3ABN On the Road

Faith - Friday Seminar

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Shelley Quinn

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000815


01:00 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn.
01:02 And welcome to 3ABN Spring Camp Meeting.
01:05 This year, our theme is The Year of Victory.
01:09 And, you know, for some of you at home,
01:10 you may not know what a camp meeting is.
01:13 Let's tell them what it's all about.
01:14 It's fun, isn't it?
01:16 Amen.
01:17 And what we do?
01:21 Camp meeting is a time that we set aside
01:24 special days for the Lord
01:25 and we come together and we worship our Lord,
01:28 we enjoy good music, good teaching,
01:30 get into the Bible.
01:32 It's a time to recharge your battery,
01:34 just be spiritually refreshed,
01:37 meet up with old friends
01:38 and meet some new friends, isn't it?
01:40 So we're so glad that all of you are here today.
01:43 And because our theme is The Year of Victory,
01:47 I thought that
01:48 what I'm going to be teaching on today
01:50 I wanted to tie into the theme.
01:52 And there's something that the Bible says,
01:55 is the victory that overcomes the world.
01:57 What is that? Faith.
01:59 So we're gonna be talking about faith today
02:02 right after Jennifer LaMountain doing this beautiful song
02:06 "The Chasing of the Wind."
02:08 Jennifer.
02:34 Every heart
02:39 Is filled with longing
02:43 To be free
02:47 From all life's pain
02:51 Yet the search
02:56 Through earthly pleasures
03:01 Always ends
03:07 In vain
03:10 Only God
03:13 Who made the heavens
03:18 Can satisfy
03:22 Our souls
03:26 Apart from Him
03:30 And all His meaning
03:35 All things fail
03:39 As they begin
03:44 And hearts deceived
03:48 Can only know
03:54 A chasing
03:58 Of the wind
04:06 All achievements,
04:11 All possessions
04:14 These all with time
04:18 Return to dust
04:22 Only God
04:25 Can be our reason
04:30 For deep
04:33 And quiet trust
04:37 He will guard us
04:42 From the dangers
04:47 That gladly
04:50 Make men fools
04:54 Apart from Him
04:58 and all His meaning
05:02 All things fail
05:07 As they begin
05:11 And hearts deceived
05:15 Can only know
05:21 A chasing
05:25 Of the wind
05:31 A chasing
05:35 Of the wind
05:44 Why do we live
05:47 Without Jesus?
05:54 Why do we waste
05:57 Another day?
06:03 He is the life
06:06 That sustains us
06:12 The only hope
06:15 For us today
06:19 So tell me,
06:23 Why do we live
06:27 Why do we live
06:31 Without Him?
06:55 Amen.
06:57 Thank you, Jennifer.
06:59 You know what amazes me
07:01 when you see some of these artists come out
07:04 and they're pregnant
07:06 and they can still sing like that,
07:07 it seems like that would really be a difficult thing.
07:11 Well, before we begin our study today,
07:13 let's go before the Lord in prayer.
07:16 Loving Father God,
07:19 Father, we do enter Your gates
07:21 with thanksgiving in our hearts.
07:22 And we thank You so much
07:25 for everything that You have already done for us,
07:28 and for everything that You will do,
07:30 and are doing even those things of which we are unaware.
07:34 We praise You, Father, for Your Calvary plan,
07:37 we praise You
07:39 that Your plan is for us
07:41 to be totally dependent upon You.
07:44 And, Lord, I come to You right now today.
07:47 I'm asking in the name of Jesus
07:50 that You would not let me be out here by myself.
07:53 I ask Father that You would empty me of me
07:55 and fill me with Your Holy Spirit.
07:57 Lord, this is about You.
07:59 It's not about me,
08:01 and I pray in Jesus' name, Father,
08:03 get me out of the way and speak through me
08:06 as we look to Your Word, Father,
08:08 to gain a deeper understanding of faith.
08:12 I pray in Jesus' name
08:13 that You will do a work in each one of our hearts.
08:17 Father, help us to understand
08:21 who you are and who we are in You
08:23 and help us to understand Your plan.
08:26 We ask this in the name of Jesus'.
08:28 Amen. Amen.
08:31 If you will, please open your Bibles
08:33 to Hebrews Chapter 12.
08:37 Hebrews Chapter 12.
08:39 Now this is following
08:40 the great Hall of Fame of Faith,
08:45 the Faith Chapter, Hebrews Chapter 11.
08:48 But I just want to remind you that the Bible tells us
08:51 in Romans 14:23
08:54 that anything that we do
08:57 that is not from faith is sin.
09:02 How important is it for us to understand faith?
09:07 Let's look at Hebrews Chapter 12.
09:11 Beginning in verse 1, the Bible says,
09:13 "Therefore we also,
09:15 since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
09:20 let us lay aside every weight,
09:23 and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
09:27 and let us run with endurance the race
09:31 that is set before us."
09:33 What is this race?
09:35 "Looking unto Jesus,
09:37 the author and finisher of our faith,
09:41 who for the joy that was set before Him
09:45 endured the cross,
09:46 despising the shame,
09:48 and has sat down
09:50 at the right hand of the throne of the Father."
09:54 We are in a race of faith
09:57 and the Bible tells us
09:59 that we need to have our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ,
10:04 the author, the perfecter of our faith.
10:08 Did you know in Galatians 5:6,
10:13 Paul makes this statement?
10:15 He says, "The only thing
10:20 that counts or avails anything in the kingdom
10:25 is faith working through love."
10:30 What is faith?
10:33 We know Hebrews 11:6 says,
10:36 "Without faith,
10:38 it is impossible to please God."
