Sermon
The Measure - Kingdom Faith with Pastor Marci
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Thanks for checking out the Anchor Faith Message podcast
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from St. Augustine, FL.
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Now enjoy this message. I want to talk about the
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measure, the measure Kingdom faith, the measure.
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You know, we talked about that measuring stick a few Wednesday
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nights, you know, last month about how he, God has a
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measuring stick, right? And, and, and we talked about
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how to grow up spiritually and to mature that we're from where
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to go from babes, infants, babes in Christ, right, you know, and
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continue to mature up into a perfect man, a mature man.
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And we talked about, we gave the the analogy of a child, when
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they're first born a baby, they go back to the doctor and he
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measures them, doesn't he? He measures them on a percentile
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of where this child should be with their weight and their
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height and all of these things according to the month that they
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are. If they're three months, the
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percentage should be right here for a three month old, right?
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Or whatever the case, and you take them back for a couple of
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years so that he can continue to make sure that what they are
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being nourished properly, that they are growing properly.
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Well, God has another measuring stick and it's are we people of
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faith? Because he has given us all the
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measure of faith. He's given us all the measure of
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faith. So how does true biblical faith
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come? You know, we can.
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There's so many misconceptions in the church world, you know,
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because I know people that say they are Christians and say they
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believe God, but they see him as a God that's way out here and
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they just believe that he's a God.
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He is God and he's way out here and he's going to do what he
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wants to do. That is not true biblical faith
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according to the Scripture, OK. And so we have to look at it
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according to what the Scripture says.
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And then, as I said, we have to test ourselves to see, are we
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really in faith? Are we really living a life of
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faith? And this means every day is what
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I like Pastor Hagen used to say. Is the switch of faith turned
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on? Is it on every day?
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And we are the only ones that can determine that and know that
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Is faith really the switch of faith really turned on in our
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life every day in our coming and in our going and everything that
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we're doing, right? So we know, and we've been
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taught this, that faith is so important because without it we
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can do nothing. We can do nothing.
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And faith is so important because it's the only thing that
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pleases God. I don't care how much you serve.
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I don't care how much you do to help the poor, how many
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thousands of dollars, whatever. The only thing that pleases God
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is our faith, our faith, our faith that pleases Him.
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And so faith is so important in the Kingdom because recognizing
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that we have to have faith to see the promises of God
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appropriated in our life, because as we've been taught
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here, faith is the actual currency of the Kingdom.
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It is the exchange, it's the currency, it's the exchange.
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It is we have to have faith to exchange or to give to God so
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that we can see heaven brought to earth, so that we can see
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what He says belongs to us. We have to be people of faith to
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make that exchange, to get the reality of what He says belongs
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to us in the earth. It's the exchange.
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It's the currency. Amen.
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And the next thing we have to realize about faith is that
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faith operates in the unseen. It operates in the unseen, but
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the purpose of it is to bring it to the scene, right?
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So therefore, we cannot live by what we see because true
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biblical faith in God is going to put you in places where you
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don't see things until you have faith to believe those things
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and bring them into the reality in the earth.
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Amen. So how does true biblical faith
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comes? We know this.
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Romans 10/17. So faith comes from hearing and
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hearing from what the Word of God, the Word of God say.
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Faith comes from the Word. We do not and should not operate
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in any other type of faith outside of the Word of God
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because then we can be assured that it is true biblical faith.
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I do not have faith on something I heard so and so said is what
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I'm saying. I don't have faith in another
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book that I may have read that some other person may have
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wrote. No true biblical faith for us to
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build our foundation on and our life on has to come from the
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Word of God and the Word of God alone.
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And this is so important because I know many people, their faith
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has failed them because they actually had faith in somebody
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else's experience instead of the infallible Word of God.
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So true biblical faith is only going to come from His Word,
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Amen. And His Word rightly divided.
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His word rightly divided. Romans 10/8 and 11 says this.
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But what does it say? The word is near you, and in
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your mouth and in your heart. That is the Word of Faith which
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you which we are preaching, right?
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The Word of Faith which we are preaching.
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And he goes on to say that if you confess with your mouth
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Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him
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from the dead, you will be saved.
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For with the heart a person believes resulting in
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righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses resulting in
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salvation. For the Scripture says whoever
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believes in him will not be disappointed.
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Say I believe God, say I believe God and I will not be
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disappointed. Hallelujah, glory to God, I
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believe God. I have faith in God, true faith
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in Him that he will not disappoint.
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Hallelujah that He fully, fully is faithful to His own word.
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He's committed to His own word. And if I stand on his word in
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faith, believing in my heart, and we're going to get into this
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later, confessing with my mouth, come on, then I can be assured
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that He will not disappoint in my life.
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Hallelujah. So the faith that we need to, we
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have to have it come from the Word.
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And we see that the minute we call on the name of the Lord by
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faith, as His Spirit drew us into the Kingdom of God and let
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us know we needed Him to redeem us.
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Faith was then activated because we called on His name.
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We believed in our heart and we confessed it with our mouth.
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And that is how faith will operate the rest of your life.
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The rest of your life. For anything that He says
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belongs to you. You must believe it in your
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heart, and you must confess it out of your mouth.
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It is written by His stripes. I am healed.
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Can be no other thing. So for the rest of your life,
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this is the law of faith in operation for anything, any
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promise, not just salvation. I have to believe in my heart
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what His Word says concerning provision, whatever it is, and
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then I have to confess it and believe it.
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Come on, until I see the reality of it.
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Amen. Hallelujah.
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So the minute we get born again, then we see that we activate
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faith. Now let's look at this Romans
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1012 through 15. For there is no distinction
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between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord as the Lord of
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all abounding in riches, for all who call on him.
