SPEAKER_00: So today we begin a new series.
SPEAKER_00: We are titling Faith That Works.
SPEAKER_00: We're titling it Faith That Works.
SPEAKER_00: Faith That Works.
SPEAKER_00: How many of us have had have thought that we had faith at one time or the other and it did not work?
SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
SPEAKER_00: How many of us?
SPEAKER_00: How many people want to be honest?
SPEAKER_00: You had faith at one time.
SPEAKER_00: You you you knew you thought you had faith.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody could have convinced you that you didn't have faith and then it just did not work.
SPEAKER_00: How many people?
SPEAKER_00: How many honest people are here?
SPEAKER_00: My hands are raised.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, all of us must have had that experience.
SPEAKER_00: All of us must have had that experience at one time or the odd or the other in our Christian journey.
SPEAKER_00: One of my earliest memories of church life, one of my earliest memories of church life began what I mean dates back to when I was about eight years old.
SPEAKER_00: I was about eight years old, and it was um a memory verse that we had to recite.
SPEAKER_00: We had to recite Hebrews 11.
SPEAKER_00: And I know I they divided it like two or three verses each, depending on the capacity of the child.
SPEAKER_00: Some people had one verse, some people had three verses, some people had two verses.
SPEAKER_00: The verse that fell to me in Hebrews chapter 11 was the verse Hebrews 11, 24 to 26.
SPEAKER_00: By faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward.
SPEAKER_00: Well, as an eight-year-old child, I couldn't make sense of this.
SPEAKER_00: I had no insight.
SPEAKER_00: I had questions.
SPEAKER_00: What is Moses' connection with Christ?
SPEAKER_00: You know, how does faith make someone refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter?
SPEAKER_00: I had those questions.
SPEAKER_00: I wondered.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but despite my misgivings and my stuff misunderstanding, the seed of faith was already being sown in my heart as a young boy.
SPEAKER_00: The seed of faith.
SPEAKER_00: We recited, we knew what Hebrews 11 was.
SPEAKER_00: And I knew that okay, people do things by faith.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is a very important topic for Christians.
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's a very important topic for Christians, and as a result of its importance, there are a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions about faith.
SPEAKER_00: There is a lot of misunderstandings.
SPEAKER_00: What are some of those misconceptions about faith?
SPEAKER_00: Bible faith is one of the most important topics for Christians.
SPEAKER_00: Nevertheless, there's a lot of controversial things that you may have heard, that you may have said, that you know, you may have even believed about Bible faith.
SPEAKER_00: See?
SPEAKER_00: One of such misconceptions is that if I do my part, then God has to do his part.
SPEAKER_00: Some people think that if I do my part, he might have said it.
SPEAKER_00: If I do my part, then God has to do his part.
SPEAKER_00: How is that a misconception?
SPEAKER_00: Because when things don't turn out the way you want, you conclude and say that it is because I don't have faith.
SPEAKER_00: Or you conclude and say it is because God has not done his part.
SPEAKER_00: You see?
SPEAKER_00: When you say that faith is, faith means to you, we we tend to believe that faith is if I do my part, then God has to do his part.
SPEAKER_00: You know, this is a very seductive lie, and it distorts our understanding of faith.
SPEAKER_00: This misconception distorts our understanding of faith.
SPEAKER_00: I'm assuming as much as possible, zero knowledge, you know, and the Bible tells us that you know, um, Paul speaking in in the book of Philippians, he says, for me to say the same thing to you again is not tedious for me, but for you it is safe.
SPEAKER_00: So even if you know what faith is, if you if you know what faith is, pay attention.
SPEAKER_00: You will learn something new, you will learn something different.
SPEAKER_00: Your faith will be strengthened.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say amen to that.
SPEAKER_00: I said somebody say amen to that.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm assuming zero knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, we are going to we're going to take it from the very bottom.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, we're going to take it so that your faith is sure, so that you are you are not, you don't think you have faith when you are having assumptions.
SPEAKER_00: You see?
SPEAKER_00: So you know what real Bible faith is because it's only Bible faith that God responds to.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say amen.
SPEAKER_00: It is only Bible faith that God responds to.
SPEAKER_00: This misconception, if I do my part, then God has to do his part.
SPEAKER_00: Is uh is is is is very seductive.
