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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000013S
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00:08 Sermon #S008 - (Faith Isn't Invisible Part 1)
00:20 Pastor Snell: Turn to your neighbor today and just tell him, "Get unrealistic." 00:23 [Congregation: Get unrealistic.] 00:25 Pastor Snell: No, no. Tell the neighbor on the other side, "You're too real for me. Get unrealistic." 00:28 [Congregation: Get unrealistic.] 00:30 Pastor Snell: You're too real for me. I need you to get unrealistic. 00:32 Amen. Amen. Remain standing as we go to the Word of God, Matthew 14. 00:38 We're going to begin together in verse number 22. Matthew 14, and we're going to begin together at verse number 22. 00:49 When you get there, just say "Amen." The Bible says, "And straightway, 00:56 Jesus constrained His disciples to get into the ship, and go before Him unto the other side, 01:03 while He sent the multitudes away. And when He sent the multitudes away, 01:07 He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, 01:11 He was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, 01:18 for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 01:25 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, 'It is a spirit.' 01:30 And they cried out for fear. But straightway, Jesus spake unto them, saying, 'Be of good cheer! 01:37 It is I; be not afraid.' And Peter answered and said to Him, 'Lord, if it be thou, 01:44 bid me to come to thee on the water.'" And He said what? He invited him to come. 01:52 "And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 02:03 Today, as we go into part two of this particular story, I want to talk to you today under the subject 02:09 "Faith is Not Invisible." Faith is not invisible. Let's pray together. Father, I pray that in this little while, 02:21 that You would say much. 02:24 Lord, I'm praying that You would make Your spirit so dense that it suffocates all other principality. 02:34 Lord, would You move so strong, force the devil to tap out of this place? 02:41 I'm praying that in the hearing of the Word, that once again, faith will be multiplied exponentially. 02:48 Lord, would You add to the tidal wave of belief that is flowing through the body of Christ? 02:56 Hide me in the shadows of the cross, that Jesus alone might be seen, that Christ alone would be heard. 03:03 At the end of our time together, may Jesus alone be praised. 03:07 We ask this in the name of Him who is altogether lovely. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray. 03:12 Let God's people say together, "Amen." Amen. 03:15 You may be seated as we go into the Word of the Lord. We invite those to come in and be seated 03:27 and settled as we go into the Word today. Again, talking on the subject "Faith is Not Invisible." 03:35 You know, saints, as we work through this Word today, there are a few attributes of faith that I want to detail. 03:43 The first thing this story teaches us, my friends, is that our faith is not invisible. 03:50 You see, too often in the body of Christ, we have relegated faith to being a mental exercise. 03:59 We have deluded faith to a series professions, declarations, and proclamations. 04:06 So that when most people think about faith, they think faith is something that you think, 04:12 or they think faith is something that you say. The problem is that it has created a generation of people with 04:20 imposter faith. In fact, most of us don't have meaty faith. Our faith is vegetarian. 04:29 [Congregation: Laughing] 04:30 Pastor Snell: How many of us understand that real faith is not just something you think? 04:38 Real faith isn't just something you say, but real faith is something that you do. 04:44 It is why James says that, "Just as the body without the breath is dead, so faith without works is dead." 04:53 Faith may begin as a thought, but it's not limited to your thinking. Faith can be spoken, 05:01 but it is not limited to Words. I need you to get that it's not real faith until you put it into practice. 05:10 Remember now in our text, we talked about, last week, how Jesus comes to them, walking on the water. 05:16 Remember, we told you last week, that Jesus does not stop the storm neither does Jesus get inside of the boat. 05:26 Jesus, at first, stands at a distance. The reason He stands at a distance is He's requiring them to make a choice. 05:36 He is wanting them to decide between the comfort of the boat or being willing to stand with Him in faith. 05:44 The thing I like about Peter is that he understands the assignment, 05:49 so that he notices that if Jesus is not going to come to him, 05:53 he makes it up in his mind to go where Jesus is standing. Peter says, "Lord, if it's you, 06:01 bid me to come to you on the water." I need you to be clear that Peter makes a bold statement of faith. 06:09 He makes a request for the invitation to come, but I need you to be clear that Peter's faith is not invisible. 06:18 You see, Peter's faith is not seen in what he says. 06:22 His faith is seen when he climbs out of the boat and begin walking on the water towards Jesus Christ. 06:31 In other Words, if he just talks it, he's a phony. 06:35 It's not real until he begins to act on the invitation that Jesus gave him. 06:42 Please note this, friends, that notice what the invitation to come does not do. 06:48 The invitation does not stop the storm. The invitation doesn't turn the water into cement. 