Faith Makes A Demand 1

lift her bibles up and wave them around.

Make Jesus glad, the devil mad.

Let's say this together say heavenly Father, I'm tuned in to live stream tonight and I have ears to hear what the Spirit is telling me.

I have supernatural hearing.

I believe.

Whatever it is I need to hear, I will hear it.

Even a pastor doesn't actually say it.

I mean you're able to turn his words into exactly what I need and I trust in you, I trust in your Holy Word.

I'm teachable and I receive teaching tonight that will encourage my faith, make it grow and strengthen my development in you.

In Jesus' name, amen.

All right, let's look at John, chapter 14 and very familiar verses, and we'll start reading with verse 13,.

John 14 · chapter mention

A couple of verses here John 14, 13.

And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it Hallelujah.

And then in Acts, the third chapter, just a few pages to the right, verse 16, and this is after the man at the gate, beautiful, the lame man walked and went walking, leaping and praising God into the temple, and he'd been lame 38 years until Peter and John spoke to him that day.

And so here's Peter, and he says to the crowd that had gathered and his name, that is the name of Jesus, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong, whom you see and know Yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this man, this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

Now, when Jesus said, if you shall ask anything in my name, that will I do.

And that word asked there in John 14 means, and it means to call for, to require or to demand your due.

And so tonight I wanted to preach a message entitled Faith Makes a Demand.

Faith makes a demand.

And so this verse in John chapter 14 is really not talking about prayer at all.

John 14 · chapter mention

It's not talking about prayer and supplication and asking God for something, but it's really it refers to making a demand on our covenant.

You know, we have a covenant.

We've been teaching, we taught all about that all during the month of February.

I tell you, this church was prepared for a global pandemic because we had we had healing Wednesdays every Wednesday night of February, and then that spilled over to Sunday morning and we emphasized our faith in the covenant of what Jesus, the finished work that Jesus finished on the cross.

There's lots of ways to get healed a prayer of faith anointing with oil, hands laid upon you in Jesus' name, but the one that we majored on was just knowing what you have in Christ and what our covenant says.

So, really, in John 14, 13 and 14, jesus is telling the disciples and this is the night before he was crucified, so you know, he saved a very, a lot of important things to tell the disciples at that occasion, and he wanted to, he wanted to refresh their memory is that that their faith should make a demand on the covenant that they have with God?

See, they're not demanding from God.

Don't get that confused.

We're not demanding anything from God.

God has already given it.

The problem, if you have one, the challenge if you have one, is not with God.

God is not the one holding anything up.

God is not the one holding up your healing.

He's not the one holding up your finances.

He's not the author of the trouble.

No, there's a poacher, there's a trespasser.

You know there's an enemy.

And so what we do in the name of Jesus is we demand the devil, we demand the problem, the poacher, the sickness, the trespasser, whatever it is, we demand that to get out.

We demanded to get out.

I mean, faith makes a demand and in Jesus' name, through faith in that name, that's what happened to the man at the gate.

Beautiful, it was Jesus' name and through faith in that name, what a powerful statement that was made there.

The lame man at the gate, beautiful, 38 years, lame, and just think about that man.

He had to have somebody come and take him every day and drop him off at that place where he would beg.

He was a registered, certified beggar.

You know, in those days you had to register with the temple and they didn't just allow anybody to be on the street begging, but if you were registered, you were certified as needy.

Then you qualified to far the Jews to fulfill their obligation to give alms to the poor.

And so you were a certified poor person.

You couldn't make a living on your own, your lame or whatever blind or whatever other condition you had, and so they would sit there and wait for people to just have mercy on them and give them a little money, and that's how they lived off of other people's mercy.

And so everybody in Jerusalem knew him.

He'd been there for many years and but one day Peter and John are on their way to at the hour of prayer and obviously this man had been there for many years.

I'm sure Jesus passed this man by and he didn't get healed.

Then Many people had passed him by and he didn't get healed.

But on this particular day, you know, peter fastened his eyes on this man and he said look on us.

And the Bible says he looked on them and he was expecting them to give him something.

And Peter had to correct him.

He says well, silver and gold.

I don't have any silver and gold for you today, but such as I have, give I the, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

And he didn't wait for the man to rise up and walk.