SPEAKER_00: It's very seductive.
SPEAKER_00: And when you dig deep, you see that it's it's it's it stems from the need for control.
SPEAKER_00: It stems on the need for control.
SPEAKER_00: You even want to control God by your own actions.
SPEAKER_00: You want to control God by your own actions.
SPEAKER_00: You see, and this lie, this misconception, may be the reason why many people have faith failures.
SPEAKER_00: This idea that if I do my part, then God has to do his part.
SPEAKER_00: Is that the foundation of why many people might have faith failures?
SPEAKER_00: And some evil even walk away from God or walk away from the church.
SPEAKER_00: But true faith, true faith is relational, it is not transactional.
SPEAKER_00: True faith is relational, it is not transactional.
SPEAKER_00: True faith is what relational, it is not up.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody look up and read that together.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody want to go.
SPEAKER_00: True faith is what it is not okay.
SPEAKER_00: Some people are murmuring it.
SPEAKER_00: I want everybody to look up and read this on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody want to go.
SPEAKER_00: True faith is relational, it is not transactional.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: True faith is knowing and loving God for who he is, not just for what he does.
SPEAKER_00: True faith is knowing and trusting God for who he is, and not for what he does.
SPEAKER_00: You see, of course, there are many other misconceptions, but it doesn't really matter what others have said about faith.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter what I tell you about faith, what matters is what Jesus has to say about faith.
SPEAKER_00: What matters about any subject is what Jesus has to say about it.
SPEAKER_00: There are many misconceptions about faith because it's such an important topic in the Christian faith.
SPEAKER_00: But it doesn't matter what people say, it doesn't matter what the misconceptions are, what is important is what Jesus has to say about it.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter what your favorite podcaster has said about faith, it doesn't matter what your favorite preacher has said about faith.
SPEAKER_00: No, it doesn't matter what the culture thinks faith is, what matters is what Jesus says faith is.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say amen.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, because Jesus is the complete and final revelation of God.
SPEAKER_00: Write that down.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the complete and final revelation of the mind of God to us.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, let me listen to me.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the complete and final revelation of God to you and I.
SPEAKER_00: There is no other thing that is going to improve on what Jesus has said.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00: He is the complete and is the final revelation of God to you and I.
SPEAKER_00: So when Jesus has said something, when people ask you or ask me, what's your opinion about this and that?
SPEAKER_00: Oh well, I ask myself, what has Jesus said about it?
SPEAKER_00: I ask myself, what has this how did Jesus act around this issue?
SPEAKER_00: How did Jesus comport himself around these issues?
SPEAKER_00: Because he is the complete and final revelation of God.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians chapter 1, verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of over all creation.
SPEAKER_00: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to show you that Jesus' perspective on any issue should be final for you.
SPEAKER_00: Are you here?
SPEAKER_00: I said, Are you here?
SPEAKER_00: The the Jesus' opinion about any issue should be final for you.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians chapter 1, verse 5 verse 15.
SPEAKER_00: In the NLT translation, it says Christ is the image, is the visible image of the invisible God.
SPEAKER_00: He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation.
SPEAKER_00: In the new international version, the NIV version, Colossians chapter 1, verse 15, it says the Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
SPEAKER_00: In the CEV translation, it says Christ is exactly like God who cannot be seen.
SPEAKER_00: He is the firstborn son, superior to all creation.
SPEAKER_00: In the Message translation, it says we look at the Son and see God who cannot be seen.
SPEAKER_00: We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created.
SPEAKER_00: Christ is the complete and final revelation of God.
SPEAKER_00: He is the complete and final revelation of God.
SPEAKER_00: So God is high and mighty.
SPEAKER_00: This is what I'm trying to show you.
SPEAKER_00: God is high and mighty, He is set apart, He draws in unapproachable light, the Bible tells us.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the light in which God dwells in is higher than the light from the sun.
SPEAKER_00: Think about it.
SPEAKER_00: You see, the light in which God dwells in is greater than the light of the sun.
SPEAKER_00: So God dwells in unapproachable light.
SPEAKER_00: It cannot be seen.
SPEAKER_00: It cannot be approached.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible tells us that no one has seen him at any time.
SPEAKER_00: So God, in wanting to relate to us, in wanting to, he stepped himself down into the man Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: God, what?