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For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
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How then will they call on Him and whom they've not believed?
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You see that belief, faith has to be activated in our hearts.
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How will they believe in Him whom they've not heard?
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There's that hearing again. If you're not hearing of the
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word or you're not hearing of the preacher saying you need to
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be born again, then faith cannot be activated because faith comes
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from the Word, Amen. And then believing it in your
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heart, how can they believe in whom they've not heard?
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And how can they hear without a preacher?
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Everyone of you are a preacher. The minute you get born again,
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you now become a mouthpiece for the Lord, and you are to go out
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and preach with the ministry of reconciliation, letting
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everybody know that they need the Savior that you just
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encountered. Hallelujah, so that they can
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hear, because how are they going to hear unless someone is sent?
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And you are those someones. You are those someones, not just
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me. And pastor, it is also your
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responsibility to go out and preach the gospel.
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Amen. Every single one of us are
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responsible. How will they preach unless they
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are sent? Just as it is written.
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How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news of
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good things. So these two scriptures let us
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know. And the reason why I use these
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first is because I wanted you to see that this is how you got
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born again. Faith was applied to your life
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through you believing it in your heart and activating what you
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heard the preacher say. And that will always be the law
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for you the rest of your life and walk with the Lord as long
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as we have today. The Lord willing, come on.
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But we know he's quickly returning.
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Amen. We are living in the last of the
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last days and we're seeing things come on happen
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prophetically like never before. I mean, my goodness, every day
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there's something else that's just taken place just that
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quick. So we need to be out about the
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Father's business. But anyway, letting people know
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so that they can hear that they need the Lord, Amen.
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But let's go to Ephesians chapter 2 and verses one through
Ephesians 2 chapter mention
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10. Again, these are all scriptures
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that we know, we've read many times throughout the 20 years
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here, but it's good for us to remind ourselves of these
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things. It says, and you were dead in
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your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked
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according to the course of this world, according to the Prince
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of the power of air and of the spirit that is now working in
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the sons of disobedience among them.
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We too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging in
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the desires of our flesh and and of our mind, right?
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And we're by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
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But God, being rich in His mercy because of His great love for
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with which He loved us even when we were dead in our
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transgressions, made us alive together with Christ.
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By grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him, and
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seated us with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that
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in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of
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His grace and kindness towards us in Christ.
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Verse 8 For by grace you have been saved.
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Through what? Through faith?
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Through faith. So faith had to be heard and
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acted upon for you to be able to partake and be partakers of His
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salvation and His divine grace. Amen.
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So it we have been saved through faith and not at that of
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yourselves. It was a free gift of God.
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Say it was a gift of God, not as a result of work, so that no one
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may boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ
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Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we
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could walk in them. Say we've been saved through
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faith, through faith, through faith.
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For us to enter into the Kingdom of God, it had to be by faith,
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had to be by faith. It could be no other way.
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And so faith is not though what I want to say, just a one time
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experience. And a lot of people, believers
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live that way. They have faith to be born again
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and they stay right there, and they do not use their faith to
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activate any of the promises that belong to them according to
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scripture. They just use their faith so
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that when they die, they get to go to heaven, but they do not
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know how to activate their faith or or work their faith to live
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by faith, which we'll see a few scriptures in a minute to be
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able to appropriate all the things that he says is ours in
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the Kingdom of God, in their family life with their children,
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in their businesses. Come on in, in their occupation.
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We should be using our faith every single day, and I believe
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we're not every day. We should be using our faith.
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It was not ever meant to be, just faith to get into the
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Kingdom so that we can live in this world and go through
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everything that this world goes through just like everyone else,
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and so that one day in the sweet by and by will be with Him in
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heaven. No, that is not the Kingdom
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life. That is not living in dominion,
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That is not ruling and reigning in this earth.
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He came to give us a good life. Come on, a prosperous life, a
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healthy life, everything, a full supply of whatever it is that He
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says belongs to us. We should be appropriating it in
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our life by faith. Hallelujah.
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And I'm here to stir faith up in you once again, to say, am I
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truly activating faith that God had the measure that God has
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given me to bring a supply in the Kingdom of God for such a
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time as this? Amen.
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Until we see him return, Hallelujah, glory to God, say
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I'm going to stir up my faith because I'm going to tell you
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the more and more we see what's happening in the world, we're
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going to have to be people that live by faith, that live by
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faith. And living by faith is easy
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because he said, take my yoke. It is easy.
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But living by faith is completely against everything
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you see. And we'll make you look crazy,
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just like those four crazy friends that drop busted through
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the roof and brought their friend down for healing, right?
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You going to look crazy? And the thing about it is, has
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we, have we become so politically correct, correct as
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believers that we don't even want to have some crazy faith
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anymore 'cause we don't want anybody thinking we're crazy.
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I don't care what people think. And I'd much rather go to a
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church that had some crazy people with some crazy faith
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that go to a dead style, burnt out religious exercise.
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Come on. And a bunch of hypocrisy and a
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bunch of unholiness and ungodliness all through the
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church. Come on, we got to get radical
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again. I'm telling you, we're asleep.
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And we need some radical believers again that will
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actually live this thing out and don't care what people think and
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call it for what it is. Amen.
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We've gotten too quiet. We've let the world lull us to
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sleep and hush us up so that we can be politically correct.
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We need to just bust through those walls.
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We see that once we get born again.
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I like to say it this way. The seed of faith gets
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impregnated within us and then begins to germinate.