He grabbed him by the arm, grabbed him by the hand and lifted him up.

And when you know Peter's a stout man, I mean, he's a fisherman, he's a lot of those nets full of fish that he had drug out of the sea of Galilee.

He's a pretty strong guy.

He jerked that guy up on his feet and the Bible says immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength and he began to.

He began, he went into the temple walking and leaping and praising God, and everybody saw it.

I mean, god did this miracle right in front of a big old crowd.

Oh, and Peter, so big Peter and John then made a demand on the covenant.

They made a demand on the name of Jesus and the faith in power in that name, in the faith in that name, they made a demand, boy, just think about the boldness, just think about the boldness they had.

And his feet and ankle bones received strength.

And so then they were all wondering about it, they were amazed, you know.

And Peter says, hey, don't think by our own holiness this man has made whole.

It's not by our holiness, and he said, but it's the name of Jesus, he said, and his name, through faith in his name, has made this man strong.

Just think about a man that never walked.

He's never walked in his life.

It's one thing to get up on his feet, you know, you can kind of see that, but he not only got on his feet, he was made strong, he was made perfectly sane.

He said perfect soundness.

So what he had happened to him wasn't just a healing, it was a transformation.

This man received perfect soundness in those limbs that had been dead for his entire life.

You talk about a miracle.

And he went walking and leaping and praising God into the temple, right in front of all the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Wooden Seas and the Couldn't Seas, the same people that crucified Jesus, not that long before last month, essentially.

And so in Acts, chapter four, verse 16, the Pharisees said what are we going to do about this?

That a notable miracle has been performed, it cannot be denied.

So, pharisees, these same people that crucified the Lord, annas and Caiaphas, and all these people that are mentioned in the crucifixion, I mean they got together and they said oh my goodness, this is a notable miracle, it can't be denied.

A notable miracle, not just a miracle, a notable miracle.

So what is a notable miracle?

It's one that's widely known and it cannot be denied.

I mean, everybody knew this man.

You couldn't make up some stories, all know.

You got him confused with somebody else.

He wasn't really lame, no, he was just a beggar.

He wasn't really lame, no, he was really lame.

He certified lame.

And God not only got him on his feet, he made him completely whole and well and sound and strong.

Oh, come on, let's praise God.

I'm telling you, our God is able, and the name of Jesus.

They made a demand.

They made a demand, their faith made a demand.

There's no record of the man having any faith whatsoever.

I mean, really, he was expecting alms, that's what he expected.

He did not expect to walk, he didn't ask to be prayed for.

I mean, this was one of those things where the Holy Spirit came on Peter and John, and they did something that was so surprising, might have shocked them too, but I know one thing he started preaching, then he preached up a storm and, as a result of this, 3,000 men got saved.

So, god, you know this is a heat.

You know I, like you, know what one preacher said.

You know, healing is God's dinner bell.

You start getting people healed and he's going to ring the dinner bell and people are going to come to supper, and 3,000 men came to supper that day and got saved as a result of this notable miracle, and it couldn't be denied by the religious crowd.

Let's believe that we're going to see more and more notable miracles in this time.

I tell you, our nation is just under this plague, and it's not even the Corona virus.

It's the plague.

It's the plague of unbelief, it's the plague of fear, it's the plague of people allowing their rights to be stolen from them so that they can stay safe.

I mean, it's the most disgusting display that I've ever witnessed in my entire life and I have to remind myself this is an opportunity.

This is an opportunity to show the real Jesus to people.

I'm telling you this is a I believe out of this whole thing, we're going to see people saved.

We're going to see people healed.

We're going to see a great revival in the church and awakening for the world.

I really believe that.

I really believe that you know, we've yet to plumb the vastness of the power of Jesus' name.

I mean, you know, I remember years ago it's been almost 40 years ago now I had gotten saved.

On a Friday night I was all by myself and I won't go into my testimony, but I have given it recently.

And the next night after I got saved was a Saturday night and I went to my very first full gospel businessmen's fellowship international dinner and we had chicken fried steak and you know what.

It was pretty good and you know we sat around and we heard a man give his testimony.

I later became friends with that guy and fellowship with him and his wife for many years after that.

And so, after the meeting the lady and the man that had introduced me to the Lord, so to speak, and God had used them.

