Biblical Concept of Faith (34)

[Speaker 1] Church fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God will always desire the godly home. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness on Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as we listen. Gathering together unto thee. Unto the Lord, we are gathering together unto thee. Unto the Lord, we are gathering together unto thee. Unto the Lord, unto the Lord shall the gathering of His people be. We are gathering together unto thee. Father, we thank you again for this time in your presence. We thank you again for another time again to gather at your feet for our regular Bible study. We give you all the praise, all the glory, all the honor for preservation. We thank you for your help. And Lord, as we all gather unto you this evening, our brethren who are connecting with us on Mixlr, others who are joining us on Telegram, we who are here physically, Lord, we commit ourselves into your hand. Lord, as we study together again today, we have prayed, let your spirit work within us in the name of Jesus. Our God, we pray that you will meet with each and every one of us at those points in our lives where we need you most in the name of Jesus Christ. O Lord, our eyes on you, let nothing prevail against your purposes for our lives in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Eternal Father. Blessed be your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Last week we were able to conclude the matter of the relationship between the spoken word of God and the written word of God. We concluded with a biblical example, that was Daniel. And we were able to make ourselves to see from the scripture that what Jesus was saying in the book of John 14:21, verse 15, 21 through to 23, is actually not a new thing. It has always been the pattern of God. Men who don't give attention to the written word of God cannot amount to anything with God because the spirit of God works in us, through us, through the written word of God. If we don't diligently study scriptures, diligently meditate on scriptures, diligently obey scriptures, then don't be thinking that God will be having business with you in terms of speaking to you, leading you by His spoken word. There is that strong connection. We were able to establish that. Brethren who were not with us for that last week, of course, they can get to look at what we considered last week, which is biblical concept of faith, 33. Today we are moving to episode 34 in considering what is faith from the scripture and we'll be going back to Hebrews 11. You remember that it was Hebrews 11 that took us to what we have been studying. In Hebrews 11, we have been able to look at "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We have considered that scripture extensively, that verse extensively. We have moved, we have considered "By it the elders obtained a good testimony." And then we moved to verse 3. It was verse 3 that took us to trying to see the connection between the written word of God and the spoken word of God. It was the verse 3. Where the Bible says, "By faith we understand that the worlds or the universe were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen are not made from the things which are visible or which appear." Which means that everything we see around us was actually created not by the things we are seeing, not by the fact of what we are seeing. It was because God spoke that it was done. If God did not speak, nothing would have been in existence. So everything you see, everything you are seeing around you, you must have a clear understanding as a Christian that it is the things that are seen did not come from the fact of the things that appear. And we gave example then that for instance, you would say that it is the logic that for pregnancy, for instance, there must be a meeting point between the husband and the wife so that there can be conception. That is the fact of it. But that's not the truth of it. That is the fact. The truth is that children are heritage of God. No man can receive anything except God gives him. So a man can sleep with his wife over and over again and nothing will be wrong with them, and yet there is no child because God has not given. That's just the reality of it. The truth, the fact is that if anything enters into a burning flame, the thing should be consumed. That is the fact. But don't forget that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they entered into fire and the fire did not do anything. Why? Because God spoke. So what gives fire the ability to consume is because God said fire be consuming. The day God says fire don't consume, fire will be burning and nothing will be consumed. Don't forget the case of Moses too. The fire was burning but nothing was consuming because God said fire don't consume. So there is nothing you see. Believers don't rest by the facts of what they see. Faith make them to understand that the things that are seen are not created from the things that appear. Faith make them to understand that. That is understood by faith. And it is that faith that we have been considering. And from this, I'm just trying to give a background to how we left verse 3 and began to travel through all those scriptures because I want to move from verse 3 into 4 and see how God can help us to journey today. But I must try to bring us back again to the background before we begin to journey forward. You will be able now be able to understand why the Bible says it is by it that the elders obtain a good report. So we saw in the verse 3, that should be in episode 27, 28, 29, that was what we considered this verse 3 extensively, that actually if God don't speak, nothing can be done, nothing can be. So we then realized that if God want to do anything in your life, if God want to do anything for you, through you, in