The Gospel is God’s Yes (And Why That Changes Everything) | Season 04, Episode 04 | Simple Truth Podcast

What if I told you that you may be believing something untrue about God? Many of us have been taught that God is sometimes yes, sometimes no, and sometimes later. But the Bible reveals something far more powerful. That through Jesus Christ, God's promises are always yes. I know that may sound bold, but 2 Corinthians 1:20 literally says that quote, "All the promises of God in Christ are yes and in him, amen," which means so be it. In this episode, we're going to look at the Bible and see how the gospel reveals God's true intentions towards you and me. We'll see that God is not reluctant. He's not distant. And he's certainly not against you. He has already given his son to save you, to restore you, to help you, and to transform you. We will see how Jesus in the New Testament helped every single person who came to him with sincerity. I mean, every time. And we'll also answer a very important question. If God is always willing and if his promises are always yes, why doesn't every prayer get answered the way we expected? Because when you understand that the gospel is God's yes, it changes how you pray, how you trust God, and how you pursue his purpose for your life. But don't take my word for it. Let's get into it in this episode of The Simple Truth. Welcome to the Simple Truth Podcast, where we open the Bible to uncover simple, biblical, and essential truths that can transform your life. And now, here's your host, Ted Ross. Hi, my name is Ted Ross and this is the Simple Truth Podcast, your home for biblical truth clearly taught and freely given. Welcome to season 4, episode 4, where we talk about the word yes. Three simple letters. Such an important word, but more specifically, how the gospel is God's yes, and why that changes everything when it comes to your relationship with God. So, let's get into it. Why does this episode matter? Well, most Christians have been taught that God is yes and no. Sometimes he wants to bless you, and sometimes he just doesn't. So, you begin to wonder, is God against me today? Is he unwilling to help me this time? Uh maybe he's holding back his promises for some reason that maybe I don't understand. And that uncertainty makes it hard for us to pray confidently, to trust God fully, or to seek him boldly in faith. All three of those things that God commands us to do. But the Bible says something completely different than how many of us were raised. It says that God's promises are yes and they're amen through Jesus Christ. The gospel does not reveal a reluctant God. It reveals a loving father who is good, who's generous, and willing to bless his people? So, that raises a really important question. If God is always willing, why don't I receive everything that I pray for? That's exactly what we're going to answer in this episode. So, let's get into it. But before we get into it, let's do a quick recap of episodes one through three because we covered so many important topics that are really important for us to understand for episode 4. So first and foremost, as a reminder, the gospel means good news. It's the announcement of the coming of the kingdom of God. We saw this in Mark 1, verses14 and 15. Secondly, the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So while the word literally means good news, what is the good news? The good news is that Jesus died for your sins. He was buried and he rose again the third day. And it is literally the most important message in all of scripture. And we see this defined by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1-4. We also see that the gospel is more than just words. Words are important. Words carry a lot of meaning. They carry a lot of power. But this is way more than words, folks. I could write down Jesus died, was buried, and rose again the third day. That's not really where the power is. The power is the fact that when these words are spoken, when this message is ministered, and when God's spirit bears witness, it carries God's authority and it carries God's power. That's where the power is at. We saw this in Luke 4, verses 32-36, in 1 Corinthians 4 verse 20. The gospel is also always a blessing. That's really important. It brings healing. It brings redemption. It brings mercy. The gospel brings freedom. It brings restoration to what sin had broken in the first place. And we saw this in Psalm 103, verses 1-6. And we saw it throughout season 4 episode 3 on the gospel is a blessing. In other words, those who believe the gospel, they're forgiven. They're delivered. They're reconciled to God. They're adopted by God. Try that on for size. And they're brought into a new life in his kingdom. And that's just a short list of some of the many things the gospel did through the Lord Jesus Christ. But it begs the question, does God really want you to have all these things? The answer is yes. He most definitely does. And let's take a look at this in the Bible. So brings us to our first simple truth of the episode. The gospel is not yes and no, but yes. 2 Corinthians 1, verses 15- 20. Remember, all verses in this episode are taken from the New King James Version. So, feel free to follow along. In 2 Corinthians 1:15-16, we're going to see that Paul planned to visit the church of Corinth, the Corinthian church, twice. We know about once, but he planned on a second trip, but his plans changed. So, let's take a look at it. 2 Corinthians 1:15, quote, "And in this confidence, I Paul intended to come to you before that you might have a second benefit." Remember, he came once and he says, "I want to come by a second time so you can gain a second benefit from his visit." Verse 16, to pass by way of you to Macedonia to go through Corinth to Macedonia to come again from Macedonia to you and be helped by you on my way to Judea. So Paul's describing all these plans and these routes that he planned on taking for Paul to say and in this confidence Paul was confident that he would bless the Corinthians again through his ministry. Right? That's the second benefit. And what do we mean by benefit? Benefit means in the Greek a favor or a blessing. So that Paul intended to come again to physically be with them. And he intended that they would have a second benefit, a second favor, a second blessing based on his ministry being done in person with