SPEAKER_00: He stepped himself down into the man Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You came from heaven to earth to show us the way, light of the word.
SPEAKER_00: Who stepped down into darkness?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the revelation of God to us, is the final revelation for all of God to us.
SPEAKER_00: When we want to understand God's perspective on any issue on the subject of faith, we look to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody said, Look to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Has it said something about it?
SPEAKER_00: How did he act about it?
SPEAKER_00: Because he is the final and the complete revelation of God to us.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1 to 2.
SPEAKER_00: God who at sundry times, God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, as in these last days spoken to us by his son, whom he has appointed here of all things, through whom also he made the words.
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to show you the supremacy of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You must keep this front and center.
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to show you the supremacy of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: God who has sundry times spoken to us by the prophet, he spoke to us by through Isaiah, he spoke to us through Ezekiel, Jeremiah.
SPEAKER_00: He said, In these last days, who is he speaking to you?
SPEAKER_00: How is he speaking to you?
SPEAKER_00: We read it.
SPEAKER_00: He speaks to us by his son.
SPEAKER_00: God's intention is revealed in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: God's complete and final intention is revealed in who?
SPEAKER_00: Say it like a minute.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: So what did Jesus say about faith?
SPEAKER_00: What did Jesus say about faith?
SPEAKER_00: He said many things, but let's look at three basic things that Jesus said about faith.
SPEAKER_00: What did Jesus say?
SPEAKER_00: What did Jesus say about faith?
SPEAKER_00: Mark 11, verse 22.
SPEAKER_00: Look at what it says.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus answered and said to them, have faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus answered and said to them, have faith in who?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus did not say, have faith.
SPEAKER_00: He said, have faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus commanded us to have faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: He did not just say have faith.
SPEAKER_00: Emphasis is on in God.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because people have faith in different things.
SPEAKER_00: People have faith in different things.
SPEAKER_00: There are those who have faith in their talents.
SPEAKER_00: There are those who have faith in their money.
SPEAKER_00: There are those who have faith in their experiences.
SPEAKER_00: There are those who have faith in their connection, their uncles, their aunties.
SPEAKER_00: There are those who have faith in the church.
SPEAKER_00: The church they attend.
SPEAKER_00: There are those who have faith in the church.
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, Jesus does not say have faith in the church.
SPEAKER_00: He said, have faith in who?
SPEAKER_00: In God.
SPEAKER_00: Have faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say, I have faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Have faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: Not have faith in your man of God.
SPEAKER_00: Not have faith in your pastor.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Have faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, when you when you scrutinize the language of many Christians today, you will see that it betrays the fact that their faith is not in God.
SPEAKER_00: It betrays the fact that your their faith is not in God.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you are going to have faith in God, then it presupposes that you must know the God in whom your faith is being reposed.
SPEAKER_00: You must know the God in whom you are having faith.
SPEAKER_00: So this is what Jesus said.
SPEAKER_00: He said, our faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: It tells us where to have our faith.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter 9, verse 20, verse 29.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter 9, verse 29.
SPEAKER_00: Let's read it together.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody wants to go.
SPEAKER_00: Then it touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, let it be to you.
SPEAKER_00: According to your faith, let it be to you.
SPEAKER_00: What is this?
SPEAKER_00: What is Jesus saying here?
SPEAKER_00: He's saying that what we receive from God is dependent on our faith.
SPEAKER_00: What you receive from God is dependent on our faith.
SPEAKER_00: What you have received from God up until now is dependent on your faith.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: What I have received from God up until now is dependent on my faith.
SPEAKER_00: Look at it, he said to them, according to your faith, let it be to you.
SPEAKER_00: John 11, verse 40.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was at the tomb of Lazarus, was at the house of Miriam Martha.
SPEAKER_00: Their brother died.
SPEAKER_00: Martha was telling Jesus that, well, I know that he will rise up on the last day.
SPEAKER_00: I know that he will rise up.
SPEAKER_00: What did Jesus say in verse 40 of John chapter 11?
SPEAKER_00: Look at what it says.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody read it together.
SPEAKER_00: I want to go.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you will see the glory of God?
SPEAKER_00: If you will believe, you will see what?