10:43 Impossible.
10:45 And he says because those who come to Him
10:49 must believe in Him and believe that He exists,
10:53 and that He rewards those
10:55 who earnestly seek Him.
10:58 I remember once when...
11:00 I mean, we're all very familiar with this scripture,
11:03 but, you know, I talk to God like
11:05 I would talk to my earthly father.
11:08 And I came to Him one day
11:09 and this scripture as I was studying,
11:11 it stuck out so much in my mind.
11:14 And I was in one of those times when it was a time of turmoil.
11:18 And I said to the Lord, "Father,
11:20 why is it impossible to please You without faith."
11:24 Lord Jesus, You walked this earth,
11:27 you know what it's like down here.
11:30 We don't know
11:32 the end from the beginning like You do, Lord.
11:34 So why, when I am faithless,
11:37 why is it impossible to please You?
11:41 And I was really seeking God for the answer.
11:45 Well, it didn't come until a couple of days later.
11:48 And I want you to turn to 1 John Chapter 5.
11:52 I'm just praying and asking God
11:54 show me, Lord,
11:56 why is it impossible to please You without faith?
12:00 And a couple of days later, I opened the Bible.
12:03 And I was at 1 John Chapter 5.
12:07 Actually, I'm going to read it to you.
12:09 You know, I don't know
12:11 if you notice last night on the panel,
12:13 but when he asked if anybody's Bibles
12:15 falling apart, I picked mine up,
12:17 mine's in about 12 sections right now.
12:20 I had a hard time
12:21 getting it back into order last night.
12:24 It was out of order.
12:25 But let's look at this.
12:27 1 John 5:10.
12:31 "He who believes
12:34 in the Son of God
12:35 has the testimony within himself,
12:38 he who does not believe God
12:41 has made Him out to be," what?
12:46 "A liar."
12:48 Let's pause on that for just a moment.
12:50 "He who does not believe God
12:54 has made him out
12:57 to be a liar."
13:00 No wonder,
13:02 it's impossible to please God without faith.
13:07 If you don't come to this Word,
13:09 and come to His promises,
13:11 and come to everything
13:13 that the Revelation of what God has told us,
13:15 if you don't accept this
13:18 and say, Lord, I don't care
13:20 what my circumstances look like,
13:22 Your Word says it, I believe it.
13:24 I'm walking in faith, not by sight.
13:29 If you don't believe God,
13:32 it's like you're saying,
13:33 Lord, yes, You said that if I were tithe,
13:36 I could test you in this
13:38 and you would open up the storehouse,
13:41 the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing
13:43 that I couldn't contain.
13:46 But, Lord, I'm not sure that I can trust You in that.
13:50 You know, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense
13:52 how I can get by on 90% better than I can on 100%.
13:57 So, Lord,
13:59 I just not sure that I can believe that
14:02 you calling God a liar.
14:05 See, without faith, it is impossible to please God.
14:08 By the way,
14:10 I want to finish this in context.
14:13 From time to time I meet precious souls
14:17 who are yearning to go home
14:22 and be with the Lord.
14:24 And yet they have no assurance of salvation.
14:29 Let me tell you something,
14:31 you can have assurance of salvation.
14:34 Now I know that there's gonna be somebody
14:35 who's gonna write to me and say, "That's not true."
14:38 I'm not saying once saved, always saved
14:42 because we can certainly
14:44 turn from the Lord and be lost.
14:46 But you, if you are abiding in Jesus Christ,
14:51 you can have assurance of salvation.
14:54 It's a gift.
14:55 It's nothing you can earn. Praise the Lord.
14:57 I praise Him all the time, saying, "Father, I thank You."
15:01 That salvation is by grace through faith
15:05 because I know there's nothing that I could ever do
15:09 to earn my way to heaven.
15:11 And let's look while we're here in 1 John 5:10.
15:15 "He who does not believe God
15:17 has made him out to be a liar.
15:21 And this is the testimony,
15:24 God gave us eternal life,
15:27 and this life is in His Son.
15:30 He who possesses the Son
15:33 has the life."
15:37 Have you accepted Christ as your Savior?
15:40 Have you surrendered control of your life to Him?
15:43 You may not be perfect
15:44 but you can absolutely be guaranteed
15:49 that God is faithful.
15:50 He promises in Philippians 1:6,
15:52 He will complete the good work that He has begun in you.
15:57 So you can have assurance of salvation,
15:59 as long as you are keeping your eyes focused
16:02 on Jesus Christ,
16:04 the Author and Finisher of your faith.
16:06 Hallelujah.
16:08 He who does not have the Son
16:12 does not have that life.
16:17 Not everyone will have eternal life.
16:19 Immortality is a gift that we get on that last day.
16:24 Now, I went to the Lord
16:27 as I was considering this,
16:30 and I said, "Father, I don't understand faith."
16:34 Generally speaking, if we're going to,
16:36 if I ask you for a definition of faith,
16:39 what scripture you're gonna quote to me?
16:41 Hebrews 11:1,
16:43 "Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
16:45 the evidence of things not yet seen."
16:48 And, you know what?
16:50 We have new Christians, new believers,
16:52 who come into the church,
16:54 or maybe they're not a believer,
16:55 and they're just trying to understand
16:56 what's going on in our life
16:58 and somebody will say,
17:00 "Explain faith to me."
17:02 And we say,
17:03 "Well, faith is the substance of things hoped for,
17:06 the evidence of things not yet seen."
17:09 And they stand there and say,
17:10 "Yes, what does that mean?"
17:12 And we go,
17:14 "Well, faith is the substance of things hoped for."