We were all ridden together, and so it came time to take my mother home.

She lived in Conroe, and that's where the meeting was, in Conroe, and my mother had osteoporosis at the time, and so this lady knew that and she said Liz, you know, I, really, before we leave, I'd like to come in.

It would be okay if we come in, I'd like to pray for your healing.

She says, oh no, save it for my sister.

She's paralyzed.

She needs it a lot worse than I do.

And this believer, you know her husband.

They said, oh, there's plenty to go around, there's plenty enough to go around.

We don't have to save anything for her.

We'll get to her, you know, but we want to pray for you.

And they didn't pray.

They didn't pray.

My mother just stood there and this woman laid hands on either side of her face and then she just started saying in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, just like that.

Well, it got kind of uncomfortable, you know.

I kept waiting for the prayer, like Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord's with me, or something like that.

I never did hear a prayer.

All I heard was this lady going in the name of Jesus.

In the name of Jesus, she didn't pray for her, didn't ever ask God to do anything, and slowly my mother's hands what were down by her side, I think she had her hands like this, and slowly her hands went up like this, up like this, up like this and finally my mother's hands were all the way up over her head and she fell out.

Well, you know.

And my brother-in-law, he panicked and he ran to try to catch her, but she fell before he could catch her and she fell flat on her back in her living room in a little thin carpet.

And I told Wallace, I said, oh, you have little faith.

Everybody started laughing.

But my mother was instantly healed of osteoporosis.

And then my wife Gladys had a sinus headache and she'd had a chronic sinus condition for years and she was having one that weekend.

That's why she didn't want to go to the meeting.

But I kind of forced it.

She wasn't feeling well and she had a headache.

And so the lady says you know, it's your turn, gladys.

Oh, yeah, no, it's your turn.

And so it's the same thing.

In the name of Jesus.

I'm telling you my wife was instantly healed.

She fell out.

I mean, two ladies fell out and my mother's living.

I'm telling you we haven't plumbed the depths of the name of Jesus yet and what power is in it, and I'm so glad he gave it to us to use.

You know, smith Wigglesworth tells a testimony.

He was preaching in Wales and you know he died in 1947, so this probably was in the 20s or 30s, I'm not sure exactly what years it was, but he died the same year I was born.

And so he was preaching in Wales and he heard about a man named Lazarus and he had gotten saved and got on fire for God and he was working in the ten mines in the daytime, mining ten TIN, you know, and at nighttime he preached.

And he did that just continually working and then preaching, working and preaching, and he wore himself out and he got weak in his body and he caught tuberculosis which was going through.

My grandmother had tuberculosis about the same time.

And now see, that's a real threat to somebody's life, unlike COVID, and the death toll on that is much less than what we're hearing about.

It's a tiny, tiny percentage of people.

It's a shame.

Anybody dies, but people die every day.

Amen.

We need to know that.

Let's not get all excited.

But TB was an exceptional adversary and he had been bed-fast for seven years.

And so, you know, the Holy Ghost spoke to Smith Wigglesworth while he was preaching and he says I want you to go and raise Lazarus.

And so he went to that man's home and he took some believers with him and he stood around the bed.

They stood around the bed and again, all they did was recite the name of Jesus.

That's all they did.

They didn't pray for him, they didn't cast a devil out of him, they didn't sing songs.

They just simply said in the name of Jesus, over and over in the name of Jesus, until the power of God fell.

Kind of like it happened in my mother's living room.

The power of God fell.

I just didn't know if that's what it was, but it was.

The power of God fell.

My mother's arms went up and the power of God fell in that man's bed and Smith Wigglesworth said there's your healing.

And the man said in this weakened voice he says I've been bitter.

And right after he had gotten ill, someone had came and some of them came to his house and they had anointed him with oil but he had not gotten healed.

He had believed in healing but he had not gotten healed.

And so then he had gotten offended.

He got mad at God.

And he kept that mad at God attitude for seven years in the bed.

And finally, here comes a demonstration.

The power of God comes down.

And he said I've been bitter.

And Smith Wigglesworth said well, you know what?

If you'll repent, god will forgive you and you can receive your healing.

And the man with tears he said oh God, I'm sorry, I was bitter, please forgive me.

I believe in healing and I receive my healing now.

