Speaker 1: And take hold of your Bibles, lift them up, wave them around, make Jesus glad, the devil mad.
Speaker 1: That's our custom around here.
Speaker 1: And let's say this together say heavenly Father, I've tuned in tonight with a heart that's hungry for more of you, I'm hungry to increase my knowledge of you, and so, therefore, I must know more of the Word, I must know you by your Word, and tonight I'll receive exactly what I need in Jesus' day Amen, amen, amen.
Speaker 1: Let's turn on our Bibles, please, to Matthew, chapter 9.
Speaker 1: And we'll read a couple of verses there Matthew 9, verse 27.
Speaker 1: And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying and saying Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
Speaker 1: And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him and Jesus saith unto them believe ye that I'm able to do this.
Speaker 1: And they said unto him yea Lord.
Speaker 1: They didn't elaborate the yea Lord.
Speaker 1: And then he touched their eyes, saying according to your faith, be it unto you.
Speaker 1: And their eyes were opened and Jesus straightly charged them saying see that no man know it, but they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.
Speaker 1: I want you to look and pay particular attention to verse 29.
Speaker 1: Jesus said after he touched their eyes according to your faith, be it unto you.
Speaker 1: And so that's the title of this message tonight.
Speaker 1: I don't do sermons, I do messages, and this message is entitled according to your faith, not according to mama's faith or anybody else's faith.
Speaker 1: It's according to your faith.
Speaker 1: It's also according to your faith, not your tears, not your need, not the greatness of the need.
Speaker 1: It's according to what you're believing in your heart and speaking with your mouth.
Speaker 1: And so back.
Speaker 1: I guess it was December of 2003,.
Speaker 1: We had just poured the slab on our lobby, which is now our lobby of the church.
Speaker 1: We had, I think, five slabs to pour for the phase one of this building and while they were, while they were out there finishing the concrete, god spoke to me.
Speaker 1: He said there's a dearth of the word.
Speaker 1: A dearth is an Old Testament word, that it means famine.
Speaker 1: Really, we could say, in modern terminology, scarcity.
Speaker 1: There's a scarcity, scarcity, there's an interruption in our supply chain, a dearth of the word.
Speaker 1: And and of course I asked the Lord how can that be?
Speaker 1: There's more churches than ever before.
Speaker 1: I know not all of them are preaching the word.
Speaker 1: I know not all of them are doing everything that they should be doing.
Speaker 1: But how could there be a famine, how could there be a scarcity of the word?
Speaker 1: He said your children don't know what you know.
Speaker 1: And he wasn't talking about my physical children, but he was talking about the next generation.
Speaker 1: I think we've come into a place right now where we can see the huge generation gap.
Speaker 1: There was a generation gap in every generation.
Speaker 1: Between my generation was the baby boomers, against what has been later called the greatest generation, the World War II vets.
Speaker 1: I saw where some of the last World War II vets that that were in the Normandy invasion you know, here they are a hundred years old plus going back to visit Normandy.
Speaker 1: You know they're not going to last much longer, they're dying off.
Speaker 1: They're called the greatest generation.
Speaker 1: Well, there was a generation gap between those generations and successive generations.
Speaker 1: But what God was saying was because of a lack of the word, because of the scarcity of preaching the word, that there was going to be a departure from the faith.
Speaker 1: You know, when there's a dearth of the word, it answers the question where where's the victory?
Speaker 1: It answers the question why are there no miracles?
Speaker 1: It's because there's no word being preached.
Speaker 1: And if it's not preached, then it can't be received and activated by faith.
Speaker 1: So the Romans 117 says that just shall live by faith.
Speaker 1: And really, when you read that verse in Romans, it's quoting Habakkuk 214 that says by the just shall live by their faith, not by somebody else's faith, not, you know, you can't live by mama's faith, you can't live by by, you know, pastures, faith or anything else.
Speaker 1: You've got to develop your own faith.
Speaker 1: So you know, when I, when I read my Bible, I see that Jesus was always looking for faith and measuring it.
Speaker 1: You know he would.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 1: He said how is it that you have no faith?
Speaker 1: He said to Peter oh, ye of little faith.
Speaker 1: And and then about the, the syrophilation woman, he said old woman, great is thy faith.
Speaker 1: She was a Gentile.
Speaker 1: And then about the centurion, which we're going to share, about him tonight too, he said I have not found so great a faith.
Speaker 1: No, not in Israel.
Speaker 1: And again, he was a Gentile.
Speaker 1: So it was kind of an indictment against Israel because of all the people that ought to have had faith.