17:18 You know, we don't see it yet.
17:20 We're just hoping for it.
17:22 And they go, "Okay, thank you."
17:23 And they walk away and they don't understand
17:25 because you didn't understand
17:27 and you couldn't explain it to them.
17:29 I think that Christians are walking
17:32 in a lesser degree of victory
17:36 than we could be simply
17:38 because we have these wonderful words
17:42 that we don't understand.
17:45 You know, let me give you a test.
17:47 Explain sanctification, explain propitiation,
17:50 explain atonement,
17:52 explain grace, explain faith.
17:55 When we start trying to define this,
17:57 we are so limited in our own understanding.
18:01 And it's kind of some of these words they have...
18:06 They're kind of a nebulous or ethereal.
18:08 It's like faith
18:10 is this floaty substance up here.
18:13 So I'm asking the Lord, I said, "Father,
18:15 if You want me to teach
18:16 and You want me to be a woman of faith,
18:18 You've got to teach me what faith is."
18:21 And as I began studying, the Lord gave me seven steps
18:24 that I want to share with you.
18:26 I'm gonna have to share it rather quickly
18:28 'cause I didn't realize how much time I was taking up.
18:30 But let's look at seven steps to faith.
18:35 The very foundation of faith
18:37 and step number one is trust.
18:41 The Bible tells us in Proverbs 3:5-6,
18:45 "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart,
18:49 and lean not on your own understanding,
18:52 in all your ways acknowledge Him,
18:54 and He will direct your paths."
18:57 Okay.
18:58 If I am going to not be leaning
19:01 on my own understanding,
19:04 whose understanding do I need to lean on?
19:07 God's understanding. Where am I gonna find that?
19:10 Right here.
19:12 Trust in the Lord with all of your heart,
19:14 lean not on your human,
19:17 limited wisdom,
19:21 your limited vision,
19:23 go to the word to find the answer.
19:26 Lean on God's Word.
19:30 The Bible tells us in Romans 10:17 that,
19:33 "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
19:36 by the Word of God."
19:38 If you want faith, you've got to get
19:41 into the Word of God.
19:45 Paul wrote to Timothy
19:47 in 2 Timothy 3:15-17.
19:51 He said, "From childhood you have known
19:53 the Holy Scriptures,
19:55 which are able to make you wise
19:58 for salvation through faith,
20:02 through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
20:07 Hallelujah.
20:10 Why can we trust
20:14 in God?
20:17 Why do you trust in God?
20:19 I thought about that.
20:22 Well, number one, He's all powerful.
20:25 That's a good reason
20:26 you could trust in someone, isn't it?
20:28 He's also consistent.
20:30 He says in Malachi 3:6,
20:32 "I am the Lord, I change not."
20:35 In Hebrews 13:8 says that
20:37 "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
20:41 Have you ever noticed that you can't trust someone
20:45 who's not consistent?
20:48 If you've got a dog,
20:50 and you come home one night from work
20:52 and you're petting it and you're being so sweet
20:54 to that little dog, and the next night
20:56 you come home from working you kick it
21:00 and then the next day you come home
21:01 and you're loving on it,
21:03 the next day you come home and you're kicking it,
21:04 does that dog trust you?
21:07 That dog is gonna cower.
21:09 So you cannot trust someone who's inconsistent.
21:13 That's why you can't trust a liar.
21:16 But we can trust God.
21:18 And we can trust Him because He is love.
21:22 And He demonstrated this love for us
21:25 by sending His Son to die for us
21:28 while we were yet sinners, hallelujah.
21:31 And we can trust the Lord
21:32 because He has
21:35 your eternal benefit in mind.
21:39 You know, we all know Romans 8:28.
21:43 In Romans 8:28,
21:45 now, let me get started here, Romans 8:28 says,
21:48 "All things work together
21:50 for the good of those who love the Lord
21:51 and are called according to His purpose."
21:55 Oh, how do you say that
21:58 to a mother who's just lost her son
22:01 and her husband in a car accident?
22:05 How do you go up and quote this scripture
22:06 and say, all things work together for the good?
22:11 If somebody came and told me that
22:13 in those circumstances, I want to slug them.
22:16 But see, we can't take Romans 8:28 out of context.
22:20 You should never quote Romans 8:28
22:22 unless you add Romans 8:29
22:25 because they come together,
22:27 "All things work together for good
22:29 for those who love the Lord
22:30 and are called according to His purpose
22:33 because those He foreknew,
22:35 He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son."
22:40 The way He works all things together for good
22:43 is He works them out for our eternal benefit
22:46 by conforming us to the image of His Son.
22:49 So even in the circumstances of a woman
22:52 who has lost her husband and her child
22:55 in a car accident,
22:57 God can work that out for her eternal benefit.
23:00 He can conform her a little more
23:02 to the image of Jesus, drawing her closer to Him,
23:06 trusting in Him more.
23:09 Learning how to be comforted
23:13 in a time of sorrow.
23:16 Everything that God does is for our eternal benefit.
23:19 Step number two,
23:21 trust is the foundation.
23:22 That's the first step.
23:24 The second step is hope.
23:27 But hope in the Greek means something entirely different
23:32 than the way we use it in the English.
23:35 You know, someone told me last year.
23:38 JD and I've been married 20 years.
23:40 We've had two three-day vacations
23:42 in 20 years.
23:44 That's what happens when a workaholic marries
23:46 a workaholic.
23:48 And someone asked me last year,
23:52 "Are you all going to go on a vacation this year?"
23:54 And I said, "Oh, I hope so."
23:58 Well, we didn't?