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It's the seed of faith. He calls it in Romans, and I
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have it down here. Romans 12 verse three, which I'm
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jumping ahead. Romans 12 verse three says, For
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I say through the grace which has been given to me and to
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everyone that is among you, not to have high thoughts above what
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he should think, but to think so as to be wise as God has dealt
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to each a measure of faith. Say I have a measure of faith.
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Every single believer has a measure of faith.
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And guess what? God's measuring whether or not
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you're using what He has allotted you, because when you
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look up that word measure, that's what it means.
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I have allotted you an amount of faith that you will need for the
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rest of your life in this walk with Him until He returns.
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You and every one of us have been given a measure of faith,
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and He expects us to be using it, allotted an amount for us,
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for the grace upon our lives and whatever it is that He needs for
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us to accomplish in the earth. You have been given the measure
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of faith and it's up to us to appropriate that faith, come on,
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and to use that faith to produce that faith, to increase that
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faith, to increase that faith. You know, I love what Brother
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Hagin used to say. You know, everybody comes in and
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they hear the message of faith. You know, the Word of Faith that
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he was called to teach his people, go and teach God's
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people faith. And he did that for all these
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years. And now Pastor Hagin doing that.
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And I remember when we had nothing and God called us to
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move to Bible school with three kids, no money, no place to go,
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and we had to appropriate faith or we would have died.
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We would have went hungry. We would not have had a job,
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gotten a job. You know, we wouldn't have been
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able to take care of our kids. And we didn't know anything
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about faith other than God gave us a measure of faith.
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And if he called us to go out to Oklahoma, sell everything that
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we own, which was not a lot, pick up our three kids and move
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them across the nation, that we didn't know anybody had no job
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waiting for us. No.
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Well, the apartment we thought we had waiting on us ended up
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being a sublease that someone subleased piece out that the
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apartment landlord didn't know they were doing.
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And when we get there, you know that is a whole nother story.
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And maybe through this next few weeks we'll share about that
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because I need you to see the progression of faith.
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Faith calls you to get out into the unknown where all you have
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is the substance of faith, which we're going to read in a minute.
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That's all you have. And if that don't work?
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And that's what we had to remind God.
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If this don't work, it's on you because we're telling you we
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believe you and we're going to be obedient and we're going to
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be willing to pick up our three kids and go to the unknown
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because that's where you're calling us.
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And if it all crumbles and crashes, I'm going to tell
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everybody you did it. God, either this thing works or
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it don't, and I can assure you it worked and we might get into
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some testimonies later on. But anyway, so the measure of
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faith, the minute you get born again, is the seed that you need
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to begin to allow to germinate within your heart, because we
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have to believe in our heart, remember.
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So the seed now of the Word of Faith is planted in our heart
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and we have to then begin to believe and exercise and apply
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the faith of God in our life. And as we do that, it begins to
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germinate and it begins to grow and it begins to increase within
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our life, but it only comes through US allowing it to
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operate. OK, Pastor talked about this
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Sunday. Remember, he talked about the
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choke conspiracy conspiracy. And he talked about the seed of
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the word being sown into the heart.
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And there was multiple, you know, things that the seed fell
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on the wayside, the the seed, you know, fell on good ground.
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But then the seeds, you know, got choked out by what the cares
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of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and it
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did not produce. So again, we've been given the
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seed of faith or the measure of faith.
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And we have to ask ourselves in this parable, what does our
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heart look like? Because when you finish reading
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that he talks about and it will produce some 30, some 60 and
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some a hundredfold. I'm not going to read it.
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I'm just thinking of what he was talking about on Sunday and
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correlating it to faith. So it's going to produce and the
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3060 and 100 is all dependent on you.
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It's not dependent on what God's going to do.
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It's only going to be dependent on what you're going to do with
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the seed that's been sown in your heart and how you've
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prepared your heart and what you're doing to protect your
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heart to allow faith to continue to grow within it, right?
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And be. Now look at Luke 17.
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I do want to read this Luke 17, five and six.
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It says the apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith.
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And the Lord said, if you had faith like a mustard seed, you
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would say to this Mulberry tree be uprooted and be planted in
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the sea, and it would obey you. So here we see in this Scripture
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that the Lord is, they're asking of the Lord to increase their
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faith. And you know what the Lord is
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telling them? Use the faith I've already given
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you. If you'll just speak right, if
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you'll just believe, if you'll just use the faith of a mustard
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seed. And we have to ask ourselves,
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are we using faith of a mustard seed?
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Because there is great things that can be done with just that
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little bitty seed if we are appropriating it in our life
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correctly, if we're truly believing it in our heart and
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standing on the promises of God so that you can see these things
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take place in your life. Because you're going to have to
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activate it by believing it. Now, when you look up that word
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believe or belief in Scripture, and when you look up faith, it
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means the same thing. It's the same thing, faith and
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belief. So you can interchange those
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words. OK, So when we are saying
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believe in God or believe in what He said in his promise or
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you know, whatever the Scriptures may say, what he's
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saying is have faith in God, have faith in God and what you
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are believing, that's what your faith has to be activated with,
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OK, You have to believe. So in Romans 117 it says this
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faith is to be lived by faith is just not something we say like
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in the military, all the guys or even when you go to the
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hospital, they have to say their religion or their faith.
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Or when you go to the hospital and you fill out papers because
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you may be having a life serious surgery, they make you fill out.
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Well, they used to. I don't know if they even do
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anymore. Who knows, maybe they don't even
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care. But today, you know, but usually
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there's a chap Chapel at hospitals and different things,
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you know, but they always ask you what your faith is or what
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your religion is. And that's about the gist of
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most people's life. Oh yeah, I'm a Catholic.
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Oh yeah, I'm a this. Oh yeah, I'm a that.
