How To Use Your Faith | Mark Brazee | World Outreach Church

Let's open our Bibles to um let's look

at Matthew. There's just a couple things

I want to get covered here today.

Matthew the 24th chapter.

Um sometimes, you know, I know uh I I'm

not Well, let me ask how many are at WC

you you've been coming you've started

coming to WC within the last year.

That's a bunch. How many in the LA

within the last six months?

That's great. We're glad you're here.

>> This is wonderful. Wonderful.

>> Now, um

if you spend any time around here,

you're going to find that we got three

facets to who we are. And that is the

word, the spirit, and the world. The

word, the spirit, and the world. That

means we're sticking with the Bible. If

it's not in the Bible, I'm not

interested.

>> I don't want opinions. I got lots of

them, but I'm not going to share them

with you because they're just my

opinions.

Okay. Every now and then I might throw

something out there and say, "I really

think about this, but I'm telling you I

think this. I can't prove it, but you

can't disprove it. So, you can take it

or leave it." If I got something I can't

really prove in the scriptures, which

you'll probably very seldom, if ever,

hear me say that. But, um, you know,

we've got these three points to who we

are at WC. We, you know, we've got we've

got our our what do we call it? Our

mission statement.

>> Okay. Three parts to it. three parts to

it. We're led by the spirit. We love the

world.

>> Live by the word. You do those three

things, I'm telling you, you're going to

make it grand and glorious style. If you

stick with those three things, you're

going to succeed.

Okay? You love the world, you're led by

the spirit, and you love the world. now.

Uh but but you know, especially and I'm

I'm kind of stirred on at this

particular month. We're still in barely

in September, but um uh I if you're

around here very long, you're going to

find we're pretty big on missions,

okay? And and if you're not, stick

around. You will be. It's so real. It's

so tangible. You'll catch it. Some

things about missions have to be taught,

but most of it's got to be taught. I

remember 1975,

uh, I had the chance to go to John

Ostein, Pastor John Ostein. You,

everybody knows Joel, but Joel Joel came

from John.

>> And John Ostein was probably one of the

finest men I ever met in my life.

Amazing teacher, preacher, pastor,

everything. But, um, uh, I had chance to

go to his church. Actually, Brother

Hagen took, I think, six of us with him

out of we were in Rama that year. That

was the first year the school was open

and um he took us down. It was in

January, John Ostein's first midwinter

indoor camp meeting. Brother Hagen

really was the speaker of the thing. And

he took some of us down there to run the

book and tape tables and so on. And um

you know, you walk in that church, John

Ostein's church, Lakewood Church,

there's a huge world map on the front.

There were little lights all over the

map on the front. You know, people years

later said, you know, um you you didn't

grow up around missions. We didn't know

what missions was. You didn't grow up

around missions, but something consumed

you with missions. Something something

got to where, you know, like we say, you

cut me, I bleed missions. And I've had

people say, "Where did you get that?"

You know, "Where did you where did you

get that?" One day, I said, "I know

where I got it. I got it in John

Ostein's church." He wasn't even

ministering that week, but walking in

his church missions was so tangible, you

you'd catch it.

>> Yeah.

>> Something got all over me and it changed

my life. Okay. By the time I finished

Rama that year, I didn't understand

anything about missions. All I knew is

whatever that is, I got to go.

>> Whatever that is. I heard Vicky Jameson

singing. She came in class and started

singing, "I'm going to Africa. I'm I'm

going to have mercy on you and not sing

it." But she's singing, "I'm going to

Africa. I'm going to I went back to my

apartment that day and said, I'm going

to Africa. I'm going to Africa." I

didn't know what Africa was like, but

something jumped on me.

>> It was tangible. And it wasn't but two

years. And I was in Kenya and South

Africa and actually heading for

Zimbabwe. That part got cancelceled on

that trip. But but um my first trip was

to Africa. I got it in that I got it. It

just was it was tangible. I caught it.

And here I am quite a few years later

and it still just burns in me. Something

about the nations.

>> Well, I gave you some extra time if you

found Matthew 24 yet.

>> Okay. Jesus disciples were um

just a second here.

Jesus, he he was talking to his

disciples. In fact, I'll start with with

the first verse. We'll take a little

extra time. Jesus went out and departed

uh from the temple. And his disciples

came to him for to show him the

buildings of the temple. They're

impressed with the building. Jesus said

unto them, "See ye not all these things.

Verily I say unto you, there shall not

be left one here one stone upon another

that shall not be thrown down. Well,

that's not what they were looking for

anyway. And he sat upon the Mount of

Olives. The disciples came unto him

privately, saying, "Tell us when shall

these things be? And what shall now

here's what we're looking for. And what

shall be the signs of thy coming?" Well,

he's standing in front of them.

So when they say, "What'll be the signs

of your coming?" They have to have

comprehended, I'm leaving, but I'll be

back. What do you mean the signs of your

coming? You're already here. They

they're talking. They're already

consumed with his second coming as much

as the first.

>> Wow.

>> Tell us when shall these things be and

what and what shall be the signs? Signs.

Listen to Joe Morris. Go to his edu. I

recommend everybody log on to that.

He'll give you about about 85 reasons

from from scriptures why Jesus is coming

back soon. Signs of the times. Okay.

Anyway, tell us uh when shall these

things be and what shall be the signs of

thy coming? And now and what?

>> The end of

>> the end of the world or the end of the

age. Not the end of the world. It's not

like the planet is going to just

disappear. What's going to be the signs

of your coming and of the end of the

age? I I love this next thing Jesus

says, answered and said to them, take

heed that no man deceive you.

>> Right?

Apparently in that context of him

returning and the end of the age,

apparently there's going to be a lot of

misconceptions,

>> going to be a lot of discussion, going

to be a lot of deceit, going to be a

whole lot of stuff. That's why you got

101 uh teachings on the return of Jesus.