them. But Paul was not able to visit the Corinthians for a second time. Right? He did it once, but he wasn't able to do it the second time. So Paul is going to say in the next set of verses that although his plans changed, God's promises do not change. Right? Paul was using this instance, this situation as an example to teach. And he said God's promises do not change. In fact, people shift, but God is always yes in Christ. And God never shifts. That's where Paul is going with this. So 2 Corinthians 1:17. Here we're going to see that Paul had to change his plans and he was concerned that he would look careless to the church at Corinth. Okay. 2 Corinthians 1:17. Quote, "Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do this lightly?" He was planning his second trip. Did I do this lightly? He said, "Or the things that I plan, do I do according to the flesh that with me there should be yes, yes, and no, no." Verse 18, but as God is faithful, our word to you was not yes and no. So Paul says, when I was planning this, that second trip to Corinth, he says, did I do it lightly? To do it lightly is to do it with carelessness, to to not be serious about it. Right? Paul says, "No, no, no." He says, "Oh, the things that I planned." So Paul's constantly taking trips as a part of his ministry. And he says every trip he takes he takes seriously and he's not carnal about them. He doesn't say yes one moment then no the next moment etc. He takes it very serious and he's very prayerful about where he goes and what he does. But then he says as God is faithful, God is trustworthy, God is dependable, God is reliable. He says that his word to them was not yes and no. Right? Just as God is faithful, God's word and promises are reliable. They're always yes. Okay. So, now we're getting to 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 19. And in here we see that the gospel it doesn't reveal a reluctant double-minded God. It reveals a faithful reliable father who fulfills every promise in Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:19 quote for the son of God Jesus Christ who was preached among you by us by me that's Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy was not yes and no but in him was yes Paul's taking a pivot here so Paul says listen I Paul I take very seriously the trips that I do and just because I wasn't able to get to you on the second time that I planned on it don't think God isn't faithful and completely reliable. So Paul says that Jesus Christ, the son of God that was preached not only by Paul but by Timothy and by Sylvanus. He says Jesus Christ is not yes and no. God in Jesus is always yes. And then he says in 2 Corinthians 1:20 quote for all the promises of God in him are yes and in him amen to the glory of God through us. Wow. for him to say that God is not yes and no. To say yes is to say certainly or to say true. And to say no is to be denied or to be refused. He said God is not certainly and refused at the same time. But in him through Christ, God is always yes. God is always certainly. It's a such a powerful statement. In fact, he says in 2 Corinthians 1:20, he says, "All the promises, all the pledged blessings from God in Christ are yes and amen." Which means that they're all certainly and so be it. In other words, let it happen. In Christ, God says yes to the promises of his kingdom. And I know this is very different how often we've been taught, but the reality is scripturally, and we're going to see this in verse after verse, we should take God at his word. And repeatedly, we see that God describes his promises in his kingdom to us as consistently, yes. Interesting. Let's take a look at Luke 12, verses 29-32. We're going to see here, don't be anxious. Jesus is talking. He says, don't be anxious. God knows what you need and God wants to bless you. Jesus is starting to say that God is yes when it comes to blessing you. Okay. Luke 12:29 quote, and this is Jesus talking. "And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind." Verse 30, "for all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your father knows that you need these things." Wow. Jesus says, do not seek, don't pursue, don't desire, don't search after, right? what you should eat or what you should drink or have an anxious mind. To have an anxious mind is to be unsettled. It's to be mentally troubled. It's to be doubtful. Jesus says don't be doubtful. Don't be unsettled and don't be troubled especially about what you should eat or what you should drink. He says for all these things the nations of the world all people seek after these things. All people want food and clothing. All people are looking often for companionship or a spouse. Everyone wants to have recreation. Everyone wants a good living. These are consistent across the world. God's not confused about this. He said, 'Don't be unsettled and don't be anxious about it and certainly don't doubt about it because every community, even non-Christians want all these things. Your father knows that you need these things. Your father fully understands and is aware of. That's what that word knows. God fully understands that you have need of these things. To have need is to have necessity, that you require provision. God knows. Instead of living anxiously like the world does over your needs, God is instructing us to seek God's kingdom and his righteousness. And he wants you to receive his promises. Luke 12 verses 31 and 32. Here we're going to see that God provides your needs when you desire after him when you pursue his kingdom. That's his rule. And he gladly wants to give you his promises. In other words, he says yes and amen to his promises. Let's read these verses. Luke 12:31. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Verse 32, do not fear, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Praise God. He says, instead, seek, that's to pursue, desire, search after the kingdom of God. That's God's rule. That's his reign. That's his authority. So instead of seeking those things, seek after God's rule in your life. Have him rule over your life. Submit yourself under his reign. Right? pursue, desire, urgently seek after his rule in your life. Praise God. Seek after those. He says it all these things, all the the stuff, all the what to eat, what to drink, what to wear, all the practical things that you're already anxious about, the things that the nations of the world seek after, he said. Right? He already knows you need those things. So, he says, "Do not fear, little flock. Do not fear little sheep, little followers of Jesus Christ. For it is your father's good pleasure." That means good pleasure means it's his delight that he takes pleasure in right to give you to give freely to bestow to freely grant you the kingdom to give you all those things. The gospel reveals and we see this in scripture after scripture. The gospel reveals a father who delights in giving his kingdom and his blessings to his children. He does not delight in withholding them. He delights in giving them. His promises are yes and amen. Let's go to Romans 8 verses 31 and 32. Here we see that if God gave his son for you, the gospel itself, the death burial, resurrection of his son, if he gave his son, he's certainly not reluctant to give you the promises of his kingdom and he won't hold back his blessings. Romans 8:31 quote, "What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Verse 32, "He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Wow. So Paul says, "What shall we say to these things?" Really? What are these things? It's earlier in Romans 8. So Romans 8 verses 1-30, Paul describes the truths about God's love, about God's salvation. And he says, well, what do we say about all these great things that he wrote about God? Well, he says that if God is for us, to be for us means to be in favor of working towards our benefit. Thank God. If God is for us, then who could be against us? Because who could be against God? And who could resist the fact that God is working towards our favor and he's working towards our benefit. Praise God. It says, "He who did not spare, to spare is to withhold, to refrain from giving, to hold back. He who would not withhold or hold back his own son." That is quite a gift. Oh wow. But delivered him up for us all. To deliver him up, he handed over Jesus. He gave Jesus up willingly. Praise God. He handed over his own son. He gave him up willingly to bless us. He says, "How shall he not also freely give us that's to freely bestow to give graciously all things?" That's everything, folks. That's everything. God has promised so many blessings, so many benefits to you and to me for believing the gospel. So many benefits of obeying and submitting ourselves to his rule and to his authority. The God who gladly gave his own son will gladly give you his promises. Wow, there's so many powerful verses. We could go, we could spend this entire episode reading through those verses, but we have more to teach and more to cover. And one of the things that I hope is as you receive and you understand and you hear these teachings that as you're reading the Bible on your own, it'll start to open up and maybe you can see, oh, that's how this connects. Oh, right. Exactly. Jesus was doing this and he was talking about the gospel. And you can see how these things interconnect with each other. That's exactly what our point is and exactly what our purpose is. So, I hope you gain more and more revelation as you read and you study the Bible on your own. But let's take a moment, think about this. We weren't even thinking about God. And he gladly sent his son to die for us, to be buried, and to rise again on the third day. That's the gospel. He gladly sent his son when we weren't even thinking about him so that we could be forgiven. We could be restored. We could be set free. We could be brought into his kingdom. So the gospel powerfully reveals that God is for us, not against us. Correct? Amen. And throughout the Bible, God clearly reveals himself as good, as generous, as a father who desires to bless his children. So Christians, get this. Hear me loud and clear. So Christians should confidently ask, seek, and trust God for the good things that he has promised. If there is one point I want you to get from this entire episode, it is that Christians should confidently ask, seek, and trust God for the good things that he has promised. Not because you deserve it, not because you earned it, not because you're just great, but because he has promised it. He has done the work. It is finished as Jesus said. And we are simply working to be converted, to believe it, and to submit ourselves to his will. And he will manifest all things because it is his will and his good pleasure to give you and I the kingdom. Thank you, Father. Which brings us to our next simple truth. Jesus says yes to those who seek him. Let's take a look at John 6:37. And here we're going to see that Jesus welcomes those who come to him and will not send anyone away. John 6:37, quote, "All that the Father gives me," this is Jesus talking, "will come to me. And the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out." Too many of us treat God like we treat our own earthly parents. or we treat God like he was a friend, maybe someone who hurt us when we were younger or a bully, something like that. And that's not at all how God is. God reveals his character repeatedly. He reveals it in the Bible. He bears witness to his character in the scripture. There's a long list of things that if you to look deeply, you'd realize that God is clearly revealing himself to you. But our hearts can be so hard and so often we believe what's sitting right in front of us instead of believing the actual truth. Amen. So here we see Jesus saying that all the father gives me those who hear God's calling and respond that's you and me folks those who are born again right the father has given them to Jesus Christ all of them come to me come to Jesus Christ everyone who approaches who draws near to him he says he will by no means cast out he will absolutely never cast you out he will never reject you he will never drive you away he'll never send you away. Amen. Jesus promises that everyone who comes to him with faith, with sincerity, is welcomed and will never be rejected. In other words, Jesus says, "Yes, you come to Jesus with sincerity, with honesty. You come to him with even a little bit of faith, the size of a mustard seed, and he will never reject you. He will always say yes to you." Praise God. In fact, let's take a little look here. Jesus always said yes to those who sought him. That word always is strong. Not later, not maybe, not sometimes. In fact, the gospel is God's yes. If you look in the New Testament, Jesus