Speaker 1: It should have been God's people.
Speaker 1: And so in Luke 18, jesus said when the Son of man cometh he's talking about the second coming will he find faith on the earth.
Speaker 1: Every time I read that verse I said, yes, if I've got anything to say about it, we're you're going to find some faith right here at glorious way church.
Speaker 1: That's why I preach on faith on a regular basis.
Speaker 1: Never get tired of preaching faith.
Speaker 1: So please don't get tired of listening to messages.
Speaker 1: They're messages, they're to remind you, they're to to, to feed you.
Speaker 1: You know, if you've already heard this before, then it's water for what you've already heard, and if it's something you haven't heard quite this way, then it's seed that will grow and produce in your life.
Speaker 1: So in the gospels which I'm I'm preaching here out of the gospels, here, out of Matthew, there are 19 recorded healing miracles in the gospels, 12 of which mentioned the faith of the recipient.
Speaker 1: So it must be pretty important.
Speaker 1: You know, jesus did heal people independent of their faith.
Speaker 1: But it, that would be a gift of the spirit, but most of the most of the and so you ought to major I learned this from Pastor Osteen and also brother Hagan.
Speaker 1: You know, major on what the Bible majors on and minor what it minors on.
Speaker 1: I mean, some people take one little verse and try to build an entire church out of it.
Speaker 1: You know, let's, let's stick with the main thing.
Speaker 1: The main thing is is that we need miracles, and faith is the way to get them.
Speaker 1: And so, you know, here in this same chapter, he it says, here in verse 35, we were Matthew nine.
Speaker 1: It says Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
Speaker 1: Just think about that.
Speaker 1: Nothing too hard for the Lord.
Speaker 1: Well, he did that because he was Jesus.
Speaker 1: Well, no, actually he didn't do it because he was Jesus.
Speaker 1: He did it because people believed.
Speaker 1: See, he couldn't just do everything unilaterally.
Speaker 1: And his own hometown, he could, there do no mighty work.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because of their unbelief, and he marveled at their unbelief in his own hometown.
Speaker 1: But the remedy to unbelief is teaching.
Speaker 1: And then you also need some preaching, which preaching is just declaration, declaring the truth.
Speaker 1: And then, of course, then he healed.
Speaker 1: And so there was an atmosphere I wanted you to see.
Speaker 1: There was an atmosphere of faith created by Jesus so that people could believe.
Speaker 1: That's what's happening right here tonight, even though it's live stream.
Speaker 1: There could be an atmosphere of faith right there where you're watching.
Speaker 1: We've got some amen corners here tonight and so they're receiving too.
Speaker 1: Amen, there's an atmosphere of faith here in the room.
Speaker 1: So he healed every manner of sickness.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's nothing too hard, there's no kind of disease, every manner of sickness.
Speaker 1: One gospel says I'll tell you.
Speaker 1: The world needs this now.
Speaker 1: We need the preaching of the Word and we need people to develop their faith in the church.
Speaker 1: I want to look today at three examples and I want to give you three, basically, levels of faith and kind of just check along what like a spiritual growth, what it would look like.
Speaker 1: You know, like when you, when you've got a child, you know you kind of mark when they start to walk, you know.
Speaker 1: And then you start.
Speaker 1: You get a mark when they start to talk, you start to mark when they start school.
Speaker 1: You mark all these different data points when a child is growing up.
Speaker 1: And I'm just taking three of these.
Speaker 1: But we all start with the same level of faith and that is the faith it took for us to get saved.
Speaker 1: The Bible says in Romans 12, three how God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Speaker 1: What was that measure?
Speaker 1: The measure that was needed to get saved originally, and that's what we all start off with.
Speaker 1: We all have faith.
Speaker 1: It's in there, it hasn't left.
Speaker 1: It hasn't, you know, evaporated.
Speaker 1: You may not be using it, but the thing about faith that Jesus always encouraged people to do is to grow in faith.
Speaker 1: That's, that's healthy and just like a child.
Speaker 1: I mean, if a child is, if ceases growing, then there must be something wrong.
Speaker 1: You see a child that just freezes at a certain age and a certain development and you got to investigate what's wrong.
Speaker 1: What's the same with with spiritual growth.
Speaker 1: We many times I've seen in 30, this I'm in my 35th year of ministry and I've seen people just kind of stagnate at one level.
Speaker 1: They they get used to functioning, they live their life by a certain faith that they're comfortable with and they don't really try to to press forward and get into the next level and by doing that they really are not treading water, they're going backwards.
