot it
18:34and work on it, but it's not until
18:36something moves that the song takes
18:39flight.
18:41Robert Frost was under so much pressure
18:43from his editors to write something. His
18:46career was on its last legs. He was 44
18:49years old. He had six children. He
18:52fought depression often. And he had had
18:54a farm he was working that was failing.
18:57and he hadn't slept for 24 hours. The
19:00editor had assigned him to write a poem
19:02and he called it New Hampshire and he
19:05worked and worked and worked and worked
19:06on that poem. He slaved over the lines
19:09until he had to get it to the post
19:11office before midnight and he rode a
19:14horse to the post office at after
19:17midnight and he put that poem in the
19:20post office box and he rode his horse
19:22back home. It was snowy uh night there
19:25up in the northeast where he was. And
19:28finally on the edge of the snow when he
19:31was trying to get home, he was so wore
19:33out the pressure was too great after he
19:36had done that. A poem came to him out of
19:39one sitting and he just said, "I have
19:41promises to keep and miles to go before
19:45I sleep." All it was was stopping by the
19:48woods on a snowy evening. I have
19:50promises to keep
19:53and miles to go before I sleep. Maybe
19:56when you got everything going out just
19:58fine for you and you got the one you
20:00love loving you and you got the job you
20:02wanted hiring you and you've got the
20:04bank account you wanted there with you
20:06and the car you wanted to drive, but
20:08there's times you get to the very
20:10essence and the edge of life and you
20:12don't know what to do and you've tried
20:14to do everything right. It was at that
20:16moment he just realized I had promises
20:18to keep. He wrote it down and left it.
20:19He said it was no good. He said, "I just
20:22wrote it as an expression of trying to
20:24escape." And the next day, a friend came
20:27by and saw that and it was Robert Fost's
20:29finest piece of poetry ever written. And
20:32he said, "It's too simple. I can't use
20:34that. It's just a ring rhyme poem." And
20:37yet that was the poem that made Robert
20:39Frost the highest. Because here's the
20:41thing. It's the bottom line is not all
20:44the fancy words and the fancy places and
20:46all the degrees and the diplomas and the
20:48promotions and offices that you get.
20:51It's what are you going to do when you
20:52got promises to keep and miles to go
20:56before you sleep. When you come down to
20:58that essence of life, I can only offer
21:00you one promise and that's the promise
21:02of God. He'll walk with you through
21:05every long mile. He'll stay with you in
21:08every trial. He keeps his promises.
21:17>> God told Abraham, he said, "You can go
21:20and leave what is comfortable to you. If
21:22you want to stay in the world of your
21:24normaly, stay there. But if you want to
21:27follow me, you've got to learn to seek
21:29for my voice. You got to learn to listen
21:31for me." It's no different for Abraham
21:34than it is for you and I right now.
21:36We've got to learn to listen for him.
21:38Have you listened for him today or you
21:40just here? Are you listening for him?
21:42He's speaking. He's speaking not just to
21:44Abraham. He's not just speaking to Isaac
21:47and Jacob. He's not just speaking to me.
21:50He's speaking to you right now. And he's
21:52speaking and saying, "Come on, be my
21:54child. Be my my son. Be my daughter. I
21:58want you to serve me." God told Abraham,
22:01"Your descendants will be a great nation
22:04if you will leave the nation for where
22:06you are and seek a country of which I am
22:10the builder and the maker. If you'll do
22:12that, I'll give you a land and through
22:15it all your family and the world will be
22:17blessed by you. And if you don't believe
22:19God keeps his promises, then you ought
22:22to get on that Tel Aviv Flight L that
22:25leaves Miami today at 3:40 a.m. Go PM.
22:29go here to the Miami airport. 3:40 p.m.
22:33an LL flight departs for Tel Aviv and an
22:3711 hours and 40 minutes later at 9:20
22:41a.m. tomorrow morning that on their
22:43time, you'll get off a plane in a land
22:47that God gave to Abraham. If you don't
22:51believe God keeps his promises, that
22:53little nation has blessed the world. If
22:55you don't need it, if you don't know it,
22:57then go read all these people that hate
22:59the Jews.
23:01>> You know why they hate them? Because
23:02they've been blessed. They've been
23:04successful. And it's not because of
23:06envy. And it's not because of malice.