said yes to everyone who sincerely came to him for help. We're not going to go through all these scriptures. I'm going to list these out. I'm going to ask for you to read in our closing. We're going to ask for you to come back to this part and to read through these over the next seven days. Right? But remember, you all have read these scriptures quite honestly. Remember the leper as found in Matthew 8 verses 1-3. That leper said, "Lord, if you were willing, you can make me clean." And what was Jesus's response? He didn't say no. He didn't say maybe. He didn't say sometimes. Jesus answered, "I am willing. Be clean." Jesus said, "Yes." Praise God. Remember blind Bartameus in Mark 10 verses 46-52. He cried out for mercy. Jesus healed him. Remember the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5 verses 25-34. She was desperate for a healing. Desperate. She tried the doctors. She tried every avenue. And she just couldn't get well. And she reached out to Jesus and reached and Jesus didn't say no. Jesus didn't say maybe. Jesus didn't say sometimes. Jesus did not say later. Jesus said yes. And Jesus healed her. Praise God. Remember the paralytic in Mark 2 verses 1-12. He came for a healing. Jesus restored both his body with the healing and his soul in forgiving him his sins. Praise God. The Pharisees even got mad. Remember Jairus in Mark 5 verses 21-43. He came seeking life for his daughter and Jesus brought her back to life. That's powerful. Keeps going, doesn't it? Remember the thief on the cross. Luke 2:39-43. He sought mercy at the crucifixion and Jesus gave him entrance into heaven right then and there. Praise God. Jesus said yes as he was dying. Praise God. Remember Zacchaeus in Luke 19 verses 1-10. He sought to see who Jesus was. And what did he get? Jesus brought salvation to his whole house. Praise God. Remember the Samaritan woman in John 4 verses 4-26. She came empty. She came searching. Jesus offered her living water. Remember the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28? She refused to give up in faith and Jesus delivered her daughter from evil. In fact, you could even say that Jesus, I don't know, gave the impression that he was turning her away because he says it's not fit for the bread to be given to dogs. And what was her response? Well, even the dogs are there at the side of the table waiting for crumbs. Jesus said, "This woman's got faith." And he still said yes. These are examples of Jesus saying yes every single time. I think you see the pattern quite clearly. You will not find one example in scripture when someone sincerely came to Jesus and was turned away. I will say that one more time. You will not find a single example in the Bible where someone sincerely came to Jesus and was turned away. He always was yes. All of his promises were yes and all them were amen. And why did he turn no one away? because his promises are yes and so be it in Christ. We saw that in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20. Right? That's why the gospel is good news. The gospel is not so so news. The gospel is not lukewarm news. The gospel is fantastic news. It's such good news that people literally died to preach it. People were imprisoned. They were thrown in with lions. Being a Christian was serious business in Rome in the first century. In the second century, it was a very serious issue. Being a Christian is a serious issue in many countries even now, right? For those of you in the United States of America, we honestly have it quite easy. Maybe if we say something, someone might get a little offended in public or get a little bothered or get curt with us. That's a very small price to pay for what people are doing all across the world. God bless you, China. God bless you, North Korea. God bless Christians who are in Russia and in Africa and Christians who are spread throughout the world, who are dealing with oppression, who are dealing with persecution. God bless every single one of you. Praise God for you. Praise God. Okay, so to be clear, we see this throughout scripture. God said yes every single time. And it brings us to our next simple truth. God gives good things to those who ask. Right? So we start to get into here. Why did God do... how does this work? Well, he gives good things to those who ask. Let's go to Matthew 7 verses 7-11. Right? Here we're going to see that God responds to us when we ask, when we seek, and when we knock in faith. Matthew 7:7, quote, this is Jesus talking. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you. Verse eight, for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Praise God. To ask means to request with expectation. And that's what that means in Greek. So he says, "Request with expectation and it will be given to you. Seek," which means to pursue, to desire, to search after, right? So he said, "Pursue and you will find." Praise God. Knock. Seek entrance or seek access and it will be opened to you. Right? Jesus urges us to confidently approach God for his promises with persistence, with expectation, and with faith. He tells us to ask, to seek, and to knock. That sounds like active words, does it not? Now, Matthew 7:9 here, we're going to see that God is not looking for ways to hurt us, to deceive us, or to deny us. He's not looking for ways to tell us no, to tell us later, to tell us maybe. Right? He loves you. He is converting you so that you could receive all of his blessings, all of his promises. Matthew 7:9. Or what man is there among you who if his son asks for bread will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish will give him a serpent. Wow. He says, "For what man is there among you? What father or what mother?" It doesn't even matter. The gender is not even the point. If they had a child, it could be a son, it could be a daughter. If they were hungry and they asked for bread, they'd give them a stone. Bread represents food. It represents nourishment. And a stone represents something that is useless for the need. There is no way you could eat a stone. No matter how you look at it, however you look at it, from the top or from the bottom, a stone is inedible. And there is no way at all that any loving parent would take a child who is hungry and give them a stone to eat. Verse 10 says, "Or if they ask for a fish, they will give him a serpent." That's a snake. It implies giving them something