SPEAKER_00: I just want to preach a message entitled Faith to Cross Over.
SPEAKER_00: Faith to Cross Over.
SPEAKER_00: And so I know that the service has been going on and we've kind of taken enough time as, but let's just go ahead and and and open in prayer and pray again.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we just thank you for your presence that's been here this whole time.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, we just thank you that we have ears that are open, spiritual ears, and hearts that are open to you.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Father, we just thank you for the revelation of your word.
SPEAKER_00: And as we hear your word, we're not, it's not just going in one ear and out the other, but we're doers of the word.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, uh, we know that this is the year of the new, and that you have new things in store for each and every one of us, and we're grabbing a hold of the new.
SPEAKER_00: Just like Mark 11, 22 tells us to do, we have your kind of faith.
SPEAKER_00: We have the God kind of faith on the inside, and we have the same spirit of faith, and that the we're men and women of faith.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Father, I just thank you that the pages of your word tonight uh reflect back uh your plan and your and your uh purpose that you have for each and every one of us in Jesus' name, amen.
SPEAKER_00: So faith to cross over.
SPEAKER_00: Because there's transition in everyone's life, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And there's seasons, right?
SPEAKER_00: So I was gonna start on an Ecclesiastes 3, and we have the birds here to sing it.
SPEAKER_00: No, I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_00: To everything, there is a season, right?
SPEAKER_00: But to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.
SPEAKER_00: And so I won't go through all these, right?
SPEAKER_00: And the the whole, you know them, you've heard this song and this, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I know I I have my whole life, but uh there's a time of war and a time of peace.
SPEAKER_00: And we can pray for the peace of Israel, but we knew uh that it was time to take out Iran, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so uh, anyways, and so so Trump has done that, but um you can see the hand of God moving on this nation as we do that, because we're doing the right thing.
SPEAKER_00: It's good versus evil, and we have the victory, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so there's here on earth, there are earthly things.
SPEAKER_00: Earthly things have seasons.
SPEAKER_00: And I know uh, you know, for the weather, we live in Houston, so we don't really have seasons.
SPEAKER_00: We don't really, but you know, tonight it's gonna be really cold and it's supposed to be gusting above 35 miles an hour.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you got in your skimpy little bathing suit out there and you know, in your front of your house, wherever you live, and you start declaring, it's summer! It's there's not all your neighbors would think that you're crazy, and somebody would call the police, and you would probably end up in the loony bin, and and you don't want to do that.
SPEAKER_00: And so I think sometimes word of faith people, especially, uh, you know, we can have uh uh think that we have faith to change something that's God has already appointed a season for, and and and our faith is aimed in the wrong direction.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's it's our job to pick up on those signs that God has given us that the earth has seasons, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so every purpose has a time.
SPEAKER_00: And the only consistent thing that we have is God's word.
SPEAKER_00: And so we can pray God's word and we know that will come to pass, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because his word does not return void, but it goes and performs and it's faithful every time, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so um, you know, sometimes we just we hold on to things that are out of season.
SPEAKER_00: We hold we like our stuff, we hold on to stuff, and sometimes it's just God's moving you into a new season and embrace that new season, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so go ahead and cross over.
SPEAKER_00: I just I know that um recently I was gonna use Derek as an example.
SPEAKER_00: I hope this is okay, Derek.
SPEAKER_00: But you know, Derek went through some changes and he had to cross over.
SPEAKER_00: And um I just I I had this word for him, and and I uh I sent it to him, and it was just about bridges, about God was creating a bridge.
SPEAKER_00: So that, you know, without a bridge, it's a whole lot of trouble to cross a river, right?
SPEAKER_00: You know, ask you know, the people in the 1800s with all the wagons come coming across Texas and every river that they had to cross.
SPEAKER_00: They it was dangerous.
SPEAKER_00: But if God created you a bridge, it it bridges all of the trouble and all of the mess.
SPEAKER_00: And yet there was a little bit, a little bit of struggle that he had to go through, right?
SPEAKER_00: But but his faith was solid.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm telling you, the devil did everything that he could.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and he tried his best, but his best was not enough.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so sometimes God's calling us into a new season and and and to cross over, and we have to be willing, we have to be obedient to hear what he's his leading.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You think in the Bible, all of the crossing over that the children of Israel had to do.