All this is in there. He said, but he

said, "Take heed that no man deceive

you." That's why he gave us a Bible.

>> That's why he gave us a Bible to go to

the scriptures so we be not deceived.

>> Okay. Now,

I'm not going to take time to go through

this. We've got a ways to go yet. But

the part I want to get to, you know, of

course, he goes in there and he says,

"And you'll hear wars and rumors of wars

and famines and pestilence and floods

and goes through all this of signs of

the times." But then he says, "But the

end is not yet."

Why? I think we're kind of living there.

wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes,

hurricanes,

>> famines, floods, pestilence, all

everything he said would be coming.

That's where we live right now. But he

said, "Don't let that bother you. These

are birth painans. That's not the end."

When he gets back there, he says, "Now,

he gives them an absolute here in the

14th verse."

He says, "And this gospel."

>> Yeah.

>> Why Why are we so consumed with

missions? Why? Why at WOC? I uh it's not

my job to to uh really straighten

anybody else out, but for our own

selves, why are we so consumed with

missions? And I'm going somewhere with

this in a few minutes. Why are we so

consumed with the subject of missions?

Missions being taking the gospel to

every nation, every tongue, every

kindred and every tongue. Missions being

going to the regions beyond. Missions

being going to the 1.6 billion people

that have never even heard the name of

Jesus. missions being, you know, like

Oswwell J. Smith said, nobody should

hear the gospel twice before everybody

gets to hear it at least once.

>> That's right.

>> Why Why is it so Why is it such a big

deal? Why are we a missions church? It

kind of makes us a splinter group. Okay,

there are places that have 101 great

things they're doing. Got great

buildings, great advertisement, great

outreach, got great everything. Okay.

But not necessarily a great thrust into

the unreached, untold, unttaught. Okay.

And again, so why why are we so consumed

with that? This verse right here just

straightened it all out for me. In this

gospel, this is Jesus written in red.

Jesus said, "This gospel of the kingdom,

not could be, should be, might be, would

be. This gospel of the kingdom

>> shall be." It's an absolute. This is the

way. This is going to be this way. Jesus

said it's going to happen. This gospel

of the kingdom shall be preached in all

America.

>> This is an American gospel, you know.

It's just it's just a no. So, this

gospel of the kingdom shall be preached

in all the world for a witness. Witness

means it's going to come with signs,

wonders, and miracles. It's not just a

good message. It's demonstration of the

spirit and power. This gospel of the

kingdom shall be preached in all the

world for witness to

>> all

>> all nations. In other word nations,

don't let that throw you because borders

keep changing. What used to be

Czechoslovakia is now the Czech

Republic. It's things have changed.

>> So you can't say, "Well, it's just every

nation. It's every people group.

>> Every people group. Doug Dennis down

there in Venezuela and Colombia, you

know, he gets donkeys and goes up in the

mountains and finds villages where

they'll say, "Do you know Jesus?" and

they'll go, "No, he must live in the

next village. We've never seen him

here."

>> No comprehension.

>> There are still villages. There are

still regions. There are still areas.

South America, Central America,

Southeast Asia. Go anywhere you want.

But this go here's what we're looking

for. This gospel of the kingdom shall be

preached.

>> Shall be preached. Shall be preached.

>> Shall be

>> shall be preached. Don't be surprised in

the days to come if God doesn't fire up

a whole another realm of people going to

the nations of the world. The money will

come. The doors will open. Nations are

open. Visas will come.

>> Yeah.

>> But this gospel of the kingdom shall be

preached in all the world for witness to

>> every people group.

>> And then what does he say? Then the

>> end. Do you notice missions and end go

together?

>> Yeah.

>> You won't have end without missions. And

if you get to missions, you'll have, why

are we so consumed with all this?

Because I, you know, as good as it is

down here, I'm looking forward to going

on the other side.

>> This is good down here. But I I'm

really, you know, I'm pumped about the

rapture. Okay. I'm going in the first

load.

>> It seems, well, somebody says, "Yeah,

but you know, he's talking to a group of

Jewish boys here. He's talking about the

return of Jesus." Great. Great. But the

rapture of the church is just seven

years earlier than that. So the same

kind of stuff applies. Yeah.

>> So anyway, I said all that to say, why

are we so big on all this? Because this

is this is the one thing I heard brother

Hagen say years ago. I heard him make

this statement with a group of ministers

and he said, you know, he said in

studying the scriptures for at that

point what 60some years, something like

that. He said, in studying the

scriptures, I really don't know. I

really don't have all the answers. I

really can't say that I know. This is

what the days of of Dr. Dr. Hilton

Sutton when he was he was in the front

lines teaching Bible prophecy etc. Today

we've got Joe Morris. We've got some

other people. But um uh he he made the

statement he said in studying the

scriptures he said I don't really know.

There's some things I I I just don't

know for sure. But one thing I'm very

persuaded of is there's only the only

thing I can see that has not yet been

fulfilled that will be fulfilled. And

that's a major outreach to the nations

of the world. Well, you know, somebody's

been in the ministry for almost 70 years

and says, "The only thing I can see that

has not been fulfilled is a major

outreach to the nations of it's not

Jesus is coming back, but it's not going

to be Ezekiel 38. It's not going to be

when Russia comes down and attacks

Israel. That's in it. That's important.

But the major sign is this gospel

preached in all the world, witness to

every nation, then the end shall come."

Now, said all that to say, you know, we

what we do is we take a few weeks every

year and uh we don't necessarily get up

and call it missions month or something,

but man, we we uh if you've been around

the last couple weeks, uh we've made

mention a number of times about faith

promise.