23:08It's because God said, "I will bless my
23:11people." Does do they deserve it? Some
23:13of them, many of them do not. But God
23:16keeps his promises. He's going to bless
23:19his people. He's going to keep his
23:21people. He's going to hold them up
23:23today.
23:26Promises made,
23:28>> promises kept. The Bible is a covenant.
23:31The Old Testament is 39 books long, but
23:33it's an old covenant. And God said in
23:36that to Israel, I will be your God, and
23:38you shall be my people. I'll love you
23:40with a love that doesn't flinch. If you
23:43keep my word, I will take care of you.
23:47But Israel said back, "We'll be your
23:48people, oh God. We'll obey." But they
23:51continually disregarded the word of God.
23:54But God never gave up on his promises.
23:57He came back and became a man and walked
23:59in flesh and said, "If Israel won't keep
24:02it, then I'm going to broaden the scope.
24:04I'm going to reach unto the Gentiles."
24:06And he gave us a new covenant. 27 books
24:10known as the New Testament where Jesus
24:13steps in and fulfills every prophecy in
24:16the Old Testament perfectly and says, "I
24:20am your God, O earth, if you will follow
24:23me, follow me." And many are following
24:26him today. And some are using his name
24:29in vain. And some think that he's just a
24:32vanity of the weak minds of society. But
24:36I've come to tell you, God keeps his
24:38promises. Every promise he made, he's
24:41going to keep. The promise from Edom's
24:44garden all the way to Revelation's
24:46promise, surely I come quickly. In him,
24:50the book of Corinthians says, "For all
24:53the promises of God, in him are yay and
24:57in him are amen."
24:59You and I see that phrase and we just
25:02think that means yes and that means
25:05amen. But if you'll dig just a little
25:07deeper, you'll find out that the root of
25:10the word yay in that verse is a Hebrew
25:14word. I mean a Greek word. It's a word
25:17that's understood by the Grecians and by
25:19the Gentiles at large. Its root was a
25:22Greek word. 33 times in the New
25:25Testament, that word yay, I will do what
25:29I said I will do. Yay. 33 times Jesus
25:33said, "Yay." In the New Testament, it
25:36might be to the Gentiles. It's a word of
25:39affirmation. But in the amen, that root
25:42is Hebrew. In other words, uh this could
25:45be a word that one is to the Gentiles
25:48and it might be that the amen is to the
25:51Jews because to the Gentiles he said
25:54I'll come and save you but to the Jews
25:56he said I am going to be your God and
25:59one he was saying yes there's an
26:02affirmation that I love you but I've
26:04come to tell you a confirmation to every
26:07Jewish mind in this place all the
26:10promises of God are yay Yay and amen.
26:15Yay and amen.
26:19Some through the fire,
26:23some through the flood,
26:26some through great trial,
26:29but all through the blood.
26:33Some through great sorrow.
26:36But God gives a song
26:40in the night season and all the day
26:46long. When he said I'm coming for you,
26:49write it down. He's coming for you. When
26:52he said, "I'm coming back to turn all
26:54the world upside down." Write it down.
26:57He's going to turn it upside down. When
27:00he said, "I'm going to call my church
27:01up." Mark it down. The church is going
27:04up in a rapture. You want stability,
27:07believe the promises of God. He has
27:09pardon for sinners. He's got strength
27:12for the weak. He's got bread for the
27:13hungry. He's got healing for the broken.
27:16To the prisoner, he's got a promise. To
27:18the widow, he's got a promise. To the
27:21doubter, there is a promise. No good
27:24thing will he withhold from those who
27:26walk uprightly. No good thing will he
27:29keep back from those who walk uprightly.
27:32I know there's a lot of people claiming
27:34these blessings and they don't walk
27:36uprightly and they quote, "No good
27:39things will he withhold." And they stop
27:42quoting. No good thing will he withhold.
27:45And they're living like hell. They're
27:47living like the devil. They're living in
27:50adultery. They're living in fornication.
27:52They're living in pornography. They're
27:54living in lies. They're living in
27:56cheating. They're thieves to God. They
27:58don't pay their tithe. You're a thief.
28:00You hold back your offerings. You don't
28:02have a heart for God. You're living in a
28:04lie. But I want to tell you something
28:06today. God keeps his promises. No good
28:09thing will he withhold from those who
28:11walk up rightly.
28:14He loves his people.
28:17Those who walk uprightly, he loves.