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But He lets us know in Scripture that this is something we are to
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live by. This is something we are to live
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by. So if we're to live by it, then
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He has to begin to show us how to activate this in our everyday
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life. OK, Romans 117 says this.
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For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to
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faith. And here's another Scripture
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from faith to faith, which proves to us that we should be
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going from faith to faith. We should be increasing in our
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faith. We should be going to another.
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Oh, I know what I was going to say about Brother Hagin.
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I never got to it. Yeah, he said.
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I see all these people, they hear all these testimonies of
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how people believe God by faith for this or that and they say
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they're going to believe God for $1,000,000.
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Yet they can't even believe God that they're going to have
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enough money to fill up their tank of gas.
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And, and have you seen Christians?
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I'm going to be the next Joyce Meyers, but they're living from,
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you know, paycheck to paycheck, not taking care of their kids,
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you know, whatever I mean, that is not living by faith.
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We're to live by this thing that we believe.
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We're to live by it. That means we're to govern our
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life. We're going to see this in a
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minute. Govern our life by faith.
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That's the only thing that is to govern my life, and that is
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faith. Faith in the Son of God, the
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Word of God. Amen.
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So he says this. He says we're to go from faith
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to faith as it is written. But the righteous man shall
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what? Say it again.
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Shall what? Say it again, Say it again.
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Say it like you mean it. That's good.
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That's good. That's how we ought to be
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because we will not live by anything we truly don't believe.
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You can say it all day long, but do you truly believe it?
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And the way that you know, you truly believe it is that when
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you're getting put in the situations from day-to-day that
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you have to appropriate this in that situation and in that
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circumstance that is living by faith.
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When you get a bill show up that's unexpected, do you
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crumble and fall and pull out your hair and ring and sweat and
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think, Oh my God, what are we going to do?
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The first thing I think of God, you knew this bill was getting
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ready to come, and you know what else next?
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You know that I'm a giver, that I'm a tither, and you said you
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would rebuke the devourer and you would provide for your
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people. I remind you of your word
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because I believe God, that you are my provider.
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You are Jehovah Jireh, my provider, Hallelujah, and you
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will take care of all of my needs according to your riches
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in glory. So I don't know how you're going
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to do it, but I believe you will.
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And you just show me how to navigate so that we can take
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care of this thing. But I'm not going to worry about
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it another day because you told me to seek first the Kingdom of
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God and his righteousness. Come on.
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And everything else would be added to me.
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And not to be worried about what I'm going to eat or what I'm
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going to drink or what I'm going to wear or anything else that
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this world, all of these cares. I'm not going to worry about it
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one bit because I trust God. I believe God.
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I know what His word says and when I I've done all the stand,
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I'm going to stand on the unfallable word of God.
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That is faith. I am firmly persuaded that my
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God will not fail me. Hallelujah.
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I mean, that's the tenacity that we have to have when we see
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that, he says in Hebrews 11/1 and six Now faith is the
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substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
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No, faith is a confident expectation.
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And I am firmly persuaded that my God will not fail me.
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He never has come on. And if it don't come when it's
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supposed to come, I don't care because he's going to work it
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out and show me the plan. I'm not going to doubt my God,
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and I'm not going to say he couldn't do it.
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Never will. I never Hallelujah because he
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said he'd never leave his seed begging for bread.
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We're not beggars. We got to get that mentality out
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of our mind. Nobody owes us anything.
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We are not victims, we are not beggars.
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We do not have a poverty mentality.
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We have a Kingdom mentality. We got to get all all that mess
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out of our minds. I don't care where you came
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from. I don't care what side of track
-
you came from. Come on, we are not broke people
-
and we never will be if we do His word.
-
But you got to believe it. You have to believe it.
-
You have to believe it. You have to be firmly persuaded.
-
Hebrews 1038 But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if
-
he shrinks back, my soul will have no what pleasure in him.
-
I'm telling you, when things get tight in the world, you see
-
people shrink back and believers in the church.
-
I mean, it's one thing, you know, you're believing that
-
there would be 100% of people that come that are tithers
-
because they actually believe the word.
-
But you don't have that. Never has there been that step
-
in the Old Testament when when they had to stop the people from
-
bringing, you know, to build the Tabernacle.
-
But the world's done a great job of distorting all of that.
-
But anyway, I don't want to get on that.
-
But you know, it would be wonderful if 100% of people that
-
say they're believers and that go to church and that this is
-
where their storehouse is, would tithe.
-
We could, man. There is no telling what could
-
be happening in this place. But anyway, but when the World
-
Economic system, which you know, all of the talk, you know, stock
-
markets are plummeting, you know, economics, all this stuff
-
is happening. You know how much you're paying
-
for eggs and milk now compared to what we were.
-
All these things happening, but the church gets tight and we
-
shouldn't even be operating like that on the ups and downs of the
-
stock market. But if you want to operate like
-
the world operates, then you're going to have the fluctuation
-
like the world has. But if you want to just steady
-
cruise on through and have plenty in the time of famine,
-
then you have to be steady. You have to be steady.
-
Hallelujah. You can't shrink back.
-
No, what you need to do is stir up your faith and trusting God
-
and not what's happening in the world.
-
We stir up our faith when we see these things happening, right?
-
Hallelujah. Because that's how we are to
-
live by faith. 2nd Corinthians 5 seven says for we do not.
-
For we walk by faith and not by sight.
-
So we should not be walking by what we're seeing in the stock
-
markets is what we're saying because true people of faith
-
that believe God, it doesn't matter what they're saying.
-
We're going to be consistent in what we know God has said.
-
Right. And we're going to activate our
-
faith in the midst. That's how we are to live by
-
this thing. We live by faith.