dangerous or harmful. What child says, I'm hungry. Can I get some fish to eat that a parent would look and say, "How about a poisonous snake?" There's no parent on this earth that I can think of who would possibly ever do that to a child. Okay. The gospel is going to reveal that God's desire is to give you good things, to give good things to his people, to say yes to you, not to deceive you, not to neglect you, and certainly not to harm you. Okay. Matthew 7:11. Here we're going to see that if an imperfect earthly father can give good gifts, how much more does your heavenly perfect father desire to bless his children? Matthew 7:11 quote, "If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?" Okay. If you then being evil, to be evil is to be sinful, to be immoral, to be corrupted. I I I laugh because I'm an earthly father. I've got children. I know what it's like. And Jesus just gives it to me straight right on the nose. Hey, Ted, if you being evil, if you having sin in you, if you having immorality, if you having corruption, if you know how to give a good gift, right? If you know how to give a useful thing or a wholesome thing to someone, it says, "How much more will he give good things to those who ask him?" I'm repeating that for emphasis. To ask is again to request with expectation. We saw in the previous scripture to ask, to seek, to knock. And now he is repeating that God's nature is to say yes to blessing, caring for, and providing good things to Christians. That's God's nature. That's God's nature. The father's nature is to say yes and to say amen to blessing you, to caring for you, to providing good things to you. So why don't I get everything that I ask him for? Let's see why. That brings us to our next simple truth. God answers prayers in faith according to truth and his will. Let's take a look at this. First one is you should ask God in faith. Okay, let's take a look at James 1 verses 5 and 6. Here we're going to see that when you ask God for something, he wants you to pray in faith, trusting that he hears you, trusting that he is God and that he's willing to give you what you need. You may remember, and we repeat this often on the Simple Truth podcast, the number one reason why Jesus would upgrade or rebuke his disciples, why he would say tough and strong things to them, why he would correct them sharply, was their doubt and their unbelief. You've seen this in the scriptures. The number one reason why Jesus would rebuke, why he'd correct sharply his disciples was because of doubt and unbelief. We often in church talk about pornography and drug addiction and alcoholism and so many difficult and anger and and all these things that are really very valid, very big issues across the world. And yet Jesus himself, he did not rebuke them for pornography and for drugs and for alcoholism. He rebuked his disciples because of their doubt and unbelief. Because at the heart of it, he wanted his disciples to believe God. Because if they would believe God and be led by the spirit, they would repent from and be delivered from all those other sins. So Jesus did not pursue the sins. He pursued them repenting and believing the gospel of the kingdom of God. So in your life, if we're wrestling with challenges, and so many of us, we wrestle with challenges. As we're wrestling with challenges, our approach is to yes, acknowledge to God that these things are sin, but it's then to repent of them and to believe that Jesus died for those sins and he was buried and he rose again the third day. And in that is the power of God to save us. Hallelujah. Is to put our focus in on the gospel, to meditate on the gospel, to think about whatever is good and pure and of good report as it talks about in Philippians 2. Focus on being led by the spirit of God. Because as the scripture says, if you're led by the spirit of God, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. So instead of focusing on the lust of the flesh and telling us, I won't do this and I won't do that and today's the day and I'm going to stop. Our focus should be being built up in the spirit should be de pursuing God, reading, praying, fasting, being led by the spirit of God, doing the five disciplines that we talked about in season 3. Because as we build up in those things, we won't pursue the lust of the flesh. We'll literally look at it and say, "No, thank you. I'm instead going to choose God. Hallelujah. And you're going to reap all the benefits and all the blessings of serving God, which by the way are many. They're many. This whole season on the gospel of the kingdom of God is a listing of all the benefits and all the blessings that come from seeking God, serving God, and obeying God. Hallelujah. So James 1 verse 5, quote, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." Verse six, but let him ask in faith with no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. Praise God. If any of you lacks wisdom, the context specifically for this is wisdom for asking for experience, asking for skill, which by the way, it's always good to ask for wisdom, but you could honestly insert anything in here. If any of you asks for a good thing, like wisdom, let that person ask of God. This is now the third time in just the last few minutes that God instructs us to ask to go to him in prayer. Amen. And it says, "Ask of God, who by the way, James says, gives to everyone liberally." That means he gives freely. He gives generously. That means he says yes to everyone. Wow. And without reproach. God gives without reproach. That means he gives without shame to the one who asks. Wow. Thank you for that. Honestly, I would just take him giving it liberally. The fact he does it without reproach to me that's icing on the cake and I appreciate that. It says, "But let him ask in faith." That's a powerful word, right? Faith is mentioned all the time in the Bible. It says, "Let that person ask with belief, with confidence, with conviction to trust God." So when you ask for wisdom, when you ask for a good thing, when you ask for this blessing, ask with belief in God, ask with confidence in God and ask with conviction in trusting God that God hears you and that he will provide those things to you. And it says, do that with no doubting. Do it without wavering. Do it without hesitation. Don't be divided within yourself. Don't say to yourself, "Oh, I believe God will