Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW210019S
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:13 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my Words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:41 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:52 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Today Family Worship. 01:12 I'm Jason Bradley, 01:14 and I'm so glad that you decided to join us 01:16 on this wonderful Sabbath. 01:18 Happy Sabbath to you by the way. 01:20 The question we're going to be examining this evening 01:24 is do you believe, 01:26 so I'm going to ask you that, do you believe. 01:30 And here with me to discuss that 01:32 is Ricky Carter. 01:35 Great to have you here. 01:36 Thank you. Happy Sabbath to you. 01:37 Happy Sabbath to you as well. 01:39 Pastor Ryan Day, great to have you here. 01:41 It's always a blessing to be here 01:42 during Family Worship time. 01:44 Yes, sir. 01:45 And we have someone who is no stranger to 3ABN, 01:48 Eric Camarillo. 01:50 Yes. Thank you, Jason. 01:51 I'm happy to be here with you all. 01:53 This will be good. 01:54 Yes, so it's fun studying God's Word together. 01:58 So before we dive in, though, 02:01 we have to go to the Lord in prayer. 02:02 So, Ryan, will you pray for us? 02:04 Yes, sir. Let's do that. 02:05 Our Father in heaven, Lord, 02:07 we dare not 02:09 dive into the study of Your Word 02:10 without first asking for Your guidance, 02:12 Your leadership, Lord. 02:14 We recognize that this is a special time for You. 02:17 Not necessarily for us, but for us to gather together 02:21 in one mind and one accord, 02:22 like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ, 02:25 especially all those who are joining us 02:26 around the world, Lord, 02:27 and we just want to be drawn closer to each other 02:29 and closer to You during this time, 02:31 as we take time to worship You 02:33 during this family worship hour. 02:35 And so, Lord, allow Your Word to just come alive. 02:38 May it penetrate our hearts and minds 02:40 and, Lord, we just want to thank You 02:42 for Your never ending love, grace and mercy 02:44 that You pour out upon us each and every day. 02:47 And it is in the confidence 02:48 name of Jesus Christ that we pray. 02:50 Amen. 02:52 Amen and amen. 02:53 I want to open with this scripture. 02:54 It's taken from Hebrews 11:6, 02:57 and this is the New King James Version. 02:59 And it says, 03:00 "But without faith, 03:02 it is impossible to please Him, 03:03 for he who comes to God must believe that He is. 03:07 And that He is a rewarder of those 03:10 who diligently seek Him." 03:13 It's super important that we have faith. 03:15 It's impossible to please God, if we don't. 03:18 So what comes to your mind when you think about faith? 03:24 Believing in Jesus, trusting in Him, 03:27 that's what comes to mind. 03:28 Okay. Amen. 03:30 The definition that comes to my mind is, 03:32 you know, the ability to tolerate uncertainty 03:35 while trusting in God, 03:36 because as human beings, we want to know everything. 03:39 Right. 03:41 And so it drives us crazy when we don't, 03:43 you know, so that, 03:45 that ability to tolerate that uncertainty 03:47 while trusting in Him 03:48 really stands out to me. 03:51 Ryan, you've got our first verse here. 03:53 Yeah. Well, let's go on to Hebrews 11:1. 03:56 This is a verse to me 03:57 that's probably the clearest biblical definition of faith 04:00 that you can find in all the Scripture. 04:02 Even though we see this clearly put on display 04:04 and in the lives of people all throughout the Bible. 04:07 But Hebrews 11:1, 04:09 this is kind of the thesis on that great faith chapter. 04:12 If you haven't read Hebrews Chapter 11, 04:14 my friends, I encourage you to do so 04:15 because it's so encouraging and uplifting 04:17 as you go through hearing, you read about these brothers 04:20 that says by faith, 04:21 I'm looking at verse 4 in Hebrews 11, 04:23 "By faith, Abel offered to God 04:25 a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. 04:27 By faith, Enoch was taken away that he did not see death. 04:31 You know, without faith, 04:32 it was impossible to please Him. 04:33 Of course, you read that earlier in verse 6, 04:35 you know, 04:36 "By faith, Noah being divinely warned of things 04:38 that were not yet seen, moved with godly fear." 04:41 By faith, Abraham, by faith, 04:44 you know, Joseph, by faith, Sarah, by faith, Moses. 04:47 I mean, it goes through and spells out 04:49 that these brothers and sisters lived by faith. 04:51 But what is faith? 04:53 Hebrews 11:1, it says, 04:55 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, 04:58 the evidence of things not seen." 05:02 So what does that saying to us? 05:03 The things, the substance of things hoped for, 05:06 that means that you are looking forward. 05:08 You trust in what, you know, who God says He is 05:12 and what God says He's going to do. 05:14 In His Word, you have that hope, 05:16 you have that trust, 05:17 you have that faith that when, 05:19 for instance, when Jesus said, I'm going to come back, 05:21 I'm going to return to get you 05:22 that I go to prepare a place for you 05:24 that where I am there, you may be also. 05:27 You know, you haven't seen that happen yet. 05:28 It hasn't occurred yet, 05:30 but by faith you trust and believe 05:32 because God said it and who He is, it will happen. 05:36 And so it's the evidence of things not seen. 05:39 I'm thinking of that passage in John Chapter 20, 05:42 Jesus had just been resurrected 05:43 and all the disciples come to Him and they said, 05:45 oh, you know, Thomas, you know, Thomas, Jesus, 05:47 Jesus is here, He's alive. 05:49 He's like, "Aw, man, 05:50 I can't believe it until I see the scars 05:53 or put my fingers in the holes of His hand, 05:55 His nail pierced hands, 05:57 or until I put my fingers into a side, 05:58 I won't believe." 06:00 And then Jesus appears later 06:01 and you know, somewhat rebukes this brother, 06:03 you know, I'm sure in a loving way, 06:04 but you know, in John 20:29, it says, Jesus said to him, 06:08 "Thomas, because you have seen me, 06:10 you have believed. 06:12 Blessed are those who have not seen 06:15 and yet have believed." 06:16 That's faith. 06:18 I've never seen Jesus. 06:19 I've never spoken to Jesus audibly, 06:21 but I believe I have faith that I know who He is 06:24 and who He said He was and what He's going to do. 06:27 And that is what Hebrews 11:1 is all about 06:30 that it's faith of the substance of things 06:32 hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 06:35 Amen. Amen. 06:37 You know, it's, as you're talking, 06:39 it made me think, 06:41 you know, I've had many people come to me 06:44 and people that are believers 06:46 that they're going to church regularly, 06:48 you know, they believe that they're working for Christ, 06:50 you know, and that there's this one thing. 06:52 And it's, it's when they sin, they don't fully believe 06:57 that God is forgiving them for their sins. 06:59 It's something so simple, something that's here, 07:02 they believe in everything else, right? 07:04 But in 1 John 1:9, it says, 07:05 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful 07:07 and just to forgive us of our sins 07:08 and cleanse us of all unrighteousness." 07:10 That text in itself, it's like, 07:13 and maybe it's more common to young adult 07:15 or something 'cause I know a lot of young adults 07:17 have approached me about that, 07:18 but it's like, it says it in the word, 07:20 you know, if we confess He'll forgive. 07:24 Right, He'll cleanse us. 07:26 And it's I think it's key for us 07:28 to also have that faith 07:30 that He does forgive us for our sins, 07:32 that He does cleanse us from unrighteousness, 07:34 you know, because that's who He is, 07:36 and that's what He's done for us, you know? 07:38 And so I just wanted to share that 07:39 there might be someone listening right now 07:41 that may be they're in the midst of some sin. 07:44 And they don't feel like God is forgiving them. 07:47 Maybe they're repenting, but they don't feel forgiven. 