Speaker 1: See, there's in the spirit realm.
Speaker 1: You can't tread water.
Speaker 1: You know you jump in the swimming pool and you're out there.
Speaker 1: You're not swimming, but you're just kind of treading water.
Speaker 1: You're just not going down, you're not.
Speaker 1: You know you're not swimming, you're not going anywhere, but you're just treading water.
Speaker 1: Well, you can't do that.
Speaker 1: In the spirit realm.
Speaker 1: You're either going up or going down.
Speaker 1: So I want to give you three levels tonight and see if you can identify where you might be, and not in a condemnatory way.
Speaker 1: We don't condemn children for being children.
Speaker 1: We don't condemn anybody for anything.
Speaker 1: What we want to do is challenge you to move, keep moving in your faith to the next level.
Speaker 1: And so the first level that I see is also in this chapter, chapter nine, and it's here in this chapter.
Speaker 1: It's called he's called a ruler, but in Mark he's called J Iris.
Speaker 1: J Iris's daughter was sick, and so let's pick it up here in verse verse 18.
Speaker 1: While Jesus spoke these things, behold, there came a certain router and of course we know from Mark it is J Iris and worshiped him, saying my daughter is even now dead, but come and lay your hand on her and she shall live.
Speaker 1: And Mark said she was sick unto death.
Speaker 1: She wasn't yet dead, See.
Speaker 1: So there's a little.
Speaker 1: That's what I love about the gospels is they have a different little twist on it.
Speaker 1: Really was true, she was dead.
Speaker 1: He just didn't know it at that time.
Speaker 1: He didn't know that she was dead.
Speaker 1: Some people came and told him before they got very far, and so notice what he said.
Speaker 1: He said.
Speaker 1: But come and lay your hand upon her and she shall live.
Speaker 1: So you can locate people and where their level of faith is, where their spiritual development or their faith development is, by what they say.
Speaker 1: Where was his faith?
Speaker 1: His faith was in Jesus coming to touch his daughter.
Speaker 1: Come to my house, touch her and she shall live.
Speaker 1: Didn't say he might live, I said she shall live.
Speaker 1: See how I mean.
Speaker 1: He's absolutely confirmed, he's convinced that Jesus will raise his daughter.
Speaker 1: And so that first level that I'm talking about is the level that says Jesus touch me, jesus touch me, or Jesus come pray personally for me.
Speaker 1: Or I'm reminded in James five, 14 is anyone sick among you, let him call for the elders of the church and they shall anoint him with oil and the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith shall save the sick and the Lord will raise him up.
Speaker 1: So that's in there, because some people they just need help, they can't pray for themselves, they can't get healed on their own faith, and so they have to ask somebody else to pray for them, and so the elders actually come to their house and anoint them with oil and they feel the oil on their forehead.
Speaker 1: Does the oil do anything?
Speaker 1: No, there's nothing in the oil.
Speaker 1: It's not holy oil, it's just oil.
Speaker 1: I've used motor oil, you know.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter what oil I mean, I'll say, lord, just use this, make, mark this oil like the blood of Jesus.
Speaker 1: If I wanted you know, sometimes I don't even have time to do that, I just find some oil If that's their level of faith, I'm going to meet them at the level of faith.
Speaker 1: Jesus never did say oh I'm sorry, blind men, y'all don't have enough faith here, I can't deal with you.
Speaker 1: You come back after you've been to Bible school.
Speaker 1: No, he always met, met people at the level of their faith.
Speaker 1: So it again, it's not criticism.
Speaker 1: If that's where you are recognized, where you are, not as a matter of criticism but as a matter of a data point that says, okay, I can do more, I can believe in a greater fashion and start to move toward that direction.
Speaker 1: So if you're the type of believer that needs everyone to pray for you and you don't have confidence in your own praying or your own standing, then you, you, you could stand to to, to move forward into the next level of faith.
Speaker 1: So I'll tell you what his faith did do.
Speaker 1: His faith, jairus.
Speaker 1: His faith stopped Jesus in his tracks and made him stand still and hear his request, see.
Speaker 1: So I mean you know, whenever, whenever you're asking God for help, he's going to, he's listening, and he was willing to stop everything he was doing and come to his house, which he started on that journey toward his house.
Speaker 1: And then there was a delay right in the middle of him starting his journey toward this man's house, there was a delay.
Speaker 1: And what was the delay?
Speaker 1: The woman with the issue of blood.
Speaker 1: And it talks about that verse 20.