you, God must first speak to you. He must speak. If He doesn't speak, there must be a rhema. There must be a reality of the scripture. There must be a revelation. There must be inspiration. If God don't speak, nothing can be done. He spoke and it was done. And that is why the Bible says faith come by hearing and hearing the word of God. With that I noted about the verse 3, that beyond the sight, faith have sight. We have considered that extensively. I now came to faith has ears. Faith hears. There is a hearing in faith. If you cannot hear, nothing can be done. You must be able to hear. And that now led us to so many things that we considered. That what is the connection between the written word and the spoken word. If you must hear, does it then mean that we don't need to read the Bible? Does it mean so? We began to that was what took us round and round and round. But there is a clear understanding that there is a speaking. There's a speaking. That is why Jesus said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." And you will notice in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, if you look at the book of John 5. John 5, you will see this matter of hearing very clearly. The matter of hearing is a very, very important thing when it comes to our walk with God. When you look at John 5, you will see the matter of hearing in that scripture where Jesus Himself was saying something very, very important for all of us to see. Look at what Jesus said in John 5. John 5, I want us to first see verse 19. Jesus was speaking to the people, He said in the verse 19, "Then Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the Father do. For whatever he does, the Son also does in like manner." So you notice in this place, there is a see. The Son can see. So faith have eyes. We have discussed that. If you now go down in that same scripture and go to verse 29. Just trying to make you see these things, to make them very, very clear to us, so that it won't look like these things, they are strange. They are not in any way strange. Rather, they are the truth of the scripture. If you look at verse 29 of that same John 5 into verse 30, you will see what Jesus said again about the matter of his relationship between he and his Father. In 29, or let us go to directly to 30. 30 is the emphasis. In verse 19, he said the Son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the Father doing. So faith has sight. Faith can see. If you cannot see what God is doing, then you cannot do anything with God. You must be able to see it. There's the place of vision. Now look at the one that we are dealing with now, verse 30. He says, "I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge." Do you see that again? So in 19, we see what? The sight of faith. Faith can see. But that sight is not the only thing that faith has to be able to operate. For Jesus to be able to operate all that he was doing, for him to do all that he did, there was something again about what he was doing, what he did. What is it? He says, "I can do nothing. As I hear, I judge." Are you seeing it again? So there is a hearing. If God don't speak, nothing can be. So there is a speaking between the Father and the Son. There is a seeing between the Father and the Son. It is on the basis of that that Jesus operated on earth. So any believer that want to operate faith from the point of Jesus—I mean to be like Jesus, to walk like Jesus, to behave like Jesus, to move like Jesus, to do things like Jesus—that believer must be able to see and must be able to hear. Nothing is done until he hears. Nothing is done until he sees. That is the faith that the Bible is saying, it is by this faith that the elders obtained a good report. A faith that cannot see and a faith that cannot hear can never obtain a report from God. There cannot be any good report about that faith. It is impossible. No exploit can be done. Nothing can be done. Because of yourself you can do nothing. That's the reality. Of ourselves we can do nothing. For us to do something, there must be a see and there must be a hearing. And that is why you will notice very clearly, the scripture says, "Where there is no vision, what happens? The people perish." The people can't see what God is doing, they perish. They must be able to see. At the same time you notice again, He said, "My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me." You see the aspect of hearing. So these are crucial things. Once the sheep cannot hear His voice, then the sheep cannot do anything. So the biblical faith is a living faith. That's the point we have been emphasizing over and over again. It's something that is living. It's not just a theory. It's not just a feeling. It's something that you can—it's a reality. Someone is speaking to you. Somebody is showing you something. And that person is not just anybody. That person is God. As you respond to what you see and as you respond to what you hear, that is what you are calling faith. So faith is the response we give to what we see and what we hear. It's the response. And the reality from where we concluded in the last three weeks is that anybody who does not give himself to the written word of God can never have sight and ears of faith. That's the connection. If you don't deliberately study the scripture, deliberately seek the Lord, then there will be a problem. And the problem is that the spirit of God will not be able to operationalize your faith. If you go back to Genesis, because that's I'm entering gradually into what we want to look at today. From the verse 4, you begin to see Abel do this, that, that. It begins to mention different people and what they did by faith. It begins to show you operationalization of their faith. And I want to show you something about the spirit of God and our faith. If the spirit of God operating, there must