-
That means when everything else is shaken, I'm stable, I'm
-
secure, I'm standing on a rock, come on.
-
Because I have my feet planted on the rock of Jesus Christ and
-
I'm doing what He says that we need to do in his economic
-
system and not this world, right?
-
Because this is how we are to live by faith.
-
And we could talk not just about finances.
-
We could talk about other scenarios that we are to live
-
by, by faith, right? I'm not going to live like the
-
world lives when it comes to raising my children.
-
I'm going to raise them by faith and what His Word says I need to
-
do with my children. I'm not going to let the world
-
convince me that my child is not a boy when he's a boy.
-
No, I'm going to live by faith and I'm going to teach them what
-
the word of God says, that God created man and woman.
-
You see what I'm saying? This is how we live by faith.
-
We don't take on the world's mantra.
-
We live by faith in His word and what His word says.
-
So let's look at Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11/1 through
-
three, and I'm going to read. I have both of the words that
-
King James says and the New American Standard Bible says.
-
Now faith is the substance I put them together, or the assurance
-
of things hoped for, the conviction or evidence of things
-
not seen. For by it the men of old gained
-
approval by faith. We understand that the world's
-
were prepared by the What if the world's were prepared by the
-
Word, and he just impregnated us with His word, the Word of
-
Faith? Come on, how can we not have
-
faith in God when it comes to our life, in the circumstances
-
and the situations that we're going through, when He can
-
create the world with His Word and He tells us that we are to
-
live by His Word, we're to live by it.
-
So now faith is when you look that up, it is a firm
-
persuasion. Another way you can say it is a
-
confident expectation. And this is what we say.
-
Faith is a firm persuasion, a confident expectation based on
-
your belief in the word and accepting it as truth and is
-
adhering to it. Not just reading the word and
-
thinking, oh, that's good. No, I'm going to read the word,
-
I'm going to hear what it has to say.
-
I'm going to believe it as truth, and then I'm going to
-
adhere to it. I'm actually going to do it in
-
my life. That is true biblical faith.
-
You are firmly persuaded. You are in a confident
-
expectation. You have full assurance.
-
You believe it as truth. You adhere to it so firmly that
-
it governs your life. It governs what you think, what
-
you say, and what you do. That means I live by it.
-
The words that I speak are his words, the things that I think.
-
I don't set my mind on earthly things, but I set my mind on
-
things above. Come on, these are this is what
-
we're talking about. I don't think the way this world
-
thinks anymore because I've allowed His word to transform my
-
mind. Romans 12/1 and two transform my
-
mind by renewing it to the word of God.
-
So I no longer think. I no longer process like this
-
world. I don't have to have meltdowns.
-
I don't have to have anxiety come on.
-
I don't have to have fear. I don't have to have depression.
-
I don't have to walk in any of these things or think like the
-
world thinks about anything anymore.
-
Because if I truly believe in His Word, I'm going to adhere to
-
it as the truth. That is my truth, that is my
-
truth. I don't know what all truth
-
y'all believe in, but this is my truth right here.
-
That's my truth and that's what I'm sticking with.
-
Hallelujah. So because I'm firmly persuaded,
-
this thing don't fail, it's been proven in my life for 33 years
-
of walking it out. It's proven, it's tried, it's
-
true, it works. It will not fail.
-
Come on. So you have to be firmly
-
persuaded. And when you are firmly
-
persuaded, then it will begin to govern all the things that
-
you're thinking, what you're saying and what you're doing.
-
And this is how we know if you're really living a life of
-
faith. I can know by the way you act
-
and I can know by the way you talk if you truly believe what
-
this word says. So, so he says, now faith is the
-
substance. Let's look at that word
-
substance. That word substance is a support
-
or it is the very thing that will be a secure foundation or
-
something that you are building your life upon.
-
It is set, you are setting it under is what it means securely.
-
It is a secure foundation. So faith is the substance that
-
you are to build your life upon. It is the foundation.
-
It is the very thing that's going to hold you up.
-
It's the very thing, come on, that will cause Peter to step
-
out of the boat at his word. And didn't, you know, wasn't
-
going to sink until he decided to look, till he decided to look
-
and live by sight of what he saw, because it said he saw the
-
winds and waves. Because we're to live by what
-
not by. So his substance was faith when
-
he stepped out. But then he began to see the
-
winds and waves and he began to sink because he lived by sight
-
at that time. He looked at what was going on.
-
And I'm going to tell you, faith will put you in positions where
-
you're going to want to look at what all the things that are
-
going on in your life. But what do you believe?
-
What do you truly believe? What is truly your faith in the
-
situation that you're wanting to look at?
-
Because it's a whirlwind. OK, so that substance also
-
figuratively means concretely or abstract assurance.
-
So it is concrete, a foundation, a setting up under a secure
-
thing that you can build your life upon, that you can build
-
your life upon. Now, the Weymouth reads it this
-
way. Now, faith means we are
-
confident of what we hope for and convinced of what we do not
-
see. And the Moffett translation
-
reads it like this. You've heard us say this.
-
Faith is the title deed of the things hoped for, for putting
-
the proof to prove the things not seen.
-
It's the title deed. Come on, it's already finished,
-
already bought. It's already done.
-
It's the title D Amen. Faith is the foundation that you
-
can build your life on. Faith is the underlining
-
structure for your life. Faith is simply what you believe
-
and it's the foundation of everything that you are to build
-
your life upon. Amen.
-
I want to get to that later. Faith must be lived out by being
-
acted upon for it to become a reality and a revelation in your
-
everyday life. So you can say you believe it
-
all day long, but do you act upon it in the situations that
-
you are confronting in your life?