07:51 Right? 'Cause we go by feelings a lot of the time. 07:53 Right. 07:54 But God in His Word says 07:55 that He is faithful to forgive us 07:57 if we genuinely repent 07:58 for that sin that we've committed. 08:00 That's right. Yeah. 08:01 And I love that you brought that out 08:02 because that really kind of brings us to the point of, 08:06 we need to get away from going by feelings. 08:09 Feelings have their place, 08:11 but we need to operate on principles 08:13 and the principles 08:14 that are found in the Word of God, 08:16 so that faith that, you know, God, 08:18 if He said He's forgiven us 08:21 and cleansed us of all unrighteousness, 08:23 take Him at His word, 08:24 don't wait for the feeling to come, 08:26 you know, just operate on that. 08:28 So I'm so glad that you brought it out. 08:30 Amen. Amen. 08:31 You've got our next verse. 08:33 Oh, I do. Yes. 08:34 Let's read 08:35 Psalm 46:10 says, 08:41 "Be still and know that I am God, 08:44 I will be exalted among the nations. 08:46 I will be exalted in the earth." 08:49 You know, as I read that verse 08:51 and, you know, it's constantly, I hear it all the time, 08:53 be still and know that He is God. 08:56 I feel like in my own how this relates to me, 08:59 how I feel is, you know, 09:00 I'm so involved in ministry, right? 09:02 That it's so common for me to just want to go 09:05 and do things, right? 09:07 I pray and I... 09:09 Sometimes I don't give, I'm not just still, you know, 09:12 and I don't let God work. 09:14 I don't let God do what He needs to do. 09:16 And sometimes I go ahead of God, 09:18 sometimes I don't even think to pray, 09:20 you know, and I go and just act. 09:24 And, I think that's something 09:25 that this verse has spoken to me is like, 09:27 Hey, you need to be still more, 09:29 you know, pray and wait and rely on Him 09:33 to be the answer, not on yourself. 09:35 And I think that's just a common thing 09:37 that I think humans in general, we just... 09:39 We just want to be able to fix everything, right? 09:42 Yeah. 09:43 And in order to... 09:46 When it said, the text, says 09:47 to be still and know that I am God, 09:50 that requires 09:52 a personal relationship time with God 09:57 and in the stillness, 09:58 in that quiet time with God, 10:00 here's where He can speak to us. 10:03 Sometimes in life, 10:05 there are so many things that are going around us 10:09 whether it's work challenges, 10:12 whether it's the TV at home, 10:16 whether it's, there's just a lot of, 10:18 can be noise that's around us. 10:20 And we need to take that time to be quiet, 10:24 to hear the Lord speaking to us. 10:26 And sometimes in our prayer time, 10:29 you can just be asking, asking, asking, 10:31 requesting, requesting, requesting, 10:33 and maybe not spending any time, 10:35 just listening. 10:37 We need to spend that time 10:38 just listening to what the Lord says 10:40 in that quiet time. 10:42 Amen. 10:43 That's very good. 10:44 You know, there was somebody who once said this that 10:47 busy stands for bondage under Satan's yoke. 10:51 So, you know, the devil always seeks to distract 10:54 and pull us away. 10:55 You know, it might be this emergency, 10:57 or it might be, 10:59 you know, just something, it could even be things that, 11:01 you know, are good things for us to do, 11:04 but it's keeping us from plugging in to God 11:08 from studying our Word. 11:10 Because, you know, even though we're in ministry 11:12 and all of that stuff, like, 11:13 we have to plug into the source. 11:15 That's right. 11:16 We have to constantly, we need to be fed constantly. 11:19 So, yeah, I like that. 11:22 I've got the next verse, John 8:24, 11:27 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins, 11:33 for if you do not believe that I am He, 11:36 you will die in your sins." 11:39 Man, that's, that's strong. 11:42 Yeah. Yeah. 11:43 Right. That's strong. 11:45 And, but it goes back to what I was saying earlier 11:49 is spending time with the Lord. 11:52 That's right. 11:53 So important to spend time to get to know Him, 11:55 to develop that relationship with Him. 11:58 I don't know about you guys, 11:59 but I'm planning on going to heaven. 12:02 And I know the Lord is coming to take those 12:05 who want to spend time with Him. 12:07 Right. Right. 12:08 Yeah, imagine spending eternity with someone 12:11 that you don't even know, 12:13 you know, and we without taking time 12:16 to know Him here on earth, 12:18 then we, why would you even want to be in heaven, right? 12:23 And so, yeah, it's important. 12:25 We need to get that time in with God. 12:27 Yeah. Amen. Amen. 12:29 Excellent point. 12:30 That would be torture. Yeah. 12:32 If you don't know Him, 12:33 you're going to be carnal in nature. 12:34 Right. 12:36 So you're going to be in an environment 12:37 where it's about praising God whereas... 12:39 Would that be heaven for you? 12:40 No, it wouldn't be. It wouldn't be. 12:42 Excellent point. 12:43 I've got our next verse. 12:44 It's John 7:38, 12:47 "He who believes in Me as the Scripture has said, 12:50 out of his heart 12:52 will flow rivers of living water." 12:56 When I read this verse, I don't think of an, 13:01 a belief that's not active or an inactive belief. 13:05 I see somebody learning and believing in, 13:08 believing in God 13:09 and then sharing with others, 13:13 you know, sharing. 13:14 Because when you, when you get a hold of something good, 13:16 you can't help, but let other people know. 13:19 And so if you truly believe, you know, I believe 13:23 that you will witness and share Christ with others. 13:26 Amen. 13:28 Absolutely. Yeah. 13:29 I mean, when you look at James says, 13:31 faith without works is dead. 13:32 Right? 13:33 And so I feel if we have this faith, 13:37 but we're not sharing it, 13:39 we're not acting on that faith. 13:41 Then it's slowly dying over time, you know? 13:44 And so, like you said, Jason, 13:46 I think we need to be actively sharing that faith. 13:50 And people should be able to look at us and be like, 13:54 there's something different about that person. 13:56 You know, there's something strange 13:58 when all these issues are going on with this person, 14:00 he seems, seems calm. 14:02 You know, most people would, you know, so stuff like that 14:05 I think would be huge testament 14:06 to how God has changed someone's life 14:09 and is in someone's life, yeah. 14:11 I love that. 14:12 So do you think, or would you say that 14:14 you can be a silent witness? 14:17 Oh, of course... 14:19 Of course, I think your life, 14:21 you know, your choices and, you know, your attitude, 14:25 your character says a lot. 14:28 And so you don't necessarily have to go out there with, 14:31 you know, the direct scriptures, 14:32 the Word of God, 14:33 and be, you know, reading them aloud 14:35 or sharing them with people. 14:36 You're, you know, who you are and how you carry yourself 14:38 in the presence of others says so much more 14:41 than a bunch of words on a piece of paper. 14:43 Again, not to be disrespectful to the Word of God, 14:46 because we know that the Word of God 14:47 is living and powerful. 14:50 But what's even more powerful 14:51 is seeing the power of this Word 14:53 activated in the life 14:55 and put on display in the life of someone else. 14:57 Absolutely. Amen. 14:59 This text, well, when we go through this text 15:02 when we just read. 15:03 I think about how, 15:05 when we're spending time with God, 15:08 have you ever been really thirsty? 15:11 And then when you take something to drink 15:13 it just like some good cold or go cold water, 15:17 it just quenches the thirst. 15:18 Yeah. 15:20 Spending time with God is like that. 15:22 You know, it quenches the thirst. 15:24 And then on top of that, 15:26 what this text is also saying is 15:31 now that you've been quenched with this thirst, 15:34 you have water flowing out of you 15:39 in a sense of spiritual water, 15:41 so that no matter where you are, 15:43 if you're in a place that's dry and somebody may see you, 15:47 they're going to say, man, I'm thirsty. 