24:00 What was I saying when I said I hope so?
24:03 Oh, maybe wishful thinking
24:04 but "Oh, wouldn't that be nice?"
24:06 See, when we use the word hope it's kind of like,
24:09 "Oh, it's a dream, I wish."
24:12 But in the Greek hope means eager expectation.
24:18 Open your Bibles to Hebrews Chapter 6.
24:21 I wanna show you something there.
24:22 I love this scripture.
24:25 Hebrews Chapter 6.
24:31 Our first step is trust, the second step is hope.
24:34 In Hebrews 6:17, says this.
24:40 Hebrews 6:17,
24:41 "Thus God, determining to show
24:44 more abundantly to the heirs of promise
24:47 the immutability of His counsel."
24:51 That means it cannot be changed.
24:53 It's immutable. It stands firm forever.
24:56 "He confirmed it by an oath,
24:59 that by two immutable things,
25:03 " two things that cannot be changed,
25:04 His counsel and His oath,
25:07 "in which it is impossible for God to lie,
25:10 we might have strong consolation,
25:13 who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope
25:17 set before us.
25:20 This hope," this eager expectation,
25:24 "we have as an anchor of the soul,
25:26 both sure and steadfast,
25:28 which enters the Presence behind the veil,
25:31 where the forerunner has entered before us,
25:34 even Jesus, having become
25:36 High Priest forever."
25:41 What does an anchor do for a ship
25:46 in a stormy sea?
25:49 It helps us hold its course
25:51 to keep it on course.
25:53 Hope,
25:55 the hope set before us
25:57 knowing that yes, our loving Lord
26:01 is preparing a place for us right now
26:05 and that He's coming back to get us.
26:07 Hope, eager expectation that we can trust His Word,
26:12 we can trust His counsel, we can trust His oath.
26:15 It is immutable.
26:16 That is an anchor that will keep us
26:19 from being double-minded
26:23 because what does James say in James 1:6-8?
26:28 He says you don't have
26:29 'cause you don't ask, you don't get it
26:31 'cause you're asking with the wrong reason.
26:33 And He says,
26:35 "Let him who ask in faith,
26:39 with no doubting."
26:42 Without doubt.
26:44 We've got to get this in our mind
26:48 that we can put hope,
26:50 our hope, our eager expectation in the Word of God
26:53 'cause James says, "He who doubts is like
26:56 a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
27:00 For let not that man suppose
27:02 he will receive anything from the Lord,
27:05 he is a double-minded man
27:08 unstable in all he does."
27:14 You know, one of my favorite scriptures
27:17 is Romans 4:17.
27:19 It says that "God is the God,
27:21 who gives life to the dead and calls things
27:24 that are not as though they already were."
27:27 A lot of times when I take His promises,
27:30 and I'm praying and back to Him,
27:32 I know if I were to look by sight,
27:35 that it's not the way it is right now.
27:39 But I know His counsel in His Word is immutable.
27:42 So I know that just like God, I'm calling things that are not
27:46 as though they already were.
27:48 The third step from trust,
27:51 we develop that trust
27:53 and we build on that by our hope in God.
27:55 The third step is title deed.
28:00 Title deed,
28:01 Hebrews 11:1.
28:03 Let's turn there.
28:04 Hebrews 11:1,
28:06 the Bible says,
28:09 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
28:13 the evidence of things not seen."
28:16 Now in the Amplified, let me read this to you.
28:19 It says, "Now faith is the assurance,
28:23 the confirmation,
28:25 the title deed of the things we hope for,
28:29 being the proof of things we do not see
28:32 and the conviction of the reality,
28:35 faith perceiving as real fact
28:39 what is not revealed to the senses."
28:42 Now, you know, I read that in the...
28:44 When I read that in the Amplified,
28:46 I thought, I'm gonna do a study in the Greek here.
28:50 The word substance is hupostasis.
28:53 And this was a word that was common
28:56 in the business papyrus that they found back
28:59 in the days of Jesus and it was the basis
29:01 of the guarantee of a transaction.
29:06 It was like, if you bought a home,
29:09 you got a title deed that was the basis
29:12 of the guarantee of the transaction.
29:15 So Moulton and Milligan in their vocabulary
29:18 translated it and said,
29:20 "And as this is the essential meaning
29:23 in hupostasis,
29:25 we venture to suggest the translation.
29:28 Faith is the title deed of things hoped for."
29:34 You've heard about claiming God's promises, right?
29:37 That's what this means.
29:39 You've got to trust in the Lord,
29:41 put your hope, your eager expectation
29:44 in the truth of His Word.
29:46 And then you need to claim the promises of God,
29:49 stake your claim.
29:50 2 Corinthians 1:20 says,
29:53 how many of God's promises are yours
29:55 if you're in Christ Jesus?
29:57 "All of God's promises are yours
29:59 if you are in Christ Jesus."
30:02 We need to be like Abraham.
30:05 The Bible says in Romans 4, beginning in 19,
30:09 "Not being weak in faith,
30:11 he did not consider his own body,
30:15 already dead,
30:16 since he was about a hundred years old,
30:19 and the deadness of Sarah's womb.
30:21 He did not waver
30:23 at the promise of God through unbelief,
30:26 but was strengthened in faith."
30:31 Two polarized opposites,
30:34 unbelief,
30:36 faith.
30:38 Faith is the opposite
30:42 of unbelief.
30:45 So "He did not waver at the promise of God
30:48 through unbelief,
30:49 but was strengthened in his faith,
30:52 giving glory to God,
30:53 and being fully convinced
30:57 that what He had promised
30:59 He was also able to perform.