-
Do you act upon it when you hear and you've been taught that it
-
is God's will for you to be healed, healthy, whole, that
-
when you get a doctor's report, come on and it says, you know
-
you have the big C word. What is now your faith?
-
Is it stable and fixed because it's been built upon the
-
substance of faith? When you hear the word cancer,
-
if that was to come, or do you know what His Word says?
-
That by His stripes I am healed. Healing belongs to His covenant
-
children. Come on.
-
And I don't care what the doctor says, my God can bring forth
-
healing to my body right now. And then I don't have to die
-
like everybody else had to die. Do you truly believe it?
-
Well, you know, there's lots of people that say they do until
-
they hear that report. And that's where it's going to
-
prove. Test yourself to see if you're
-
really in faith or when they tell you your job is getting
-
ready to go bankrupt your whole company and everybody's getting
-
ready to lose their job. Oh and guess what, your 401K
-
isn't there either because they didn't do it right.
-
I don't know if that can even be possible but anyway, just
-
saying. Fits up to the devil.
-
He can do it. He can take it all because his
-
his mode is what to he wants to steal everything you have and
-
destroy everything you have. So what are you going to do in
-
those moments? Do you truly believe and have
-
faith in God? Come on.
-
So it's in those moments that you now begin to have to act
-
upon what you believe. You act upon it.
-
Look at James 214 through 26. It says what good is it, dear
-
brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but you do not
-
show it by your what? Remember, faith is to govern
-
your life. What you think, what you say,
-
and what you do doing is action, right?
-
Saying is confession. Thinking is you and what you're
-
meditating on, right? So what are you thinking?
-
What are you saying, and what are you doing in these moments?
-
And this truly shows you where your faith is.
-
So you can say you have faith, but if you don't show it by your
-
actions, can that kind of faith save anyone?
-
Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or
-
clothing, and you say goodbye and have a good day, stay warm
-
and eat well. But then you don't give that
-
person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
-
So you see, faith by itself isn't enough.
-
So I know tons of people that come in and say, Oh yeah, I
-
believe God. Oh yeah, and we'll get into
-
this. And it's all about your house
-
and your boat and your 'cause it got off over into the extreme
-
and all you worried about is faith for you and yours and, and
-
what belongs to you instead of faith to believe that my, my
-
stuff's already taken care of. So now my belief is in helping
-
everybody else bring them up to a place.
-
When are we going to get there in the American church?
-
So he says, What good does that do?
-
So you see, faith by itself, it's not enough.
-
Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
-
Now someone may argue some people have faith, others have
-
good deeds. But I say, how can you show me
-
your faith if you don't have good deeds?
-
I'll show you my faith by my good deeds.
-
And you say you have faith. For you believe that there is
-
one God good for you. Even the demons believe this.
-
So you can believe just as good as a demon can, and then they
-
tremble even in terror. Oh, how foolish.
-
Can't you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
-
Don't you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be
-
right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on
-
the altar? For you see his faith and his
-
actions what work together. So faith without action is dead.
-
It's dead and the action comes when you're in the midst of the
-
battle and you want to do something else.
-
Come on. And you want to think a
-
different way. But do you truly believe what
-
His word says about that situation?
-
And if you do, then you're going to act upon that and not about
-
your feelings or how you feel, because faith goes completely
-
against your feelings. Faith does not care about your
-
feelings. Period.
-
We cannot live by sight. We cannot live by how we feel
-
and get wrapped up in the emotions of the situation
-
instead of actually being a doer of the word of God in the midst
-
of that situation. That argument, come on that
-
whatever I mean, do you believe God, that God can work this out
-
right? And then you'll say it, you'll
-
act on it and you'll act differently.
-
So he says here he was even called the friend of God.
-
So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do,
-
not faith alone. Oh that's where he counted him
-
faithful. Sorry I skipped a scripture.
-
Rahab the prostitute is another example.
-
She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid
-
those messengers and sent them safely away by a different Rd.
-
Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead
-
without works. Your faith has to be acted upon.
-
There will be works that will be required for you to produce to
-
prove that you are in faith. Just like when you don't have
-
the money like I didn't. When God called us to go to
-
Bible school before He went, we went to Rhema because we went to
-
the wrong Bible school because at that time we didn't know
-
anything about being led by the Spirit of God.
-
Not we just knew he called us and we knew we knew nobody in
-
the ministry knew we didn't. We didn't have mentors.
-
We didn't know what we were doing.
-
All we know is that there was a call.
-
And so we chose to go to a Bible school in South Carolina because
-
one of my stepbrothers, ex stepbrother, he's not a
-
stepbrother anymore, but was in that Bible school.
-
He's not even serving the Lord today, actually, You know, he
-
owns a marijuana farm. Anyway, the falling away has
-
begun. So anyway, where was I at?
-
South Carolina, Yeah. We moved out there just because
-
that was the only Bible school. That's the only thing we knew to
-
do. Well, we were called the
-
ministry. I guess he wants us to go to,
-
you know, a school. And so we get out there and it
-
was a living hell. We had, you know, 3 little
-
children at the time and no job, no money, but we win it go.
-
We didn't know what we were doing, thank God because a lot
-
of people let knowing what to do get them into trouble anyway.
-
So we were actually living by faith and Brianna was little at
-
that time. She was only not even a year
-
old. She was only a few months old
-
and we had no money. And we were having to get food
-
from the college had a Co-op where they had food and
-
different things like that. And pastor was working side jobs
-
because we had just gotten there and he had enrolled and had a
-
scholarship for the school and everything.
-
But we just had enough money to pay our house and whatever.
-
And so she was on baby formula. We did not even have enough
-
money to buy a can of baby formula back then.