15:49 Let me go to that gentleman over there, 15:50 or that sister over there 15:52 and that water, you're like a conduit. 15:56 The Lord makes you a conduit of not just a trickle, 16:01 but it says there a river flowing. 16:05 So, you can be shared this, 16:08 share God with someone else 16:10 and help to quench their thirst. 16:13 I love that illustration. 16:14 The word describes, Jesus describes Himself 16:16 as the living well, right? 16:19 That quenches the thirst. 16:21 And so, yeah, I love that illustration. 16:24 Amen. Amen. 16:26 All right. 16:27 Why don't we go on to my next verse here? 16:29 Which to me is probably one 16:31 that is quoted so often by Christians. 16:33 It's one of those that, 16:35 it's just one of those hallmark, you know, 16:39 it's probably champion verses of faith, right? 16:42 And it's found in Romans 10:17, 16:45 it very simply says, 16:46 "So then faith comes by hearing 16:49 and hearing by the Word of God." 16:52 And so this is why, you know, when I read this text, 16:56 there's so much that comes to my mind. 16:58 I can literally build an entire miniseries 17:01 on just that one text there, 17:02 because really what we're talking about here 17:05 is probably the most foundational issue 17:08 in all of Christianity and the Christian experience. 17:11 You hear Christians often use the word faith, 17:14 you know, to have faith, 17:15 you know, have faith in someone, 17:16 or put your faith in Jesus. 17:18 But it's often, you know, as we have talked about, 17:21 you know, with James Chapter 2, where he talks about, 17:23 you know, faith and works. 17:25 There's a lot of Christians out there 17:26 that have this idea that, 17:27 you know, works is not involved. 17:29 Works has, it plays no part in the Christian experience 17:31 and it's just about believing, believing, believing. 17:33 And we're going to talk a little bit more. 17:35 I have a special spot where I'm going to bring back 17:37 up to the idea of believing it just a little while, 17:40 but you cannot have true, genuine biblical faith, 17:44 separate from the Word of God. 17:46 And this is what, this is what this text is saying 17:48 in Romans 10:17, 17:50 "That faith comes by hearing." Hearing of what? 17:52 Hearing and experiencing of what? 17:54 God's Word. 17:56 And so it reminds me of what Jesus says 17:57 in John 14:23-24. 18:00 It says here, 18:01 "Jesus answered and said to him, 18:03 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, 18:05 and My Father will love him, and We will come to him 18:07 and make Our home with him. 18:09 He who does not love Me does not keep My words, 18:13 and the word which you hear is not Mine 18:15 but the Father's who sent Me.'" 18:17 So Jesus is always applying. 18:19 You know, keep them, 18:20 if you love Me, keep My commandments, 18:21 keep My Word. 18:23 You know, you do not, 18:24 you know, you do not have faith 18:26 because you do not keep My Word. 18:27 And so in this case, 18:29 you know, another part of Scripture 18:30 that came up as I was reading this text here, 18:32 faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word. 18:34 When we hear the Word of God, we need to trust in it 18:37 and allow it to take root in us. 18:39 Once we allow that Word to take root in us, 18:43 once that seed is planted, 18:44 and we know that the parable of the sower, 18:45 Jesus likens the Word of God into a seed 18:48 that's planted on certain different soils. 18:50 And the question is 18:52 what kind of soil are we going to be? 18:54 That's a choice. 18:56 You can choose what kind of soil 18:57 you're going to be. 18:59 God will allow the Word of God to come to you. 19:00 And when the Word of God comes to you, 19:02 are you going to allow it to take root in good soil? 19:05 Are you going to allow it to take root in something else? 19:08 Just a few words from that parable, 19:09 Matthew 13:20, 21, 23, 19:12 it says, 19:13 "But he who receives the seed on stony places 19:15 that he who hears the word 19:17 and immediately receives it with joy, 19:19 yet he has no root in himself, 19:21 but endures only for awhile. 19:23 But when tribulation or persecution arises 19:25 because of the word, immediately he stumbles." 19:28 And then in verse 23, it says, 19:29 "But he who received seed on the good ground 19:31 is he who hears the word and understands it, 19:34 who indeed bears fruit and produces: 19:36 some hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." 19:38 So when we, when we hear the Word of God, 19:40 we want to allow it to take root. 19:42 And that produces genuine faith. 19:44 Wow. 19:46 You know, it says here in John 3:16, 19:47 that God so loved the world 19:49 that He gave His only begotten Son 19:50 that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, 19:54 but have everlasting life. 19:55 Do you really believe in that? 19:56 Do you really trust that when Christ said that 20:00 He's going to fulfill exactly what He says. 20:02 And so faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. 20:05 But what we're talking about is 20:06 one of the most foundational fundamental situations 20:10 where Christians, even professed Christians say, 20:13 I believe in Jesus. Jesus is my Savior. 20:15 And they believe in the Word of God 20:16 to a certain extent, 20:18 but where the real faith comes is for instance, 20:20 when that message comes, it says, 20:22 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, 20:25 six days thou shall labor and do all thy work, 20:26 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord 20:28 thy God, in it you shall not do any work." 20:30 Okay. Now there comes a greater test, right? 20:33 Because as God brings you through this journey, 20:36 He's going to bring, He's going to keep sharing 20:38 these powerful seeds with you through His Word. 20:42 And at some point along the way, 20:43 we have to continue to remain in that mentality of yes, Lord, 20:47 yes, Lord, yes, Lord, whatever you say. 20:49 But yet here's how you can tell a person's lack of faith 20:53 is when they reach a point in their life 20:55 where what seems right to them overpowers or trumps 20:59 what the Word of God actually says. 21:01 For instance, I've had many Christians 21:03 that will say to me, well, 21:04 you know, that's your Sabbath day, 21:06 but I don't believe that my God 21:07 is going to keep me out of the kingdom of heaven 21:09 over one single day. 21:10 Well, what that shows is a lack of faith 21:13 in a thus saith the Lord, 21:15 because the Lord says, 21:17 'If you love Me, you keep My commands." 21:18 Remember, I'm just giving the Sabbath as an example. 21:20 This is an example 21:22 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word. 21:24 When we receive the Word of the God, 21:25 may it take root in us, may we believe it, 21:27 and may we respond accordingly. 21:29 Because when we don't, 21:31 we often show a lack of faith in who God is 21:34 as in this case, creator of the world. 21:36 And also a lack of faith in the fact that He said, 21:40 I will bless you if you obey My commandments. 21:43 I will make you ride on the high hills of Jacob 21:46 if you obey my Sabbath and allow that a sign 21:48 to be established between you and Me. 21:49 So this is just an example I wanted to share 21:51 that this scripture is important 21:53 because we cannot have faith 21:55 unless we obey and allow the Word of God 21:57 to take root in us. 21:58 Amen. Amen. 22:00 You over there preaching. Yeah. 22:02 You bringing up some things. 22:04 I've been thinking, um... 22:06 I have a story that, 22:07 that kind of ties into what you're saying, faith 22:09 and actually the Sabbath as well. 22:11 So I think I was that stony ground 22:14 when I first came to Christ, 22:15 you know, I was baptized, I heard the Word, 22:17 I wanted to change my life and I got baptized. 22:21 And immediately after 22:24 I didn't take that time to be still, 22:27 and I got a job, you know, making good money. 22:30 I was 22 years old making like, 22:32 you know, 50,000 for me, I didn't go to school. 22:35 I'm like, oh, this is good. 22:36 You know, I'm, I'm happy here. 22:37 No Sabbath issue, right? 