SPEAKER_00: Um, they first they they went across the Red Sea, then they went across the desert, and then with Joshua, they there was the crossing of the Jordan, right?
SPEAKER_00: And they they had to cross the Jordan at flood stage.
SPEAKER_00: So that was a little bit of a problem, but but the power of God was there.
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, um sometimes that happens for us, like with Derek that I was using as an example, that was a flood stage moment.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but God, there it was a miracle, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so he shared that um uh um, anyways, in front, you know, in front of us.
SPEAKER_00: So uh, but but you know, sometimes we're tempted to to to question God or God, are you sure that this is the season that you want to do that?
SPEAKER_00: Are you sure?
SPEAKER_00: But God has a season, and if we'll just recognize that the wind's shifting and that his spirit is shifting and grab a hold of it and just obey and yield ourselves to it, man, he can he can turn things right around and we can go and we can cross right over, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so um, you know, my dad has been talking about in Joshua chapter three that we have we we haven't been this way heretofore.
SPEAKER_00: We hadn't been this way before, right?
SPEAKER_00: But but God.
SPEAKER_00: So every crossing over in the Bible has a narrow place where options are few and the pressure seems to be great, right?
SPEAKER_00: You can get into that uh that time, and and and why is the Holy Spirit enunciating this so much?
SPEAKER_00: We had pastor preach a message Wednesday night.
SPEAKER_00: Um I didn't write it down and it just escaped me, though.
SPEAKER_00: What was the name of it?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, keep on keeping on.
SPEAKER_00: And then James's message this morning, um, overcoming trouble.
SPEAKER_00: And now we're we're preaching about faith to cross over.
SPEAKER_00: And so there's an enunciation here of the Holy Spirit, and I kind of uh I was tempted to like sit on this message and maybe save it for another time, but the Holy Spirit's like, no, now is the time.
SPEAKER_00: And so He won He wants to enunciate that giving up is not an option, right?
SPEAKER_00: And we're not quitting, we're not fainting, we're reaping because we're not fainting.
SPEAKER_00: We shall reap if we faint not.
SPEAKER_00: And so we have to know how to navigate through the crossing.
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, like I prayed earlier over somebody, I was talking about, I think it was Razi, about his GPS being on.
SPEAKER_00: Turn the GPS on, you know, you're looking to God, you're not looking at circumstances, you're not looking in the natural, you have eyes of faith, and you're fully trusting God, and you're getting the direction from God.
SPEAKER_00: And and and you're not having to try this and try that and wake, wake up, oh man, if I maybe if I did this, and no, you're just you're being obedient and willing vessels, because you know, James said that this morning, you know, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Is hearing past tense, present tense, or future tense?
SPEAKER_00: It's now, it's present tense.
SPEAKER_00: And so God, you know, faith comes by hearing.
SPEAKER_00: We're we're hearing.
SPEAKER_00: God is speaking today.
SPEAKER_00: He has spoken, but he speaks to us through the word.
SPEAKER_00: So there's the logos of what he said, but then there's a rhema of what he's saying, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so we need to pick up on the rain of each one of us have a rhema word.
SPEAKER_00: And so some of us, though, we get stuck.
SPEAKER_00: What if Abraham would have gotten stuck with Isaac?
SPEAKER_00: He'd going up the mountain to sacrifice Isaac?
SPEAKER_00: What if he wouldn't have heard, hey, there's a ram in the bush over there?
SPEAKER_00: You know, what if he wouldn't have been listening?
SPEAKER_00: What, you know, you wouldn't have Isaac, and you wouldn't have Jacob, and you wouldn't have Joseph, and that would have stopped right there.
SPEAKER_00: So it's so important.
SPEAKER_00: You think, hey, I'm just gonna go mess around over here, or hey, I don't have time to read my Bible, and you you let a month go by and two months go by and three months go by, and you're and you just check a box and you show up to church, and and this I'm preaching to the choir tonight, so we have all good, faithful people, even you know, uh, even Barry back there all the way on the back row.
SPEAKER_00: I'll preach to Barry.
SPEAKER_00: And uh no, but just uh y'all are willing, y'all are obedient, and you're and you're not here just checking a box, but but sometimes, you know, if you don't, you have to realize that your ability to hear from God doesn't just affect you today.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll get to that.