-
So how old are you now? Oh my gosh.
-
I was still hanging on to 29 girl.
-
So that's 30 years ago. And a can of formula, you know,
-
the good kind, the gold kind, you know, back then was, I don't
-
even remember, maybe 10-12 dollars.
-
We did not even have 10 to $12.00 to our name to buy
-
formula. And you know what?
-
And he had made work. He had worked and did a side job
-
painting and he had made just enough and seven of it belonged
-
to the Lord, $7.00 belong to the Lord.
-
Now, most people think, well, you're a terrible mother, that
-
you chose to give $7.00 to the Lord and didn't buy your baby
-
formula. But you know what?
-
I did buy her cow's milk. So we went from formula to cow's
-
milk because it was cheaper. See, it was only a couple
-
dollars a gallon back then, so I had to make a choice.
-
Am I going to give my tithe to the Lord?
-
Because my God, it's only $7.00 and we don't have anything else
-
and it's not going to help me anyway.
-
You know, what was I doing? Acting by faith on what His Word
-
says, that the tithe belongs to the Lord.
-
And he would rebuke the Devourer and meet all of my needs.
-
And during that week, someone showed up at our doorstep with
-
bags of groceries on the front door.
-
Didn't know him, had not told anybody but my God in a whole
-
nother place that we had just moved.
-
Come on. He showed himself to be faithful
-
with the little that we had because we believed God.
-
That's faith. Faith acted upon faith believing
-
God that if God don't come through then I guess we going to
-
sit right here like these that little widow woman and said
-
here's my flower. This is all I had to the
-
prophet. Come on, we going to make us a
-
cake and we getting ready to get dressed to die.
-
That's what we were but God every single time.
-
But God, because we actually believe that God could do it.
-
We actually did what He said we were to do with what we had.
-
What do we have so that He could then by faith, go and move on
-
our behalf to bring it to what we needed in that moment.
-
This is called true biblical faith.
-
But in the United States of America, no one wants to live by
-
faith anymore. They want to.
-
They want to have conferences about it.
-
They want to come in and dance around and be excited about it.
-
But when it comes down to every dime you have, I want to see
-
them dance around and shout around because I'm not seeing
-
very many that do it, that actually empty their account
-
because God said go and you're stepping out on nothing but the
-
substance of faith. That's true biblical faith.
-
True biblical faith will call you to do things that you have
-
no capacity and no resource to do.
-
And we can barely live by faith to just get to church on time.
-
We can barely live by faith just to, you know, maybe serve once a
-
month. We can barely.
-
I'm just saying, come on. It is time for us to have a
-
reality check of where we are at by faith because I believe we're
-
coming in for some days and hours that you're going to
-
that's the only thing you're going to be able to live by.
-
And you got to know that, you know that.
-
You know, I look at the heat the the book of Hebrews in Chapter
-
11 where we call it the hall of faith with all the old timers
-
that they did all these things by faith.
-
Did you see all the things they had to do by faith?
-
They lived it, they bled by it, they died by it.
-
And nobody wants to sacrifice or suffer anymore.
-
And we're not really living a life of faith, but I see these
-
people, they gave up everything. They gave up everything they
-
did, whatever it took, whatever. Let's read it and then we'll
-
close with it. Because I want this to be the
-
last thing you think of so that you can ask yourself, where am I
-
in my faith walk? Hebrews 11.
-
Yes, we're going to read it now. Faith is the assurance.
-
If you need to go, that's fine. Now faith is the assurance of
-
things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
-
For by it the men of old gained approval.
-
By faith we understand that the world's were prepared by the
-
word of God, so that that what is seen was not made out of
-
things that which were are visible by faith.
-
Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through
-
which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous.
-
God testifying about his gifts and through faith, though he is
-
dead, he still speaks. Come on, by far I want my blood
-
to still speak. If there is still a earth, if
-
there is still the earth and we are still going on, I want my
-
blood to speak that people knew I lived by faith, and my faith
-
would remain in this earth until he burned it up and created the
-
new one. Come on, does it speak?
-
That's what I want my testimony to be.
-
It says here it said by faith Enoch was taken up so that he
-
would not see death. And he was not found because God
-
took him up. For he obtained the witness that
-
before he was taken up he was pleasing to God.
-
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for he
-
who comes to God must believe that he is Hallelujah.
-
He is come on, He is the great I am, and that he is a rewarder of
-
those who seek him by faith. Noah, being warned by God about
-
the things not yet seen in reverence, prepared an art for
-
the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world,
-
and became an heir of the righteousness which is according
-
to faith. By faith.
-
Abraham, when he, he was called, obeyed by going out to a place
-
which he was to receive for an inheritance.
-
And we, he went out not knowing where he was going by faith.
-
He lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign
-
land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of
-
the same promise. And you know, we're heirs of
-
that promise. Come on, we're inheritance of
-
that promise of Abraham. Glory to God, for he was looking
-
for that city which has foundations whose architect and
-
builder is the God. Come on.
-
By faith, even Sarah herself can received ability to conceive
-
even beyond the proper time of life, since she was considered
-
him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even
-
one man, and him as good, as dead as that, as many
-
descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and the
-
innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
-
All of these died in faith. Say they died in faith.
-
I want to know that I die in faith.
-
I'm so full of faith that when I die, come on.
-
I mean, I'm just, it's just faith.
-
It's all that's left. Just faith died in faith.
-
I've lost my spot now. OK, without receiving the
-
promises, but having seen them, having welcomed them from a
-
distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and
-
exiles on the earth, come on. That means they were separated
-
from this world. For those who say such things
-
make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.