22:40 Three months down the road, 22:41 they started to ask me to work on the Sabbath. 22:43 So then I started to rationalize. 22:45 I started to say, you know what? 22:48 Maybe, you know, at first I was like, 22:51 nah, I don't want to do this. 22:52 And I told my boss, I don't, I can't, 22:54 you know, I guess my conviction. 22:56 Couldn't, they wouldn't do anything about it 22:57 'cause I didn't tell them up front about it, 22:59 I guess so that's. 23:00 And so then I tell myself, 23:05 well, on the Sabbath, I'll, 23:07 the money I make that day I'll donate to the church, 23:09 you know, or you know what? 23:12 On my desk, on Saturday, 23:14 I'll witness to the people there. 23:15 So I'm putting my own ideas, like you were saying 23:19 above what the Word was saying. 23:21 And so, and but I still felt conviction. 23:24 So the next month I went to the, the regional, 23:27 nothing they could do. 23:28 The next month I went to the district, 23:31 nothing they can do, right? 23:32 So here I am and I gave up, I'm like, you know what? 23:35 I think God wants me here. 23:37 And I'm just going to do 23:38 all those things that I mentioned. 23:40 So three months later 23:44 I'm actually, I had some friends over 23:48 and me and another friend were doing something 23:50 that was just totally a waste of time. 23:52 And my two friends were there, 23:55 there was a Bible studies on my coffee table, right? 23:57 So one of them was the Sabbath, 23:59 the other one was the Ten Commandments 24:01 and the other one was on faith. 24:04 They were reading these study guides. 24:06 When I came back into the room, they were crying. 24:09 They were like, 24:10 "Eric, why have you never told us this before?" 24:13 Wow. 24:14 It snapped. I'm like I'm losing that. 24:16 I'm on the stony ground. 24:18 On the stony ground, the seeds didn't take root. 24:20 That's right. 24:21 Two days later, I went in and I quit my job. 24:23 And I suffered for the next six months. 24:27 It, but God held... 24:30 He provided all of my needs. Amen. 24:33 And so in that time, my faith really grew 24:35 because when you take a step out on faith, 24:39 that faith grows, right? 24:40 That's right. 24:42 And so, yeah, but you just, you just made me think of that. 24:44 I felt impressed to share, I just want to share with you. 24:45 No, that's powerful. 24:46 I mean, what that goes to show you 24:48 Joe Crews previous, 24:50 former Amazing Facts president from years ago, 24:52 he would call it the creeping compromise. 24:54 When we make these, where, you know, 24:56 the scripture says in Proverbs 14:12, 24:58 "There is a way which seemeth right into a man, 25:00 but the end thereof are the ways of death." 25:02 We get roots. 25:03 These points where we're like, you know, God loves me. 25:06 You know, Jesus loves me. 25:07 Surely, He's not going to, 25:09 and we start becoming a judge for God. 25:12 We start to tell people what we think God is saying 25:15 or what God is thinking. 25:16 And we start to become a judge ourselves. 25:18 When in reality, 25:20 God has already told us in His Word, 25:21 when really it should be, our response should be, 25:23 well, what does the Word of God says? 25:25 I know that this job is causing me 25:27 to have to work on the Sabbath 25:28 where it's asking me to work on the Sabbath, 25:30 but what does God's Word say? 25:31 What God's Word says, 25:33 you know, we should step out in faith, 25:34 obey Me no matter what, 25:36 even if it means you having to leave that job. 25:38 And the Lord says, 25:39 watch and watch and see what I do. 25:41 I had a very similar situation where I left a job. 25:43 And two weeks later, 25:45 I was the only one working in my family. 25:46 And two weeks later, 25:48 the Lord opened up a new opportunity, 25:50 gave me a new job, more money, 25:52 better hours and the Sabbath off. 25:54 So what the Lord does is He says, 25:55 step out in faith, trust in Me, 25:57 believe in Me and watch Me work 25:59 and do what I said I'm going to do. 26:00 But most Christians, many Christians say, 26:03 "Well, I'm going to trust God 26:05 in as much as it seems right to me. 26:07 And then when it doesn't seem right, 26:09 then I'll just do what's best for me." 26:10 Convenient Christianity. 26:11 Convenient Christianity. 26:13 Yeah, I like that. Yeah. 26:15 That's that convenient Christianity. 26:17 A lot of times people try and form their religion 26:22 around their lifestyle 26:23 as opposed to conforming their lifestyle 26:26 around what the Word of God actually says. 26:29 Yeah, absolutely. 26:31 Eric? 26:32 Let's read that next verse here. 26:33 And I kind of want to add some context. 26:36 Well, actually let me add that context first here. 26:39 So we're going to be in Mark Chapter 5, 26:42 and we're going to start in verse 21. 26:45 And this is when it says Jesus 26:47 had crossed over again by the boat 26:49 to the other side and a great multitude gathered to Him 26:51 and He was by the sea. 26:52 And so in this story 26:54 the ruler of the synagogue Jairus comes to him 26:56 and comes to his feet and begs him 26:59 to heal his daughter 27:00 because his daughter is at the point of death, right? 27:02 So then, and verse 24, 27:04 I want everyone to take note of this. 27:05 "So Jesus went with him 27:07 and a great multitude followed Him 27:09 and thronged Him." 27:11 And when we look at that, at that Greek word, 27:13 that means they compressed around him. 27:15 They were on all sides of him, right? 27:18 So then another character enters the story, right? 27:21 The woman. 27:22 And so in verse 25, 27:23 "Now certain woman had a flow of blood for 12 years." 27:27 Now, when someone has a flow of blood, 27:29 they're unclean. 27:30 Everyone they touch is unclean. 27:32 They're actually supposed to yell 27:33 that they're unclean, right? 27:35 Or mention to the crowd that they're unclean. 27:38 But this woman, 27:39 you know, she went to many physicians it says, 27:42 no one was able to help her, 27:44 but she had so much faith. 27:47 This woman had so much faith 27:48 that now, again, they're compressed around Him. 27:51 And now she's touching people. 27:54 She's moving people around to get to Jesus 27:57 and touch Him. 27:58 And she's touching Jesus of all people. 28:02 And she knows, she knows what the law. 28:04 And she knows that 28:05 all these people now are uncleaned. 28:07 Now, they're touching Jesus like this, 28:09 but then she was healed. 28:11 But let's take it further though, 28:12 she didn't just touch, not touch Jesus. 28:14 She touched just the helm of His garment. 28:17 If I can just touch this brother's shirt? 28:19 Yes, yes. 28:20 If I can touch this brother's robe? 28:22 Right. 28:24 Imagine the faith 28:25 that, that woman had to have to do that. 28:28 And when you look here in verse 32 and 33, it says, 28:31 "You know, he looked around to see 28:33 who had done this thing, 28:34 but the woman fearing and trembling, 28:37 knowing what had happened to her 28:39 came and fell down before Him 28:40 and told Him the whole truth." 28:41 Right? 28:43 So she was honest with Him, told Him what happened, 28:44 but she was healed. 28:45 Right? 28:47 and so that, that I think was just a great example of faith, 28:51 someone here. 28:53 And then we go on to Jairus, and Jairus whose daughter, 28:57 you know, they came shortly after that. 29:00 And the daughter and his people said 29:04 your daughter is dead. 29:06 Don't trouble the teacher any further, 29:08 but Jesus, this is the verse here. 29:10 This is the verse here. 29:11 Verse 36, 29:13 "As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, 29:16 He said to the ruler of the synagogue, 29:18 do not be afraid, only believe. 29:21 Brother Eric, I want to just wanna interject 29:24 right before Jesus says this. 29:26 When for Jairus, 29:30 when the people come to him and say, 29:31 Hey, don't, don't trouble the teacher anymore, 29:33 your daughter is dead. 29:35 Let me ask you guys, how do you think 29:37 Brother Jairus felt at that moment? 29:39 Oh, his heart probably dropped. 