28:20Those who don't walk uprightly, don't
28:23count on him coming through for you. No,
28:26he loves you more than you imagine. His
28:29mercy endureth forever. You say, "But
28:32brother Elms, you don't know how long
28:33I've been ignoring." It doesn't matter
28:35how long you've been ignoring. Today is
28:36a new day. Today's a brand new start.
28:39Today's a chance for you to say, "All
28:41right, I'm going to quit tucking my head
28:43and walking around. I'm going to stop
28:46all that stupidity. I'm going to stand
28:48up and walk upright. And I'm going to
28:50say, Lord, you are my God. You're the
28:53promisekeeper. Not the bank, not the
28:55judge, not the president, not the
28:58lawyer, not the doctor. No, you are my
29:01provision.
29:08He promises to pardon the sinner. You
29:11say, "You don't know how far I am,
29:12Sister Helms. Come. You don't know how
29:14far I am in this sin." He promises. All
29:17you got to do is come to him and ask for
29:20forgiveness. Turn around and stop your
29:22ways. Walk with the Lord. Make your mind
29:25up. I'm going to be a worshshiper. I'm
29:28going to praise him every way that I
29:29can. I'm going to praise him on a Monday
29:31and on a Tuesday and on a Wednesday. I'm
29:33going to worship the Lord. Early will I
29:36seek thee. Oh Lord, you are a shield to
29:38me. I want to dwell under the shadow of
29:41your wings. Oh Lord, you are the one who
29:43is my shield and buckler. The name of
29:46the Lord is a strong tower. They that
29:48run in it, the righteous run in it, and
29:51they are safe. Ah, he's got a promise
29:54for you to justify the believing pro
29:56child of God. There is a promise.
29:59Promises of cleansing those who struggle
30:01with sin, promises of guidance, promises
30:04of preservation, pro promises of peace
30:07and joy, promises for death, promises
30:09for the day of judgment, promises for
30:12time, promises for eternity. And then
30:15when we get on our text, the Bible said,
30:17"The former treaties, the former
30:19treaties I wrote unto you, O Theophilus,
30:23of the things that the Lord did and
30:25said, of all those things I wrote to
30:28you, of all the things Jesus began."
30:31Everybody say, "Began."
30:34>> He began both to do and to teach. That's
30:37all he did was begin. This Bible stopped
30:402,000 years ago approximately. Well,
30:43actually about 96 AD, that's when they
30:46stopped writing this Bible. But I've
30:48come to proclaim to you a little over
30:501900 years or 900 years ago, uh, there
30:54at this day what this book was stopped
30:55being written. But God's still writing
30:57in Fort Lauderdale right now. I'm
30:59looking at people all over this building
31:01that hell has written off. Hell said,
31:04"You are done. You're finished." But you
31:06said, "No, I'm not. I'm no longer going
31:09to be addicted to the world. I'm not
31:11going to be addicted to my flesh. I'm
31:14not going to be addicted to my own ways.
31:16I will be delivered.
31:21>> Lo, I am with you always.
31:24>> I promise I will never leave you,
31:28>> nor forsake you,
31:30>> I promise I will. I've gr engraven you
31:34on the palm of my hands.
31:38I promise. With great mercy, I will
31:41gather you.
31:43>> I promise.
31:45>> Ask and you shall receive.
31:48>> I promise. Seek and you shall find. I
31:53promise. Knock and it shall be opened
31:56unto you. I promise my grace is
31:59sufficient for you.
32:04I promise my strength is made perfect in
32:08your weakness. I promise the same spirit
32:11that hover hovered over Genesis is in
32:14this house right now. The same spirit
32:16that rushed over David when he was
32:18facing his Goliath is in this house
32:21right now. The same spirit that raised
32:23up Jesus from the dead. If that same
32:27spirit that raised up Christ from the
32:29dead dwell in you, it will quicken your
32:33mortal body, I promise.
32:47>> See, I I I the devil doesn't want me to
32:52tell you about the judgments of God.
32:58But I have to tell you about the
32:59judgments of God.
33:03>> Because just as real as the promises
33:04are,
33:06>> the judgments are
33:09>> he's coming back to judge the quick and
33:12the dead.
33:14when he comes back to judge the quick
33:16and the dead. Those
33:20>> who have been honest in their life,
33:24they've walked in integrity. I'm not
33:26saying you've been perfect. I'm saying
33:28you get back up and you change your
33:29ways.