>> Faith promise. And if you notice, we

didn't call it uh budget promise.

>> Your budget, maybe your budget can't

stand anymore. Maybe it's already in the

hole. That's okay. We're not talking

about, you know, budget promise. We're

not talking about pledge promise. Some

folks say, "I just can't make any more

pledges." I was looking at some stuff

the other day that somehow we got some

stuff that was automatically deducted

out of our, you know, out of our one of

our accounts. And I thought, man, once

you get started, you can't get stopped.

Man, those folks will sneak in and take

everything.

>> And I start getting out of some pledges.

I don't mean ministry stuff. I mean

business stuff. You know, some folks

said, "Are you sure you want out of

this?" I said, "Absolutely sure.

You know, I didn't even know I had the

thing.

>> Come on now.

>> This is not about budgets. This is not

about pledges. This is about faith.

>> This is about faith. This is a

>> faith promise.

>> Your budget may not handle anymore. Your

pledges may not go any further, but I'll

tell you, there's no limit to what your

faith can do.

>> If you're born again, you got enough If

you're born again, you got enough faith

to give you the new birth.

>> You've already believed God for the

biggest miracle in existence. You you

went from from death to life.

>> That's right.

>> You became a new creature, the

righteousness of God in Christ. If you

if you're born again, you got enough

faith to shake the world.

>> So, it's not it's not a faith. Do you

ever stop and think about it? You know,

my wife's the English teacher. I don't

think I went to that class very often.

But, you know, faith is not faith is not

a noun, it's a verb.

>> Did I say that right? Did I get that

right? She's putting her thumb up. Think

about that. Now, see, we so often we've

thought, well, I tell you if I I guess I

just don't have any faith. I guess I

just need some faith. I guess I We've

all said that at one time or another.

But faith is not what you have. Faith is

what you do.

>> That's right.

>> It's not a thing you possess. It's an

action you do.

>> Yeah.

>> So, a lot of times what happens is we're

just we're getting we're shooting

ourselves in the foot thinking, "Well, I

just don't have any faith." Well, you

just need to get saved, then you will

have.

But sometimes we're missing out on the

best God has for us because we think

it's this faith thing if God just lean

over the balcony and shoot me with a

faith gun and give me some faith. You

know, I that's what I thought at one

time. I you before I moved out here to

Tulsa, I went to the little country

church I went to and uh I was there a

lot. Pastor finally gave me my own key.

I was there all the time. I fasted for

faith. I prayed for faith. I pleaded for

faith. I begged for faith. I went to

church Sunday nights and everybody

gathered around the altar. I did

everything they did and I got what they

got.

>> Nothing.

[laughter]

Faith is not it's not a difficult

subject. If it was, none of us ever

would have got saved.

>> Easiest thing I ever did was make Jesus

Lord of my life. And I barely did that.

That's not that's it's just not

difficult. Faith is so easy to operate.

Faith just basically operates by

believing in the heart, saying with the

mouth. You get those two things going,

you're going to be fine. That's right.

>> But the part I want to get to is here.

Um, faith is so important. Hebrews 11:6

Hebrews 11:6

says, "Without

>> faith, it's

>> impossible to please him." Must be

important. Okay. James the 5th chapter

says, "The prayer of

>> faith will save the sick and the Lord

will raise him up and if he's committed

sins, they shall be forgi." Faith

connects to pleasing God. Faith connects

to my healing.

Most believers get most healings is

going to be attributed to their own

faith, not somebody coming in with a

special spiritual gift. That may happen.

But for every spiritual gift that gets

one person healed, there ought to be

10,000 people to get healed by using

their faith.

>> And if it was that difficult, God should

have told us that.

>> Should be the easiest thing we ever did.

>> So, and then and then

I love this one over in the ninth

chapter of uh Matthew's gospel. You

[clears throat] got these two blind guys

following Jesus. He goes into the house.

They follow him in. He says, "What do

you want?" They said, "We might receive

our sight." He says, "Believe, do you

believe I can do this?" They said, "Yes,

Lord, we do." I love the next phrase. He

didn't say, "Well, according to your

needs, so be it done unto you."

>> According to my will, so well, if it's

the will of God, it'll be No, he didn't

say, "According to my will, so will be

it done unto you." He didn't say,

"According to your needs, your wants,

your desires." He wants to take care of

our needs. He wants to take care of our

wants. He wants to take care of our

desires. He wants to bless us and take

care of us. But that's not what he said.

If we get this lodged on the inside of

us, he said, "Do you believe I can do

this?" They said, "Yes, Lord." He said,

"Good." According to

>> your faith,

>> what?

>> Your faith.

>> Not your wives, not your husbands, not

your kids, not your neighbors, not my

Jesus. You know, Jesus never said,

"According to my faith, so be it done

unto you." He never said according to my

disciples faith. So he never attributed

miracles to their faith or his faith,

but he did to their the the individual's

faith.

>> That's what he said there.

>> Okay. He said, "You believe I can do

this?" Yes, Lord. Good. According to

>> your

>> your faith. So be it done unto you. He

said, "You want this? You can get it.

All you got to do is apply your faith."

I said, I'll let say this. I'm going to

take a side trip here and uh back up uh

a lot of years

when uh 1970

1974

would have been about September. Brother

Hagen had started Rama. I didn't know

what a Rama was. I didn't know who a

Kenneth Hagen was. I didn't barely knew

what a Tulsa was. I came out here one

time. I thought I needed to put a

shotgun in my back. I thought I am going

down there and we're going to have wars

with cowboys and Indians.

I didn't know what Tulsa was like, man.

I'm telling you. Got down here. It was

actually pretty nice. Just hottest place

I'd ever been in my life. July of 1974.