SPEAKER_00: You will see the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is saying to Martha that the manifestation of God's power, the manifestation of the resurrection power is dependent on our faith.
SPEAKER_00: The manifestation of the resurrection power is dependent on you see, expectation is still the mother of manifestation.
SPEAKER_00: Expectation is still the mother of manifestation.
SPEAKER_00: So we've said that Jesus, what did Jesus say about faith?
SPEAKER_00: We said that Jesus says to us in Mark chapter 11, verse 22 that we should have faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: He also tells us in Matthew chapter 9, verse 29, that what we receive from God is dependent on our faith.
SPEAKER_00: And he also tells us in John chapter 11, verse 40, that the manifestation of God's power in and around our lives is dependent on our faith.
SPEAKER_00: When we put all of this together, when we put all of this together, what this is telling us is that God meets us at the level of our faith, not at the point of our needs.
SPEAKER_00: God meets us at the level of our faith, not at the point of our needs.
SPEAKER_00: God meets us.
SPEAKER_00: I know many of us have said, Oh, Father, meet me at the point of my needs.
SPEAKER_00: And I've said it too.
SPEAKER_00: You have prayed the prayer, Father, meet me at the point of my need.
SPEAKER_00: Meet me at the point of my need.
SPEAKER_00: But Matthew chapter 9, verse 29 is showing you clearly that it is going to be to you according to your faith.
SPEAKER_00: God meets us at the level of our faith, not at the point of our needs.
SPEAKER_00: We can say it, but that statement is really not biblical.
SPEAKER_00: It is emotional, it is sentimental, and that's fine.
SPEAKER_00: But if you really want to have biblical faith, you must look beyond that and really look to understand how God see faith, how does God perceive faith, and how can I grow my faith?
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say amen.
SPEAKER_00: I said somebody say amen.
SPEAKER_00: So if you are going to experience what God intends to do in your life, if you are going to experience what God intends to do in your life, if you are going to obtain the promises from God, if you are going to subdue kingdom, it will depend on your level of faith.
SPEAKER_00: It will depend on your level of faith.
SPEAKER_00: Well, someone might say that, but I've seen God do things for people who don't have faith.
SPEAKER_00: But I've seen God do things for people who don't have faith.
SPEAKER_00: That is true.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that is based on God's sovereignty.
SPEAKER_00: That is based on God's sovereignty.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 115, verse 3.
SPEAKER_00: But our God is in heaven, he does whatever he pleases.
SPEAKER_00: That is the sovereignty of God.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he can help people, it can help people that don't have faith.
SPEAKER_00: And we can't question him.
SPEAKER_00: He does whatever he pleases.
SPEAKER_00: But God doesn't want you and I to live wondering whether God's sovereignty will be to our positive or to be our negative.
SPEAKER_00: You know, if you don't want it to rain today, there is a farmer across the street that also wants it to rain.
SPEAKER_00: Are you hearing me?
SPEAKER_00: If you don't want it to rain because you want you don't want to drive on sleepy road, there's a farmer in the area that is praying that it should rain.
SPEAKER_00: You see, so God's sovereignty, the Bible tells us that it causes the rain to fall on both the righteous and the unjust.
SPEAKER_00: So there are times when the just will not want the rain to fall.
SPEAKER_00: There's a time there will be a time when the just does not want war in the world.
SPEAKER_00: But there are people who may want it, and it may be the will of God, and God will act in a sovereign will to bring what he wants to pass.
SPEAKER_00: But God doesn't want us to live wondering whether um God's sovereignty will be in our favor today or not.
SPEAKER_00: He wants us to have assurance.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say assurance.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he wants you to have assurance, which is why Jesus said, have faith in God, be assured in God, have faith in God.
SPEAKER_00: So let's define what faith is.
SPEAKER_00: Let's define what faith is.
SPEAKER_00: What is Bible faith?
SPEAKER_00: First, let's look at three things that faith is not.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes when you want to define something, it's better to look at what it's not.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the converse, and then that will let you understand when you see the real thing.
SPEAKER_00: When you see the real thing.
SPEAKER_00: So, what is what is faith not?
SPEAKER_00: Look at what faith is not, what faith is not.
SPEAKER_00: Some of them might shock you, but I want you to pay attention.