be operative through scripture. If you look at Genesis, you will notice what the Bible says. The Bible says the spirit of God was doing something. What was the spirit of God doing? It was hovering. What does it mean to be hovering over something? To be moving around over it. It was hovering over. It was hovering over. You notice nothing was done. The spirit was present. Then God said. So you see the spirit, you see the speaking, you see the see. God had a vision. The spirit of God was present. God had to speak. So you are seeing something at creation. The spirit of God, the word of God. And when you look at because many believers don't understand this operation. This operation. They think that some people are supermen. That is why they can operate faith. Some people are supermen, oh so they can't—no no no, that is not it. I want to show you something very, very practical. Because when you look at the verse 6. Let's go to that Hebrews. Hebrews 11 again. I want to establish something in Hebrews 11. Let's see something there about it. If you look at the verse 6, check your own Bible, I'm reading my own Bible. What did the Bible say? "But without faith it is impossible to please God." Are you seeing it? So there is no way you can please God without seeing, hearing, without the spirit doing something with you. But you notice again that the Bible says that it is God that works in us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So are you seeing something? It is God that works in us. Again, Bible says we cannot please God. It is God that works in us, both to do, both to will. So for you to will what God is willing, who works in you? God. For you to do His good pleasure, who works in you? God. So I'm trying to show you something. That for us to be able to please God, the spirit of God must be present, the word of God must be present. We study the word that we hear, and what happens? All of those things work by the spirit. By the spirit. The spirit gives inspiration from the word of God. He is speaking. And as you yield to that inspiration, as you yield to that revelation, as you yield to what the spirit is saying, what happens? What happens? There is creation. You begin to create. You begin to bring to pass the good pleasure of God. You begin to bring to pass the will of God for your life. You begin to bring to pass what God intended for you. You begin to bring to pass—that is why everything the Father wanted Jesus to do, Jesus could not do it. He said, "Look, I'm not doing anything. The Father want me to do it. But I'm not doing it of myself. As I see him, as I hear him, what happens? I'm now doing it. I am telling you it's the same thing for you." There are several things the Father wants you to do. There's the purpose of God for your life. There's the will of God for your life. There are things the Father wants you to do. And those things needed to be done. And you need to do them to please God. Don't ever think you can do them of yourself. You can't do them of yourself. There's an operation. There's an operationalization. And I want to show you a practical thing about this thing. Look at Ephesians. Let's look at the book of Ephesians. You notice something. No, please before we go to Ephesians, let's see something in verse 4, verse 5, before that verse 6. Look at what the Bible says in verse 4. What did the Bible say? "It was by faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." Cain offered sacrifice. Abel offered sacrifice. But what made that of Abel to please God was that there was something operating in Abel. What was it? A see. A hearing. There was an understanding. There was something. I give you a practical example. Do you know that two people can be inside church, listening to the same message? And while they're listening to the same message, somebody has a clear understanding that see, it is written, wherever two or three are gathered, the Lord is there. So the person entered into church, into fellowship, and that person is speaking that word to himself, say, "No, no, that's the word of faith." He has that understanding, saying, "No, wherever two or three are gathered, God is there. No, I must reverence God. I want to meet with God because God is here. And God will meet with me." Are you following me? Now the other person does not come with that understanding. The other person feels that, oh, we are in church again as usual. And then he's on his phone. At as everything is going on, he's busy WhatsApping. He's busy Facebooking. The person is not in the place of worship. The person came to offer a sacrifice in God's presence. But the person is not operating with a consciousness. He's not operating with an understanding. He does not have an understanding that see, God is here. And where two or three are gathered, God is there. And I'm going to meet with God this morning. He's not coming to that fellowship by faith. The person who came by faith would have offered a more excellent sacrifice than the person—that person also came. He made a sacrifice to have come to church. The person made a sacrifice to take transportation and come. The person left some things at home to have come to that place. The person came here to spend time. He's sacrificing his time. But what do you notice? That sacrifice was what? Was not an excellent sacrifice. Because it was not offered by faith. It was not offered with an understanding of scripture, a revelation from scripture. Are you understanding me? An encounter with scripture. Somebody is coming with encounter. It's the same thing you find with the woman with the issue of blood. Thousands of people were touching Jesus. But they were not touching with with faith. They were not touching with something. They were not speaking something in their heart. They were not saying something within them. The heart was veiled. The heart