But anyway, but anyway,

um,

long story short, got a mailer. I was

actually living at my parents place for

a couple months till I figure out where

I was going. And they got a a flyer.

Somebody put Brother Hagen on their

mailing list. They got a flyer about

this new uh school starting up and I

picked the mail up on the way into the

house and it was almost almost like

something jumped off that piece of

paper. I had brochures for every full

gospel school in the nation. I hadn't

even opened the packages, but I picked

up that little meager three-fold

brochure about this training school for

ministers. I didn't know what a minister

was. I sure wasn't one.

But I picked that up and I said, "I I

got to go there." Long story short,

within a couple weeks time, I called. I

was two weeks late for school. I called,

got them on the phone. I was one of the

few, two of us, one of the few I know of

in all the years of RAM. One of the two

that never filled out an application.

Don't tell them. They might still want

one. [laughter]

But I I mean, I just got on the phone.

My dad said, I said, my dad was my part

owner of the company and my business

service or uh sales manager. And uh I

said, I think I need to go to this

place. He said, please pack up and go.

You're miserable. You need to do

something. I said, yeah, I know. So I

said, I'll go next year because because

it's already been going a couple of

weeks. I'll go next year. He said, why

you need to go now? I said, I can't go

now. It's already started. He said, have

you talked to them? I said, no. He said,

why don't you let them tell you you

can't go instead of you telling you you

can't go? No such word as can't. Go get

the phone.

>> Yeah.

>> Got on the phone, got the secretary

online. They accepted me over the phone.

If you can get here in the next week,

we'll take you as a student. 1974, the

uh the the initial class of Rayma. Okay.

And so anyway, so I got I moved down

here to Tulsa. Had a friend that had an

apartment out by ORU. He was an

accountant uh at a business there.

He said I could come crash on his couch

for a while. And anyway, I got down here

and went to school. 58 of us, Mly crew.

It's a miracle they had ever ever had a

second year after looking at the first

year.

But I'm still remember, stick with me.

I'm still on my subject.

I knew I knew, like I said, I'd been

praying for faith. The only way faith

comes is by hearing. There's no conduit

that brings something to you out of some

other location. So then faith comes by,

it comes by hearing. It's released by

saying and acting and there's no

substitutes in there.

>> And uh Larry, what was that phrase you

used? If you're not

>> If your mouth's not moving, your faith

not working.

>> Thank you.

>> I've quoted that a hundred times and all

a sudden I couldn't pull it up. If your

mouth's not moving, your faith's not

working.

>> Most people's faith problems are not a

God problem. They're not a Bible

problem. They're a mouth problem.

>> I should let you come pick up from here.

We'd go another hour. Great. That's That

was a great service. If your mouth's not

moving, your faith's not working.

>> Yeah.

>> But now

anyway, uh

where do we go here? Okay. So, I I get

into class. I'm two weeks late somewhere

in that third week. Um you know, Brother

Hagen was booking friends of his. This

was the beginning. This was ground zero

for the Word of Faith movement. You

know, Word of Faith is the Bible. So,

it's always been around, but as a

movement, ground zero to me was when

everything kicked into high gear, 1974,

and it exploded from there. So, anyway,

so I'm in class. I have no idea. I don't

know what I'm doing. I don't know how I

got there. I don't know where I'm going

to go from there. I just want to pack up

and go back home and sell real estate. I

don't know what all this is. And

actually packed started packing twice to

move back. I thought, I'm going back. I

don't understand all this stuff. But um

you know um

brother Hagen of course he traveled for

years and he he had friends that were

some of the finest ministers on on the

planet earth and um I got in there I

think it was that third week he had he

had a man in there this u pastor from

from uh South Texas um BB Henkins if

you've heard of Mark Henkins it was Mark

Henens dad BB Henkins um, West Columbia,

Texas, and he just a South Texas pastor,

but he was in class for for five days

teaching. And uh, and of course, this is

this is a word of faith movement.

Everybody's going to teach faith. If

you're not teaching faith, you might as

well pack up and go home. And so BB

Henkins, West Columbia, Texas. And and

I'll never forget it because the first

day in there, he starts teaching out of

Mark 11:24.

Mark 11:24

Okay? I said, "Oh, I never read that

before. That's a cool verse." Okay.

Verse 20. Jesus said, "Have the faith of

God or have God's faith living in you."

One translation says, "Have the God kind

of faith." Now, that'd be another issue

itself. We just need another service for

that. But have the God kind of faith.

The kind of faith God I always operated

in. Genesis 1, God said and it was so.

That's how this all works. But anyway,

he uh he starts teaching on that and and

he's reading along and he says Mark

Mark 11:24

11:24 uh Jesus says, "Therefore I say

unto you, what things soever you desire

when you pray, believe you receive them,

you shall have them." He said that and I

remember sitting in class going, "God,

there's something about that verse I'm

not getting." Would you have him say

that again? He stops. He goes, "Jesus

said, therefore I say unto you,

therefore I say unto you, what things

soever you desire when you pray, believe

you receive them, you shall have them."

I said, "Lord, I still didn't get it. I

may be a little thick, but I didn't get

that. Would you have him say that?" Poor

guy probably wondered why he kept

quoting that verse over and over. It's

me.

I take all the blame. Third time, he

said, he explained it. He said Jesus

Jesus said therefore I say unto you what

things soever you desire

believe you receive them you'll have

them. He said there are things I'll add

live. It's been a lot of years. He said

there are things you're going to have

from God on planet earth. There are

things you're going to have. Jesus

didn't say you might could, would

should. He said what did he say? Ye

shall have them. Now I'm still on faith

promise. I just want to tell you, I want

I I just want to share with you how to

get this working. I would be so thrilled

if everybody would pray. Get a figure

from God. Just let a figure rise up on

the inside. Let God drop a figure on the

inside. Lock your faith on that. Not

your budget, not your pledges. Lock your

faith on that. And you got 12 months.