SPEAKER_00: What faith is not, what faith is not.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, faith is not action.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say faith is not action.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, faith is not action.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not action, and this probably be the one that shocks you the most.
SPEAKER_00: Because I mean, you have heard it, they've told you, you have said it to people.
SPEAKER_00: Take a step of faith, take a step of faith.
SPEAKER_00: But look at Hebrews chapter 11, verse 29.
SPEAKER_00: Let's read together.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody want to go by faith, they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were what were drowned.
SPEAKER_00: The Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not action.
SPEAKER_00: The Egyptians are also taking action, they were also taking an action, they were also taking action, they were also walking.
SPEAKER_00: But just because somebody is taking action does not mean they are acting in faith.
SPEAKER_00: Just because somebody is taking an action doesn't mean they are acting in faith.
SPEAKER_00: Write that down.
SPEAKER_00: Just because you are taking an action doesn't mean you are acting in faith.
unknown: So how do you know when you are acting in faith?
SPEAKER_00: You will find out.
SPEAKER_00: We're about to find out.
SPEAKER_00: Good question.
SPEAKER_00: Just because you are taking an action does not mean you are acting in faith.
SPEAKER_00: The Egyptians also try to take the same action that the children of Israel took.
SPEAKER_00: What happened to them?
SPEAKER_00: They drowned.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not action.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, what is faith not?
SPEAKER_00: What faith is not?
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how to say it.
SPEAKER_00: English is entering my teeth.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: Looking at what faith isn't.
SPEAKER_00: What faith isn't.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not action.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, faith is not taking risks.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not taking a risk.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not being reckless.
SPEAKER_00: That's not faith.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not being reckless.
SPEAKER_00: For example, somebody, you know, you you have a diagnosis, you have a negative diagnosis, a medical condition in your body, you go to the doctor, you go to the to the um hospital, and they give you a prescription.
SPEAKER_00: They give you medications, and then you get them, and then you say, I'm gonna act in faith.
SPEAKER_00: I want to I want to act in faith.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna take this medication.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that is not faith.
SPEAKER_00: That is being reckless with your health.
SPEAKER_00: That is not faith.
SPEAKER_00: You went to the doctor, the doctor prescribed something to you.
SPEAKER_00: You are the one that went to the doctor, you they what they prescribe something to you, then you take it.
SPEAKER_00: Refusing to take your medication is not acting in faith, it's not acting in faith, especially.
SPEAKER_00: People that don't have a track record, you don't have a track record of using faith to heal headache, you don't have a track record of using faith to heal headache.
SPEAKER_00: Now you have a negative medical situation, and you say you are going to refuse taking your medication because you want to act in faith.
SPEAKER_00: That is being reckless.
SPEAKER_00: That's not faith.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot resign your job, for example.
SPEAKER_00: You have bills to pay and say you are going to resign your job and just gonna trust God.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just trusting God.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just living by faith.
SPEAKER_00: No, you are not living by faith.
SPEAKER_00: You are being reckless, you are being unwise.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot refuse to eat well, refuse to exercise, refuse to sleep well, and when the when all of them compound on you, you say no, you're acting in faith.
SPEAKER_00: No, that's being reckless.
SPEAKER_00: You refuse to sleep well, you receive you refuse to eat well.
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's gonna catch up with you.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm gonna hit this box of six donuts by faith.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna hit this box of of six uh donuts by faith.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot keep spending more than you make, you cannot keep spending more than you earn, and say you are acting in faith.
SPEAKER_00: That's not faith.
SPEAKER_00: That is being reckless, that is being unwise.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you're hearing what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00: That's not faith.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not taking risks, faith is not taking risks.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is taking action depending on God.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is taking action depending, so it's not a risk, it's not a risk.
SPEAKER_00: You know it, you know it.
SPEAKER_00: You know it, you've seen it, you've seen the evidence, you've seen the evidence, you've seen the evidence, you've seen the end of it.
SPEAKER_00: So listen, this is not this is not recklessness.
SPEAKER_00: You've seen it, you know how it ends, and then you act based on your knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not, number three, faith is not a leap in the blind, faith is not a shot in the dark.
SPEAKER_00: You know, one of the things that I heard the most when um as we were growing up is that about marriage, one of the things that I heard a lot.
SPEAKER_00: My mother is here, but I have to say this.
