I started last week a series of messages message called : The Power of Faith
Recap of last week message :
Faith as a mustard seed
According to Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The world was formed by the Word of God.
Genesis 1 God looked out and saw darkness and he said : “Light be” !
God first SPOKE , then He saw it happening !
Ephesians 5:1 Bible says for us to imitate our Father , that means saying the same things that He said !
Faith works in the heart when you confess it with your mouth !
Jesus said :
“If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can SAY to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”
Jesus is telling us that faith works like a seed and you plant it by speaking it , saying it , voicing it , and that’s the way you plant the seed of faith ! and IT SHOULD OBEY YOU.
Notice , it didn’t say it would obey God !
If you have faith as a seed , you would say !
There is no faith without saying, that is the way you plant it.
Today’s Word : Speak out what you believe (12/05/19)
Hebrews 11:6 Without Faith is impossible to please God ! If you want to please God , you have to have faith!
When you have faith you believe in God’s Word ! You can not doubt from God’s Word !
I can fail , you can fail , but God never does !
My Bible says in Titus 1:2 “God cannot lie”
When I don’t believe in His Word it’s an insult to His integrity!
That’s why Faith is attractive to God , Faith attracts God’s attention
Being in church for many years does not mean that you have great faith.
Like right now , in this building , there are a lot of people here , all of you have your own needs, but if someone here has faith in God, God bypasses everyone here for that person.
Miracles testimonies:
My mummy’s testimony – She was new believer in Christ, she had a lump (growing bone) in her left arm/hand / and needed surgery to saw the bone that had grown there. She said , pray for me and , anoint me with oil and I will be healed. I prayed, she went to bed and the next morning the lump disappeared.
Elizabeth – she had insomnia, 10 years no sleep , she wasn’t believer , she was in church the first time and she was totally healed.
Marilene , she had a lump in her hand and after prayer disappeared.
Everything that Jesus did for us is ours ! Amen !
But why is it , that some Christians have more than others ? Why some Christians receive more than others ?
Is it because Jesus gives them more than He gives others ?
No , every need of mankind has been met at the cross !
Jesus became naked at the cross , he was found without clothes at the cross so that He could meet all our needs !
“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”),”
Galatians 3:13
At the cross He became a curse that we might be blessed!
Jesus paid the price for our redemption from all the curse !
But How we receive this ?
We receive by Faith! The righteous should live by Faith!
Faith is attractive to God. Faith attracts God’s attention. Do you understand that?
The greatest blessing that we can receive from God is our Salvation and forgiveness of all our sins.
How does salvation and forgiveness come ?
“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9
Some people even in church are misled and don’t understand this!
You have to understand that : salvation, healing and God’s blessings you receive by faith not by works , not by deeds , not because you have earned or deserve it !
It’s by the grace of God , it’s a gift , you don’t pay for and It’s free !
If you try to pay for a gift , it’s an offence !
When Jesus healed people , He always said : your faith has healed you !
He never said : you were healed because you have a good heart , you were healed because you are a good person , you are healed because you help people ! No
It’s not by works it’s by the work of the Cross !
I have seen many miracles , healings outside of the church , or with people full of sin , addictions , but they receive this blessings because they believed.
Salvation , healing, blessings are all gifts of God !
Jesus never asked anybody :
How is your life in order for you to receive this miracle?
Is your life okay with God in order for you to receive a miracle ?
Like the woman with the issue of blood.
She broke the law, to be in the public place, to touch the garment of Jesus. And yet Jesus turned around and said, “Your faith made you well”.
Jesus didn’t stop her from receiving. Jesus didn’t ask her : How is your life ? Are you married, are you single ?
So, there is something about faith that is the highest form of holiness to God. God esteems faith as being higher than any other trait.
How to use our faith ?
The way we exercise faith is simple , very simple !
How do we receive all God’s blessings ? By faith !
Believe and speak , Believe and speak !
With my heart I believe and with my mouth I speak !
Do you have The Spirit o Faith in your life ?
“And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak,”
II Corinthians 4:13
The spirit of faith is : I believe, I speak – I believe, I Speak !
This is powerful ! You re going to see this principle of faith in the whole Bible , Old and New Testament !
Many people say that they believe but they are always speaking bad words or wrong words.
You have to say :
“I believe this week will be a great week”
“I believe God’s protection will be over me and my children”
“Everywhere I go , the favour of God will follow to me”
If you start talking like that, you are exercising faith and God loves it ! Because without Faith is impossible to please God !
Let’s see some examples, first in the Old Testament , Let’s see how faith operates ?
Do you remember about David and Goliath ?
How did David defeat Goliath?
Many will say that Goliath was knocked down by a stone.
But actually, before , long before David released that stone from his slingshot, He spook to Goliath!
“This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you.”
I Samuel 17:46
Never for one moment , did David ever thought that : “Whats going to happen if I throw the stone and miss”?
David had faith. David believed , and David spoke on that !
“Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand”
2nd example : When the children of Israel went around the walls of Jericho, Joshua led them !
Before the walls fell ,Joshua says
“Joshua said to the people: “Shout, for the LORD has given you the city!”
Joshua 6:16
The tense used here “has given” shows that the city was already theirs. They were to shout before the walls fall !
That is faith !
First you speak then you see !
We look at them and we say : that is David ,that’s Joshua, but I’m Marcio , I’m Alex , I’m Antonio……
Well, in the Bible says that if you are a believer, if you believe in Christ , you have the same faith that they have !
“And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak,”. II Corinthians 4:13
“We have the same spirit of faith”
We have the same spirit of faith that David had , that Moses had , Abraham had, apostle Paul had !
Notice that Faith is not a formula . Faith is a Spirit and Spirit are contagious! It can spread ! Amen ?
Bring someone in a room full of faith and the whole atmosphere is charged with faith.
Likewise if you have someone very depressed , very fearful , and negative , it can spread and will contaminate the atmosphere.
Sometimes we talk to someone and we get depressed!
Let’s go to another example :
God used Moses to take the children of Israel out of Egypt.
God said to them : I’m going to bring you all to a land “flowing with milk and honey.”
When they were close to the land , the children of Israel sent 12 spies to spy on the Promised Land that God had given them.
After 40 days of spying on the land , they came back.
Ten of them said:
“We saw the giant Nephilim people there! (The descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim.) We felt like little grasshoppers. Yes, we were like grasshoppers to them!””
Numbers 13:33
“We saw the giant ” , “We Felt”.
We can not take the land , the giants are too big , The walls are too thick and we are too small !
But two of them , Joshua and Caleb had a different spirit let’s see what they said.
“Then Caleb said, “We should go up and take that land for ourselves. We can easily take that land.””
Numbers 13:30
“Do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.”” Numbers 14:9
The Promised Land were for all children of Israel but only the two of them who believed and SPOKE entered into the promise land !
The same is true today !
If you start looking to the size of your problem , if you keep saying: it’s difficult, it’s hard , it’s incurable, it’s impossible, then nothing are going to happen and you are not going to please God.
Let’s see what God did say to them:
“Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have SPOKEN in My hearing, so I will do to you:”
Numbers 14:28
Just as you spoke I will do to you !
“But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.”
Numbers 14:24
What kind of spirit do you have ?
“And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak,”
II Corinthians 4:13
If you believe, you have to speak up, amen?
I you believe something, say it !
Just saying “I believe”, it’s not enough if you never speak !
Speak out what you believe (part 2) next week
May God bless you !