06:57 The Word simply calls him to step out in imperfect circumstances. 07:03 He is called to start moving while the atmosphere is still unstable. 07:09 He is called to start walking while the elements are still not clear. 07:13 The problem with some of us is we've asked God for the invitation, but we won't move in the invitation. 07:22 The problem with some is that we will only move in God when the wave becomes clear. 07:28 The problem with some of us is that we will only worship the God who stops the storm, 07:35 but we won't praise the God that sustains us in the storm. 07:40 The reason some of us will never move in faith is we need perfect circumstances in order to move. 07:47 In fact, we know that Jesus is able to move the storm, 07:51 but the greatest miracle is when God moves you in the midst of the storm. 07:57 Congregation: Amen. 07:59 Pastor Snell: In fact, how many of us understand that God isn't going to clear the way before you move? 08:05 Sometimes, he's not going to clear the way until you move. In other Words, it would have been nice, saints, 08:12 if God had opened up the Jordan River before the people walk through. 08:18 But God says, you've got to put your feet in the water, and then the waters are going to part. 08:24 It would have been cool, Daniel, if God had closed the lion's mouth before he got into the den, 08:32 but God didn't close their mouths until Daniel got inside. 08:36 It would have been cool if God cooled off the fiery furnace before the three Hebrew boys got inside, 08:44 but it wasn't until they stepped on the inside that the fire begin to get cool down. 08:50 It would have been straight if Jesus healed the ten lepers on the spot, 08:55 but He said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." And the Bible says that as they went, they were healed. 09:02 The larger point for somebody today is that you can't wait for perfect circumstances to move. 09:09 It is your movement that creates the perfect circumstance. You all are not hearing the Word today. 09:15 In other Words, if you're waiting for perfect finances in order to give tithes and offering, 09:22 you're going to be waiting in perpetuity. How many faithful givers know that, sometimes, 09:28 the math angle always matches up? That, sometimes, the numbers won't make sense? 09:34 But when you give in an unrealistic way, 09:36 God opens up the windows of heaven and pours out a blessing that you don't have room enough to receive it. 09:43 I need you to know that you can't wait until you get the right job to start working on the Sabbath day. 09:51 But when you move in unrealistic way, God will cause you to ride on the high places of the earth, 09:58 and he'll feed thee with the heritage of Jacob. 10:01 You can't wait to see the right person before you walk away from the wrong person. 10:07 In other Words, it is only when you walk away from the wrong one that God can clear your vision to see the 10:14 right one. You can't wait for your spouse to get right before you work on the marriage. 10:21 In other Words, you're going to be waiting forever. You got to start with where you are, 10:25 and God is going to move things forward. In other Words, passive faith works for everything to get better 10:32 before it moves, but unrealistic faith moves when it's not clear, and you don't know how, 10:38 and you don't know when. God moves once you start moving. Are you all hearing me today? 10:44 [Congregation: Yes.] 10:46 Pastor Snell: Okay. Let me say it this way. I remember, probably about six or seven years ago, 10:49 I was driving up to Pulaski, Tennessee to visit one of our members who was sick. 10:55 I drive about an hour to get to Pulaski, so I can anoint and prayed for this sister. 11:01 When I get there, into this very rural and country road, I get there in front of her trailer, 11:09 and I noticed that all the lights are off in the house and I don't see any lights outside on the porch. 11:16 I get a little nervous because when I pull up, I see that the grass comes all the way up to my knees. 11:23 Now, I need you to know that makes me nervous 11:25 because I'm one of those brothers that's got a bad relationship with snakes. 11:29 [Congregation: Laughing] 11:31 Pastor Snell: Do I have at least one or two cousins out there in the space? It's crazy because now, 11:36 I'm trying to figure it out. 11:38 I'm going to have to walk about 30 feet from my car through grass that comes all the way up to my knees. 11:44 I call to see if someone can turn the porch light on, but no one answers the phone. 11:51 Here I am preaching about faith, stuck in the driveway, afraid to walk through some grass. 11:57 Now, I began to man up. I say, "I drove all the way out here, so I got to pray for somebody. 12:04 " Are you all hearing the Word today? What happened, 12:06 saints, is I began to march through the grass by the edge of the house. 12:12 When I get there to the edge of the house, there was a light that comes on on the side of the house. 12:18 When I walk through the walkway, there's another light that comes on the walkway. When I get to the front porch, 12:25 another light comes on the front porch, 12:28 and then it becomes clear that she has what they call a motion-detecting system. With the motion detector, 12:37 it has a sensor that doesn't apply power until it notices activity. 