was empty. The heart was not saying something. The heart was not specific about something. The heart was empty. So others were touching Jesus but nothing was happening. For them to have followed Jesus, they have made sacrifices. For them to be following him, they wanted to be blessed. I pray for you, may your life not represent Cain in the name of Jesus. I'm talking about faith, the biblical faith. And I'm trying to show you something about these people. Why the Bible says they pleased God. And I see thousands of people today. They come into church, but they go back the same. And then you are wondering why are they not blessed? Why are things not happening to them? What is the problem? They come into fellowship, nothing happens. It looks like, oh, the way they came was the way they went back. It looks like nothing is happening. Look, I want you to understand something. Jesus did not tell that woman, "I have healed you." Jesus said, "Your faith has made you well." What I want you to understand is that even if Jesus come into your fellowship and Jesus is passing by, if you are not saying anything in your heart, nothing will work for you. Nothing will work for you. Nothing will work. Now then there is a I'm talking about the biblical faith and the practice of this faith. And the Bible says by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. So it was not that Cain did not offer sacrifices. No, Cain offered. But the difference between Cain and Abel is a pathetic thing still going on with many of us today as believers. Because we are not understanding this reality about faith. Faith has ears, it has eyes, it is responding to something. And that thing that it is responding to is in the heart. [speaking in tongues] It's in the heart. It's in the heart. It's in the heart. I'm still going to open scripture for you to see these things. But I want you to understand it very clearly. It's in the heart. How the heart approaches God determines whether or not the spirit of God will do anything with that life. That's what I want that's what I want you to understand. If you check some passages of the scripture, you will see where the Bible says that when Jesus went to Nazareth, he could not do much because of their unbelief. So Jesus could not do much. He couldn't do great works among them because when he got there, what did they say? He said they said. Are you seeing it? Where did they say it? In their heart. The heart was saying something. "Is this not the son of the carpenter? Is this not? Is this not? Is this not?" And what happens? Nothing could be done with them. So I'm showing you the woman with issue of blood. Jesus did not say, "I healed you." Jesus said, "Your faith has made you well." Because when she touched Jesus, had Jesus spoken anything? Had Jesus spoken anything? What made power to leave Jesus? Somebody said something in her heart. Jesus have not said anything. But power left divinity. It came into humanity because somebody was speaking something out of the abundance of the heart. If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will do what? You will say to what? To the mountain. You will speak to it. What are you speaking to the mountain? What are you speaking to the challenge? What are you saying to it? What are you speaking? Are you really understanding me? What are you speaking? What are you saying? What are you saying about what are you saying about it? The righteousness of faith speak. It speak. That's what I'm trying to establish. It speak. For the righteousness of faith speak in this way: Do not say—where? In your heart. Do not say in your heart. Who will ascend into heaven? That is to bring Jesus Christ down from above, down from above. Or who will ascend into the abyss? That is to bring Christ down from the dead. But what does it say? Are you seeing it? The matter is say. Where are you saying it? In your heart. The word is where? Is near you. Where? In your mouth. Where? In your heart. That is what? The word of faith which we preach. The word is near you. The word is in your heart. Which word is that? That is the word of faith. Faith has word. To as Jesus said, "As I hear." Are you getting me? What do I do? So I speak. Faith speaks. Faith is speaking to the situation. The woman was not speaking to Jesus. The woman was speaking about her situation. She was speaking it in her heart. Then Jesus saw it. If you remember the centurion too. Something was going on in his heart. He said, "Master, you don't need to come to my house. I'm not worthy to have you." He was speaking what? What is in his heart. And he was speaking to what? To the situation. I want you to know that the woman wasn't speaking to Jesus. She was speaking about her situation. The man with palsy was not speaking to Jesus. They were speaking to the situation. That look, we are reaching him. See, once we we can just get to his presence, there's going to be healing for our friend. They were speaking in their heart, and Jesus saw their faith. They were speaking about their situation. They were saying something about it. What are you speaking to the mountain? What are you speaking to the challenge? What are you saying to it? What are you speaking? What are you saying? What are you saying about what are you saying about it? Some are saying, "I know this thing will kill me. I know I cannot escape it. I know I can never make it. I know I can't become something." What are you saying? The righteousness of faith speak. It speak. That's what I'm trying to establish. It speak. For the righteousness of faith speak in this way: "Do not say in your heart." The matter is say. Where are you saying it? In your heart. The word is where? Is near you. Where? In your mouth. Where? In your heart. That is what? The word of faith which we preach. So as people are speaking the word of faith. Are you getting this? Some people are preaching the word of faith. "Believe in Jesus. If you receive Jesus, Jesus is your savior. He died on the cross. If you receive him." And as you are hearing that word of faith, you said it in your heart. You believe it, you said it, and it happened. Those people who were speaking the word of faith, how did they get it? How did it become the abundance in their heart that it began to save people? It's about the nature of the tree. What you are filled with. And the Bible says, "Filling is the same thing with the way people get filled with wine. There is a connection between this saturation." So the question is how do people get filled with wine? Oh, the Bible also gave us an example. Let's go to the book of Proverbs. Hallelujah. Let's see something in the book of Proverbs. Something that can that can give us instruction. Proverbs 23:29. 