31:02 And therefore 'it was accounted to him
31:06 for righteousness.'"
31:09 Abraham faced the physical facts
31:13 without weakening in his faith.
31:18 He looked at all of the circumstances.
31:21 And he said, "I don't care.
31:23 I'm not walking by sight,
31:25 I'm walking by faith."
31:27 How often do we walk by sight?
31:32 You know, the Lord told me
31:33 when He first called me
31:35 into full-time ministry,
31:38 very often as I was journaling my prayers
31:42 and sitting at His feet to listen,
31:44 for that voice, that still small voice
31:46 and let the Lord impress His thoughts upon my mind,
31:49 very often, He reminded me.
31:53 Do not let this become a flesh walk,
31:56 it has to be a faith walk.
31:59 Pray for anyone who's in a television ministry,
32:03 please
32:04 because it would be so easy.
32:08 And it's a struggle to...
32:10 You know, there's times you're back here
32:12 and you're worried about your hair
32:14 and whatever else,
32:15 you know, bad hair day, if I have a bad hair day,
32:17 it lasts for years, you know,
32:19 'cause we'll maybe tape eight or nine programs in a day.
32:22 So you've got all of these things
32:24 that you're worried about before you go on the camera.
32:26 And then it's like,
32:27 I can be so surrendered in the morning.
32:29 And then you come in
32:31 and flesh rears its ugly little head
32:32 and you're worried about these things.
32:34 And then you've got to go all through this process
32:37 of surrender again and say, "Lord, let me remember,
32:39 it's not about you.
32:41 It's about me."
32:43 I mean, it's not about me, it's about you.
32:46 Help.
32:47 You know, the very, very first time
32:48 that I was on television on another network.
32:51 And I remember... I had God kept me up all night long.
32:54 I was praying, what do you want me to say?
32:56 And I was up all night long praying with Him.
32:58 And then I went to do this taping,
33:01 and I thought I looked really nice.
33:03 Well, I was with a very...
33:04 I'm six feet tall, barefoot.
33:06 I'm with a very short host.
33:07 And the lighting was all for this host.
33:10 So there's all these shadows over me.
33:13 And I looked up at the monitor right before we began,
33:15 and I thought, "Oh my gosh, I look like an old hag."
33:19 And the Lord said, "Crucify that thought,
33:21 this is not about you, it's about Me."
33:24 You know, He has to remind me of that all the time.
33:28 But what we've got to do,
33:29 I don't know how I got off on that bunny trail
33:31 but let's get back.
33:34 Abraham was absolutely certain
33:37 that God was able
33:42 to keep His Word.
33:45 We don't know what the future holds,
33:48 but we know Him who holds the future.
33:52 And let me share a secret with you.
33:55 It's all about how much word you have in your heart.
33:59 Little word,
34:01 little faith,
34:03 a lot of word, a lot of faith.
34:07 Do you wanna more intimate relationship
34:09 with the Lord Jesus Christ
34:10 you need to have a more intimate relationship
34:12 with your Bible?
34:13 If you wanna have more faith,
34:15 the Bible says we've all been given a measure of faith.
34:18 If you want to increase your faith,
34:19 get into the Word of God.
34:23 So we've got trust.
34:25 We've built on it with hope, eager expectation.
34:30 We have staked our title deed claiming God's promises.
34:34 Now the next thing that we need to do
34:36 step number four,
34:38 is speak in the spirit of faith.
34:43 Turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 4:13.
34:48 Oh, we do not recognize
34:51 how important what we say really is.
35:00 2 Corinthians 4:13.
35:05 Paul writing to the Corinthians
35:10 says this.
35:12 "And since we have the same spirit of faith,
35:20 according to what is written,"
35:21 now he's going to show us what the spirit of faith is.
35:25 "I believed and therefore I spoke."
35:28 He's saying, that's the spirit of faith.
35:30 "I believed, and therefore I spoke."
35:32 "Since we have the same spirit of faith,
35:36 according to what is written,
35:38 'I believed and therefore I spoke,'
35:41 we also believe
35:43 and therefore speak.'
35:45 " Do you realize how important it is
35:47 what comes out of your mouth?
35:49 I can tell if someone is a person of faith
35:52 within being around them in 15 minutes,
35:56 5 minutes, really.
35:59 What comes out of your mouth is all telling.
36:04 The Bible tells us in Proverbs 18:21 that,
36:08 "Death and life
36:10 are in the power of the tongue."
36:14 And now I wanna make sure
36:16 I had the scripture reference to us
36:18 flipping through my Bible here on the side.
36:20 Let me read something else to you.
36:21 "Life and death are in the power of the tongue."
36:24 Proverbs 18:21.
36:26 That means you can speak life
36:28 into someone's day,
36:31 their circumstances
36:33 if you're speaking the Word of God
36:34 into their life.
36:36 Or you can speak an idle word.
36:40 You know what an idle word is.
36:42 Anything that doesn't line up with this.
36:45 Idle word is a word that's inoperative,
36:49 but this word is alive, and active,
36:52 and sharper than any two-edged sword.
36:55 Listen to this,
36:56 Numbers 14:27,
37:01 I will begin.
37:02 This is the Lord talking to Moses and Aaron.
37:07 He says,
37:09 let me set this up.
37:14 They're wandering around.
37:16 The children of God are wandering around
37:18 in the desert.
37:19 They have seen him
37:21 part the Red Sea.
37:24 They have seen him
37:26 let Moses strike a rock
37:28 and water gushed forth to bring them water
37:30 for those millions of people.
37:33 They have seen God rain down manna
37:35 from heaven and quail.