12:44 [Congregation: Continuous Clapping] 12:46 Pastor Snell: In other Words, as long as I was talking about it, as long as I was thinking about it, 12:50 I wasn't going to receive no power. I wasn't going to get no power till I start walking in it. 12:56 How many of us know that we serve our motion-detecting God. He doesn't apply power to your talk. 13:06 He doesn't apply power to your thoughts. 13:09 He only applies power when you begin to walk in whatever He's told you to do. 13:16 Are you hearing the Word today, saints? 13:23 I need you to see this because Peter's faith is made visible when he gets out of the boat. 13:32 I need you to get that his faith is seen in his activity, but the 11's unbelief is seen in their inactivity. 13:44 Hear me on this, beloved, 13:46 because one thing I need you to get is that there is this incidental relationship between your beliefs 13:52 and your actions. I need you to understand that your actions don't create belief. 13:59 Your action simply reveal what you believe. 14:03 Your actions are going to mirror the belief that is either present or absent on the inside of your soul. 14:10 In other Words, I need you to get that your behaviors are simply a byproduct of what you believe or what you don't 14:17 believe. 14:19 It's just kind of like this. I talked about it in the book that if I believe it's going to rain, 14:25 then I'm going to carry what? Umbrella. If I believe that it's going to be cold tonight, 14:32 I'm going to carry a coat even if it's warm today. If I believe when I travel to Florida and it's warm there, 14:39 I don't pack sweaters and coats in my suitcase. In other Words, I don't pack for where I am. 14:49 I packed for where I'm going. 14:51 [Congregation: Clapping] 14:53 Pastor Snell: In other Words, even if there is no rainbow cloud in the sky, 14:57 I walk around with an umbrella because I believe it's going to rain later on. 15:02 Now, there's somebody who's saying, 15:05 "Pastor, you're going to look crazy walking around with an umbrella when there ain't no clouds in the sky." 15:13 But who's the crazy one, saints? The one that lives by the outlook are the one who lives by the forecast. 15:20 You all not hearing it. In other Words, you're going to look crazy until it starts raining outside. 15:27 I guess what I'm saying is when you expect something, you begin preparing for it. You pack for it. 15:36 You anticipate it. Is there anybody that during these 21 days, you're expecting rain? 15:44 If you're expecting rain, you better have an umbrella. 15:48 Is there anybody that can hear the sound of the abundance of rain? 15:53 I believe they're going to be showers of blessings. Showers of blessings we need. 16:02 Mercy drops around us are falling, but for the showers we plead. Are you hearing me today? 16:08 First thing this teaches us, number one, is that faith is not invisible. The second thing this teaches, 16:15 friends of mine, is that real faith does not move ahead of instruction. It relies on instruction. 16:27 Now, I want to stay here long, but the one thing I want to point out. 16:31 The one thing I like about Peter is that when he sees Jesus out there walking on the water... 16:38 The one thing I like about more in Peter is he don't just jump out there before he gets an invitation from Jesus. 16:50 Now, Peter started sinking later on in the story. But I need you to know that if he don't get no invitation, 16:58 he started sinking at the very beginning of the story. 17:03 I need you to get that Peter does not just jump out there based upon his wishes or his instinct. 17:09 He literally disciplines himself in the storm to be still and wait on a Word from God. 17:18 Beloved, this is the difference between unrealistic faith and human presumption. Faith relies on instruction, 17:29 whereas presumption moves ahead or without instruction. 17:33 In other Words, presumption, friends of mine, is wish-based. Faith is Word-based. 17:42 Let me say it again. Presumption is just based upon what I want. Faith is based upon what He said. 17:51 I need somebody to get this, that sometimes we mess up and function in presumption 17:57 because we walk according to our wishes as opposed to God's Word. You all are mighty quiet in this place today. 18:03 I need you to understand what presumption is. Presumption, my friends, 18:08 is where I operate according to my instincts. It is where He'll slow it down. 18:15 Presumption is where I try to leverage my value to God to get Him to cover my human imperatives. 18:25 Presumption is where I try to leverage my value to God to get Him to cover my recklessness. 18:32 Presumption is the faulty belief that I can do whatever I want to do, and because God loves me so much, 18:39 He won't let me fall. Presumption, young people, is where you just get with somebody 18:48 and start praying after the fact., for God to bless the relationship. Presumption, friends of mine, 18:57 is where you don't study for the test , but you're down here at the altar praying. Come on now. 19:07 Asking God to bring back to your memory what you ain't never put there in the first place. 19:14 [Congregation: Clapping] 19:16 Pastor Snell: Presumption is where you just jump out and start the business. 19:21 And then, you try to use your covenant with God to try to manipulate him into blessing the business. 