SPEAKER_00: Some other examples of crossing over, and um as but we are men and women of faith, and then faith is a life lifestyle, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's it's you know, I'm working on uh my biggest thing is speaking faith first, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because everybody, you see something, you you want to just say what all the problems are.
SPEAKER_00: And I I don't know about you, but I'm I'm really my real job and my real tendency is logistical.
SPEAKER_00: I notice things that people don't notice, and I can't control that, I can't turn that off.
SPEAKER_00: Kind of like noticing my dad wasn't quite right last week.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody said anything, but I was like, hey, his voice just he he just wasn't connecting, and it wasn't a sound issue, and it wasn't um, and so I I I that's God given, but I have I can't look at it from the negative, and I can't look at just the logistical side of things first.
SPEAKER_00: I gotta speak faith first, right?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not exempt from this.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not just up here talking about this.
SPEAKER_00: No, I'm a man of faith, and so we live faith.
SPEAKER_00: And so let's just uh open up your the word to Mark 4, and we'll start in verse 35.
SPEAKER_00: And I know this might, you know, is is probably familiar with all of us that people preach this out of this all the time up here, but let's just go through it again.
SPEAKER_00: I did see a couple of new things going through this story recently, and uh this is about Jesus crossing over.
SPEAKER_00: So, verse 35, and on the same day uh when evening had come, he said to the disciples, I'm adding a little bit of words, but they, you know, more than the Bible says, but this is the context, right?
SPEAKER_00: Let us cross over to the other side.
SPEAKER_00: So notice that Jesus had faith to cross over.
SPEAKER_00: And and uh and Jesus was in the you know with the disciples, and so uh because he had faith to cross over, they had faith to cross over, right?
SPEAKER_00: And it says, now when they had left the multitude, all those people that Jesus was preaching to, they took him along in the boat, and as he was, and others, and other I wanted to point this one sentence out, and other little boats were also with him.
SPEAKER_00: I noticed that this this account is in all the other gospels, but that that word, that sentence is missing.
SPEAKER_00: That Mark is the only one that points out that it wasn't just one big boat, that it was a whole bunch of little boats with him.
SPEAKER_00: Again, um, your obedience and your faith to launch out.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, Hey, let's cross on over.
SPEAKER_00: So his faith led many boats across the water, right?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 37, and a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling.
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, what is it like when the circumstances of life start filling your boat?
SPEAKER_00: It can be scary.
SPEAKER_00: It can be, you know, when when that I I've been using this example a lot tonight about turbulence, and I told that story, but uh, you know, there's there's uh there's turbulence in the in the wind in the clouds.
SPEAKER_00: You think, hey, we're just gonna fly through this little cloud.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm telling you, I'll never forget, don't tell the uh the FAA, but when I was learning to fly, my you know, finally got able to fly by myself, and and I just picked a small cloud to fly through, and it was just I did, it wasn't smooth, it wasn't easy, it was like the whole plane shook, and I was like, that was a little cloud.
SPEAKER_00: Wait a minute.
SPEAKER_00: And so um, anyways, let's see, where was I?
SPEAKER_00: And and the great windstorm arose, verse 38.
SPEAKER_00: But uh, but he was in the stern asleep on a pillow, and they awoke him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?
SPEAKER_00: And so they accused him of not caring.
SPEAKER_00: Do you think he cared?
SPEAKER_00: He did care, but his care was to be to sleep.
SPEAKER_00: He had sweet sleep in the storm.
SPEAKER_00: And so um you we can learn from that because you know, I I was uh the only time I'm I'm I love fishing, but the only time I've been deep sea fishing was one time.
SPEAKER_00: And me and my buddy, I was we were probably in our early 20s, and we went down to Port Aranzas, Aranzus Pass, and we got on a boat, but there were like eight to ten foot waves.
SPEAKER_00: That didn't sound very, very big, but in the boat that we were in, and so you know, we left, and the moment that we could no longer see where we came from, man, I started getting really sick.
SPEAKER_00: And then at the first stop, the captain turned the boat sideways to the waves, and the boat started doing this side to side, and I just I couldn't take it, and I got so sick, and the only thing that I could do is remember this story, and I'm I forced myself, I just I threw up until I couldn't throw up any anymore.
SPEAKER_00: And I promise you, nobody believes me in this part of the story.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody came out of the whatever um and threw up over the side.