29:41 He was probably, and imagine 29:42 Jesus here was stopped on the way. 29:45 What if He wasn't stopped? 29:47 I wonder if that was what he was thinking, 29:50 like what He stopped to heal this person. 29:53 What about my daughter? I came to Him first. 29:55 So I'm the ruler of the synagogue, you know? 29:58 But he feels hurt, sad, dejected. 30:03 He's just down, 30:06 but Jesus sees this and he says, 30:09 this is what I like, 30:10 do not be afraid, only believe. 30:13 That's right. 30:15 So what I'm thinking about is for anybody at home, 30:17 who's maybe going through a tragic experience like this, 30:20 Brother Jairus. Right. 30:22 If you're going through that same experience right now, 30:24 whatever it is, 30:25 Jesus is saying to you do not be afraid, 30:29 only believe. 30:30 Amen. Amen. 30:32 This is a great point for me to interject this 30:34 because this is, let's take it a little step, 30:35 a step further. 30:36 Okay. 30:38 'Cause there's, there's many brothers and sisters out there. 30:39 And I know this because I come from 30:41 many different Protestant backgrounds 30:43 that will read this text, isolate this text, 30:46 isolate those specific words. 30:47 Maybe even the words where, 30:49 you know, Christ uses in John 3:16, 30:51 which is the most quoted and memorized verse 30:53 in all the Bible. 30:54 You know, He that believeth in Me, 30:57 and right, what does He say here? 30:58 Do not be afraid, only believe. 31:00 And so there's many brothers and sisters 31:01 that will take that. 31:03 And they'll say, oh, you know, all you got to do 31:04 is just mentally accept that Jesus is your savior. 31:09 Only just believe that He's real 31:12 and that He died for you and that He... 31:14 And so the question is what did Jesus mean? 31:17 As he often said, you know, just believe 31:19 or he that believeth in Me. 31:22 The Greek word here says it all. 31:24 Because if you dig a little deeper, 31:25 go a little deeper under the surface 31:27 and you find out what this Greek word is, 31:29 the Greek word is the word pisteuo. 31:31 And it's simply means to trust or to put trust in. 31:35 Okay, now that's different. 31:37 If you like, for instance, 31:38 let's just, just the illustration real quickly. 31:40 You're walking with a friend in the mountains, 31:44 the great mountains of Tibet 31:45 or the Himalayan mountains of Nepal. 31:47 And you're out there 31:49 in the middle of no man's land 31:50 and these massive, huge mountains. 31:51 And you need to get from one side to the other 31:53 and you walk up on a scene of this, very, 31:55 what seems to be this ancient, 31:57 you know, low swinging or hanging bridge 31:59 from one side of the mountain to another. 32:02 And one of the brothers is walking with you says, 32:04 "You know, Hey, just, it's okay. 32:05 Just walk across it. It'll do it." 32:07 And you're looking at this bridge, 32:08 thinking, this thing looks raggedy. 32:10 This thing looks like I'll get out in the minute, 32:11 this thing it's going to fall, it's going to break, right? 32:13 But the guy or the person you're with is, 32:15 oh, no, no, no trust, everything's okay. 32:17 Just go ahead and believe. 32:18 Believe that that bridge is going to get you across. 32:20 There's a difference between believing in something, 32:23 you know, mentally believing and trusting in something. 32:26 For instance, I can look at that bridge and go, 32:28 yeah, I could see that bridge. 32:29 That's a real bridge. And that bridge is there. 32:31 And it seems like it's there to serve a purpose. 32:33 But do you trust that 32:35 that bridge is going to fulfill the purpose that you needed to, 32:37 to get you for with that or the other? 32:39 But that's different. 32:41 There's a difference in saying, 32:42 I believe that Jesus is my savior verbally, 32:45 you know, verbalize it. 32:46 I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins 32:49 nearly 2000 years ago. 32:50 I believe that Jesus, you know, is the Son of God, 32:53 because He said He was the Son of God. 32:55 But there's an entirely different perspective now, 32:58 when you ask that you believe, 32:59 do you trust that He is who He says He is? 33:02 And He's going to do what He says He's going to do. 33:05 Now trusting is different. 33:06 So when He says here, do not be afraid, 33:08 only believe or in John 3:16 again, our example here, 33:12 he that believeth in Me shall not perish, 33:15 but have everlasting life. 33:16 What Christ is saying is, 33:17 I don't want you to just verbally, 33:19 you know, profess that you believe in My existence. 33:21 I want you to trust in Me to do what I said I was going to do. 33:25 I want you to trust in Me in who I am, 33:28 that I speak worlds into existence. 33:30 I wave My hand and seas calm. 33:32 You know, I make things happen. 33:34 I'm the mover and shaker of your life. 33:36 I knitted you in your wound before you even, 33:38 before even, nobody even knew who you were, right? 33:40 That's who I am. 33:42 Do you truly believe that 33:43 when God speaks and says something 33:45 that it's going to happen the way He said it is, 33:48 that's what He's saying here. 33:49 You know, don't, do not be afraid. 33:51 Only believe, that is only trust in Me, brother. 33:55 When I speak this word, 33:56 your daughter's going to be healed, believe that. 33:58 And this brother, of course, 34:00 I don't know if this specific story or not, 34:02 but on another occasion, 34:03 you know, before he even returns home, 34:05 his daughter was already healed 34:07 based on the fact that 34:08 he trusted in the Word of the Lord. 34:10 Now that is faith. 34:12 Amen. Amen. That is powerful. 34:13 There's also a distinction between faith and presumption. 34:16 Right? 34:18 So, you know, to have faith, yes, you believe in God, 34:21 but you don't put yourself in a situation 34:24 and then say, oh, God will get me out of this. 34:27 You don't go to a cliff and jump off the cliff and say, 34:31 oh, God will save me. 34:33 Like you don't put yourself in that position. 34:36 Oh, wow yes. 34:37 But now, if you're in a position 34:40 to where you're standing up for God 34:42 and rightfully so on the principles, 34:44 like when you think about Daniel, 34:45 when Daniel stood up 34:47 or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 34:49 when they stood up, 34:50 they got cast into the fiery furnace, 34:53 but Jesus came down and stood with them 34:55 in the midst of their trial. 34:57 That's right. 34:58 It wasn't presumption on their parts. 35:01 It was extreme faith. Yeah. 35:03 Because they had said whether God delivers us or not. 35:06 They could burn up in that fire, 35:08 but may the Lord's will be done. 35:09 Yeah. Oh, that's powerful. 35:11 Yeah, absolutely. 35:12 And they were telling to king that. 35:13 So you brothers are married, right? 35:15 So how, how well would this work out 35:19 if you were like, yeah, you know, 35:21 I believe we got married. 35:23 I believe we have a union and you know, 35:26 I believe I love my wife, but then there's this one here. 35:32 There's that one there, there's this one here. 35:35 Like, it doesn't reflect that belief in the... 35:38 It's almost as though you said your wedding vows 35:40 and then because you said the vows, 35:43 those were done away with when you said I do. 35:46 It doesn't work like that. Absolutely. 35:48 I think that's where the faith versus works concept comes in 35:52 because, you know, the reason why, 35:54 the reason why James said that in James Chapter 2, 35:56 and I think I actually have a reference here. 35:58 James 2:14 and 17. 35:59 He says, 36:01 "What does it profit my brethren 36:02 if someone says he has faith, but does not have works. 36:05 Can faith save him?" 36:06 Verse 17, 36:08 "Thus, also faith by itself, 36:10 it does not have, 36:11 if it does not have works is dead." 36:13 And we know that's that famous chapter. 36:15 But you know, also the concept that, 36:17 you know, it's kind of goes back to the idea 36:18 of mentally believing versus trusting. 36:20 You know, James says in the same chapter, verse 19, 36:22 he says, you know, the devil believes and trembles. 