37:37 They've seen God do all of these miracles,
37:40 and yet they're murmuring and they're complaining saying,
37:45 "You brought us out here in the desert to die.
37:48 Oh, we had it so much better
37:51 when we were back in Egypt.
37:56 Oh,
37:58 let's bring it into today."
38:00 I've started keeping the Sabbath
38:03 and I'm getting so much trouble at work.
38:06 I may lose my job.
38:08 I had it so much better
38:09 before I was a Sabbath-keeper.
38:12 I had it so much better before I did it God's way.
38:17 God's just gonna let me get ruined.
38:19 He's gonna let my finances go
38:22 right down into the ground.
38:25 Oh, you brought us out here in the desert today.
38:29 The Lord says,
38:30 "How long will this evil congregation
38:34 murmur against Me?
38:37 I have heard the complaints
38:39 the Israelites murmur against Me."
38:41 Tell them, this is Numbers 14:28,
38:44 take note.
38:45 "Tell them, 'As I live,' says the Lord,
38:49 what you have said in My hearing,
38:53 I will do to you."
38:57 Did He?
38:59 Did He left those Israelites
39:01 that generation die in the desert.
39:03 Yeah. Why?
39:05 Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
39:08 He said, "I've told you that there's a Promised Land
39:11 that you can cross over to this Promised Land.
39:15 But you're sitting here calling Me a liar.
39:18 You're saying
39:19 that I brought you out here in the desert.
39:21 I'm the author of life
39:22 and you say I brought you out in the desert to die."
39:26 Fine, God says,
39:27 as you have said in my hearing,
39:29 after seeing miracle, after miracle, after miracle,
39:33 power of life and death is in the tongue,
39:36 so I will do to you.
39:39 God isn't...
39:41 Listen, God's all...
39:42 God is an all loving God.
39:44 I'm not trying to scare you here.
39:46 He knew that there were hardened hearts here
39:49 that would not respond to His love.
39:53 His Spirit will not strive with man forever.
39:56 These people had become hardened
39:58 against God after miracle, after miracle,
40:01 the proof of His love.
40:03 There's power of life and death in the tongue.
40:05 We need to speak
40:08 with a spirit of faith.
40:10 Let us pray
40:12 and ask God to put a guard at the doorpost of our mouth.
40:15 Amen.
40:16 I have to remind myself this every day I confess,
40:20 every day when I'm repenting and confessing my sins,
40:22 I confess idle words.
40:25 And I ask for forgiveness of sin, that sin.
40:28 It is so easy.
40:30 Okay.
40:31 We've got trust, hope, title deed,
40:34 speaking with a spirit of faith.
40:38 Number five.
40:39 This is going to surprise you.
40:42 This is part of faith, folks.
40:44 Actions of obedience.
40:47 It's not enough just to trust in God,
40:50 to put your hope in God,
40:52 to claim His promises,
40:53 to speak in a spirit of faith.
40:56 You've got to have actions of obedience.
40:59 You can see faith.
41:02 The Bible tells us in Mark 2:5,
41:04 "When Jesus saw their faith,
41:07 " He's talking about the stretcher-bearers
41:09 who're bringing their paralytic friend to Him.
41:12 Jesus saw their faith by their actions.
41:17 What we do our deeds breathe life
41:22 into our beliefs.
41:26 Let me repeat that, our deeds breathe life
41:30 into our belief.
41:33 The Bible says in Romans 1:5,
41:36 excuse me, let me skip that one.
41:37 Acts 16:4-5.
41:40 Obedience strengthens faith, listen to this.
41:44 "As they went through the cities,
41:45 they delivered to them to decrees to keep,
41:50 which were determined by the apostles
41:52 and elders at Jerusalem.
41:53 So the churches were strengthened
41:55 in the faith, and increased in number daily."
41:59 We know James 2:17, don't we?
42:02 What does James 2:17 say?
42:04 "Faith without works is dead."
42:10 Your deeds, your actions breathes life
42:14 into what you believe.
42:17 1 John 3:18,
42:20 "My little children,
42:22 let us not love
42:24 in word or in tongue,
42:26 but in deed and in truth."
42:30 We need to understand
42:33 that God's love
42:36 is absolutely unconditional.
42:40 He's so loving we will never, you know,
42:43 the more I study,
42:45 the more and closer I get to the Lord,
42:49 the more I realized how little I understand His love.
42:52 And there are times that I'll go through spiritual dryness,
42:56 maybe a little bit of an overload, a burnout,
42:59 and I get back
43:00 into this performance mentality.
43:02 If only I spend more time in my Bible,
43:04 more time in prayer,
43:06 more time in this.
43:08 And God is calling me lovingly saying,
43:10 "Come rest in Me.
43:13 Come trust in Me.
43:14 Come understand My love."
43:19 His love is unconditional,
43:20 but His promises I want you to know
43:22 are absolutely conditional upon obedience.
43:25 Let me give you a scripture
43:27 to verify that.
43:29 Turn in your Bibles to Hebrews 10:36,
43:32 "The promises are conditional upon obedience."
43:35 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, "All of His promises are yours,
43:39 if you are in Christ Jesus."
43:42 If you're not God's promises aren't yours.
43:45 But Hebrews 10:36,
43:48 listen to this.
43:51 Hebrews 10:36 says,
43:54 "You have need of endurance,
43:57 so that,"
43:59 what?
44:01 "After."
44:02 Listen, "You have need of endurance,
44:05 so that after you have done
44:08 the will of God,
44:10 you may receive the promise."
44:14 Now wait a minute,
44:16 what's going on here?
44:18 How can I even?