-
And indeed, if they had been thinking of that country from
-
which they had went out, they would have add the opportunity
-
to return. But as it is, they desire a
-
better country, that is, a heavenly one.
-
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has
-
prepared a city for them by faith.
-
Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had
-
received the promises was offering up his only begotten
-
Son, and it was he to him, it was said, And Isaac your
-
descendant shall be called. And he considered that God was
-
able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also
-
received him back as a type. And by faith Isaac blessed Jacob
-
and Esau, even regarding things to come.
-
And by faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of his sons
-
Joseph and worship, leaning on the top of his staff.
-
And by faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the
-
exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his
-
bones. And by faith Moses, when he was
-
born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw
-
that he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the
-
King's edict. By faith Moses, when he grew up,
-
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh.
-
And all the fame and all the fortune that would come to that.
-
That's my translation. Choosing rather to endure I'll
-
treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing
-
pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ,
-
gathering greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, For he
-
was looking to the reward. By faith He left Egypt, not
-
fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seen Him who
-
is unseen. By faith He kept the Passover
-
and the sprinkling of the blood, so that what He who destroyed
-
the first born would not touch them.
-
By faith they pass through the Red Sea as they were passing
-
through dry land, and the Egyptians when they attempted
-
were drowned. And by faith the walls of
-
Jericho fell down, And after they had been encircled for
-
seven days by faith, Rahab the harlot did not perish along with
-
those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies
-
in peace. And what more shall I say?
-
For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon and Barack and and
-
Sampson and Jet the and David and Samuel and all the prophets
-
who by faith conquer kingdoms, and performed acts of
-
righteousness, and obtained promises, and shut the mouths of
-
alliance. Come on and quench the the power
-
of fire, and escape the edge of the sword.
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For weaknesses were made strong, became mighty in war, put
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foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead
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by the resurrection. Come on.
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And others were tortured, not accepting their release so that
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they might obtain a better resurrection.
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Others experienced knockings and scourgings.
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All poor thing. Being politically correct.
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Yes, also chains and imprisonments.
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Come on, they were stoned. They they were sawn in two.
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They were tempted, they were put to death with the sword.
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They went about in sheepskins and goat skins, being destitute,
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afflicted. I'll treated men of holes in the
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ground. And all of these having gained
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approval through their faith for us, so that apart from us, they
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would not be made perfect. Wow, wow.
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By faith, this is how they lived.
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Glory to God. And we need to ask ourselves,
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are we living by faith the way the word of God tells us that
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what faith looks like and how faith acts, that means we are
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going, we're not going to have to suffer all these things that
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they did, but we will have to suffer in this life to crucify
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this flesh, to not go along with the world and the world's way
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and to do his will and to do his purposes.
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They're going to be things that we're going to encounter.
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Mockings, he said. Rejoice when people talk about
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you. Come on.
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I mean, nobody wants to be talked about poor little thing
-
anymore and then won't come back to church because so and so
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talked about them and hurt their feelings.
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Give me a break. What have we become?
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Come on, what have we been? This is called living a life of
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faith. This is not a religious
-
exercise. This Is Us adhering to His Word
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with everything that is within us and believing God in the
-
midst of whatever it is. Then I'm going to live for Him,
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and I could care less what anybody else does.
-
I'm going to follow Him. I'm going to live for Him.
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I'm going to stand up for righteousness.
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I'm going to stand up for holiness.
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I'm going to stand in the face of the battle and in the fight
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because He tells me to fight the good fight of faith.
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That means there's going to be things that we're going to have
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to get fighting mad about for us to walk some things out that he
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needs us to do in this last day and in this hour.
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And I'm going to tell you it is not going to happen by weak
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Christians, Americanized, selfish Christians that do not
-
know what true biblical faith really is.
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And I don't care how many conferences you go to that tell
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you what faith is and how faith comes and da, da, da, da, da.
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And yet one little trial you can't even press through and go
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through. You can't even believe God for
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your marriage to be restored, for your children to not be
-
rebellious. Come on, we got to think about
-
this. He tells us to test ourselves to
-
see if we are truly in faith. You know, and I graduated from
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the school of Mark 1122 and 24 and Jesus answered saying to
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them, have faith in God. And we can literally translate
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that. Have the God kind of faith.
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That's the kind of faith he wants us to have.
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God faith, not religious faith, not fake faith.
-
Come on. Not all this wishful thinking
-
that God's going to know. How are you firmly persuaded
-
that you'll risk your whole life on this word and what His Word
-
says, who He is and what He says He can do?
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Because that's when I truly know I believe God.
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I have faith in God that His Word will not fail.
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Do you believe that He truly is, That He is, come on, the Creator
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of heaven and earth, That He is the beginning and the end, That
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He is God and that there is no other?
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That He is holy? Come on, That He is Emmanuel,
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God with us. Come on, That He is my
-
deliverer. Come on, that He is my Redeemer.
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That He is my defense? Come on, that He is my
-
righteousness, that He is my healer, that He is my victory,
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That He is my provider, That He is my rock, He is my shield, He
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is my strong tower. Come on, He is almighty power
-
and almighty God and all the one of all authority.
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That He is who He says He is. Hallelujah.
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That He is my help. It's time of trouble.
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Glory to God. Do you believe it?
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Come on then, we got to start acting like it.
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We have to start acting like it. Come on.
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We have to start walking this thing out and acting like we do
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believe who he is. Hallelujah, Glory to God that He
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is the author and finisher of my faith.
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Hallelujah, glory to God that He is the King of glory and that he
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is returning. Hallelujah for his bride.
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Glory to God, glory to God. Say I have faith.
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Come on, stand up and say I have faith.
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