Speaker 1: See, this is all in one chapter and this is really how I got this message.
Speaker 1: I just read my Bible one day and it just opened up to me about the spiritual indicators of spiritual growth and faith in this one chapter.
Speaker 1: That's where this message came from.
Speaker 1: It just came from God speaking to me about the levels of locating where people are in their faith.
Speaker 1: And to behold, a woman who was diseased with an issue of blood 12 years came behind him and touched the hem of his garment.
Speaker 1: For she said within herself and she kept saying.
Speaker 1: And the Hebrew says she kept on saying within herself if I may, but touch his garment, I shall behold.
Speaker 1: Why did he touch the hem of his garment?
Speaker 1: Because he was crowded about with so many people and Mark, chapter of in the five it talks about there were thronging him.
Speaker 1: So the crowd was so thick he she had to crawl on her hands and knees to get to him and she could tell it was his hem of his garment because rabbis had a certain color, blue, around the hem of their garment.
Speaker 1: And she tugged on that garment and in Mark it says Jesus said who touched me?
Speaker 1: What do you mean, master?
Speaker 1: People are all thronging.
Speaker 1: You know, this pig crowded and you're saying who touched me?
Speaker 1: He said, no, somebody touched me.
Speaker 1: I felt virtue go out of me, I felt power go out of me.
Speaker 1: She made a demand on his anointing.
Speaker 1: So, anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Speaker 1: All that happened.
Speaker 1: And then he found out who it was and she told him all the and immediately she was healed of that plague.
Speaker 1: All that time, all that took time.
Speaker 1: All that took time.
Speaker 1: And in the meeting, you know, in that whole idea, his faith was wavering.
Speaker 1: Let's hold our place right there and Matthew, go back to Mark, because I believe Mark tells it a little better.
Speaker 1: That's another reason why I love.
Speaker 1: All four gospels.
Speaker 1: Many of them have the same miracle, but they're written a little different and some have details, the others don't.
Speaker 1: Well, I don't understand why they're not perfectly Well.
Speaker 1: You know you have different individuals writing them.
Speaker 1: They were all inspired of the Holy Ghost.
Speaker 1: Thank God that you know you can put them all together and you can get the whole picture.
Speaker 1: Let's look at Mark four, mark five, excuse me, and so the woman with the issue of blood.
Speaker 1: He's dealing with her and while he gets spake talking to the woman with the issue of blood and doing all of that, there came from the rooter of the synagogue's house, certain, which said thy daughter is dead.
Speaker 1: Why trouble us, thou, the master, any further?
Speaker 1: Verse 36.
Speaker 1: And as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, what was that word?
Speaker 1: It was a bad report.
Speaker 1: I mean, he first was believing for her to be healed.
Speaker 1: If you will just lay your hands on my daughter, she will be healed.
Speaker 1: Notice the difference in the two gospels.
Speaker 1: It doesn't change the truth.
Speaker 1: So he had faith for her to be healed, but now he realizes she's dead.
Speaker 1: The devil is shouting in his ears it's too late.
Speaker 1: The devil ever told you it was too late.
Speaker 1: That's what he was telling Jairus.
Speaker 1: And as soon as Jesus heard the word, this bad report, that was spoken.
Speaker 1: He said under the ruler of the synagogue Jairus, be not afraid, only believe.
Speaker 1: We have a song that we sing, only believe.
Speaker 1: And he didn't allow anybody to follow him except Peter James and John, the brother of James.
Speaker 1: And when they came to the house, the ruler of the synagogue, he sees all these people and so all she.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna paraphrase now I quit reading every board of it.
Speaker 1: But they were all gathered around the mourners, but they really weren't mourning, they were just showing out.
Speaker 1: And he said oh, just why you make all this racket?
Speaker 1: She's not dead, she's only asleep.
Speaker 1: And they laughed him to scorn.
Speaker 1: So they went from crying to laughing.
Speaker 1: See, that's how sincere they were.
Speaker 1: They were just a bunch of people that needed to be driven out with whips and he did put them out.
Speaker 1: He said get them out of here.
Speaker 1: And he only let the father and Peter James and John to go in with him to the daughter.
Speaker 1: And he spoke to her and said Talitha kumi, in other words, daughter arise, or kumi means wake up.
Speaker 1: That's what God told me.
Speaker 1: He said tell the church kumi, wake up, and it's time to wake up, isn't it?
Speaker 1: And straightway, verse 42, the damsel rose and walked, for she was of the age of 12 years, and they were astonished, with a great astonishment, and he charged them straightly that no man should know it.