This is faith promise month. Within the

next week or so, we're going to

celebrate what God did for the last

year. And we're gonna shout and lock our

faith on what he's going to do the next

year.

>> Next year is going to be bigger than

last year.

>> We're going to touch more nations, more

missionaries, more lost.

>> But

he said, uh, he said

there are certain things you're going to

have. Oh, nobody ever told me that

before. And you shall have them. Them is

something I'm going to have. I want to

know what them is because I want to have

it. He said, Jesus said, "Therefore, I

say unto you, what things soever you

desire." Well, it's going to be whatever

you desire, you'll have. No, everything

I desired, I everything I desire. It

didn't happen up till that point in my

life. Desires didn't automatically come

to pass. He didn't say, "What things

soever you desire, you'll have." He

didn't say, "What things soever you

desire and pray for?

>> Therefore, I say unto you, what things

soever you desire when you pray." Well,

just because you desire them doesn't

mean it's going to happen. just because

you desire it, you're probably going to

pray for it. All of us do. Anything I've

desired, I've prayed for. And that

didn't happen. So I thought, well,

what's the deal here? You don't get what

you desire. You don't get what you pray

for. What are you going to have? I'm

taking you back 50 years. Stick with me.

What are you going to have? He said,

Jesus said, written in red, therefore I

say unto you, what thingsoever you

desire when you pray, well, you're

probably going to pray about it. When

you pray, believe. Now, here's where we

get mixed up again. People say, "Well,

brother, I just want you to know I

believe God, it just didn't work. It is

an impossibility. Either you believe God

and it did, or you didn't believe God

and it didn't. But there's no such thing

as believing God and God doesn't honor

it and it doesn't work.

>> Something didn't connect there.

>> You can have the plug right close to the

wall, but if you don't stick it into the

receptacle, you're not going to get any

power flowing. We get close close, but

just close only counts in horseshoes.

So my question was, okay, Pastor

Henkins, what is the deal here? Okay,

what you desire? No. What you desire and

pray for? No. What you desire and pray

for and believe. Now, here's where

sometimes we've got ourselves kind of

hoodwinkedked in here. Well, pastor, I I

tell you, I want you to know I had a

friend of mine say one time, I I was

with so and so, so and so, and so and

so, and I was with them up till the end,

and they died and went to heaven, and

they they were believing God, it didn't

work. Boy, I had to bite my tongue.

It was a good friend, and I didn't want

to be a wise guy right there. Now, I

would be a wise guy. But anyway,

anyway, the issue was, and I've heard so

many people, well, they believe God

didn't work. No, no, no. Don't throw

that in my direction. Because what that

does, it throws it over on God. God did

not come through.

>> God let me down. God never let anybody

down.

>> He's never failed to keep his word. If

it didn't, it's like John.

>> I remember high school. I loved

arithmetic. I loved I loved algebra. I

loved algebra, too. Then they got this

crazy class called geometry. It doesn't

work. Absolutely does not work. I don't

know who invented it. It doesn't work. I

took the class. It didn't work. I told

teachers, "This stuff doesn't work."

She walked me through a few things. I

said, "Well, okay, it works sometimes."

But see, thing was, it wasn't that

geomet geometry didn't work. It was that

somebody didn't know how to work

geometry.

>> It isn't that God didn't come through.

It isn't that the word didn't work.

Sometimes we didn't know how to work the

word.

>> You know, my wife, she gets stuff, you

know, mail or Amazon gets stuff in. I

get to read through the instructions and

put it together and make it work. She

just looks at it and go, I don't I don't

get I don't know how to do all this

stuff. I'm the mechanic in the

household. And so, I'm you know, I get

to make but but you ha it isn't that

things don't work. Usually, they work,

but you you have to find out how to make

it work. to blame God. Well, I tr I

believe God did. No, no, no, no, no.

Don't throw that in my direction. I

believe God it didn't work. No.

>> Sometimes our believing is misplaced.

What do you mean by that? Sometimes, now

I know you've never done this, but

sometimes we

um we pray and you know, we pray for

finances and we check our wallet. We

pray for healing. We look to see if the

pain's gone, the symptoms have left. If

something didn't change when we prayed,

we believe, but we believe we didn't get

it.

>> Somebody says, "You prayed? Yeah. Did

you get anything?" "Not this time, but

I'm going to stick with it."

>> The worst catch for us is to pray and

believe we didn't get it.

>> Or blame it on God. God didn't do it.

>> All right? So, the first thing we don't

want to do is pray and believe we didn't

get it. That's not what he said. But

then here's a sneakier one. This one

says, "Well, I pray. Did you pray?"

Yeah. Did you see anything? No. But I'm

telling you what, God's going to do it.

>> I know God's faithful. He's going I I

He's going to do it. God's I'm going to

get it. I'm going to get it sometime.

You don't know how. You don't know when.

You don't know where. But I'm going to

get it. This God's got his word on the

line. I prayed. I don't see it. I don't

feel it. I don't smell it. I don't taste

it. But I'm going to get it. Do you know

Jesus didn't say when you pray, believe

you didn't get it.

>> He didn't say when you pray, believe

you're going to get it. That's a sneaky

one.

>> What did he say?

>> When you pray, believe

>> that you receive

>> that you receive them

>> and ye shall have them. Well, I can't

believe I received them if I can't see

them. Well, you wouldn't have to believe

it if you could see it. You'd know it

then.

>> Yeah.

>> When you pray, you believe. I believe I

got it. Do you feel it? Don't care.

>> Do you taste it, see it, smell it, touch

it? No, I don't care. I I believe I got

it. That's what Jesus said. When you

pray, believe you receive it. Believe

the answer is granted unto you. And you

shall have it. You can't have it till

you believe it.