36:25 Yeah, that's right. 36:26 You say, you believe in Christ, the devil, the devil know, 36:28 you know, even when Jesus walked up on the sea there, 36:31 as the demons were in, you know, 36:33 in those people of the Gadarenes and he, 36:35 you know, they, the demons cry out to him and say, 36:37 oh, you know, who are you, Jesus, 36:39 Son of God, that if you come to torment us? 36:42 Even they know who Jesus is. 36:44 But back to this works concept the work... 36:47 We are not saved by our works, 36:49 we're saved by grace through faith, 36:51 but the works tell the story of the faith. 36:53 Okay. 36:55 It's that plain and simple, 36:56 Jesus says that we're not saved by works, 36:58 but he did say you're judged by your works. 37:00 How do you know if a person is a genuine Christian? 37:02 How do you know if they genuinely have faith in Christ? 37:04 Their works will tell the story of that. 37:07 If I go out and point to tree, 37:08 which I've used this illustration a few times, 37:09 but if I point to a tree 37:11 and I say, look at that apple tree over there. 37:12 Isn't that a beautiful apple tree? 37:14 And you go out and examine the tree 37:15 and there's no apples hanging on that tree. 37:17 How do you know if it's an apple tree? 37:18 That's the same thing with us. 37:20 If you, if someone tells you I'm a Christian, 37:21 I have faith that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. 37:24 Well, the only way a person's going 37:26 to be able to genuinely judge 37:28 whether or not that person has genuine faith 37:30 is by the works that they produce 37:32 in their Christian life. 37:33 By their fruits they shall know. 37:34 That's why I backed your illustration there, 37:36 when you talked about the whole wife thing. 37:37 You wouldn't do. 37:39 You know that person over here, this person over there, 37:40 you know, you're not going to partake in that 37:41 because you have the genuine love that you, 37:44 that you know, that, that genuine love 37:46 that burns within you for the companion 37:48 that God has given you, 37:50 that genuine relationship and that love you have for her. 37:53 There ain't nobody else in the world 37:54 that's going to appeal to you, 37:55 but the person that you love most 37:57 that the God has given to you. 37:58 Amen. Amen. 38:00 And that proves us why they're so happily married men. 38:03 Our wives are watching this right now. 38:05 I know that's right you guys 38:07 just won like 5,000 points with them. 38:09 Yeah. 38:10 For sure. For sure. 38:12 Ricky, you have our next verse. 38:14 The next text. 38:15 1 John 5:5, 38:19 "Who is he who overcomes the world, 38:23 but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" 38:28 So if we want to overcome 38:32 the challenges of the world, 38:35 if we want to overcome the temptations of the world, 38:39 we need to believe in the one who's overcome the world 38:44 and that's Christ. 38:45 Now, if we believe in Him, 38:48 He will work out His life in us 38:52 to help us overcome the world as well. 38:54 Yeah. Amen. Amen. 38:57 Great point. We'll go to Romans 10:9. 39:01 And it says that, 39:02 "If you confess with your mouth, 39:04 the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart, 39:06 that God has raised him from the dead, 39:09 you will be saved." 39:11 Wonderful promise. 39:13 That is, that is, and we need to claim that, 39:15 but it also goes back to, 39:17 you know, when you look at Hebrews 11:6, 39:20 "But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, 39:23 for he who comes to God must believe that he is. 39:26 And that he is a rewarder of those 39:28 who diligently seek Him." 39:30 So all of that goes back like in order to have, 39:35 you have to have faith. 39:36 That's right. You have to have faith. 39:38 I remember I was in an Uber and we were riding, 39:42 I don't know if I was in California 39:44 or Florida or wherever I was, 39:46 but there was this Uber driver. 39:47 I loved... I loved taking that by the way, 39:50 because it ends up creating interesting situations, right? 39:55 You, either have your Bible with you, 39:56 you know, I'm traveling with my Bible or something 39:59 or you start this conversation like, you know, 40:02 "Well, what are you... What are you out here for?" 40:04 They'll say, "What are you out here for?" 40:05 Well, I'm out here for a Christian convention. 40:08 I'm a general manager 40:09 of a Christian television network or something. 40:11 So I ended up having a conversation 40:14 with an Uber driver and he was like, 40:16 you know, no offense, but like, I'm not, I'm not Christian. 40:20 I don't believe in God is what he said. 40:22 So he was atheist. 40:24 And I was like, oh no, none of, no offense taken. 40:28 You know, the same God that I believe in 40:29 is the same God 40:31 that gave you the choice not to believe in Him. 40:33 So I'm not offended by that. 40:35 I wish you would, you know, 40:37 see things a little differently. 40:38 But so we started talking and having this conversation 40:42 and I don't know what came out of that towards the end of it. 40:46 But he thanked me for the conversation 40:49 because he said, you know what? 40:50 You took the time to listen. 40:53 And I think that's important, you know, as Christians, 40:56 when we're conversing with people, 40:58 when we're speaking with people 41:00 to take the time to listen to them 41:02 before it's just like, 41:04 boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. 41:06 And you're throwing out all this doctrine 41:07 and all these points. 41:08 Take the time to listen and hear them out 41:12 and then speak the Word of God to them. 41:15 Amen. Amen. Yeah. 41:17 So I hope it's... 41:18 I hope he now has faith in God. 41:20 I don't remember his name, 41:22 but if we could just pray for the atheist Uber driver, 41:25 that would be, that would be great. 41:27 Yeah. 41:28 You know, it's powerful, as you're saying, 41:29 as you were telling that 41:31 the scripture that came to my mind is the, 41:34 the very ending of the third angel's message. 41:36 We're the Three Angels Broadcasting Network, 41:39 so we're all about preaching that everlasting gospel 41:41 through the three angels' messages. 41:43 And how does the third angel's message end? 41:45 It says, here is the patience of the saints, 41:47 here are they that keep the commandments of God 41:50 and have the faith of Jesus, 41:53 not faith in Jesus, but the faith of Jesus. 41:56 What is the faith of Jesus? 41:58 If you study the life of Christ, 42:00 what was the faith of Jesus? 42:02 He completely 100% trusted 42:07 in the will of His Father. 42:09 He trusted in the word of His Father. 42:12 He trusted in the works of His Father. 42:14 He trusted in His Father 42:16 in the same way that we should trust in Him. 42:19 And so it's one thing 42:21 to kind of in a directional sense, 42:23 like say, oh, I have faith in that person over there. 42:26 I'm going to put my faith in Jesus Christ. 42:28 But if you truly have faith, you're going to have the, 42:32 not just any old kind of faith, 42:33 you're going to have the faith of Jesus, 42:35 which is the only kind of faith to have. 42:37 Amen. Amen. Yes. 42:39 Praise the Lord. 42:41 Ryan, look, take us to the Book of Galatians. 42:42 All right. Yeah, Galatians 2:16. 42:45 Now, this brings us back into kind of 42:47 what we were talking about earlier, 42:48 the faith versus works concept. 42:51 But Galatians 2:16 says, 42:52 "Knowing that a man is not justified 42:55 by the works of the law, 42:57 but by faith in Christ Jesus, 42:59 even we have believed in Christ Jesus, 43:03 that we might be justified by faith in Christ 43:06 and not by the works of the law, 43:08 for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified." 