SPEAKER_00: So some one of the crew threw up.
SPEAKER_00: That's how bad it was.
SPEAKER_00: And uh so you would think that they're used to this, right?
SPEAKER_00: But uh, anyways, and but I fell asleep.
SPEAKER_00: I was able to go inside and fall asleep.
SPEAKER_00: So I never fished that day.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't care anything about all I wanted to do was get off that boat, and I'll never go back.
SPEAKER_00: But I'll go inshore fishing anytime.
SPEAKER_00: But there's something about launching out and where in a place where you can no longer see where you are.
SPEAKER_00: So spiritually, I'll do that any day of the week, but not but not physically, right?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So uh, teacher, do you do you not care?
SPEAKER_00: And verse 39, then he arose and he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace be still.
SPEAKER_00: And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
SPEAKER_00: But he said to them, so he he rebuked the wind, and then the wave stopped, and then he rebuked them, right?
SPEAKER_00: He said, Why are you so fearful?
SPEAKER_00: How is it that you have no faith?
SPEAKER_00: He didn't say little faith, he said no faith.
SPEAKER_00: And where does no faith get you?
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 6 10, uh uh uh 10, I mean 11 6 rather.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but without faith, it's impossible to please God.
SPEAKER_00: For you must first believe that he is, and that he's a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.
SPEAKER_00: And so they had no faith.
SPEAKER_00: Yet Jesus had faith to cross over, so they they just did, they did obey, at least they were quick to obey, but then they did not have faith.
SPEAKER_00: And I think I think they didn't have faith because they just were were with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't, they didn't, they didn't think that they had to have faith, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus was with them.
SPEAKER_00: You know, now we have the Holy Spirit that's with us, and so some, but sometimes, you know, you you you don't always feel the Holy Spirit, you didn't you're not gonna have like an emotional, uh physical reaction, right?
SPEAKER_00: That the spirit, you know, you have to have faith.
SPEAKER_00: That's where faith kicks in, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so, and and they they feared exceedingly, verse 41, and said to one another, Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey him?
SPEAKER_00: And so I just wanted to point out, you know, that they were really taken back, that the natural elements obeyed his voice.
SPEAKER_00: And the point of this story, yes, we need to have Jesus in our boat.
SPEAKER_00: And but really the whole point of this story is that we have faith, that God has given us authority, that we can speak to the wind, and the waves will obey what we say.
SPEAKER_00: What you say has so much authority in your words.
SPEAKER_00: And James 1, it talks about uh uh harnessing your words and how how uh important it is to harness your tongue and not just allow yourself to say every little thing.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll just speak my mind.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, you won't.
SPEAKER_00: You shouldn't.
SPEAKER_00: And instead, you should speak faith, and you should speak out of your spirit, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And ver and uh and and so we see as chapter five begins, what is the purpose of Jesus crossing over?
SPEAKER_00: What is the purpose?
SPEAKER_00: It says in in chapter five, verse one then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of Gadarness, and when he had come out of the boat, immediately they met a man out of the tombs, uh a man with an unclean spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And so that basically it was a graveyard, and there was a crazy man there who had uh his dwelling among the tombs, and no one could uh bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces, neither could any one tame him.
SPEAKER_00: And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.
SPEAKER_00: And so um, you know, think about that.
SPEAKER_00: That is not a new thing.
SPEAKER_00: If you, you know, occasionally working with young people, we we run into cutting and just um how that really is a a sign of shame.
SPEAKER_00: And and in in this instant, it's no different.
SPEAKER_00: And so when Jesus, when he saw Jesus from afar, verse 6, he ran and he worshiped him.
SPEAKER_00: So he he recognized, he was quick to recognize the power of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Are we quick to recognize him moving?
SPEAKER_00: Are we would if he walked in this room right now, would you recognize him?
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's so it's you know, God moves in your life every day.
SPEAKER_00: He moves in my life every day.
SPEAKER_00: Do we recognize it?
SPEAKER_00: Do we respond to it?
SPEAKER_00: Are we grateful for it?
SPEAKER_00: Are we thankful for it?
SPEAKER_00: Or do we just go along like it's an everyday Quran?
SPEAKER_00: Whatever.
SPEAKER_00: It's just God moving.
SPEAKER_00: No, you know, don't take it for granted.
