WEBVTT 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.759 You're listening to the road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt. 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:19.519 Trouble is the mother of either fear or faith. 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:20.559 You have a choice. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:22.399 You have a choice this year. 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:29.120 Trouble are gonna either birth fear or they're gonna birth faith. 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:46.799 You can either be wrapped up and enraptured by and overtaken with fear, or something rises up within you and says, I choose not to be fearful, I'm going after faith. 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:48.960 I'm gonna trust God in this way. 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:55.840 At The Road, our mission is to empower people to change the world. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:00.079 For more information on The Road, visit theroad.org. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:05.120 We hope you are encouraged by today's message from pastor teacher Steve Holt. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:14.560 Guys, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, Romans 10, 17. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:24.000 And the theme, the theme of the road in 2020 is a partnership with the Holy Spirit. 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:26.560 How many have troubles in your life? 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:31.359 How many of you would say there's some big troubles on the horizon in your life? 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:35.439 How are you gonna do that without God? 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:39.120 God wants a partnership. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:43.040 He wants to be involved in those struggles in our life. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:45.599 But you gotta want him. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:50.159 He wants you, but do you want him? 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:51.840 That's a partnership. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:56.480 He's the senior pastor of this church. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:59.439 I'm not the senior pastor of this church. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.519 I'm the small S senior. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:08.960 Small P pastor, Jesus is the senior pastor of this church. 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:24.159 And so if he came up with the whole idea of this church and it's his vision for this church, and he knows the future, then it's pretty smart on my behalf to partner with him. 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:40.240 Because he wants the best in your lives, he wants the best in my life, he wants the best for your marriage, he wants the best for your singleness, he wants the best for your future, he wants the best job that fits your unique skills. 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:44.080 And nobody knows that better than the one who created you. 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:52.080 So you never lose, you always win by partnering with the Holy Spirit. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:54.159 So that's what those messages were about. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:56.560 We looked at John 15, if you weren't here. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:58.719 We looked about abiding in the vine. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:04.319 We talked about a partnership in prayer, a partnership in relationships. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:07.840 Because some of you are frustrated, right? 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:11.520 Some of you are feeling depression come on. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:22.319 You're starting to self-medicate through sex or drugs or alcohol or addictions to work. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:23.919 You're a workaholic. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:26.319 That's not healthy. 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:28.159 Don't you want to be healthy? 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:37.120 Health is when we surrender everything to God every day. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:38.080 Hello? 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:40.400 Say amen if you believe that. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:42.159 It's not easy. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:44.080 It's not easy. 00:03:44.639 --> 00:04:00.960 I think on a regular basis, if you're not dying to yourself, if you're not crucifying yourself on the cross of not knowing what to do or how to do it, then you're not going to grow. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:08.240 But opposite of what the world says, God says, crucify yourself on the cross every day. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:09.280 Surrender to me. 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:11.280 You don't know what to do, but I do. 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:24.240 Open up the word, let me speak to you, give you revelation, and I'll guarantee you one thing, the joy of the Lord will become your strength. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:27.120 Even if it's just a little bit. 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:41.199 And they had been colored on. 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:44.399 And they were the they were, these were expensive Barbies. 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:53.680 And so there's a kid sitting next to the Barbies who doesn't own the Barbies, not their Barbies. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.199 With a pen in the kid's hand. 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:03.439 I said, You did you color the Barbies head with a permanent marker? 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:04.560 No. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:06.079 No. 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:07.920 I did not. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:10.959 Are you sure you didn't? 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:13.680 No, I did not. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:16.240 A little less conviction second time. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:18.240 So I asked again, a little less third time. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:23.040 I said, okay, did you just maybe just a little bit? 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:29.360 Just tiny, tiny bit, not a lot, but just a little bit kind of right on their heads. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:31.360 Yeah, I did. 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:42.560 So it always, so joy in the Lord begins with a partnership of abiding in Him and surrendering everything to Him. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:43.839 And it's just a little bit. 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.560 It may be just a little bit of joy that you get. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.800 But men and women, start doing it every day. 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:53.040 Buy our journal, which we're sold out right now. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:57.360 The next week you can buy our journal, our partnering journal that we sold out on. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:05.040 But start spending time with the Lord and walking with Him on a daily basis, being in His Word, prayer. 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:08.480 If you're married, if you can do it with your spouse, that's great. 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:11.680 If you're not really comfortable with that yet, that's fine too. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:13.680 But I want to talk about faith. 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:16.160 This is my last message on Prepare 2020. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:28.240 I want to talk about what I'm calling action faith, which in a way is kind of like it's an oxymoron today because we tend to think of faith intellectually. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:29.279 Oh, I believe. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:31.360 And the word pistis can mean that in Greek. 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:32.160 Pistis. 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:33.759 I believe in something. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:35.920 And there's two kinds of faith. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.639 And the first is salvation faith. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:41.279 We're doing baptisms today. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:42.240 I'm so excited. 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:45.199 I love baptism Sundays. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:51.279 Because these young people are putting their faith in Christ. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:52.959 They're getting saved. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:07:03.759 And now they're making an external public proclamation that they want to be a Jesus follower, and that faith now has action to it. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:04.879 You see what I'm saying? 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:11.920 So, in a way, action, faith, they shouldn't even go together because faith without action is wishful thinking. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:19.120 So say to your neighbor, faith without action is wishful thinking. 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:24.000 Okay, guys, there's two kinds of faith. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:26.959 The first, today, is salvation faith. 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:28.639 Pistis, salvation faith. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:33.040 We put our faith in Christ, and Christ comes into our life. 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:47.279 Romans 10, 9 and 10, we read, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe faith, believe pistis, believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:52.560 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:53.519 So that's salvation. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:55.600 I'm not going to talk about salvation faith today. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:00.639 Except that if you haven't put your faith in Christ, this would be a really good day to do it. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:05.680 Be really smart to become a Jesus follower. 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:09.199 Because when you become a Jesus follower, you're not alone anymore. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:10.160 Isn't that exciting? 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:11.839 You're not alone anymore. 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:14.800 You're not alone in this life anymore. 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:17.920 You have the Spirit of God living within you. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:19.120 So that's salvation faith. 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:22.800 Second, though, is what I'm calling. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:24.480 Well, let me give you two terms. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:26.480 One is sanctification faith. 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:30.000 And sanctification is a big word, but it has the idea of growing. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:32.159 It's the idea of you growing into maturity. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:34.080 So we'll call it salvation faith. 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:41.039 Secondly, sanctification faith, which I'm returning for the purposes today of action faith. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:43.440 You can't get sanctified. 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:52.000 You can't mature and get transformed and changed in your life without an action faith. 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:54.720 It has to have feet to it, gang. 00:08:55.279 --> 00:09:00.080 And too many believers in America have a cerebral faith. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:02.480 They have an intellectual faith. 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:08.480 But they're about 14, 12 to 14 inches away from action faith. 00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:20.320 Because if we don't see transformation in your daily walk with God and your daily walk with people, then you're not growing. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:27.039 In other words, where we were unforgiving before, and we start to have a little bit of forgiveness now toward those people. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:34.399 When we've been backstabbed or we've been betrayed, and we all have, and we start to have a little bit of forgiveness, that's sanctification faith. 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:35.840 That's action faith. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:43.600 Something's happening within you that's now beginning to be expressed without you in a way that people can start to see. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:47.440 And it might be tiny, it might be small. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:52.240 When I was a freshman in Georgia and I gave my heart to Christ. 00:09:53.039 --> 00:10:03.440 The next day, I wanted to witness, I wanted to tell people about my experience with Christ, but my morality hadn't changed yet. 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:07.200 I didn't even know exactly what I needed to change. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:25.120 But as the weeks and the months went by, God, his Spirit, because I was in a partnership with the Holy Spirit, I didn't call it back then, I call it the Spirit-filled life, but through a partnership with the Spirit, I would get this sense in my heart, man, I shouldn't do that. 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:26.960 That's not healthy. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:29.519 That's not good for my relationships. 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:31.600 That's not good for me as an athlete. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:36.879 And there was all kinds of ramifications that went with that, but with that, I began to change. 00:10:37.039 --> 00:10:38.720 That's action faith. 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:45.360 That's faith that's beginning to work itself through your spiritual bloodstream. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:56.240 So I know guys that are about my age that take testosterone shots. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:58.559 They go to a high T center. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:01.840 I'm sure there's no one like that in here. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:10.080 Because we know biologically that your T, your testosterone, tends to drop as you get older. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:12.320 Some people take testosterone shots. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:13.600 And it get, what does it do? 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:15.519 It gets into your bloodstream. 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:17.039 It gives you more energy. 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:19.120 It gives you more strength. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:27.919 Well, God's Spirit, His Holy Spirit, lives within us, and he wants to start living through the spiritual bloodstream of your life. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:32.399 So I want to talk about action faith from a story. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:36.879 So turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of John. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:40.480 I love this story. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:46.960 Powerful story of a man who exhibited action faith. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:54.879 And men and women, when you look at the New Testament, you really get a feel. 00:11:54.960 --> 00:12:02.320 And by the way, we've been going, we've been doing some topical stuff for the last several months, but start in a in a week or so we're going to go back to Matthew. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:06.720 We're going to start going chapter by chapter and verse by verse through Matthew again. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:20.559 But I felt like this was a good precursor to going back into Matthew because wherever Jesus goes, and if you're not one who's been through the Bible or you're unfamiliar with aspects of the Bible, start, keep coming here. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:29.279 Because we're going to go through, I'm going to take you through the gospel of Matthew, and it's going to radicalize your life. 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:32.000 It's going to radicalize your faith. 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:40.960 Because Jesus, at every front, everywhere he turns, when he sees people of faith, he gets pumped. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:43.600 He doesn't care what your background is. 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:46.240 He doesn't care who you slept with the night before. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:48.320 He doesn't care what your job is. 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:52.639 When you see who Jesus is interested in, he doesn't look at any of that. 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:54.879 He looks at the faith that's in their heart. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.240 And he gets excited for those who have action faith. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:12:59.279 So here's the story. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:03.120 This is a story of a man, says he's a nobleman. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:06.000 Look at John 4, 46. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:08.240 John 4, 46. 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:17.919 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:18.480 Remember that? 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:20.080 That was his first miracle. 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:25.440 And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:26.960 So just stop right there. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:35.200 Trouble is the mother of either fear or faith. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:36.639 You have a choice. 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:38.559 You have a choice this year. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:45.360 Troubles are going to either birth fear or they're going to birth faith. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:47.679 Your choice, not God's choice. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:48.639 Up to you. 00:13:48.879 --> 00:14:04.320 You can either be wrapped up and enraptured by and overtaken with fear, or something rises up within you and says, I choose not to be fearful. 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:06.399 I'm going after faith. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:08.720 I'm going to trust God with this thing. 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:10.799 And here's a nobleman. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.840 And he's interesting that he's classified as a nobleman. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:15.519 This is a man of means. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:18.559 This is someone who has resources. 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:21.840 But here's what he does in verse 47. 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:41.279 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him and implored, underline, highlight, implored him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:44.399 Guys, this is trouble. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:46.399 This is a struggle. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:50.480 This is at the very core of us as parents. 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:52.639 It's at the very core of any of our lives. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:56.879 Someone you deeply love is about to die. 00:14:58.159 --> 00:14:59.519 And here's what I think happened. 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:01.039 I'm just going to read into it a little bit. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:09.519 I would imagine the nobleman went and whatever the doctors were at that time, or whoever the whatever the potions were at that time that you took. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:10.960 He had the resources to do it. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:12.399 Nothing had worked. 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:13.679 Nothing had worked. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:15.200 And he's heard about Jesus. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:19.039 He's heard about what he's been doing all over Galilee and Judea. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:26.399 And so he's got to find Jesus, and it's 16 miles from Cana to Capernaum. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:32.720 So he either walked it, he either ran it, he either got on a horse, he had an entourage. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:33.519 I don't know. 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:41.360 All I know is 16 miles is a lot further then than 16 miles is today. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:43.200 He is passionate. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.080 Here's the first point of action faith. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:48.399 It's asking Jesus. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:50.320 It's asking for something. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:51.440 It's asking. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:16:00.799 It's taking your mind off just not just the human elements that are around you, but saying, okay, in spite of this or with this, I'm asking Jesus. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:03.279 Jesus, I need you to do something. 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:09.759 That's actionable, proactive, intentional faith. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:16.559 He's going after Jesus, and almost all the time it's not easy. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:19.120 Almost every time it's not easy. 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:29.919 In this case, he had to put his entourage together, or he had to be a marathoner, or he had to get his chariots or whatever he had, and he went 16 miles. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:32.799 It's hilly country. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:37.039 Roads weren't great back then, and he is after Jesus. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:39.120 He's going after Jesus. 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:46.240 And men and women, one of the first things that we learn in how to grow in faith is how to pray, and he's specific. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:48.080 He's specific. 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:52.879 He wants Jesus and He wants his son healed. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:55.840 Let me encourage you. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:58.000 Have a prayer list. 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:00.960 What are the top seven or eight things? 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:02.159 Maybe that's too many. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:12.480 What are the top three to seven things that are on your heart this year that you really need God to show up on, that you're praying about? 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:14.400 Keep a prayer list. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:18.240 Open up your journal and start listening. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:20.640 And each day, give that to God. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:22.079 Give that to the Lord. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:23.599 That's action faith. 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:27.680 That's partnering with the Holy Spirit in prayer. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:35.440 John says that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us, and we know that when he hears us, we have what we've asked of him. 