43:13 And so there may be someone watching 43:14 where they're now saying, there you go, Ryan, you know, 43:16 I actually had somebody wrote a letter to me the other day, 43:18 or they send an email to me. 43:20 He's like, why don't you, Seventh-day Adventist 43:21 always talk about the law, 43:23 you know, the law of this and the Sabbath, this, 43:25 and you know, it sounds like you guys 43:27 just believe that, 43:28 you know, you're just saved by the keeping of some law. 43:30 What we believe in the truth of this text 43:32 that I just read in Galatians Chapter 2, 43:34 we're not justified by the keeping of the law. 43:35 We're not saved by the keeping of any law or any Sabbath. 43:39 We believe that only your faith in Christ Jesus 43:42 will bring about the salvational grace of God. 43:45 We are saved by grace through faith. 43:48 And so in Galatians 2:16 43:50 is highlighting a very clear truth 43:52 that we are not saved by the law, 43:54 but rather this is the truth also that if we are saved, 43:58 if we do have genuine faith in Jesus Christ, 44:01 then our works will be the response 44:03 of that genuine faith, 44:05 and those works as a response to that genuine faith 44:08 that we have in Jesus Christ 44:09 will produce the fruit of a Christian 44:12 who loves God. 44:13 And what did Jesus say in John 14:15? 44:15 If you love Me, keep My commandments. 44:18 And so right there, yes, 44:19 while we're not saved by the law 44:21 as a saved person 44:23 who has a genuine relationship with Christ, 44:24 I want to produce the fruit of a person 44:27 who proves and shows my love to my savior 44:29 by being obedient to Him and keeping His law. 44:32 So not justified by the law, 44:34 but we're justified by our faith in Christ Jesus, 44:36 the lawgiver. 44:38 Amen. Amen. 44:39 You, you made me think of another verse. 44:40 You mentioned it earlier, 44:42 but I'm gonna, I'm gonna read it if that's okay. 44:44 It's Ephesians 2:8, 44:46 we're gonna go through 10 actually. 44:48 So verse 8, it says for by, Ephesians 2:8 says, 44:51 "For by grace, 44:52 you have been saved through faith 44:54 that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God." 44:57 Verse 9, "Not of works, lest anyone should boast." 45:01 I think it's important that before I go to 10, 45:03 it's important for us to also to remember, 45:06 like you were saying is our works. 45:09 You know, I think it's human nature for us 45:13 to be when we're so involved in doing good for God, 45:16 for us to feel like we have more value or we, 45:21 or this is us doing something for God, 45:24 we're earning brownie points for, 45:25 we're going to have more jewels 45:27 and have a bigger mansion in heaven 45:29 or something like that, right? 45:31 But that's not, that's not it, that doesn't matter. 45:33 We're all equal, right? We're all equal. 45:35 Those works do not. 45:37 We shouldn't boast about any works, right? 45:39 But let's go to verse 10, 45:41 "For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus 45:44 for good works, 45:46 which He, which God prepared beforehand 45:48 that we should walk in them." 45:50 So we are saved by grace, right, through faith. 45:55 And God has created each of us, everyone, 45:58 including all of our viewers right now for good works. 46:01 Amen. 46:02 And when we walk in faith, 46:05 we're just walking in the plan that He had for us. 46:07 It's not us. 46:09 That's God, God had that plan already. 46:11 We didn't come up with an innovative idea 46:13 to serve somebody or to... 46:15 You know what I'm saying? 46:16 Like this is God's doing from before you were even born. 46:20 He had this in mind for you. 46:21 And so I think when we keep that in context, 46:24 it helps us to stay humble. 46:26 And it helps us to realize that we need to walk 46:29 what we're saved by grace through faith, 46:31 not works, 46:32 but grace through faith. 46:34 Yeah, so... Amen. Beautiful. 46:35 That's an excellent point. 46:36 You know, I take credit for my failures 46:39 and I give credit for my success, 46:41 any success that I have to God, 46:43 because that's where it belongs. 46:44 My failures, that's on me. But success, that's on God. 46:48 Amen. That's right. 46:49 Amen. Amen. 46:51 So we've got Eric with 2 Corinthians 5:7. 46:56 Okay. Okay. And I kinda... 46:58 I kinda addressed it, I guess a little bit. 47:00 I didn't even realize it. 47:01 So 2 Corinthians 5:7, 47:03 "For we walk by faith, not by sight." 47:07 You know, actually now that story just came to mind. 47:10 We had, you know, 47:12 I run SALT Outreach over in Orlando. 47:15 What's that stand for? 47:16 SALT is an acronym for service and love together. 47:19 So we worked with the unsheltered in Orlando 47:21 and one of our volunteers was an atheist as well. 47:25 And so she would, she would volunteer 47:28 and she was studying medicine. 47:29 And so that was her you know, 47:32 that was something that she would say is, 47:34 you know, I'm a doctor, I science, 47:37 you know, I have to see it to believe it, right? 47:40 And so, I remember 47:41 she was so set as an atheist 47:47 that if anyone mentioned anything about God at all, 47:50 it doesn't even matter 47:51 if it was directed to her or not. 47:53 She would put her hand up and say, stop talking. 47:55 I don't want... I don't want to hear it, you know? 47:57 It was like that, right? 47:58 So one day we're creating, you know, 48:00 we're creating relationship with her over time. 48:01 She's volunteering, helping to serve. 48:03 And one of our volunteers was getting baptized. 48:06 And so one of the friends she made there said, 48:08 "Hey, why don't you come to the baptism?" 48:10 She's like, "Oh, okay, I'll go. I guess." 48:13 You know, so she, she ended up coming to the baptism 48:16 of one of our volunteers. 48:17 And she was actually sitting there 48:18 in front of the pool 48:20 right before the baptism by herself, 48:21 everyone's talking in the living room 48:23 and she starts crying. 48:25 She goes to the pastor. 48:27 She says, I've been studying medicine. 48:31 I used to think that God wasn't real, right? 48:33 And I have to see to believe, but the more I study, 48:38 the more things are unexplained about the body that I got... 48:44 I just think, I think God has to be real, you know? 48:47 And, she said it to the pastor as she's crying. 48:50 She says, 48:51 "I want to be baptized today too, 48:52 I believe." 48:54 You know, and she got baptized 48:55 that same day with that volunteer and like, 48:59 you know, I think it's just, again, natural for us 49:02 to just believe in what we see in, 49:04 everything that's tangible. 49:06 But the word 49:08 and God is teaching us and training us, 49:10 retraining us to, 49:12 to not depend on what we can see, 49:13 because there's so much going on that's unseen 49:16 that we just, that we're not going to be able to touch. 49:18 We won't even know 49:20 what's happening behind the scenes 49:21 until we're in heaven probably, you know? 49:23 You know what? It's amazing to me. 49:24 I know this is going to kind of be a random illustration here, 49:27 but you know, we all exercise faith in something, 49:32 whether we know it or not. 49:34 And so I'll hear, I hear often, you know, 49:35 sometimes I'll run into someone 49:37 who's an agnostic or an atheist, 49:38 and they'll talk about how, you know, again, 49:40 I don't believe because I, 49:41 you know, I don't see God if He... 49:42 If God, the God of the Bible is real, 49:44 why don't He speak to me like He did those people back then? 49:46 Why didn't He work signs and wonders and miracles 49:48 so that we can see it and believe it, 49:50 you know, like the people saw it back then, 49:52 but, you know, we all have faith 49:54 and believe in something, 49:55 you know, some people have a tough time believing 49:57 that this word was actually inspired by this divine God. 50:01 There's many people believe it's just a bunch of stories, 50:03 a bunch of narratives that were written by men, 50:06 you know, few thousand years ago, 50:08 or a few hundred years ago. 50:11 But we all believe in something, 50:12 whether we want to or not. 50:13 For instance, I've not met an American, 50:16 never met an American who said, oh, you know what? 50:19 I just don't believe that Abraham Lincoln's 50:21 the 16th president of the United States, 50:23 but yet at the same time, 50:25 you have to exercise faith in that 50:27 because you weren't there to observe, 50:28 you know, President Lincoln in action. 