SPEAKER_00: He this man, as in bad of shape that he was, recognized Jesus immediately.
SPEAKER_00: And he cried out, verse 7, with a loud voice and said, What uh what have I to do with you, Jesus, son of the most high God?
SPEAKER_00: I implore you by God that you do not torment me.
SPEAKER_00: For he said to him, Come out of the man, unclean spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And then he asked him, What is your name?
SPEAKER_00: And the demons answered, uh Legion, for they were many.
SPEAKER_00: And he begged him earnestly that he would not send them out of the country.
SPEAKER_00: Uh now a large herd of swine was feeding their uh there near near the mountains, and all the demons begged him, saying, Send us to the swine that they may enter them.
SPEAKER_00: And at once Jesus gave them permission.
SPEAKER_00: Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine.
SPEAKER_00: Uh there were about two thousand, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned in the sea.
SPEAKER_00: So those who fed the swine fled, and they told in the city and in the country.
SPEAKER_00: So basically, Jesus ruined their their business, right?
SPEAKER_00: That you know, he got he got in their way.
SPEAKER_00: And these demons entered the the pigs, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so I heard uh a preacher one time, he was a pig farmer.
SPEAKER_00: He was like, Yeah, they're still possessed, you know, like the pigs that he deals with.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh and so verse 15, then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
SPEAKER_00: So this was a witness and a sign and a wonder to everybody that this crazy man is now sitting there clothed and in his right mind.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 16, and those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been uh demon-possessed and about and about the swine, and then they began to plead with him to depart from the region.
SPEAKER_00: And when he had got into the boat, so he he only crossed over just for this one man.
SPEAKER_00: And then he gets back in the boat and he goes somewhere else.
SPEAKER_00: I was you know, it's logistical, but it's real, and it's what what would you do for one person?
SPEAKER_00: How much trouble would you go to to reach one person?
SPEAKER_00: But I want you.
SPEAKER_00: To see what happens.
SPEAKER_00: 19.
SPEAKER_00: However, Jesus did not permit him, but he said, Oh, I'm sorry, I got I wrote I wrote I missed the verse.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 18.
SPEAKER_00: And when he got into the boat, uh, he who had been demon-possessed begged him that he might be with.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, he wanted to go with him.
SPEAKER_00: The man that was now clothed and in his right mind.
SPEAKER_00: He wanted to get in the boat too.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said, No, you know, go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had compassion on you.
SPEAKER_00: And then they departed and uh began to proclaim uh all that Jesus had done for him, and all marveled.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that it said, All.
SPEAKER_00: So his testimony, this one man's testimony, Jesus gave him his purpose.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus gave, showed him the plan for his life.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, go be a witness and tell of all that I've done.
SPEAKER_00: So crossing over is not your your lack of crossing over is not again, it's not just for you.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you missed that, that if Jesus would have missed this one person, what what would have happened?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, a whole people group was reached because Jesus crossed over.
SPEAKER_00: And so are you willing to cross over?
SPEAKER_00: Are you willing to go to the other side?
SPEAKER_00: Are you willing to be obedient and obey?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So I it's it's uh I got a few minutes here, and so in those few minutes, I'm gonna go through four things that'll keep your faith strong in order to cross over.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh I'm gonna start in the Old Testament in Habakkuk 2, and I and I'm gonna read the context to you.
SPEAKER_00: Uh 2 verse 2.
SPEAKER_00: Habakkuk 2 verse 2.
SPEAKER_00: Uh then the Lord answered me and said, Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.
SPEAKER_00: For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it will speak and it will not lie, though it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
SPEAKER_00: Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith.
SPEAKER_00: And so um some of us think that the opposite of faith is fear, and you wouldn't be wrong, or that the opposite of faith is unbelief, and you wouldn't be wrong, but here it clearly says that the opposite of faith is pride.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to get that tonight, and so because uh pride comes when man thinks that he can do it on his own and in his own strength and his own power, and so we much must banish pride.
SPEAKER_00: That's my number one.
SPEAKER_00: Four things to keep your faith strong in order to cross over.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, banish pride.
SPEAKER_00: So behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, there's not righteousness in him, there's not purity in him, there's pride.
SPEAKER_00: And what does pride do?
SPEAKER_00: It stinks.
SPEAKER_00: And people see pride.