33:31>> You get back up. You say, "But I fell
33:33down." Get back up. That's why you're in
33:36church today. You're getting back up.
33:38That's why you come to the house because
33:39you wanted to hear the pure, undefiled
33:43word of God.
33:45>> But I want to tell you how much the Lord
33:46wants to bless you. He's not one to hit
33:49you with a hammer. He's not one to judge
33:51you. He takes no joy in those who
33:56disregard him. He takes no pleasure in
34:00those who act as if it's no big deal.
34:04No, he wants to hold them close.
34:08>> The end of the Civil War, Abraham
34:10Lincoln had just declared victory and he
34:12had signed the the the proclamation of
34:15peace with General Robert E. Lee, and he
34:19decided he would not stay in the White
34:22House, but he would get out. Lee had
34:24just surrendered. The South was broken.
34:28Their morale was broken. Their bodies
34:30and their spirits were were disheveled.
34:33and torn apart. And there was a nurse
34:36for the Confederate Army who wrote in
34:39her diary, this was published just a few
34:41years ago, a nameless nurse who wrote it
34:44down. And she wrote because of fear of
34:47her family bringing retribution to what
34:50she said. But it was just published that
34:53after stitching up torn bodies and
34:56amputating legs and arms, Lincoln, she
35:01had heard, had decided he was going to
35:03come to this field hospital where they
35:06were. And these soldiers of the
35:09Confederate had called Lincoln many
35:11names. They called him an ape. They
35:13called him a tyrant. They called him a
35:16butcher.
35:18For four blood soaked years, he had come
35:21to pound down slavery.
35:23But into the tent he walked, all six
35:26foot four of Abraham Lincoln. And those
35:30rebel soldiers maimed, burning with
35:33fever, terrified, saw him walk in. And
35:37this nameless nurse, they thought when
35:40Lincoln came in, they had heard about
35:42him possibly coming. Some of them said,
35:45"Watch him. He'll gloat when he comes
35:46in. He'll mock, he'll punish, he'll walk
35:50through and say, "You got what you
35:51deserved." But she said, "When he came
35:54in, he walked in with no guards. He came
35:59into this field hospital with no pump.
36:04He just slid in, gaunt, eyes sunken from
36:09grief. He began to go from soldier to
36:12soldier, touch them as it was
36:14appropriate, ask about him, tell them
36:17they were going to get through. He began
36:20to weep. He couldn't stop the tears. And
36:23this nurse said a transformation came in
36:26that field hospital as they encountered
36:29a man that they thought would come in
36:31and be a monster. They found a man who
36:34felt that he wanted to be like a father.
36:38I don't know what you think of God. He's
36:41coming with judgment
36:43and it's going to be a terrible day. But
36:46right now, all he wants to do is
36:49forgive,
36:51carry you,
36:53correct you with love and adjustment. He
36:58said in one scripture, he said, "Those
37:00who will not receive correction, they're
37:02like a child born of a strange father.
37:06But those who receive my correction,
37:09they're sons.
37:12Because a son will receive it from the
37:15father. Are you a son of God? Are you a
37:19daughter of God? Because today there's
37:21been some corrections that's walked down
37:23your aisle about promises that have been
37:26given and given to you. Will you let him
37:30come in and change your way today? Will
37:34you accept the promise of the father
37:37that would be the Holy Ghost
37:39>> that would come? Are you going to resist
37:42the Holy Ghost? Are you going to defy
37:45the Holy Ghost? Are you going to deny
37:47the Holy Ghost? Are you going to say, "I
37:49want the Holy Ghost.
37:55>> I want you to be in me. I want you more
37:58than anything. I'm going to knock until
38:01the door is open. I'm going to seek
38:03until I find. I'm not just going to come
38:06to you metaphorically, but I'm going to
38:08come to you literally. This is why we
38:11have an altar call because a lot of
38:13people love the metaphor so they can sit
38:15and wrestle with it. But your metaphor
38:17has got to become literal.
38:19>> You've got to say, "I surrender." And
38:21your hands go up. You say, "Well, I only
38:24do that when the cops tell me, "Show me
38:26your hands." Why do they tell you that?
38:29They tell you it because the hands are
38:31what kill people. Okay? They want to see
38:34your hands. They're not saying, "Show me
38:37your feet.
38:39Show me your feet." You ever heard a
38:41police officer do that? Come on. Show me
38:43your feet.
38:45They don't say, "Show me your knees.