>> That's right.

>> Well, I can't believe I got something I

can't see.

>> I thought you might bring that up.

How many of you believe you're saved?

>> That's good. Don't let the devil talk

you out of it. How many of you have

taken trips to heaven? You've walked

around, seen your mansion, all that.

You've walked, you've seen Jesus face to

face. You believe you're saved because

you've seen Jesus. You've seen heaven.

You've seen the pearly gates. No, no

hands.

>> Salvation is believing without seeing.

>> If you're willing to do that for

eternity, why in the world wouldn't you

do it for healing, for health, for your

needs being met, your bills being paid?

If you're willing to say, I got I am so

saved. I am so saved. How do you know

you are? Because the Bible said it. I've

prayed, received Jesus, and I got a

witness on the inside. It's mine. I got

it now. If you can got it now for

salvation, you can got it now for your

healing.

>> Okay, I I got to get going. We'll be

here all day. So [clears throat] anyway,

so the guest minister is teaching on

this and I'm sitting there going, I've

never heard anything like this. Never

heard this before. And I'm telling you,

fireworks went off on the inside of me.

The problem was I quit listening too

soon,

man. And I thought, I can't wait to get

home and put my faith on something. I'm

going I am going to be a faith giant

from here on out,

but I didn't listen to the whole

message. I don't know where it went from

there. But the the the the deal

sometimes is not when you pray, believe

you receive it. It's not just that you

believe. Sometimes it's a matter of

checking on the inside, making sure I am

at a place to believe that.

>> See, the Bible said Paul writing, I

think it was the Thessalonians, he said,

"I thank God for you because your faith

groweth exceedingly." Faith's like a

muscle. It grows exceedingly. If you'll

use it, it'll grow. But sometimes what

happens is, you know, faith promise. I

want to I want I want to make a promise

for a million dollars. Me, too.

>> But I got to be real honest with you. My

level of faith is not there.

>> Yeah.

>> I I can't believe beyond where my faith

muscle has developed to.

>> That's right.

>> Stick with me now. So,

finished class, went back. I had a job

at a service station and went back to my

apartment and I thought, "This

is so good. God, this is so good. I will

never again have my prayers go

unanswered. God, my life's going to be

different. I am going to be a faith

giant the rest of my life. I I'm telling

him how big this is." And I'm sitting

there thinking, you know, he said, "What

things?" Oh, I got some things, man. I

got some things. I got some big things I

want. What things soever, you know, that

goes beyond spiritual truths. What

things soever you desire? When you pray,

believe you receive them. I didn't get

that part about believing you receive. I

don't know. But I'm sitting there in my

apartment. My roommates's at work,

wherever he worked. I said, "Okay, God,

I got this today. Just devil better get

out of my way. We I'm telling you, we're

going for the good stuff." I said, "You

know, God," I said, "there's some things

I want. Let's just start and let's just

go for it."

I just sold my car, got a flight down

there. It was hitching rides to get to

school the first week or so, needing to

get a car. I said, "Okay,

I know what I I know a thing, God, let's

just go for the big stuff." 1974,

I said, "God, I want

I heard that

I said, "God, I want what things I

desire."

Might have been fleshly, but I desire.

Lord, I desire brand new Lincoln

Continental

MarkV

silver.

All every button you can get on it. I

want everything to move by buttons. I

want the antenna to go up and down. I

want the windows to go up and down. I

want the locks to go up and down. I want

the trunk to open. I want buttons

everywhere. I want buttons I can't even

figure out what they're for.

I think it was probably $12,000. This is

1974.

Probably a new one was $12,000. Today

it'd be 112. I don't know what if you

could get them today.

>> But I said, "Okay, God." You said, "You

still with me."

>> Yeah.

>> I I I'm scriptural. I What things soever

you desire, Lord? I des I desire I

desire a brand new I don't want to use.

Don't own brand new. Brand new Lincoln

Continental

MarkV.

New.

I believe I receive it.

I believe I receive it. Thank you,

Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. The

next three or four days, I kept waiting

for a knock on the door. Where's my car?

I'm believing God. I put my faith on

that. I'm believing God for this thing.

I I want the keys and I want the title.

Where's my car? I kept looking out the

window. Where's my car? I believe I

received it when I prayed. Man, I got I

got this thing. I tell you what, I got

this. I got this. I I got this.

Well, next week, Brother Hagen has

another guest speaker in. Okay. Some

guy, some new newcomer named Kenneth

Copeland.

And he's in there doing morning and

night teaching there. Students in the

morning, open to the public at night,

teaching on Jesus, our Jubilee. Amazing.

wonderful week. And he's just going

along, you know, and all a sudden he

stops morning service. He says, "You

students,"

he says, "you students," he said, "I'm

going to help you today. You don't start

out believing God for oil wells and

Lincoln Continentals."

[laughter]

Who does this guy think he is?

God,

>> I don't know who this guy is, but he's

not going to hurt my faith. No,

I've never had a chance to tell him

about that. He'd probably appreciate

that.

>> He said, "You students," he said, "you

don't start out believing God for oil

wells and Lincoln Continentals.

You start out believing God for a new

pair of socks and then you work your way

up."

I don't know. I don't know if I believe

that or not.

So, I got a little miffed and I went

back to my apartment. I thought, "Who's

this? Who's this guy think he is? I'm

still looking for my Lincoln."