SPEAKER_00: See, people see pride miles away.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh instead of you being a witness for the faithfulness of God and your faith, because your faith has a voice, your faith um can can become obvious to others, but pride can get in the way, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so we must banish pride.
SPEAKER_00: And so, as we move on to the next three, they're all found in the New Testament, when the Apostle Paul is quoting this verse in Habakkuk that we just read.
SPEAKER_00: So let's start with uh number two, uh, is in Romans 1, verse 16 and 17.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and my number two, if you're taking notes, is that everything starts with faith.
SPEAKER_00: And so Romans 1, 16 says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first, and also the Greek.
SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad that it added, and also for the Greek, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're all grateful in here.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 17, for in it, what is it?
SPEAKER_00: It's the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: It's the gospel from verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: For in it, or the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith.
SPEAKER_00: So living by faith is not optional, because we are just, we have been justified, just as if we've never sinned, just as if we've never done anything wrong, because the power of the gospel of Christ, Christ is at work in us.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's the power unto salvation for everyone who believes, and we're believers, right?
SPEAKER_00: Are you a believer?
SPEAKER_00: Raise your hand if you're a believer.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And you're awake.
SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So uh everything starts with faith, from faith to faith, from glory to glory.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's out of faith that we're able to cross over, it's out of faith that we're able to believe God for anything, and it's out of faith that we recognize Him moving in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh and then I just want to move to number three, it's found in Galatians chapter three, uh, verse 10 through 14.
SPEAKER_00: And it says, uh, for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is every one who does not continue in all things which are written in the in the book of the law to do them.
SPEAKER_00: But um yet the law, wait, sorry, uh, but that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith.
SPEAKER_00: So there it is again.
SPEAKER_00: I want to keep reading, though.
SPEAKER_00: Yet the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them.
SPEAKER_00: Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: How do we do that?
SPEAKER_00: Through faith.
SPEAKER_00: So we have faith, so recognize uh Jesus' sacrifice just justified us, not the law.
SPEAKER_00: The law, what the law could do, Jesus did what the law couldn't do.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh again in verse 12, yeah, the law is not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, I read the wrong verse.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 11.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith.
SPEAKER_00: So living by faith isn't optional.
SPEAKER_00: And so we do live by faith.
SPEAKER_00: So what the law couldn't do, Jesus did it, and so uh faith did what the law could not do, and it gave us our relationship with God, a direct access to access the throne of God.
SPEAKER_00: And so um, um, and and so and Jesus did it, and Jesus finished it.
SPEAKER_00: And in fact, he as he hung on the cross, he said what?
SPEAKER_00: It is finished.
SPEAKER_00: So it's the finished work of Christ that we're operating under, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so um it's from faith to faith and glory to glory, but Jesus finished it, amen.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's in his victory that we operate in.
SPEAKER_00: So we operate uh from victory, not for victory.
SPEAKER_00: We're not praying for victory, we already have been given the victory, and so we have that stance.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Miss Marianne, she she has that stance that of victory because she already has been given the victory.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and so James did a really good job of of preaching that this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If you missed this morning, I would go back and uh and watch the live stream.
SPEAKER_00: And then the fourth one that I have of of uh giving us keeping our faith strong in order to cross over is found in Hebrews 10, verse 38 through 39.
SPEAKER_00: And it says, Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
SPEAKER_00: But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe uh to the saving of the soul.
SPEAKER_00: And so what does the fancy word perdition mean?
SPEAKER_00: It means the loss of eternal life resulting from willfully turning away from faith in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Or in other words, destructive backsliding.
SPEAKER_00: Destructive backsliding.
SPEAKER_00: So when a when a person uh decides to willfully sin and keep on sinning and um and pulling them out of there, they're no longer living by faith, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so there's a consequence to that.
SPEAKER_00: If anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
SPEAKER_00: So God, so it's disappointing God, but it's not just uh it's it's interrupting the plan that he has for you and your communication with him.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh we're not turning around, we're not going backwards, we're not backsliding.
SPEAKER_00: You know, uh uh Lester Summerall is one of the generals of the faith, and sometimes we we tell this story because it's pretty funny, but he used to drive like this big, I don't know what kind of car it was, but it was one of those land yachts.
SPEAKER_00: And he would never put it in reverse, he would only drive forward because he didn't believe in retreating, he didn't believe in going backwards, and so he would go to a lot of effort, he would never pull into a parking lot if he ever thought he had to go backwards.