44:20 I mean, God's promised this
44:21 and He now wants me to obey Him
44:23 in order to get this promise.
44:26 Let me tell you something, Philippians 2:13 says that,
44:29 "God works in you to will
44:33 and to do
44:36 according to His good pleasure."
44:38 It is two totally different stages.
44:42 The first thing when you come to the Lord and say,
44:45 "Oh, Lord, I want Your plan for my life.
44:47 Oh, Father God,
44:49 teach me Your will."
44:51 What will happen
44:53 is the Lord works in you to will
44:54 and He lines your will up with His will.
44:58 He makes His desires become your desires.
45:02 It's so amazing how the Lord works, isn't it?
45:06 I mean, isn't it amazing how gently He changes us?
45:09 And suddenly, we're desiring the things of God.
45:12 And the more of this word that's in you,
45:14 the more of the mind of Christ you're operating by.
45:17 And then
45:19 once He starts lining your will up with His will,
45:24 will He do anything to force you?
45:27 Does God ever force us to do anything?
45:29 All right.
45:31 So if God's gonna work in us to will,
45:32 and He's gonna work in us to act,
45:34 He's not gonna force me to do anything.
45:36 What does He want me to do?
45:38 He says,
45:40 "Take one step of faith."
45:43 You take, you God changes your will
45:46 and you step out in faith.
45:48 And the minute you do the power of the Holy Spirit shows up
45:52 because He gives the Holy Spirit to those
45:54 who obey Him.
45:56 The power of the Holy Spirit shows up
45:58 and He works in you to do His good pleasure.
46:02 Hallelujah.
46:04 It's all about what God is doing in us.
46:07 Obedience is by grace,
46:11 by the power of God working in you.
46:15 I can't obey God on my own.
46:17 Hallelujah.
46:19 This excites me so much when I think about His plan.
46:25 We have need of endurance
46:27 so that after you've done the will of God,
46:30 you will receive the promise.
46:32 Now let's go to step number six.
46:36 We've started with trusting in God,
46:39 we've put our hope in God.
46:41 We have claimed the promises
46:44 we're speaking with a spirit of faith.
46:47 Now we put actions of obedience
46:49 so that our deeds will breathe life
46:52 into what we believe.
46:54 Number six
46:56 is a victorious attitude.
47:01 A victorious attitude.
47:05 Did you know that as a Christian,
47:07 you should have a victorious attitude?
47:10 From time to time I've had people say to me,
47:13 I'm a happy person.
47:15 I'm a joy... Let me change that, I'm a joyful person.
47:18 Right now, actually, I'm not very happy.
47:20 There's something that's going on in my life
47:22 that I'm not very happy about.
47:24 But I've still got the joy of the Lord.
47:27 And no matter what's going on, I can smile,
47:30 takes less muscles to smile than it does to frown.
47:34 I'm just naturally a smiling person.
47:37 And if you knew my history,
47:41 and how I grew up,
47:43 it isn't because I've always had a bed of roses.
47:46 I grew up in a very dysfunctional home.
47:49 Very dysfunctional,
47:51 my father was killed...
47:53 My parents were divorced when I was four.
47:55 My father got custody of me.
47:57 My father was a pilot.
47:59 He was killed when I was six,
48:00 I came back to live with my mother.
48:03 And my mother married an alcoholic
48:05 who was very abusive.
48:08 He was a very mean man.
48:10 And my mother decided
48:12 if you can't beat them, join them.
48:14 And she became an alcoholic.
48:16 And my mother was bipolar.
48:18 So when she divorced this man when I was 16,
48:22 everything landed on me.
48:25 And so I was like a little old lady.
48:28 I mean, I didn't know understand spontaneity.
48:30 I didn't understand anything.
48:31 The only thing that kept me sane
48:33 through my years of growing up,
48:36 I love Jesus with all of my heart.
48:38 I was so active in my church,
48:41 and that was the place
48:43 that I went to breathe.
48:47 But we should have joy.
48:51 Nehemiah 8:10 says,
48:52 "The joy of the Lord is our strength."
48:55 We need to have a victorious attitude.
48:58 1 John Chapter 5 turn there.
49:00 1 John Chapter 5.
49:03 We started off with this scripture,
49:05 now we're going to look at it.
49:09 1 John 5:3.
49:17 1 John 5:3 says,
49:19 "For this is the love of God,"
49:22 what?
49:24 "That we keep His commandments."
49:27 You can say, "Oh, God, I love you.
49:30 Oh, God, I love you.
49:33 Oh, Lord, I love you."
49:36 I have a lady that I was counseling with.
49:39 And I do not mean to make light of this.
49:41 She was a very...
49:45 Her relationship with the Lord was very emotional,
49:48 which it should... I mean, there should be emotion in it.
49:51 But it was purely emotional.
49:53 She would worship and she would get...
49:55 When she worshiped the Lord, she always cried,
49:58 she never could and, you know, I have to tell you when I come,
50:00 I'm not a person who cries.
50:03 But when I do press into the presence of the Lord,
50:05 there's many times that I've cried.
50:07 So I'm not making light of this.
50:09 But the point that I'm trying to make is
50:11 hers was purely emotional and there was no obedience.
50:15 She didn't think she needed to obey
50:17 because she didn't understand grace.
50:19 She had a wrong teaching on grace.
50:22 She's coming around a little, but listen what the Bible says,
50:25 "For this is the love of God
50:27 that we keep His commandments."
50:30 Do not love me God is saying
50:32 in word and in tongue only,
50:34 but in truth and in deeds,
50:37 "And His commandments are not burdensome."
50:41 Why are His commandments not burdensome?
50:45 Come on.