But the I sat there and I I'm ready to

go over to work. I sat there and I

thought, you know, you know, I said,

"God, this was really kind of unique on

the fact that you sent him here." And of

all things he could have said in class

this morning, everything he could have

said, he he could have said a lot of

things, but he said, "You don't start

out believing God for well, I'm not on

the oil wells yet, but you don't start

out believing God for oil wells and

link." How did he know I was believing

for Lincoln Continental? Or at least I

was wanting one. I said, "Lord, I'll

tell you what. Let's make a deal. I'm

going to believe you sent him. I'm going

to believe you anointed him. I'm going

to believe you told him to say that. I'm

just going to lean back and and I I tell

you what, Lord. The s the thing is I'm

looking for the Lincoln, but I need some

socks

[laughter]

and I didn't have the money for them. I

mean, I wasn't making much over at the

service station.

I said, "I'll tell you what, Lord. Let's

work a deal here. Let's take that

Lincoln and let's just put that on the

shelf over here." Which, by the way,

it's still there.

It's a lot older, 50 years down the

road. I said, "Let's take that link and

put that on the shelf. Let's go back

talk about those socks he's talking

about." Lord, you know, honestly, I

said, 'I really could use some new

socks.

So, I tell you what, I'm going to

believe that he You sent him and told

him to say that. And I said, I'll tell

you what, skip the Lincoln for now.

Let's go back to Lord. I need a brand

new, which by the way, I don't need any.

So, don't go get them and drop them off

the church.

[laughter] Said, I could use some socks.

I tell you what, Lord. I need I need

some brand new navy blue socks.

That's an easy order. I believe I

received my thank you form. I got my

faith locked on that. Big difference

between a Lincoln Continental and a pair

of socks. 12,000 down to 89 cents.

So, so for a week, I'm looking for my

socks. Waiting for my socks. Four weeks

waiting for my socks.

Two months waiting for my socks.

Look in the mail. No socks.

Three months,

one quarter of a year for an 89 cent

pair of socks. And I'm still waiting on

a Lincoln Continental. I I think not.

Anyway, anyway, I'm going, Lord, I

believe I received when I prayed. I

believe I received when I believe I

received when I prayed. I believe I

received when I prayed. And I thought,

"Dear Lord, if I didn't have faith for

an 89 cent pair of socks, what would we

have done with a Lincoln?"

And one day, here comes a little package

through the mail. I open it up. To this

day, I don't I don't even remember where

it came from. Open up this and there's

two two uh you know, nice dress shirts

uh in the box and across the top there's

a pair of brand new navy blue socks.

>> You know, I I I don't even know where

the shirts went.

I grabbed those socks, held them up in

the air, I said, "God, on to bigger and

better things."

>> Hallelujah.

>> But I began to understand at that point

that it's not a matter of when you pray,

believe you receive it. It's not cart

blanch. It's not across the board. It's

locating where your faith is at.

>> What can you believe? And you know,

well, that's No, that's not difficult.

Trust me, when you're in the faith

thing, sometimes you look on the inside.

We covered this a couple weeks ago. I'll

take a couple minutes here and I'll be

done. We we covered this a few weeks

ago. Sometimes

um you you're needing maybe you're

needing a miracle in your body. But if

you look way down in your nowhere and

sometimes your knower says

says that's not where you need to put

your faith. You need to you need to mix

you need to mix medicine and and faith.

You need to mix the anointing and mix

the two together and get results there.

The problem we've we you know we get so

stuck on something we we get like a

bulldog. We get stuck on something when

what we should do is go back. What have

you got in your gut? What do you What do

you have in your knower? Works, doesn't

it?

>> Yeah.

>> Prime example.

>> Running, jumping, dancing, shouting. Got

a got a major miracle by mixing medical

science and the anointing. That's

>> right.

>> Okay. You know, I mean, I went through a

few things a few weeks ago myself. I

knew to I Yeah. Do I want to Did I want

to just believe God for it? Something

was going on. I knew I needed to mix the

two. Am I glad I did? Yeah, I'm pretty

glad I did. Okay. Okay. Is is Well,

isn't that kind of second best? First

best is to get results.

>> First best is just get results.

>> Well, it's going to hurt my faith and

no, no, don't don't don't be messing

with all that stuff. Just get better.

>> Just get better. Find what it is. Look

down on the inside. And if you're ready

to jump out and believe God for such and

such a thing, check on the inside. Say,

"Lord, I need to look on the inside and

see, am I really there? Is my faith

there?

>> Is my faith there?

>> Goodness. I mean, I'll give you another

quick example. Uh, I worked for Brother

Hagen after I finished Rama, traveled

for about a year, a little over a year,

and um, and then had the opportunity to

go to Colorado, be youth pastor. Well, I

moved up there. Brother Hagen said, he

said, you know, you have to understand,

we got a school going. We're traveling

on the road. We're doing four camp

meetings this year. He said, you know,

he said, I can't pay you much.

I can't pay you much. I can't I can't

pay you a lot. I'll give you enough to

get by.

Says, I'll give you enough to get by and

give you a place to live. So Doug Jones,

who's works at Raymond now. So Doug and

I, we got to move in. We moved into the

Hagens extra bedroom. God bless the

Hagens. Oh my goodness. There's crowns

in heaven for putting up with Doug.

Anyway,

[laughter]

I'm probably going to hear about that.

No, seriously. Long story. Anyway, said

we we can't we we made we we did four

meetings that year and we made a $100 a

meeting. So, we made $100 a month. Well,

you you know, you're going to get rich

on that.

But I didn't I never told Brother Hagen.

I said, "I'd have paid you to go to work

for you. You didn't have to pay me

anything." So, anyway, but I never told

him that. now.

Um, so, so when I when I moved up to

Colorado, my pay increased. Not hugely,

but it did increase. I think I was

making like $500 a month or something

like that. It did increase. I I make

[laughter] I was paid almost what I was

worth, more than what I was worth

anyway. So, um, so 13 months down the

road, the Holy Ghost spoke to my heart

one day and said, "You need to go back

to Tulsa. You need to go back to work

for Brother Hagen." Well, I called him

up and said, "Got a job for him." He

goes, "Talk to the pastor. Tell him

you're leaving. If he says it's okay,

call me." Integrity.