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:38.400 And so we're going to talk about how you know God's will. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:40.400 How do you know it's God's will? 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:48.400 Well, first of all, if you knew it was God's will without any doubt at all, then probably it's not by faith. 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:50.400 So we don't always know. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:57.759 And I think one of the keys in prayer, church, is that we're okay with mystery. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:17:59.839 You gotta be okay with mystery. 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:01.519 It's really hard for us as Americans. 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:04.880 We want it now and we want it our way. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:08.400 And it's not always that way, it's not always that easy. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:11.359 But here's what I know is that God always honors faith. 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:13.759 Even when we don't know what or how to pray. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:14.880 He's asking. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:17.519 So this guy has no guarantees. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:23.759 All probably all he has is hearsay about Jesus. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:26.160 And by the way, that's okay. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:34.400 Some of you are here today because somebody invited you and it's based on their hearsay about the road. 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:39.680 Or it's about their hearsay about their son or their daughter getting baptized until you came to be a supporter. 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:40.799 That's okay. 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:42.319 That's great. 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:43.759 That's where it always starts. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:47.200 It always starts with someone we know. 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:53.119 He says, Man, remember last year when I was struggling with depression, man, I got set free. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:58.400 Jesus broke the power of depression in my life. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:03.279 Remember, I told you like five years ago, we were, my wife and I were on the verge of divorce. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:04.799 Jesus changed that. 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:06.160 I started going to church. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:07.519 I started reading God's word. 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:08.720 I started praying. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:11.200 And look what he's done. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:12.880 Hearsay. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:19.279 Somebody's testimony, and we all know a testimony is somebody who's been tested. 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:25.359 You get a mony out of your test. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:28.240 That's a testimony. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:30.079 We need more monies. 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:35.599 Monies are people who didn't quit. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:38.480 Asking. 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:41.759 Action faith is asking. 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:45.519 Then Jesus said to him, and I love this part, it's really interesting. 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:46.880 Verse 48. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:53.599 Then Jesus said to him, unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:57.839 That doesn't sound like a very nice answer from Jesus. 00:19:58.559 --> 00:19:59.279 Oh, you guys. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:02.640 I mean, he probably said, like, you just want signs and wonders. 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:08.880 Do you remember the story of the Canaanite woman, the Gentile woman? 00:20:08.960 --> 00:20:13.119 She comes and she rushes up to Jesus and she says, she's not a Jew. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:17.599 And she says, Jesus, um, my daughter's demon-possessed. 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:18.880 Would you come and heal her? 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:19.920 And he goes, I don't. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:21.759 I I just come for the nation of Israel. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:22.960 I'm not interested in you. 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:24.559 First of all, he didn't even answer her. 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:26.480 Then he says it that way to her. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:29.440 And then you know what she says? 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:30.559 She is. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:33.680 He basically says, You're a dog. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:35.279 That's basically what Jesus says to her. 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:39.920 And then she says, Well, even the dogs eat the crumbs off the table. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:41.519 And then he looks at her. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:43.279 I can just see Jesus going, ah. 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:50.079 And then he looks at her and he goes, I am, this is your faith has healed your daughter. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:53.119 Isn't that wild? 00:20:54.079 --> 00:20:56.720 That's the way Jesus is sometimes when we're asking. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:58.640 I don't think he's Santa. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:02.480 I really don't think he's Santa. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:07.759 He doesn't just bend over backwards for us. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:17.279 I think he's pulling out something within us to cause us to get more and more desperate. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:21.519 Are you desperate to be changed? 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:25.599 Are you desperate for God to answer that prayer? 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:33.359 God will often say no or wait and pull it out of us, so we'll keep going after him. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:38.640 He's keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:41.359 That's literally what it means in the passage in Greek. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:44.079 And it shall be given to you. 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:47.279 So he's longing for that. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:53.119 So it's asking and keep and continuing to ask. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:56.160 And the and a Canaanite woman, that's in Matthew 15. 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:57.200 That's what happens there. 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:58.640 But then look what happens next. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:21:59.519 Verse 49. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:06.400 The nobleman said to him, Sir, come down before the child dies. 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:08.799 He does not quit. 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:10.400 He does not quit. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:12.559 He keeps asking. 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:16.720 So Jesus said to him, This is so cool. 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:17.759 I love this. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:20.799 Go your way, your son lives. 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:25.759 Go your way, your son lives. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:34.000 So the man, and this is underlinable material here, star it, highlight it. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:43.599 So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way asking, secondly, believing. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:45.279 Believing what God says. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:46.720 God's going to speak to you. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:48.079 Listen to me, church. 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:53.680 If you'll keep asking, if you'll keep seeking, God will speak. 00:22:54.559 --> 00:23:06.240 Listen, it may not always be exactly what we were hoping for or we wanted, but you'll know that it's God's will, and there's a certain kind of peace and joy that comes from that. 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:08.079 He believed, this guy believed. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:08.480 Look at that. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:09.039 Look at it again. 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:10.319 I'm in the New King James Version. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:11.279 Let's say it together. 00:23:11.440 --> 00:23:12.079 I love it. 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:14.240 It's the best part of the whole story. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:15.279 Say it together. 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:22.880 So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and he went his way. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:25.279 He put feet to it. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:27.200 It says he believed so he could leave. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:27.680 It's over. 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:28.240 It's done. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:29.119 He's got it. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.319 He believed, he trusted, he went. 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:39.039 And church, this is the main document. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:41.680 This is the main manual. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:47.440 This is the living book of God that he speaks from. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:51.279 Everybody go like this if you know what I'm talking about. 00:23:52.480 --> 00:24:00.079 This is, we have the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit primarily speaks from God's Word. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:02.319 And there's two words for word here. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:06.960 One is Logos and one is Rhema. 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:10.160 Logos is the written word. 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:16.799 When you're reading God's word as it is, it is the Logos Word of God. 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:23.920 But then as you're reading it, sometimes what God does, and more often than not, He speaks to you. 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:27.759 He highlights something in your life, and you know that's for you. 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:29.119 That's a word for you. 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:30.559 That's what you're asking about. 00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:32.400 That's what you're seeking God for. 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:36.640 It's unique for something in your life, and that's Rhema. 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:43.200 God gives Rhema to those that are in Logos. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:46.720 You can't get Rhema if you're not in Logos. 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:49.599 You've got to be reading the Logos before you can get Rhema. 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:53.039 It's being at the well of Jacob. 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:57.759 Some of you this Tuesday night that are going to Israel with me, we have an Israel meeting. 00:24:57.920 --> 00:24:58.960 We're going to be in here. 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:02.640 We're going to be streaming it to Georgia from a brother's church. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:07.920 One of the sites, I'm not sure if it's on the list or not, but one of the sites that could be is Jacob's well. 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:22.160 If we were to go to Jacob's well, you would see a well, and the well still works, and it's actually the well that Jacob got water from, that's logos. 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:24.000 That well is logos. 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:34.720 But if we were to drop that bucket down and grab water from the bottom and pull it up and drink water from Jacob's well because we're thirsty, that's Rhema. 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:48.400 In other words, there's a general understanding of the inspiration of God's word to us, but then there's an inspirational word for you that God wants to use. 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:50.160 That's what happened to this young man. 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:57.920 This nobleman couldn't have gotten the word from Jesus if he stayed in Capernaum. 00:25:58.000 --> 00:25:58.960 Do you understand? 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:13.200 He got up that morning really early, and he got on his horse, or he got in his chariot, or his wagon, or what, and he got all the way over to Cana to intercept Jesus. 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:19.359 And when you get up in the morning and you spend time in God's word, you're going from Capernaum to Cana. 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:21.920 And you're going to meet Jesus there. 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:26.880 And when you meet Jesus there, he's got something uniquely for you almost every day. 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:28.480 Isn't that exciting? 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:30.319 Say that's exciting. 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:32.559 Say, I'm going to get into God's Word. 00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:34.640 I'm going to get into God's Word. 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:36.079 Not very convincing. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:36.799 I say that again. 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:38.720 I'm going to get into God's Word. 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:41.279 Tomorrow. 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:42.640 In the morning. 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:44.160 Really early. 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:46.079 I won't go any further than that. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:55.920 But so action faith is asking, but then it's believing. 00:26:56.319 --> 00:26:57.599 Verse 51. 00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:05.039 And as he now was going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, Your son lives. 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:15.200 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better, and they said to him, Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him. 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:16.559 Okay, two things here. 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:18.400 Number one, acting. 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:19.599 He believed. 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:21.200 So he he literally believed. 00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:22.480 He didn't just say believe. 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:24.400 It wasn't just an intellectual faith. 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:32.480 He actually believed in his heart, and that's why he could go back and start walking back, or running back, or in a canter, on his horse, or whatever he was. 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:37.279 He's going back, and then there's an intersection with them, and that is acting. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:41.440 So it's asking, it's believing. 00:27:41.680 --> 00:27:48.160 It's then acting on your belief that what God said to you is absolutely true for you. 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:50.079