SPEAKER_00: And so he'd park in the street in front of his house and never in the driveway.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and it was just a funny story that that uh Pastor Osteen and others used to tell.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh, you know, I remember having a men's advance.
SPEAKER_00: We couldn't call it a men's retreat, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because we don't believe in retreating.
SPEAKER_00: We can't go backwards, we have to advance.
SPEAKER_00: And so, um, anyways, we do, we truly do, we advance and we refuse to go backwards, and we're not putting it in reverse, we're only going forward, and uh, and we're advancing the kingdom of God, and we are faithful to cross over and faithful to recognize what season we're in.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm telling you, this is the year of the new, and we're seeing um Pastor Joseph behind the scenes, he he talks about this a lot, seeing when we're reading the word, we're seeing it through the lens of the new.
SPEAKER_00: And we're picking up what the Holy Spirit is is giving us fresh revelation and insight as we're reading the word in our prayer time through the prophetic word that our pastor gave, my dad, at the beginning of the year about being the year of the new, Revelation 21:5.
SPEAKER_00: And so God's doing new things, and you don't want to miss it.
SPEAKER_00: You don't want to have your head down.
SPEAKER_00: This is not a good time to have your head in the sand.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a good time to pretend that uh, you know, whatever circumstance you're facing is just gonna go away on its own, that you don't need to pray.
SPEAKER_00: That it's not a good time to not have enough time to spend with God.
SPEAKER_00: And um and he's speaking to you.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm I promise you, if you'll get in your prayer closet, um, he'll reveal to you fresh strategies and insights to slap the devil in the face, to grab a corn stalk and swing out over hell and spit in the devil's eye, as Pastor Mark says.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and and you have you already have the victory.
SPEAKER_00: So act like it.
SPEAKER_00: You know, so many people walk around defeated, and and I think um this is nowhere, I'm at the end of my notes, just and and so all this is just coming out, and uh we're kind of sort of out of time, but uh, but I'm gonna just say that shame, I think I've said this before, but it's something that we see a lot where people get stuck in shame and just know that no matter what you done you've done, the blood of Jesus is greater, and that he took that shame on the cross, and that when God sees you, he sees you through the blood.
SPEAKER_00: He sees you perfect.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that versus all the things that you've said and all the things that you've done.
SPEAKER_00: God still loves you and he has a plan for your life, and that plan includes some crossing over.
SPEAKER_00: And it's our job, the ones that have been here a while, the more mature ones, you know, have you ever, you know the joy it is to take somebody who's apprehensive and and lead them across to the promised land?
SPEAKER_00: Lead them across, maybe they're stuck, maybe they maybe they're confused, maybe they just don't know.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, maybe they they they haven't seen, you know, what you've gone through.
SPEAKER_00: I know Pastor Mark uh he tells that story of his horse buddy.
SPEAKER_00: You know, uh when he was 10 years old, he had a horse and it and it got out and it made it like 10 miles away, and they put an ad in the newspaper, and you know, somebody called, and so that his dad drove him over, and he's like, son, you got to ride him home.
SPEAKER_00: It's 10 miles.
SPEAKER_00: And so he was riding him home, and he gets to this bridge, and as soon as the his front hoof hit that bridge, that hollow sound, he was not crossing that bridge.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know how he got him home, the end of that story, but but I do know that he was, you know, the part where he was asking uh a cowboy, how do you get a young horse to go over a bridge?
SPEAKER_00: You well, you tie him to an old horse that's been already been over the bridge before.
SPEAKER_00: And so some of y'all are the old horse.
SPEAKER_00: Don't look in the mirror, but um we've we've uh we've seen it, seen a thing, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so if you'll be faithful to pour into others and help others, I'm telling there's no other joy but to share your testimony and share what God has done for you and uh and allow your testimony to to be a witness of God's faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: And when somebody responds, um, last Sunday we had um Celine and I had invited somebody and they came for the first time, and it was just man, it was so much joy.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and they were receiving, and it was praise God, gave in the offering and everything.
SPEAKER_00: And so, like, you know, we we have little projects around that we're that we're witnessing to.
SPEAKER_00: I know y'all do too, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so um, you better say yes.
SPEAKER_00: If not, you know, be bold to share the love of Christ everywhere you go.