do. Oh, no, I don't believe anymore. Oh, I believe. Oh no, I won't believe anymore. And what helps you with wrestling with doubt are the five disciplines. Reading scriptures, praying, meditating on God's word, doing things like praise and worship, fasting, seeking to be led by the spirit. Because as you build up in the spirit, it starts taking that doubt out of you. Amen. You're never going to be able to stop doubting just by telling yourself stop doubting. You're going to stop doubting by being filled with the spirit, being led by God's spirit. The gospel reveals God's willingness. It reveals it. We see it quite clearly. We saw all through the New Testament, Jesus said yes. We saw in second Corinthians that God's promises are yes and amen through Jesus Christ. We see it over and over again. Why are we so confused? So pray with faith. Don't doubt. Pursue God. Pursue God for good things and do it in faith. Secondly, we see that we should ask God in truth and in honesty. Okay. James chapter 4 verses 2 and three. And here we're going to see that God responds to truth. He doesn't respond to selfish desires and he doesn't respond to worldly motives. James 4:2, quote, "You lust and you do not have. You murder and you covet and you cannot obtain. You fight and you war, yet you do not have because you do not ask." Verse 3, you ask and you do not receive because you ask a miss that you may spend it on your pleasures. These are some powerful verses which by the way, these are also verses I've run into many Christians who kind of have a hard time understanding them. All the more reason for us to cover them in this podcast. James 4 verses 2 and three. We see here you lust. That means you have strong desires, strong cravings. You passionately want. Quite often in commercials they seem to embrace it. Do you have strong cravings? You'll see in the commercial. Turns out that's sin, right? But you strongly desire, you strongly crave, you passionately want something. And it's not God, by the way. It's something of the flesh. It says you murder and covet and you cannot obtain. You fight and you war. You do not have because you do not ask. When he says you do not ask, it says God wants you to depend on him and to seek him in prayer instead of pursuing your selfish ambitions and your striving. So you don't have these things because you don't ask for these things and you don't get these things, right? You ask and you do not receive. So you go to God and pray and you ask for these things that you crave after, that you have strong desires and strong passions over these worldly things that you have such strong desires after. And it says you ask God for it, but you don't receive, do you? Because you ask a miss. That word a miss means you ask improperly. You ask with the wrong motives. These aren't towards the kingdom. These aren't a blessing. These aren't going to benefit anybody. Not even going to benefit you. Honestly, you're asking for things because of your lust. You're asking for things that would hurt you. And God will not give them to you. You ask a miss that you may spend it. You may spend that thing that you're asking for on your pleasures. You're asking for these things so that you can spend it on your selfish desires, your sinful gratification. That's really what that word pleasures means in Greek. Pleasure can mean a lot of different things. There are things that God blesses you. It says God wants to bless your mouth with good things. There are things that God wants that are pleasing that he will bless you with. But that word pleasures here in Greek specifically means selfish desires, sinful gratification. The gospel is God's yes to his promises, but it's also not his approval of your selfish desires driven by lust, by lies, by sinful flesh. So be honest with God when you pray. Third, you should ask God according to his will. Amen. First John 5 verses 14 and 15. And here we're going to see that prayer is not about convincing God to care about what you want. Let me repeat that. Prayer is not you trying to somehow convince God to care or do something about what you want. It's really about aligning with his will and confidently seeking his promises. Remember we talked about the Lord prayer. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That prayer literally gets right into saying, "Father, it is about your will, not my will." And here's the thing. When you're all about the father's will, you get blessing after blessing after blessing. But when you're all about your lusts, about your cravings, about your selfish desires, you just get held firm right there. God, like a little child, God's holding you in place. For those of you who have ever had children, quite often children can say some really foolish things. Maybe they want to have chocolate for breakfast or they maybe they want dessert for dinner. They'll ask for all sorts of things that would be really bad for them. How many children want to touch a hot stove when it would simply just hurt them, right? Children do all sorts of things and we love children. God bless them. But too often as adults, we act like foolish children. And as we're in our relationship with God, let's not be foolish children. Let's be wise. Let's be mature. Let us be spiritually mature. Let us be like Jesus Christ. Let us walk in this earth doing the right thing and seeking the will of the father. 1 John 5:14. Quote, "Now this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will, to God's will, he hears us." Verse 15. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. Oh wow. John repeats basically the same thing twice, right? In verses 14 and 15 it says, "Now this is the confidence, the boldness, the assurance, right, that we have in him that if we ask anything, anything according to his will, God's desire, God's purpose, God's intention, we ask anything according to it, he hears us." That means he listens attentively, he responds to us. Praise God. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. To say we have the petitions is to say that when we pray God's will, we can be confident that he hears and will answer our prayers. That is wonderful. What a wonderful blessing. Even when his answer is different than you expect, God is still actively hearing and actively responding according to his will and according to his goodness. So, let's take a moment. The gospel proves God is willing to hear and respond to his people. Secondly, God's promises, they're always yes in Christ. But your requests, your prayers, they should have faith. They should align with God's truth and align with God's will. So, why does this truth change everything? Why does this teaching really matter in your life? Well, first of all, if the gospel is yes and amen, then God wants to bless us. And if God wants to bless us, here's a short list of things that I want you and I to really get fixed in our heart. First of all, you should never approach God as if he is against you. Do you understand? If you're believing that as you approach God that he's somehow against you, you're believing a lie. It's an untruth. It's not how he is. It's not how he reveals himself in scripture. It's not the Holy Spirit. It's not the gospel. That's not God at all. That's a lie. That's a lie who came from the enemy, by the way. And if someone else told you that lie, that person's being used by the enemy. You should never approach God as if he's against you. He is clearly for you. Second, you should pray with confidence instead of fear or hesitation. Don't pray with fear. Don't pray with hesitation. Pray with confidence. Why? Because God literally commands you to. He wants you to be bold. He wants you to be sincere. He wants you to believe that he is God and a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. That's a quote from the book of Hebrews. Okay. Third, you should trust God's intentions. Even when life feels difficult, do you understand? God doesn't have to prove himself. He already proved himself. And honestly, when you think about in your life, he's proved himself over and over again. When you became born again, he proved himself. There's so many times if you were really to think about it, you'd say, "Yeah, God has proved himself." But most importantly, he proved himself when he sent his son to die for your sins, to be buried, and rise again the third day. So, you remember that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, that he's master, that he's in charge, that you'll submit to his will, and believe it in your heart, what? Believe in your heart that he was raised from the dead, believe the gospel, right? Then you will be saved. He did these things to deliver you from everything that would hold you back. You can clearly trust God's intentions. So when your life feels difficult, it's going to test your faith and God's allowing your faith to be tested. Double down. Believe that God is for you and not against you. That he is here to bless you and that every blessing and every promise is yes and amen. You're just getting things lined up to be able to receive it. Next, you should see God as a loving father, not some kind of distant judge. God is a loving father. Scripture after scripture, Jesus said, "Let me tell you about the father. Let me reveal the father to you." And scripture after scripture describes a loving, gentle, wonderful, caring father, not some kind of distant judge. Next, you can stop interpreting every delay or every hardship as some kind of rejection. God is working in you for his will and his good pleasure. He's doing all sorts of great things and he's working through you. He's building you up. He's getting rid of things. He's converting. He's transforming you. So stop looking at something that takes a little while or some kind of hardship as some kind of rejection. It is in no ways true. You could also boldly go to God because you know that he welcomes sincere people because you see it throughout the scripture and if you try it, you see that he'll bless it. Our next simple truth, the gospel is God's yes. So come boldly to his throne. Hebrews chapter 4:15 and 16. And here we're going to see that the gospel is God's gracious yes. And it opens the way for all Christians, everyone from the least to the greatest to come confidently to him to receive mercy, grace, and help. Hebrews 4 verse15 quote for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. Verse 16, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. It says we do not have a high priest. We do not have a mediator between God and people who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. To sympathize is to feel compassion, to understand suffering. They're talking about Jesus. Earlier in Hebrews 4, it's describing Jesus. In fact, the book of Hebrews consistently described Jesus as our high priest, as our mediator, right? So, so we have a high priest. We have a mediator. We have Jesus, son of God, who can talk to the father and Jesus, son of man, who can sympathize with us. We have one who can feel compassion to what you're going through, who understands the sufferings that you're having. Jesus is not exalted and above us that he can't understand us. Jesus walked on this earth as a man. Jesus was tempted. Jesus dealt with all the base and difficult things it means to be a human being. But in all those points, he did not sin. Okay? He was tempted. That means he was tested. He was tried just like you and I. And yet he was without sin. He didn't fail. He didn't fall short. Amen. It says in verse 16, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace." That means come confidently. Come fearlessly. The emoji that we use for those watching YouTube is a lion like a lion. Go to God boldly. Go to God confidently and fearlessly. You may have all sorts of issues are bringing to him. I'm not saying you're coming to God perfectly. You're coming to God in the name of Jesus Christ. So that makes you accepted with God. But you come confident. You come fearlessly. If you need something from God, you go, "God, I'm coming to you. I'm coming to you boldly because you told me to. And I need help and I need it bad. And I know you're going to give it because the gospel shows you that God's promises are always yes and they're always amen. When I go to you and I ask for forgiveness, it's yes and amen. When I go to you and I need provision, it's yes and amen. When I go to you and I need deliverance, it's yes and amen. Because God, you are a caring father. You're a loving father. And you did not send me out here to reject me. you would in no wise cast me out. Thank God. And it's going to require it's going to test your faith. And you're going to double down. You're going to believe God. You're going to read your scripture. You're going to