29 and 30. Proverbs 23, 29 and 30. It's a familiar scripture. Proverbs 23, 29 and 30. Are you there? Let's look at the scripture together. It says, "Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contention? Who has complaint? Who has wound without cause? Who has redness of the eye? Those who linger long at wine." Hallelujah. "Those who linger." They linger. They stay in your presence. In your presence there is life. In your presence, Lord, in your presence, oh there is joy. I will enter. I will stay in your presence, in your presence day by day, till your likeness, till your likeness is seen in me. Those who linger long. And what's the next thing? Those who go in search of mixed wine. They linger long. The people who take small, small, small, they don't get drunk. It is those who stay. They stay, they stay, constantly, consistency, perseverance, deliberately staying there. They linger, they linger. At a point, what? Wine will take over them. May the word of faith take over you in the name of Jesus. They linger. And you know what they do? They don't just go for small wine. What do they go for? They go for what? Mixed wine. Mixed wine. You are not just there just by understanding. You are also there seeking revelation. You are seeking encounter. You go there deliberately because you want to hear. It is as you hear, so you speak. As you are looking at it, you're looking for mixed wine. You're not just looking for the one that come as Bible knowledge. You're looking for the one that come as inspiration. You're looking for the one that come as revelation. You're looking for the one that come—you understand me? What has been mixed? What has been mixed? Not just flesh and blood. Jesus said, "For Peter, flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father." Something that has been mixed. It has been mixed. He said they go for mixed wine. You go for what has been mixed. You are seeking what is mixed. You go after wine. They do exploit in the negative way. When you go after the spirit, when you go after the word of faith, what will you have? It will not be woes. It will be joy. "Who has sorrow?" Those who go for wine. Peace, miracles, exploit. He says, "Who has contention in negative way? But your own will be in the positive way. Who are those? Those who have exploit. Who are those who can have good report? Who are those who can conquer nation? Who are those who can conquer sickness? Who are those who can conquer failure? Who are those who can take kingdom? Who are those who can take nation? Who are those who can conquer barrenness? Who are those who can conquer it?" It's not just anybody. That's what he's saying. "Who has contention? Who has woe? Who has this? Who are those who do exploit?" When they go after wine, they do exploit in the negative way. When you go after being filled with mixed wine, a wine that you linger there, you linger, you linger, until you don't just linger, you are also seeking mixed wine. Oh, you take it, you take the spirit. You are taking it in. You are taking it in. What happens? Out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth will speak. Your mouth will speak. So it is not just magic. It's not just, "I feel like speaking the word of faith." No, it's not just what you feel like doing. It's not what you feel like doing. It's what you deliberately go after. You go after it. You are not just there by understanding. You are also there seeking revelation. You are seeking encounter. You go there deliberately because you want to hear. And as you hear, so you speak. As you are looking at it, you're looking for mixed wine. Father, we thank you for this evening. Our God, we give you glory. Our God, we give you honor. Our God, we appreciate you. Oh, Holy Spirit, set our life ablaze. Set our heart ablaze. Peter became filled and he spoke, and three thousand were converted in one sermon because he was filled. He spoke out of an infilling. He spoke out of the abundance of the heart. Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus, let your fire burn in our soul in the name of Jesus. Thank you, Eternal Father. Blessed be your holy name, our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Brethren, let's share the grace together. We'll meet by the grace of God next week by His mercies. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever more. Amen. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen. This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission hit. Our regular activities are discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM; adolescents and singles club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; family life seminars, regular school outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counsel, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the first bridge, Ilere community, opposite Dorejoy filling station along Ijede Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 080-33-86-11-36, 070-33-61-38-48. God bless you all.