>> He He didn't offer me a job.

>> He didn't offer me a job. He said, "You

talk to the pastor. He needs you. You

work for him. Talk to him. If he says

it's okay, you call me back." I love

integrity. I love I love ethics and

integrity.

>> So, anyway, so I said, "Okay." So, I I

talked to the pastor. He said, "I

understand. I I get that. I I see the

hand of God on you for some things and

yeah, I'm with you. So, I called Brother

Hagen back and he said, "I really don't

need you." I thought, "Now, that'll help

your ego.

I really don't need you, but I'll tell

you, if you're coming, I'll make a place

for you, but I can't pay you probably

what you're making up there in that

church." I said, "I'm not coming for

money. I'm not coming for money. I gave

up on that idea when I went to Bible

school. I'm not in this for the money.

I'm in this for the will of God." He

said, "Well, if you'll come, I'll give

you enough to get by. You can move back

into with us again." And I said, "Oo,

good deal." Now,

so anyway, so I moved back down. Problem

was, I went from I went from $500 a

month to $100 a month. It's great except

it's really easy to increase your

expenditures. It's hard to decrease your

expenditures.

>> Yeah.

>> So, I thought, well, I'm going to have

to get on my faith again. Okay, Lord. I

need I need an extra $200 a month. I

believe I receive. All of a sudden, I

thought, it's not working. I don't, you

know, I don't know where my faith is. I

was working I didn't have to use my

faith to work in the church. I was I was

leaning on the pastor's faith.

He believed the finances in. I just

spent the checks.

>> Yeah.

>> Quiet on me there. Anyway,

>> so uh I said, "Lord, I don't I don't

understand all this. I I I I needed an

extra $200 a month, but I I don't have

$200." This is a long time ago, folks. I

don't have $200 a month faith for it

just to come out of nowhere. So, I said,

"I'm backing it up. I'll tell you what.

I'm going to start back there. Start

small and work my way up. I said, "Lord,

I believe I received $5 extra a month."

>> $5. Well, that's nothing. Well, not to

you, but it was to me.

>> Okay. Back in those days, it was it was

an extra Coca-Cola or something, you

know, or a gall

five gallons of gas. Anyway, so, you

know, went about two weeks and all a

sudden, man, all a sudden $5 came into

my hands. Woo! Man, I got $5 I got $5 a

month face. Let's jump it to 10. Jumped

it to 10. About two weeks time, I got

10. Woo. Let's jump it to 25. Jumped it

to 25. Within a couple weeks time, 25

came in from who knows where. I said,

"As long as that, as long as it keeps

coming, I'm going to keep stretching."

>> Come on now.

>> And within a couple months time, I was

believing God for an extra $200 a month

to come in from who knows where. And it

would come in from the strangest places.

It wasn't my paycheck. It wasn't what I

got at work. I'm telling you, God would

do. Angels would go bring it in. And I

saw God bring it. And I went from 5 to

10 to 25 to 50 up to 100 up to 200. And

we're down the road and it's a whole lot

bigger now than it was back then.

>> Amen.

>> I'd like those $5 days again. But

anyway, anyway, what I'm saying is your

faith grows exceedingly. If you'll use

it, it will grow.

>> That's right.

>> If you'll plant it, stretch it, it will

grow.

>> Don't get discouraged by trying to

stretch it way out here to some

astronomical something. This is faith

promise time. Let God give you a number.

Plant your faith on it. Yeah.

>> And if it comes in the first week,

stretch it out.

>> If you if you're believing God for $5 a

month for your faith promise and it

comes in in the first three days,

stretch it to 10.

>> Always always keep your faith stretched

out there. You stretch it, God will

honor it. So anyway, we've gone long

enough. Let's stand to our feet.

>> God.

>> Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank

you so much. Thank you, Father, for the

truth of missions.

>> Thank you, dear Father. this gospel of

the kingdom shall be preached in all the

world for witness to every nation. Then

the end's going to come. We get to have

part of we we get to have part in the

end by helping to get the gospel around

the world. We can't do the whole thing,

but we can we can it's like how do you

eat an elephant one bite at a time? We

can we can take a bite out of that

thing. We can we can use our faith and

trust you. Lord, I'm asking you in this

house to give everybody a number. Give

them a number. Give them a figure. If it

doesn't make them sweat a little bit, it

probably didn't come from you. Okay? I

know numbers you give us, they'll get

make you persspire a little bit. But

dear Lord, I ask you, give everybody in

here over the next week or two, give

everybody a number. And when they lock

their faith on that, they will see

almighty God move heaven and earth to

get that number to them. It's not just

about missions. It's about uh ex

expanding our faith.

expanding our faith to reach the

unreached, tell the untold, teach the

untaught. And we thank you for it. I I

thank you for this church, Father, in

the name of Jesus. I thank you, Lord.

Whatever we believe for, we'll get it.

Whatever we agree on, it'll come to pass

because this is a church full of faith

giants, even if they don't know it. And

I thank you for it in the wonderful name

of Jesus. Dear Father, hallelujah.

>> Thank you for joining us today. We're so

glad you tuned in. Before we go, we want

to give you an opportunity to sew. We

know the importance of giving back to

God and he watches [music] over his word

to perform it in our lives. He said, "I

am the God that will meet all of your

needs according to my riches and glory."

And so, as we give today, mix [music]

your faith with it. The ways to give are

on the screen. And so, we're going to

just uh give you that opportunity. But

again, we [music] want to say thank you

for joining us and we will see you soon

in the house.