meditate on God's word. And you're going to pray. And you're going to seek to be led by the spirit. And you may need to fast. And you're going to do those things because you know in your heart of heart that there's no one who can help you outside of God. And God is allowing you to feel a little bit of the heat because he wants you to come closer. And as you start to draw closer, as you start to ask, you start to seek, you start to knock, right? As you start to do those things that he commands you to do, you'll be blessed. You'll be so blessed. You'll be blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. You may need to rewatch season 4, episode 3 about how the gospel is a blessing. Maybe that's how blessed you will be. Amen. I digress. We'll keep going. Because of the gospel, you should approach God boldly and confidently, laying aside all fear, all shame, and all hesitation. So, what should I do now? Praise God. What should I do now? Well, I've got a few ideas. First of all, I recommend you spend time this week reading the examples of Jesus saying yes and amen. Read through the examples that I listed earlier in this episode where I just touched on them, but we didn't read the scripture. So, spend time reading about the leper in the book of Matthew, about blind Bartameus, about the women with the issue of blood, all the way through the Samaritan woman and the Canaanite woman, etc. read all of those. If you're listening to this on the audio podcast, you'll notice that earlier in this episode, I actually read the example as well as the chapter and verse. So, you can actually go back and pause it or you can come on to the YouTube example and you can go to the chapter of what should I do now and you could go ahead and see it visually. I wanted to make sure that you had it both ways. So, spend some time this week reading the examples of Jesus saying yes and amen. Read it for yourself. See what Jesus did. see how Jesus responded. It will minister to you so that you can come to God and say, "You know what, Jesus? If you did that for them, you'll definitely do that for me." Second, ask God to align your heart with his will. Invite God to reveal your selfish motives, your doubt, your fear, your unbelief, your worldly desires, anything that's affecting your prayer. So, invite God to reveal it to you. Why? So you could repent of it. So you can believe the gospel for it. Praise God. You want to get rid of the weight as it describes. Get rid of the weight. It's weighing you down, slowing down your race. Everyone is racing the race that God has set for them. And these sins, they're they're weighing us down. Get rid of it so you could run faster, do more, do exactly what God wants you to do so you can be a partaker of all the blessings God has for you as you do his will. Amen. And then number three, over the next seven days, I recommend that you approach God boldly in prayer this week. Approach him boldly. Recognize any fear, any shame, any doubt. Be on the lookout. Is that fear? Is that shame? Is that doubt? Recognize it and set it aside. Cast it down. When you pray, confidently go to God and say, "You're coming through the gospel. That's why I'm coming boldly to you, God. I'm coming because you told me to. And I'm coming in Jesus name. I'm coming because he died for my sins. He was buried and he rose again the third day. And that gives me the right to come before you." You know, in heaven before the father, you've got a mediator, a high priest. His name is Jesus Christ and he's there and he represents you. He's on behalf of you and he welcomes you. He will never cast you out as we saw earlier. Praise God. So, the next episode of the simple truth, we've seen that the gospel is God's powerful and loving yes to all Christians. Okay? Amen. But why did God do all this in the first place? Well, because the gospel is God's plan to reconcile humanity back to himself. So, we're going to kick it old school. We're going to take it back. So, yes, we talked about what the gospel was. We talked about the power of the gospel. We talked about it being a blessing. And we've talked about how it's always Yes. Let's take a look at God's plan for reconciliation. So, don't miss next episode. We're going to show you how the gospel has been God's plan from the very beginning. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Simple Truth Podcast. Today we saw that the gospel is not God saying maybe to his people. All of God's promises are yes and amen for you through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus, you can come boldly to the throne of grace, trusting that your father is good. He's generous. He's faithful. And he's willing to help his children. But we also saw an important truth. God's yes is also not some kind of approval for selfish desires, worldly motives, or prayers that are just disconnected from his will. God answers prayer according to his truth, his goodness, and his kingdom. So this week, I challenge you to do this for the next seven days. First, read through the scriptures that we referenced earlier that shows Jesus saying yes to sincere seekers. Look at the leper. Look at blind Bartameus. Look at the Samaritan woman, the thief on the cross, and others. Second, ask God to search your heart and help you remove any selfish motives, any fears, or anything that's not aligned with his will. And third, try praying boldly and confidently this week. Remind God of what he has done for you through the gospel and remind him that he said his promises are yes and amen for you. Let us know in the comments what God is doing in your life and how this is helping you better understand God's will for your life. And share this episode with someone who needs to stop approaching God with fear and start trusting that the gospel reveals a father who is good, who is faithful, and who's generous toward all his people. If this episode helped you, please be sure to like and subscribe. Next episode, we'll see how the gospel is not only God's yes, but it was also God's plan to restore a broken humanity from the very beginning. It's been a pleasure talking about the Bible with you. I pray God bless you, God keep you, and God help you come boldly to him with faith and confidence in his promises. Until next time, thank you for listening to the Simple Truth Podcast. For additional episodes, visit us at www.simpletruth.org.