SPEAKER_00: I heard this a lot.
SPEAKER_00: They say marriage is a is is a black market.
SPEAKER_00: They say marriage is a black market.
SPEAKER_00: When I say it to Yoruba, it it's it sounds more dark, it sounds more, but I don't want to say it to Yoruba.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Jao kuri is is a black market.
SPEAKER_00: So, so the the idea they're trying to communicate what they say that is that when you when you get a spouse, you never really know what you get.
SPEAKER_00: Because you know, we have we had black um night markets in Nigeria.
SPEAKER_00: You have night markets, and so if you go to a night market and you buy fish from a night market, you can get home and that fish is rotten fish.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, because there's no way to verify, because everything is everything is dark, there's no light to verify if the fish that is right, the fish that is not right.
SPEAKER_00: So they will tell you that that's the way marriage is you, you know, you just kind of you just kind of pick, and then when you get home, you hope for the best.
SPEAKER_00: That the one you picked is not the one with the rotten head.
SPEAKER_00: You see, but really anything that is that has to do with darkness cannot be of God.
SPEAKER_00: Anything that has to do with darkness cannot be of God.
SPEAKER_00: Look at Proverbs chapter 11, verse 9.
SPEAKER_00: Anything that has to do with darkness cannot be of God.
SPEAKER_00: Look at Proverbs chapter 11, verse 9.
SPEAKER_00: That I'm trying to show you that in your marriage selection, don't go into thinking that it's a black man that I'm just going to do um tokenitokeji and do you know uh just hope for the best.
SPEAKER_00: You're going with knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: You're going with knowledge, you find out, you find out things.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 11 verse 9.
SPEAKER_00: The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through what, everybody, through what?
SPEAKER_00: True knowledge, the righteous will be delivered.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not a shot in the dark, it's not a it's not it's not a leap in the blind, it's true knowledge, you know it.
SPEAKER_00: True knowledge, it's true knowledge, not true assumptions.
SPEAKER_00: Arise, shine, for your light is come.
SPEAKER_00: How does your light come?
SPEAKER_00: The entrance of your word gives light.
SPEAKER_00: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 119, verse 105.
SPEAKER_00: It is true knowledge, through the entrance of the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's how faith comes.
SPEAKER_00: True knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 5, verse 13.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody read it, want to go.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, my people have gone into captivity because they have what?
SPEAKER_00: No knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: Their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: No knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not a shot in the dark, it's not just hoping for the best.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just I'm just going to, you know, hope for the best.
SPEAKER_00: True knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: I know it like I know my name.
SPEAKER_00: That's faith.
SPEAKER_00: And I I take act, I have conviction, and I take actions based on my conviction.
SPEAKER_00: That's faith.
SPEAKER_00: So then, what is faith?
SPEAKER_00: What then is faith?
SPEAKER_00: We see if I can finish here today.
SPEAKER_00: What then is faith?
SPEAKER_00: We've talked about what faith is not.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not action, faith is not taking a risk, faith is not a shot in the blind, faith is not assumptions.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what faith is.
SPEAKER_00: So then, what is Bible faith?
SPEAKER_00: Faith is acting on the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say that.
SPEAKER_00: Say faith is acting on the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not just action, it is action prompted by the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: It is action prompted, action as a result of the word of God that you have heard.
SPEAKER_00: Not because you saw somebody else do it.
SPEAKER_00: Look at in Luke, in Luke chapter 5, Jesus is preaching to the multitude, and after preaching, he tells Peter, launch into the deep and let your nets for a catch.
SPEAKER_00: And let down your nets for a catch.
SPEAKER_00: But Simon answered and said to him, Master, we have toyed all night and caught nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Nevertheless, at your word I will let down the net.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is action taken at the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: The word Jesus speaks to Peter is launch out into where?
SPEAKER_00: The deep.
SPEAKER_00: Launch out into the deep.
SPEAKER_00: And the action that Peter took was, nevertheless, at your word, I will let down the net.
SPEAKER_00: If you have not heard something, if you did not hear the thing Moses heard when God told him to stretch his rod over the Red Sea, and you attempt to also cross the Red Sea, you will drown.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you're hearing what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't hear what if you did not hear what Moses heard, and you attempt to do what Moses did, you will drown.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is action based on the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say amen.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say louder Amen.