Speaker 1: Why does he keep saying don't tell anybody?
Speaker 1: Because he had done these miracles in this area and they didn't accept him.
Speaker 1: So he didn't wanna give them any more miracles to talk about, because he didn't wanna give them a chance to mock anymore.
Speaker 1: They only had the right to see his miracles one time, and that's what happened in Bethsaida and Capernaum.
Speaker 1: He did so many miracles there.
Speaker 1: In fact he said about Capernaum, he said if Sodom and Gomorrah had had the miracles that you've seen, they would have long ago repented in sack cloth and ashes.
Speaker 1: That tells me the LGBTQ.
Speaker 1: They need to see miracles.
Speaker 1: We keep talking about what they're doing in our schools and what they're doing in our society.
Speaker 1: The church ought to be having the supernatural.
Speaker 1: The church ought to be having miracles of deliverance.
Speaker 1: Amen, that's the answer to it.
Speaker 1: And so you could say Jesus told Jairus he says well, you had faith to his faith had to go from healing her to raising her.
Speaker 1: Just think about that he had to trust Jesus to raise his daughter from the dead.
Speaker 1: He went from trusting him to heal her.
Speaker 1: Then he said be not afraid, only believe.
Speaker 1: Only believe, said Lord.
Speaker 1: I believe you can raise her from the dead.
Speaker 1: So he just focused on that.
Speaker 1: When they got there, he raised her from the dead.
Speaker 1: He said, okay, I raised her and you feed her, give her something to eat.
Speaker 1: She's hungry, all right.
Speaker 1: So that's.
Speaker 1: Level number one is Jesus, come to my house, touch me, come, pray for me.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna call a prayer line.
Speaker 1: You do the praying and, oh, thank you for praying for me.
Speaker 1: Oh, thank you.
Speaker 1: You gotta see, you gotta learn how to pray for yourself.
Speaker 1: You've gotta learn that your prayers avail much.
Speaker 1: When you pray in the name of Jesus, god hears you.
Speaker 1: And there's some things you don't even need to pray for.
Speaker 1: You don't need to pray for healing, for instance.
Speaker 1: Healing's already been done.
Speaker 1: Healing belongs to you.
Speaker 1: If you come to this church long enough, I'll get that into you.
Speaker 1: It's not wrong to be in stage one.
Speaker 1: It's wrong to stay in stage one when you know better.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm preaching this amen, let's graduate up to the next level.
Speaker 1: Let's come out of kindergarten and get up into, maybe, junior high.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right.
Speaker 1: And then the second one is the woman with the issue of blood, and I do think that Mark gives us a little more detail than Matthew doesn't, and it says here in verse 25, we're still in Mark.
Speaker 1: Now We'll talk about the second level of your faith level.
Speaker 1: A certain woman had an issue of blood 12 years, suffered Many things of many physicians, and all that she had was nothing better, but rather grew worse when she had heard of Jesus.
Speaker 1: See, what must she have heard when?
Speaker 1: She must have heard that he was a healer.
Speaker 1: She must have heard that he had healed all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
Speaker 1: She had to base her faith on something, and she based it on what she heard about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Don't ever think that what you can tell people about Jesus is minimal.
Speaker 1: I just think we would love to know how she heard about him, what person told her about Jesus?
Speaker 1: Because that's a pretty important person.
Speaker 1: You can be a real important person in somebody's life, just telling them about Jesus, telling them about the Word of God, telling them about what happened to you Testified.
Speaker 1: And so, when she had heard of Jesus.
Speaker 1: She came in the press behind and touched his garment because she said, she said over and over, she continually said that's the amplified if I may touch, but his clothes I shall be whole.
Speaker 1: I shall be whole.
Speaker 1: All I've got to do is get there and touch him and I shall be whole.
Speaker 1: Why is there an if there?
Speaker 1: Well, the if is because, number one she's weak, bleeding for 12 years, no telling what kind of other diseases she had from the anemia and the weakness of her flesh.
Speaker 1: And the way they treated people back then was they would cut you to bleed you more.
Speaker 1: That was a common way to doctor people was to cut them and bleed them.
Speaker 1: They didn't know science then.
Speaker 1: They didn't know how to treat the sick, and so she'd spent all of her money.
Speaker 1: They knew how to charge people money.
Speaker 1: She spent all of it.
Speaker 1: And so what did she do?
Speaker 1: She made a demand on his anointing by faith.
Speaker 1: She touched the hem of his garment.