And that man got up out of bed after seven years, he got dressed, he came back in the living room, they all went to a meeting, an open air meeting, and where he stood up and gave his testimony.

I tell you we have it plumbed the depths of the power of the name of Jesus, and he's given us his name to use.

We bear his name to a lost and dying world.

We bear his name to a world that's filled with fear over something that's been overemphasized.

I'm not denying there's a COVID-19.

I'm not denying it can make people sick and some people do die from it, but it's nothing compared to the name of Jesus.

Nothing compared to the name of Jesus.

Oh, I tell you the power in the name of Jesus.

Faith makes a demand on his power.

It makes a demand on the covenant.

Faith makes a demand, faith makes a demand.

Oh, his wonderful name.

You know, believers have the right to use his name.

It's not some preacher that has to do it.

Some folks have been religiously brainwashed.

I think there's a lot of the church.

I'm hearing these pastors.

I've seen some of their quotes.

I've seen some of the excuses they've made for not opening.

I mean, I read another one today.

He's been able to be open now, as far as the governor's concerned, and they're not going to open until the 17th.

What's your problem?

What are you trying to do?

Are you trying to turn your church into a sterile hospital or something like that?

I mean, what in the world are you going to so much trouble for?

See it's fear.

And so many believers have been religiously brainwashed.

They've just been told everything you know like.

Well, god healed somebody, doesn't heal everybody.

You know Jesus never turned anyone away.

He healed everyone that came to him.

And he healed some people without didn't even have any faith to be healed this man.

The apostles healed him and he didn't have any.

There was no record of him having faith to be healed.

There's a lot of people out there.

I believe that the church will rise up and use the name of Jesus.

We can get some people healed.

We can get some people delivered from fear and panic.

I'll tell you right now.

And so we've been baptized into Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

You know there's three baptism.

We like to teach that on a regular basis around here.

There's the baptism in water, that every believer should be baptized in water.

And then there's the baptism in the Holy Ghost, with evidence of speaking in other tongues.

And then the third baptism that a lot of people don't even know about is when you get saved.

The Holy Spirit takes you and plunge you into the body of Christ and you're baptized into His body.

So you and Jesus are one.

So if His name is Jesus, then you bear His name, you're named with His name.

So it's not about using a magic word, it's about the family name.

We have the family name and it has great influence in the spirit realm.

It has great influence, it's great power in the name of Jesus.

So our covenant has already provided healing, deliverance, safety provision.

It's paid in full by the blood of Jesus given to us.

To have access, all we have to do is make a demand.

Sometimes, you know, it's not God holding your blessing up.

It's not God holding your healing up.

It's not God holding your finances up.

It's not God delaying the greatest year yet.

No, he said we could have it.

But we're gonna have to make some demands on the enemy.

We're gonna have to make some demands on circumstances.

We're gonna have to make some demands on situations In Jesus' name, and we'll watch those things disappear.

Let your faith make a demand on your covenant.

One more verse that I wanna read to you.

It's so powerful Revelation 19, 13.

And I'll close with this, revelation 19, 13.

It says in Jesus was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God.

Everything that's in this Word, everything that's in his covenant, is in his name.

Faith makes a demand.

Come on and lift your hand and receive tonight.

Praise God, we thank you for it.

Tonight.

We praise you for it.

Let's just pray this prayer.

There might be somebody watching and we've had numbers of people answer the altar call for this prayer?

Obviously we can't.

I can have an altar call, but you can pray and receive Jesus into your life.

If you haven't done so, or maybe you're a backslatter, we have people watching from all over the country and even all over the world, and not everybody's right with God.

You can get right with God by just praying this very simple prayer.

Say it out loud with your mouth and mean it from your heart.

Just say, oh God, I know without Jesus I'm lost.

Without Jesus I'll die and go to hell.

But oh God, I know I'm lost.

But, oh God, I wanna be saved.

I wanna go to heaven.

Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God.

I believe you died for my sins, but God raised you from the dead.

Jesus, come into my heart, make me the kind of person you want me to be.

I give you my life and I make you my Lord.

Now, according to the Word of God, I am saved.

Thank you, heavenly Father, for Jesus.

Now, if you prayed that prayer, let us know.

Give us a Facebook message, or you can write us, or you can email us at staff at gwccc To get in touch with us.

Let us know.