19:28 The problem is we think that because God loves us, that he will not allow it to fail. 19:34 How many of us know that God is sovereign, that you cannot manipulate God, 19:40 that He will let it blow up in your face? He will let it humble you. He will let you hit the ground. 19:47 He's going to teach you not to move ahead of His Word. Are you all hearing me today? 19:54 I need somebody to get that there is a devastating consequence to presumption. 20:02 When God allows presumptive behaviors to fail, 20:07 the purpose of the failure is actually designed to teach you to not move ahead of His Word. 20:14 Are you all still with me? Sometimes, our takeaway is not that we shouldn't move ahead of his Word. 20:21 What happens is the consequences of presumption create some deficits, 20:28 but the problem is we try to withdraw from our faith account to cover the deficits that presumption creates. 20:38 In other Words, I suffer some wounds because of presumption, but I try to borrow from my faith in order to heal it. 20:46 The issue is we lose so much in presumption, that now, we ain't got no courage when it's time to walk in faith. 20:55 The crazy thing about it, friends of mine, is that instead of distrusting ourselves, 21:02 when it's time to operate in faith, we then began begin to distrust God. 21:08 Because most of us don't have the humility to say, "Lord, you didn't tell me to do that. 21:15 We don't have the humility to say, "This was my idea, not Yours." We don't have the humility to say, 21:21 "I moved ahead of you." What we try to do is spiritualize and rationalize our failures. 21:28 What we do is we drag God down with us when the truth is that it was us that moved ahead of the hand of God. 21:36 Are you all with me today, saints? 21:39 This is the crazy thing about it, church. You all going to get quiet. It's okay. 21:42 I'm going to stand in here this today. Ain't that amazing how our fallen nature gives us courage for everything, 21:51 but faith? You all are going to get mad when I say this. 21:57 Ain't that amazing how your flesh will give you courage to try weed. 22:04 Oh, you all are going to get quiet. 22:06 Ain't that amazing how your flesh will give you the courage to sit in front of a stranger with a needle 22:14 and tattoo your body up from head to toe? Come on. It takes courage. 22:19 Come on and say, "Amen." I mean, ain't that amazing how your flesh will give you the courage to lay down with a 22:25 stranger? Your flesh will give you the courage to fight somebody in a bar. 22:32 Your flesh will give you courage to get a vaping pen. 22:36 Isn't that amazing how we have so much courage when we're walking with the devil, 22:41 but we ain't got no courage when it's time for us to start walking in faith. 22:46 The problem is that we use so much courage for the world, 22:51 that we ain't got no courage when it's time to stand on the Word of the living God. 22:58 Are you all hearing what I'm saying to you all today, saints? 23:01 The problem is we have borrowed so much faith and emptied it into presumption that, 23:07 now, we ain't got no surplus when it's time to operate according to what God said. 23:13 What happens is we get in a relationship with God and what happens is that relationship suffers 23:19 because of what happened in our previous relationships. Anybody ever knew somebody that... Ain't it that. 23:30 Anybody ever been somebody that was in a relationship with a lying, manipulating, abusive man or woman? 23:41 Ain't it crazy how you give so much of yourself to that lying, cheating, abusive man or woman, 23:49 that it did affects the next relationship you get into? Okay. You all go brand-new on me today. 23:56 Okay. You are like it ain't never been you, right? Help me, Holy Ghost. 24:01 It's crazy because you got lied to so much over there. They didn't keep their promises over there. 24:06 They abused you over there. So even when you get a good man or a good woman, guess what? 24:12 You're checking their emails. You're scrolling through their text messages. 24:21 You're smelling their clothes when they ain't around. 24:24 In other Words, what happens is because you gave so much to them, 24:29 you distrust the person that you're in a good relationship with. 24:32 You all didn't catch it. In other Words, 24:34 you bring those deficits from the last relationship into a good relationship. 24:40 The problem is when we were in relationship with the world, the world lied to us. 24:46 The world manipulated us. The world abused us. Now, you got a good man in Jesus, 24:54 but the problem is, now, you're questioning Him because the devil didn't keep His Word. 24:59 Where are you all at today, church? Is there anybody that knows that God is saying, 25:05 "Don't bring my Word into suspicion because you trusted yourself too much in the past." 25:11 Is there anybody that knows that the bridegroom is going to keep his Word? 25:16 The Word says that he cannot lie, that he cannot change his mind. The Word says he cannot fail. 25:24 So don't bring the baggage from presumption into the relationship that's based on faith. 25:31 Are you all hearing the world today? 25:34 What a powerful message by Pastor Debleaire Snell. 25:37 Thank you for tuning in today for the Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast! 25:42 We hope that you have been blessed through the inspiring message about unrealistic faith. 25:48 Tune in next week for Part Two of “Faith Isn't Invisible.” You don't want to miss it! 25:56 (Breath of Life Music) 28:46 [End] |
Revised 2022-04-25