Speaker 1: He felt virtue go out of her, out of him.
Speaker 1: She felt that she was healed of that plague.
Speaker 1: And then he said who touched me?
Speaker 1: And then he found out it was her.
Speaker 1: And then she told him all the truth.
Speaker 1: And verse 32, he looked around to see her that had done this thing.
Speaker 1: The woman fearing and trembling, knowing that was what was done in her.
Speaker 1: See, she knew it.
Speaker 1: She knew she was healed.
Speaker 1: She felt that power come into her.
Speaker 1: He felt that power go out of him.
Speaker 1: See, that's a transfer of the anointing.
Speaker 1: And how does it flow from one place to the other?
Speaker 1: That's a switch of faith was turned on.
Speaker 1: She turned on the switch of faith and power flowed, just like when we turn those lights on the night.
Speaker 1: Somebody turned the switch on, amen.
Speaker 1: And so she told him all the truth and he said, under her daughter my goodness and my power has made you whole, go in peace.
Speaker 1: No, he didn't say that, he didn't take it.
Speaker 1: He took no credit for it.
Speaker 1: He said y'all, this is your lucky day.
Speaker 1: You happen to catch the anointing.
Speaker 1: I'm the anointed one.
Speaker 1: I'm sent from heaven to heal people.
Speaker 1: No, he didn't take any credit.
Speaker 1: He said, daughter, thy faith have made thee whole, go in peace and be whole of thy plague.
Speaker 1: So let's examine her level of faith.
Speaker 1: She had a level of faith like this I'll touch Jesus.
Speaker 1: I'll touch Jesus.
Speaker 1: See, it's not Jesus coming.
Speaker 1: Touch me, jesus.
Speaker 1: Come and pray for me, this level of faith.
Speaker 1: Number two is I'll go wherever I have to go to receive from the anointing.
Speaker 1: In other words, I'll go to glorious way church or any other church that prays for the sick.
Speaker 1: I might not even feel like driving over there it's an hour from my house but I'm going to go because I'm desperate for healing or I'm desperate for whatever it is that I need, and I'm going to get there and I know that I'll have some help.
Speaker 1: I've had people tell me, man, I tell you what.
Speaker 1: I just knew if I could get to church, I'd be okay.
Speaker 1: See, what a wonderful way to think.
Speaker 1: But yet there's another way to think.
Speaker 1: Beyond that it's better than the other way where if somebody's got to come to your house, somebody has to visit you or somebody has to spend time with you on the telephone to kind of prop you up and say oh, little darling, it's going to be okay.
Speaker 1: Just keep trusting the Lord, let me pray for you.
Speaker 1: Na-da-da-da-da.
Speaker 1: They pray and all that, and it's a good prayer and all that.
Speaker 1: But all the person on the receiving end can do is just thank the Lord.
Speaker 1: Well, that's good.
Speaker 1: That's one level.
Speaker 1: Let's move to the second level where you say I'm going to get to where I'm going to go to the church.
Speaker 1: See Jesus, the head of the church.
Speaker 1: He's not here, but the church body is here.
Speaker 1: There's hands here.
Speaker 1: His hands are here, his feet are here.
Speaker 1: Amen, we can help you step on the devil.
Speaker 1: We can agree with you.
Speaker 1: See, you get into that place where you're taking more of the responsibility.
Speaker 1: And so this woman with the issue of blood, she kept on saying, and then she acted on her face.
Speaker 1: She came to Jesus and she had to overcome a lot to get there.
Speaker 1: Well, sometimes I've seen people just seem like they live around the corner and they're facing all kind of health issues and then never show up at church.
Speaker 1: They never came up to the altar for prayer.
Speaker 1: They never let us know anything.
Speaker 1: We never did hear anything about it till they were gone or till they died or close to death or stage four or whatever.
Speaker 1: Listen, you've got a church, just take advantage.
Speaker 1: If you are lacking in some area of faith, well, you know what?
Speaker 1: We'll get a lot along beside you and we'll help you get the victory, amen.
Speaker 1: So her faith made a demand on the anointing and she heard these words your faith has made the whole and say that wasn't just that the hemorrhage stopped.
Speaker 1: It means all the associated issues, the health issues.
Speaker 1: I don't know what all health issues come with.
Speaker 1: You know anemia?
Speaker 1: Obviously she had that.
Speaker 1: There's no telling what organs were damaged because of the lack of blood supply, but she was made whole.
Speaker 1: I kind of believe that she was made whole financially because she spent all of her living on doctors.