50:47 They are promises
50:49 of what He's going to do in our life.
50:52 It's God who's working in us to will and to act.
50:55 Apart from Jesus,
50:57 we can do nothing.
51:00 Nada, zip, zilch,
51:03 there's nothing that you and I can do.
51:05 You know, if we could just get this in our heart
51:08 and learn how to be totally depended upon God.
51:12 I mean, see where I mess up,
51:15 is when I start depending on Shelley.
51:18 Getting back into that performance mentality
51:20 and the Lord has to tell me, "You foolish thing."
51:24 Galatians 3:3,
51:25 "Having begun in the Spirit,
51:27 are you now trying to perfect it in the flesh?"
51:30 Oh, don't we do that?
51:32 Am I the only one?
51:34 Anybody in here try to perfect their relationship
51:37 in the flesh from time to time?
51:38 God is up there saying,
51:40 children you don't know how much I love you.
51:43 All I'm asking is that you come
51:44 and surrender control of your life to Me.
51:47 I'll work in you to will and to act.
51:49 I promise, I'm gonna complete the good work
51:51 I've begun in you. I have equipped you.
51:53 I will equip you to do everything I ask of you.
51:57 These commandments are promises of what I'm doing you
52:00 to give you a happy life and abundant life.
52:04 Hallelujah.
52:07 His commandments are not burdensome.
52:10 1 John 5:4 says,
52:12 "For whatever is born of God
52:15 overcomes the world.
52:18 And this is the victory
52:21 that has overcome the world,
52:23 our faith, our faith."
52:28 Hallelujah.
52:30 Have you been born again?
52:34 If you are in Christ Jesus,
52:37 if you've been born of His Spirit,
52:39 you are an overcomer.
52:42 He came to destroy the works of the devil
52:45 to give you power...
52:46 More than just justification.
52:49 Forgiveness of your old sins, He will sanctify you,
52:53 give you sanctification,
52:54 the power to overcome sin day by day.
52:57 Hallelujah.
52:59 And one day there will be that glorification
53:02 when we see Him,
53:04 and we are changed in the twinkling of an eye
53:06 to be just as He is.
53:08 The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15:57,
53:12 "Thanks be to God who gives us
53:15 the victory in Christ Jesus."
53:18 But let's look at Luke Chapter 18.
53:21 If you want to turn there,
53:22 Luke Chapter 18.
53:26 You know, the Bible tells us in Revelation 12:11,
53:29 "We overcome
53:32 by the blood of the Lamb,
53:35 and the word of our testimony."
53:39 Remember that word is so empower, so important.
53:42 Luke 18:1-8.
53:49 This is the Parable of the Persistent Widow.
53:51 And the Bible says, "Then He spoke a parable to them,
53:54 that men are always to pray and not lose heart."
53:58 This is Jesus teaching His disciples with a parable.
54:01 And here's what He said,
54:03 "There was in a certain city
54:05 a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.
54:09 Now there was a widow in that city
54:11 and she came to him, saying,
54:13 'Get justice for me for my adversary.'
54:17 He would not for a while,
54:19 but afterward he said within himself,
54:22 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man,
54:25 yet because this widow troubles me
54:27 I will avenge her,
54:29 lest by her continual coming,
54:32 she wearies me.'
54:34 ' Then the Lord said,
54:36 'Here what the unjust judge said.
54:39 And shall not God avenge His own elect
54:43 who cry out day and night,
54:45 though He bears long with them?'
54:47 " Jesus isn't comparing God to this judge.
54:51 He's already said there are two categories.
54:53 The judge was unjust.
54:55 Here's God.
54:56 It's like Him saying, you as evil as you are.
54:59 If you know how to give good gifts to your children,
55:01 how much more will I give the Holy Spirit
55:03 to those who asked me?
55:05 So He says here,
55:07 "I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.
55:12 Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,
55:15 will He really find faith on earth?"
55:19 He will if you are trusting in Him,
55:23 leading not on your own understanding,
55:24 if you're putting your hope in Him,
55:26 eager expectation,
55:27 if you have staked your title deed,
55:30 claiming his promise,
55:32 if you're speaking in the spirit of faith,
55:34 if you've got actions of obedience,
55:36 and if you've got this victorious attitude,
55:38 He will find faith.
55:40 Now number seven,
55:42 stand firm.
55:44 This is part of faith, folks.
55:46 Stand firm, 2 Chronicles 20:20 says,
55:50 "Believe in the Lord your God,
55:52 and you shall be established,
55:56 believe in His prophets, and you shall prosper."
56:00 Believing in God means
56:03 to be living in God.
56:09 Believing in God means
56:12 to be living in God.
56:15 Isaiah 7:9,
56:17 let me read this to you.
56:19 The Bible says, "If you will not believe,
56:21 surely you shall not be established."
56:24 I like the way the NIV says it.
56:27 It says, "If you do not stand firm in your faith,
56:29 you will not stand at all."
56:33 Let me give you a scripture that you can stand firm on.
56:37 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 says,
56:41 "Now may the God of peace Himself
56:43 sanctify you completely,
56:45 and may your whole spirit, soul, and body
56:47 be preserved blameless
56:49 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
56:51 He who calls you is faithful,
56:54 who will also do it."
56:57 What is faith?
56:59 Faith is trusting in God,
57:01 leaning not on your own understanding.
57:03 It's putting your hope in God claiming His promises,
57:06 staking your title deed.
57:08 It's speaking with a spirit of faith,
57:09 the actions of obedience, victorious attitude,
57:12 and standing firm.
57:15 Hallelujah.


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Revised 2019-08-22