50:30 You weren't, you didn't live during that time. 50:32 You believe in that based on the record, 50:35 the historical record that we have that tells us 50:38 that Abraham Lincoln is the 16th president 50:40 of the United States, 50:41 but yet you're expressing faith 50:43 in the fact that 50:44 the written word of these historians told you so, 50:47 and therefore you express faith of the fact 50:49 that you believe that that's true. 50:50 Well, there's no different for a Christian. 50:52 You know, again, it goes back to that idea 50:54 that he that believes in Me, though he has not seen Me, 50:56 or blessed is he, that's true. 50:59 You know, I don't see oxygen. 51:02 Oh yeah. Just believe it's there. 51:04 What's filling my lungs? You know it's oxygen. 51:07 They say it's oxygen, but I don't see it. 51:08 Do I believe in it? 51:09 You got to believe, I believe it. 51:11 I have faith that there's oxygen 51:13 going in my lungs, right? 51:14 Praise the Lord for that. 51:16 Don't know if it's gone while you're trying to find. 51:18 That's right. 51:20 You know, but it's just little thing. 51:21 We all have faith. 51:23 And we put trust in a lot of things 51:25 and then other things we don't. 51:26 But I think, you know, I think Rick, you said it's so, 51:29 so great on the early, earlier part of this program 51:31 is that it really comes down to spending time. 51:34 When you spend time with God and you try it. 51:37 What is it? Psalm 34 say, taste and see. 51:40 "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good." 51:42 You know what? 51:43 I didn't ever think that I would ever like, 51:45 you know, avocados. 51:47 You know, I love avocados, 51:48 even though some people say it has no taste, it has no flavor. 51:51 You know, I have tasted, I have seen, 51:53 I believe and I trust in the fact 51:55 that I love me some avocados, 51:57 you know, but the truth of the matter is 51:58 you have to taste and see that the Lord is good 52:00 and you have to spend time with Him in order 52:02 to establish that, that favor. 52:03 Yeah. Amen. Yeah. 52:05 I've got the next text. 52:07 Mark 11:22-24, 52:12 "So Jesus answered and said to them, 52:14 'Have faith in God. 52:17 For assuredly, I say to you, 52:19 whoever says to this mountain, 52:21 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' 52:24 and does not doubt in his heart, 52:26 but believes that those things he says will be done. 52:30 He will have whatever he says. 52:33 Therefore I say to you, 52:35 whatever things you ask, when you pray, 52:39 believe that you received them 52:41 and you will have them." 52:44 All right. So this text gets me thinking. 52:47 Yeah. 52:49 Is this conditional 52:52 as far as what we will be asked 52:55 that it's going to be given to us by God? 52:59 Of course, yeah. Absolutely. 53:01 Lord, I want a million dollars in my bank account tomorrow. 53:03 Please let it be, you know, 53:05 it doesn't mean it's going to be there. 53:06 It is conditional, it's based on the will of God. 53:08 Yes. Yes. 53:09 And I think that's important to take the whole Bible 53:11 into context, right? 53:12 Because you know, in another place it says 53:14 that He will answer our prayers according to how we ask, 53:18 if we're following after Him, right? 53:19 If we have His heart in us, 53:22 His desires in context of what God would want for us, 53:28 you know, I actually, it reminded me of the story. 53:30 I hope you don't mind if I share. 53:32 No, please. 53:33 We were in Miami doing an event there. 53:36 And I remember, we were doing this event 53:38 and all of a sudden we're finishing 53:41 and someone just walks into the church 53:44 and goes into the back. 53:45 I remember the back left of the church 53:46 and just sits there in the corner, 53:48 opens a Bible and starts reading. 53:49 We don't know who this person is. 53:51 You know, we kind of walk up to him, 53:52 say, hi, he's reading. 53:54 You know, he's actually reading the Book of Joshua 53:56 and you know, I tell him, I love the Book of Joshua. 53:59 One of the biggest miracles happens in there, right? 54:01 Joshua asks for the sun to stand still 54:03 and it's stood still, right? 54:05 He's like, yeah, and we're talking with each other. 54:07 And he says that he's a Christian. 54:09 And we find out why he's there. 54:11 His motorcycle broke down right in front of the church. 54:14 He happened to be driving right past the church, 54:16 just driving normally in his motorcycle. 54:17 And it just stopped right in front of the church. 54:20 And he's like, okay, God, 54:21 I guess you want me to go in here? 54:22 So he came in 54:24 and started sitting and reading. 54:25 And so, you know, we talked with him for a little bit, 54:28 maybe about 15 minutes, 54:29 his son gets there to help jump his bike. 54:32 So, we ended up, you know, he goes, he leaves, 54:35 we're still in there cleaning up 54:37 and about maybe another 15 minutes later, 54:39 maybe 20 minutes later, 54:40 we go out in the sun and him are like, 54:42 look what, they're scratching their heads. 54:44 The bike's not starting 54:45 where the jumper cables are connected. 54:47 Everything's good. 54:48 It's a brand new bike he said, 54:50 it doesn't make any sense. 54:52 So we went to him, we said, let's pray, 54:54 let's pray about this, you know? 54:56 And he's like, his response was, 54:58 no, this is real stuff right here. 55:00 I'm like, where are we just talking about Joshua 55:03 and the sunshine stuff. 55:04 And we're like, you know what? 55:05 We're going to pray anyway for you. 55:07 And so we all got around, we prayed, 55:10 we asked God, God. 55:11 And we knew this would glorify God to his family. 55:14 We pray, God, start this bike, you know? 55:17 And we set a prayer together. 55:18 They even, they honored the prayer 55:19 and bowed their heads. 55:21 Afterward he was like, 55:23 all right, let's see what happens. 55:25 The bike starts. Amen. 55:26 All of us jumping up, celebrating, praising God, 55:30 you know? 55:31 And, you know, it's in context, 55:32 he will answer prayers in context of his will. 55:36 Right? 55:37 If it will bring people closer to Him, 55:39 He will answer it. 55:40 Right? 55:42 And if it's something that's consistent with His Word, 55:43 He will answer it, you know? 55:44 And I just think it brought, 55:47 it just reminded me of that story. 55:48 I thought it would bring up, but yeah, God, 55:50 God will do amazing things. 55:51 And with Joshua, the sun stood still, 55:54 I think we put ceilings on what we asked for, 55:57 and we shouldn't, we shouldn't. 55:59 Yes. 56:00 1 John 5:14, 56:02 This is the confidence that we have in Him 56:06 that if we ask anything according to His will, 56:10 He heareth us, He heareth us 56:13 if we ask anything according to His will. 56:16 I love that song. 56:17 Yes, retro song, hide it in their heart. 56:20 Amen. Yeah. That's right. 56:22 That was back part out there. Excellent. 56:23 Yeah, for sure. Yeah. 56:25 I mean, that's, it's important for us to realize 56:28 and recognize that God has eternity in mind 56:32 and His ultimate goal, He wants us to be saved. 56:35 He wants to save us so bad. 56:38 So when we're praying, 56:40 we need to keep that in mind as well. 56:41 Yes. 56:42 I want to share 1 Corinthians 2:5. 56:46 It says, 56:47 "That your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, 56:50 but in the power of God." 56:53 I mean, there's nothing really to add to that right there. 56:56 We need to be trusting in God and not in man. 57:00 Yeah. That's powerful. 57:03 I can't believe our time is just about up, fellows. 57:07 I appreciate all that you have contributed 57:09 to this study on faith, 57:11 Because as we know, 57:13 it is impossible to please God without it. 57:16 We also saw 57:18 that it could be detrimental to our life 57:20 if we don't have faith, 57:22 you know, so faith is powerful. 57:26 And I hope that 57:27 this has been an inspiration to you 57:30 to have faith in God, to take Him at His Word. 57:33 Until next time, God bless. |
Revised 2021-06-20