Speaker 1: I believe God did a complete work.
Speaker 1: She was made whole.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah, come on, let's lift our hands.
Speaker 1: Lord, we thank you that your anointing will destroy the yoke of bondage.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: So Jesus, touch me.
Speaker 1: Number one, number two I'll touch Jesus, I'll go to church and get healed.
Speaker 1: And then the last one is the centurion.
Speaker 1: So we can go back to Matthew, chapter eight.
Speaker 1: We were in Matthew nine.
Speaker 1: Let's go to Matthew eight and I'll give you the third.
Speaker 1: And there's other stages in between these, but these are the three major ones that are that were contained the day that I got this message and I got this because when I get things like this I know it's for the church.
Speaker 1: So I I sat down and and and organized my message the way that I'm giving it to you tonight.
Speaker 1: So, matthew eight, five, when Jesus was entered into Capernaum see, again, in the evil city, a city where God you were Jesus did all kinds of miracles and yet they didn't repent, they didn't turn, they clung to their wickedness.
Speaker 1: He went to into Capernaum.
Speaker 1: There came unto him a centurion, a Roman soldier, again a Gentile, beseeching him and saying Lord, my servant, life at home, sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
Speaker 1: And Jesus said unto him I'll come and heal him.
Speaker 1: See, jesus, you're, you're making a demand.
Speaker 1: You want me to come.
Speaker 1: I'll come and heal him, just like a Jairus, I'll come and heal him.
Speaker 1: And centurion answered, said Lord, I'm not worthy that you should come under my roof, but just speak the word.
Speaker 1: Only in my servant shall be healed, because I'm a man under authority, having soldiers under me.
Speaker 1: And I say to this man go, and he go with and come, and he cometh and do this, and he doeth it.
Speaker 1: And when Jesus heard it, he marveled.
Speaker 1: And he said unto them that followed, verily.
Speaker 1: I say unto you, I have not found so great faith.
Speaker 1: No, not in Israel.
Speaker 1: See, that's kind of a poke in the eye to the Pharisees.
Speaker 1: He's bragging on a Gentile.
Speaker 1: They call the Romans dogs.
Speaker 1: He's saying the dogs have got more faith than you do, don't you love?
Speaker 1: I love his style, I love the way Jesus handles things like that.
Speaker 1: And so he said I have not found so great faith.
Speaker 1: See, there again he's looking for faith.
Speaker 1: And he measured.
Speaker 1: He said I have found so great of faith?
Speaker 1: No, not in Israel.
Speaker 1: And then he started bragging on them and saying man, this is going to be famous.
Speaker 1: People are going to come from everywhere to hear about this type of faith.
Speaker 1: And then let's skip down to verse 13.
Speaker 1: And Jesus said unto the centurion go thy way and as thou hast believed, so be it unto thee.
Speaker 1: And his servant was healed that self same hour.
Speaker 1: Praise God.
Speaker 1: And so what, what?
Speaker 1: What is this level?
Speaker 1: What level of faith is this that thrilled Jesus, that made him marvel?
Speaker 1: I have another message.
Speaker 1: What?
Speaker 1: When Jesus marveled, you know, it's only twice in there, and once was his hometown.
Speaker 1: He marveled at their unbelief, and the other one was right here when he marveled at the faith of a Gentile.
Speaker 1: And so this more he said, this level is, I believe I receive on the authority of God's word.
Speaker 1: You see, the centurion says look, I'm a man under authority, that's, you know, in order for my orders to be obeyed.
Speaker 1: I have to obey orders.
Speaker 1: See, he's over a hundred Roman soldiers, so he is a guy that is.
Speaker 1: You know, he's like a general.
Speaker 1: I mean, he, you know, a centurion has got to be.
Speaker 1: He's a mean motor scooter, you know, to be in charge of a hundred legionnaires.
Speaker 1: And and so he said, because I am a man under authority, I know that my orders are obeyed and I recognize that you couldn't do what you're doing unless God sent you.
Speaker 1: You must be under the.
Speaker 1: He didn't say all this, but this is indicated in what he was saying.
Speaker 1: He understands the line of authority and he said I'm willing for you just to speak that word of healing.
Speaker 1: That's all I need is for you to speak it.
Speaker 1: I know it'll get done.
Speaker 1: Oh, I mean that just delighted.
Speaker 1: So when you can just trust God's word for what it says and believe you receive it, when you find it and you say it and you thank God for it and you don't really need anybody on me If you want somebody to agree with you.