SPEAKER_00: If someone else had seen Peter dragging his net, his net breaking, his boat about to sink, and they said, Ah, let's go and fish too.
SPEAKER_00: They will have gone and they wouldn't have caught anything.
SPEAKER_00: Peter acted based on the word of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Let down your net for a catch.
SPEAKER_00: If that person did not hear the same thing that Peter heard, there will be no result for them.
SPEAKER_00: So faith is acting on the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Number two, faith is obeying God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is obeying God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 11, verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which it would receive as an inheritance.
SPEAKER_00: By faith, Abraham obeyed.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say obeyed.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, somebody said obeyed.
SPEAKER_00: And it went out not knowing where he was going.
SPEAKER_00: He went out, not knowing where it was going.
SPEAKER_00: Abraham was called out of from the all of the Chadians.
SPEAKER_00: Was called out from present-day Iraq, called out from the all of the Chadians.
SPEAKER_00: Said, I would show you a place.
SPEAKER_00: I will show just keep going.
SPEAKER_00: Just keep going.
SPEAKER_00: And he obeyed.
SPEAKER_00: This is why Abraham is a man of great stature.
SPEAKER_00: The Jews, the Muslims, the Christians all trace their roots, all call Abraham their father.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: A man of faith.
SPEAKER_00: A man of great faith.
SPEAKER_00: Obeyed the promptings of God.
SPEAKER_00: Obeyed the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to say that anything that teaches us disobedience to the word of God, no matter how popular it is, cannot be from God.
SPEAKER_00: Anything that teaches you disobedience to the word of God, no matter who holds that opinion, no matter who is holding the opinion, no matter who has the mic, if it if it's if it contravenes the word of God, that is a trap.
SPEAKER_00: You know, that there was this conversation about you know not paying tithe on paying tithe on whatnot.
SPEAKER_00: Anything that is and many people's faith were shaken.
SPEAKER_00: Many people's faith were shaken, many people's faith were shaken, you know, but Luke chapter 6, verse 38 tells us, give and to be given unto you.
SPEAKER_00: Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.
SPEAKER_00: For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
SPEAKER_00: We give because God instructed it.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter what the culture is saying.
SPEAKER_00: You see, I live a holy life, I live a consecrated life because God instructed it.
SPEAKER_00: You see, doesn't matter what is permissible now in the world, it doesn't matter who is who is changing the standards, the standards of God stand sure.
SPEAKER_00: Stand sure.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs chapter 3, verse 9 honor the Lord with your possession and with the first fruit of all your increase.
SPEAKER_00: For us to enter into the plenty and the overflow that God has for us, we have to give.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just trying to show us that we have to align ourselves with the word of God in obedience to it.
SPEAKER_00: That's what faith is.
SPEAKER_00: The proof that you believe God is that you have faith.
SPEAKER_00: The proof that you believe God is that you obey his word.
SPEAKER_00: The proof that you believe God is you obeying his word.
SPEAKER_00: Don't live in the same house with your boyfriend.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's what the Bible teaches.
SPEAKER_00: You don't say that rent is now expensive.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, have you seen the rent?
SPEAKER_00: No, I have to, I have to stay now.
SPEAKER_00: No, we have to save money.
SPEAKER_00: The proof that you believe God is obeying his word.
SPEAKER_00: Number three, faith is cooperating with God.
SPEAKER_00: What have we said that faith is?
SPEAKER_00: We have said that faith is acting based on the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: We also said that faith is obeying the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: And three, we said that faith is cooperating with God.
SPEAKER_00: Exodus chapter 14, verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: Exodus 14, verse 16.
SPEAKER_00: But lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the children of Israel shall go on dry land, dry ground through the midst of the sea.
SPEAKER_00: It is faith when you hear what God is saying and you cooperate with him.
SPEAKER_00: Moses cooperated with God here.
SPEAKER_00: I have a plan to part this Red Sea, but I'm going to need your participation in it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to need you to do something.
SPEAKER_00: Remember what we said, I think, two Sundays ago, that one of the greatest bangs of the Christian life is that we don't know the difference between what God wants us to do and what God has put in his own care, in his own purview to do.
SPEAKER_00: And when you begin to differentiate, when you have clarity on this is my own role and this is God's role, then you will live a life of less frustration.