38:48Those things are hurting me. Show me
38:49your knees." They don't say say, "Show
38:52me your elbows."
38:54Why?
38:56Because that's what hurts people right
38:58there.
38:59right there.
39:01Go to events and see police officers. I
39:04I'll always remember I went to a
39:06scenario training event with mental
39:08health as I was getting my CIT
39:10certification, the crisis intervention
39:12training. And uh so I was going and here
39:15I am the only preacher in the room and
39:16all these cops. And so they had somebody
39:19playing the role as of the person who
39:21was having a a mental meltdown. And as
39:24we walked in, all those officers walked
39:26in. They're so trained that you see them
39:29all coming in. Their hands are right
39:30here. Their hands are in front of them
39:32and they're they're talking and they did
39:35what they do. I can't even say what they
39:36do. I mean, I watched them. I tried to
39:38learn, but they're the ones really out
39:39there doing it. And I walked in. Here
39:42comes the preacher, you know, the
39:44chaplain. And I walk in and here's the
39:46mental case. And I'm sitting there. I'm
39:48trying to address him. And you know, I
39:50had effective verbal approach. You know,
39:53you trying to get them think about
39:55something that day. talking about
39:57something that very moment what sports
39:59team they like I know it sounds trivial
40:00but you got to get their mind off crazy
40:02and so you got all these strategimms
40:04where you approach they got to get their
40:05mind into it's this weather something
40:08have you heard about the hurricane you
40:09know just normal world stuff but I would
40:12go in and tell you what when they
40:14critique me they said yeah you're
40:15probably dead too because the crazy
40:18people will kill you with their hands
40:19and there you're not even worried about
40:21their hands why the hands but when you
40:24come to the Lord let me tell you
40:26You need to get your hands out of your
40:27pockets.
40:29>> You need to get your hands from your
40:30side.
40:31>> You need to get your hands out of your
40:33pride.
40:34>> You got to get your hands out of your
40:35position of of fame and fortune and out
40:39of your pocket. Sometime you need to
40:40just say, "Lord,
40:46>> nothing in my hands I bring. Only to you
40:49I sing. I need you, Lord. I need you,
40:52Jesus. I've got I surrender, Lord. I'm
40:56giving up all the things that you want
40:57from me. I'm not bringing any agendas.
41:00I'm not bringing any heart breaks that
41:02you can't handle. I'm not bringing
41:04anything to tell you that you're not big
41:06enough for this. I'm saying you're Lord.
41:08You're God of all my circumstances.
41:10You're the one who will take care of me.
41:12And he flows by you moving the metaphor
41:15into the literal. And you lift your
41:18voice and he starts to flow through you.
41:20And you will literally speak in a
41:23language nobody ever taught you because
41:26the metaphor becomes reality. And one
41:30day if that same spirit that raised up
41:33Christ from the dead dwell in you, it
41:35shall quicken this real mortal feeling
41:40body. It shall be changed in a moment,
41:44in a twinkling of the eye. And I will
41:46fly to meet the Lord in the air. and so
41:50shall I ever be with him as why don't we
41:53stand all over this building and make
41:55sure we're coming to him. I want the
41:58Lord to touch you today. I want you to
42:01respond to the Lord today. You can come
42:04to him and he's been working on you. But
42:08here's your opportunity to say, "Lord, I
42:11know you've been working on me. I'm not
42:13going to stand back like you hadn't been
42:14working on me. I'm ready to let
42:16everybody around me know you can't save
42:19me. Only God can. Ah, that's what you do
42:22when you come to the altar. You're
42:24saying they can't save me. Only God can.
42:27Ah, that's for saints, too. That's for
42:30churchgoing people, too. Oh, Lord, I
42:32still need you. I need you to work on
42:35me. I need you to form me. I need you to
42:37make me. Your promises are yes and amen.
42:41You're sending the promise of the
42:45father. The promise of the father is
42:48coming. And I receive your promises
42:52today. Oh, lift your voice. Lift your
42:55voice. Receive of the Lord. Surrender to
42:58the Lord. You're not surren surrendering
43:01to a man. You're not surrendering to a
43:03religion. You're not surrendering to a a
43:06a scroll. You're not surrendering to a
43:09covenant. You're surrendering to the
43:12Lord. The Lord. The Lord.
43:16Oh, raise your hands.
43:20Raise your hands.
43:23Raise your hands.
43:26Raise your hands. You're the God of