Speaker 1: You're not agreeing in prayer, you're agreeing.
Speaker 1: Just agree with me that I'm healed, based on 1 Peter 2, 24.
Speaker 1: I've got this report from the doctor today and I'm just believing that I am healed, no matter what he says.
Speaker 1: I agree with you.
Speaker 1: Brother.
Speaker 1: You know, if you want, you want to start out getting people to agree with you according to Matthew 18, 19,.
Speaker 1: That's fine.
Speaker 1: But when you get thrilled with the word, the word of work for you, when you get thrilled with knowing that what the word says, that is the supreme authority, that's what God himself said, and you can put that in the bank.
Speaker 1: You don't have to have a whole lot of intermediaries and so, as you have believed, so be it unto you, according to your faith.
Speaker 1: Say again it's according to your faith.
Speaker 1: It's not according to my faith, mama's faith, somebody else's faith.
Speaker 1: It's your faith and you're in charge of your faith.
Speaker 1: You're in charge of whether you grow in faith or not.
Speaker 1: It's scriptural to grow and, as I said before, you can't you know if you don't, if you start treading water, you're not really treading water, you're really going under.
Speaker 1: One example that I read recently to brother Hagan tells a testimony of his sister and she was 50 years old and had cancer.
Speaker 1: So he went to the Lord about it.
Speaker 1: She's a Christian.
Speaker 1: He prayed for her and God said okay, you're asking me, I'll heal her, I'll give her five more years.
Speaker 1: And he said, after that she's going to have to do something herself.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm healing her on your faith, in other words, and so I'm going to give her five more years.
Speaker 1: Well, she's just 50.
Speaker 1: And when God said five more years, that tells you something.
Speaker 1: That tells you that she's got something that's got to get corrected.
Speaker 1: That's not a full life.
Speaker 1: And so she was healed.
Speaker 1: And then, about three years later, brother Hagan started getting an unction that she was going to get cancer again and he started praying.
Speaker 1: And he started and he would even fast and pray and finally she's 55, she got a different cancer.
Speaker 1: It was unrelated to the other cancer that she had because she was completely healed of that.
Speaker 1: This was a totally different cancer, different part of the body, and she had that cancer.
Speaker 1: So brother Hagan started fasting and praying for her and trying to.
Speaker 1: You know this before he knew.
Speaker 1: See, these are the things that he learned.
Speaker 1: You know that we get the benefit of.
Speaker 1: You know you've heard me say yeah, there's no point in fasting and praying for healing.
Speaker 1: That's a waste of time, that's not how you get healed.
Speaker 1: But anyway, so he did.
Speaker 1: He was trying to get her healed, trying to put her over the finish line and God said no, nope.
Speaker 1: He said you know she, I told you five years ago I gave her five years and it's been five years but she hadn't done one thing.
Speaker 1: She taught Sunday school in the full gospel church she's built with a holy ghost speaks in other tongues.
Speaker 1: But see, just because of that doesn't mean that you've done anything with your faith.
Speaker 1: And she was one that was always leaving her faith thing to other people.
Speaker 1: She's always leaning on other people's prayers, trying to get her brother to pray.
Speaker 1: Far Said, you know, she lives in a city where you're on the radio and she's never listened to one radio program if yours, she's never read one book of yours and she's never come to one meeting of yours.
Speaker 1: She has done nothing.
Speaker 1: This is God talking to brother and sister.
Speaker 1: He said she has done nothing to grow her faith since I was healed her the last time and she needed to do something.
Speaker 1: She didn't do it.
Speaker 1: I'm not healing her, she can't, it won't happen.
Speaker 1: She died.
Speaker 1: And so people said well, you know she, god, just you know, god, you know, called her home.
Speaker 1: No, god didn't call her home.
Speaker 1: The devil killed her and she let him See she did not develop her faith along the lines that I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: She got stuck in number one.
Speaker 1: She was stuck with a number one.
Speaker 1: Let my brother pray for me.
Speaker 1: My brother, brother, you pray for me.
Speaker 1: You do all the heavy lifting, you do all the believing, all the confessing, I'll just get the benefit.
Speaker 1: No, you can't do that.
Speaker 1: Don't get stuck in number one.
Speaker 1: You know, keep moving up and according to your faith, it'll be unto you, amen.
Speaker 1: According to your, everybody say according to my faith, it's done unto me, amen.
Speaker 1: I trust you got something out of this.
Speaker 1: Come on, let's lift our hands and receive Hallelujah.
Speaker 1: Thank God for the word of God.