SPEAKER_00: You live a life of less frustration.
SPEAKER_00: If you are going to patch this red sea, you are going to have to stretch out your rod.
SPEAKER_00: If you are going to patch this recipe, you are going to have to stretch out your rod.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to have to stretch out your rod.
SPEAKER_00: It is cooperating with God.
SPEAKER_00: Remember the misconception.
SPEAKER_00: Let me end here today.
SPEAKER_00: Remember the misconception that we said?
SPEAKER_00: If I do my part, then God has to do his part.
SPEAKER_00: That's the misconception.
SPEAKER_00: Faith would always involve your part and God's part, but the misconception is thinking that my fasting and prayer is what is going to move the hand of God.
SPEAKER_00: Or that the misconception is thinking, oh God, I've lived, I've lived a good life.
SPEAKER_00: Well I've not, I've not, I didn't mess around.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't, you know, I didn't carry girls.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't carry, how come I'm not I'm not getting pregnant?
SPEAKER_00: Or I did not, I did not mess around.
SPEAKER_00: That's the misconception.
SPEAKER_00: Thinking that your own part that you did compels God to do his part.
SPEAKER_00: Because I've done my own part, then God asks to do his own part.
SPEAKER_00: And then when he doesn't, when it seems like he's not doing that, you begin to question him, and you begin to threaten him.
SPEAKER_00: That's witchcraft.
SPEAKER_00: Begin to threaten him.
SPEAKER_00: God, I fasted and prayed.
SPEAKER_00: How come this thing is still here?
SPEAKER_00: How come I've not gotten this?
SPEAKER_00: That's not faith.
SPEAKER_00: God does not have to do anything, he has done everything.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody say amen.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he has it doesn't have to do anything.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because he has done everything.
SPEAKER_00: That's the language of faith.
SPEAKER_00: In faith, just like many misconceptions, they have some truth in them, but then they are laced with some lies.
SPEAKER_00: Does faith have your path?
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: Does faith ask God's path?
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: But your path does not compare God.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, your path does not God does not have to do some anything in response to you because He has already done everything.
SPEAKER_00: That's the vision of faith, that's the voice of faith, that's the perspective of faith.
SPEAKER_00: You cooperate with God.
SPEAKER_00: How can I cooperate with God in this situation?
SPEAKER_00: That's the question you ask.
SPEAKER_00: How can I cooperate with God in this situation?
SPEAKER_00: Still have your heart to acquire faith and faith failures, but I'll stop there for today.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: So, what is faith?
SPEAKER_00: Faith is taking action based on the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is obeying the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is cooperating with God, cooperating with the movements of God within you and around you.
SPEAKER_00: And there's something God is God is always up to something around you.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you are hearing me.
SPEAKER_00: God is always up to something around you.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he's always up to something.
SPEAKER_00: The question is, am I cooperating with what God is up to?
SPEAKER_00: Am I cooperating with it?
SPEAKER_00: Am I am I aligning myself to it?
SPEAKER_00: Or am I or am I bent on my own ways?
SPEAKER_00: You see, and God has time, you are the one that don't have time.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you are hearing me.
SPEAKER_00: I said God has time, you are the one that doesn't have time.
SPEAKER_00: You are the one that does not have time.
SPEAKER_00: You are the one that does not, I'm the one that does not have time.
SPEAKER_00: That's why it's called the ancient of days.
SPEAKER_00: He has a lot of time and he's long suffering, he's very patient.
SPEAKER_00: You are the one whose patience is likely to run to run out.
SPEAKER_00: God is not in a hurry.
SPEAKER_00: So the question is: am I aligning myself to God, to what God is up to in my life?
SPEAKER_00: Am I aligned, am I cooperating with God?
SPEAKER_00: See, some of us are struggling with God.
SPEAKER_00: You're just struggling, you're just struggling.
SPEAKER_00: And if you are struggling, you will keep struggling.
SPEAKER_00: If you are struggling, you will keep struggling.
SPEAKER_00: There'll be no joy in it, there'll be no joy around it.
SPEAKER_00: I've got to pray.
SPEAKER_00: Let's be on our feet.
SPEAKER_00: Let's be on our feet and ask God for the grace to cooperate with Him.