WEBVTT 00:00:01.419 --> 00:00:04.440 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.860 --> 00:00:11.679 Elation Church. Now the series is called Faith 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:19.539 Act. Faith Act. Everybody say Faith Act. And 00:00:19.539 --> 00:00:21.899 I'll tell you what that picture has to do with 00:00:21.899 --> 00:00:27.660 it. You think that baby can pick up that dumbbell 00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:34.939 that weighs 300 pounds? How would that baby feel 00:00:34.939 --> 00:00:37.200 if somebody big and strong walked up behind it 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:41.759 and just started picking up that bar? Like, yeah! 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.520 That's the way it'd feel. Look at the person 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:51.700 beside you and say, that's you. That's you. God 00:00:51.700 --> 00:00:53.880 wants your hands on the bar so that he's going 00:00:53.880 --> 00:01:00.640 to pick it up, right? It'll make more sense in 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:05.840 the next. Five to 15 weeks. It'll make a lot 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:09.680 more sense. I'm going to talk about faith. And 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:11.719 if you've been around Elation Church, you've 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:15.420 heard us talk about faith. And faith is important, 00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:19.739 right? Ephesians 2 .8. I mean, actually, faith 00:01:19.739 --> 00:01:22.959 is of ultimate importance because we're saved 00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:27.579 by grace. Everybody say by grace. Through faith. 00:01:28.909 --> 00:01:32.730 So if we are in Christ today, if we are born 00:01:32.730 --> 00:01:37.650 again, if we are children of God, we came to 00:01:37.650 --> 00:01:44.609 him with faith. That's the entry point, right? 00:01:45.569 --> 00:01:49.650 Now we come to him based on what he's done. Everybody 00:01:49.650 --> 00:01:54.670 say grace. Grace is God's acts of kindness and 00:01:54.670 --> 00:01:58.099 favor towards you. That you didn't work for, 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:01.939 you didn't earn, you didn't deserve. I mean, 00:02:01.959 --> 00:02:06.180 none of us deserved for Jesus to step down out 00:02:06.180 --> 00:02:08.479 of the throne room of eternity and put on flesh, 00:02:08.580 --> 00:02:11.060 live a perfect life, and then willingly lay down 00:02:11.060 --> 00:02:13.539 His life and die for us on the cross. There's 00:02:13.539 --> 00:02:16.419 not a person in this room who deserved that. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:21.800 It was a demonstration of God's great love for 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:27.099 us, right? But just because Jesus did that, it 00:02:27.099 --> 00:02:32.000 doesn't mean that everybody is now a child of 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:37.360 God. It doesn't mean that. It means that everybody 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:41.439 has the opportunity to be a child of God, but 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:46.020 we have to connect to God's grace with our faith. 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:50.099 I talk about that a lot, but it's easy to see 00:02:50.099 --> 00:02:54.330 in salvation, isn't it? Hello? Nobody shook their 00:02:54.330 --> 00:02:57.069 head. It's easy to see when it comes to salvation, 00:02:57.349 --> 00:03:00.370 right? That we have to connect to God with our 00:03:00.370 --> 00:03:03.310 faith. We have to believe that God loved us so 00:03:03.310 --> 00:03:06.189 much that he laid down his life for us and died 00:03:06.189 --> 00:03:08.729 in our place for our sin. We have to believe 00:03:08.729 --> 00:03:11.909 that. We have to confess our sin to him. We have 00:03:11.909 --> 00:03:15.289 to call on him as our Lord. We give ourselves 00:03:15.289 --> 00:03:21.770 to him, right? That's our faith act in salvation. 00:03:23.370 --> 00:03:29.810 And without that faith act, we're not in Christ. 00:03:31.490 --> 00:03:36.090 There has to be that faith act attaching to God's 00:03:36.090 --> 00:03:40.110 acts of kindness and favor towards us. Now, I 00:03:40.110 --> 00:03:41.530 want you to look at the person beside you and 00:03:41.530 --> 00:03:47.330 say, it works the same way. Everything else, 00:03:47.449 --> 00:03:52.979 the Bible's filled with promises. That Jesus 00:03:52.979 --> 00:03:57.400 has earned and worked for and deserved when he 00:03:57.400 --> 00:04:00.319 came to this earth. And then now the Bible is 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:03.400 filled with promises. And his resurrection stamped 00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:06.860 those promises as these are real promises. And 00:04:06.860 --> 00:04:10.659 we can only have these promises come to fruition 00:04:10.659 --> 00:04:14.060 in our lives when we attach to them by faith. 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:19.899 Just because there's a promise doesn't mean it's 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:24.089 going to be fulfilled. I have to attach to it 00:04:24.089 --> 00:04:32.689 with my faith, just like salvation. Now, I haven't 00:04:32.689 --> 00:04:36.310 known this my whole life. So there were a lot 00:04:36.310 --> 00:04:38.189 of times when I was like, well, God, you promised 00:04:38.189 --> 00:04:42.310 this, but I don't see it happening. And God's 00:04:42.310 --> 00:04:46.110 like, well, you didn't attach your faith to it. 00:04:46.149 --> 00:04:51.339 That's why it's not happening. But we live in 00:04:51.339 --> 00:04:53.819 a world where nobody wants to take any responsibility 00:04:53.819 --> 00:04:57.500 about anything, don't we? It's got to be your 00:04:57.500 --> 00:05:00.759 parents' fault. It's got to be your ex's fault. 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:04.680 It's got to be, you know, your kid's fault. It's 00:05:04.680 --> 00:05:07.079 got to be somebody's fault, your spouse's fault, 00:05:07.139 --> 00:05:10.459 somebody's fault, but never me. It's got to be 00:05:10.459 --> 00:05:20.529 God's fault. Hello? But we have to attach. To 00:05:20.529 --> 00:05:25.290 His promises with our faith act to receive His 00:05:25.290 --> 00:05:32.490 grace gifts. That's a lot. Let's keep going. 00:05:33.230 --> 00:05:37.290 Let's keep going. Galatians 3 .11 says this, 00:05:37.290 --> 00:05:40.629 No one is justified by the law. What does that 00:05:40.629 --> 00:05:44.850 mean? No one is right with God by keeping a set 00:05:44.850 --> 00:05:53.959 of rules. I've got something else to say. I'm 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:57.959 just letting that sit there a minute. No one 00:05:57.959 --> 00:05:59.819 is justified by the law in the sight of God. 00:05:59.860 --> 00:06:03.560 That's evident. For the just, those who have 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:06.300 been justified, those who have been made right 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:09.160 with God, are living by faith. Everybody say 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:17.199 faith. So we connect to justification and salvation 00:06:17.199 --> 00:06:21.259 and righteousness. We connect to that with our 00:06:21.259 --> 00:06:26.009 faith. 2 Corinthians 5, 7 says this, we walk 00:06:26.009 --> 00:06:30.329 by faith. That means every aspect of our life. 00:06:30.370 --> 00:06:32.110 That's what that word walk means. Everything 00:06:32.110 --> 00:06:37.970 in the sphere of our life is done by faith, not 00:06:37.970 --> 00:06:44.069 by sight. Not by sight. So if we're in Christ, 00:06:44.370 --> 00:06:49.689 we're supposed to walk by faith. We're supposed 00:06:49.689 --> 00:06:53.680 to live. By faith. Everything. Every day that 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:58.879 we encounter, faith needs to be part of it. Because 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:01.079 we're living our lives walking with God. We're 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:02.959 not just coming to visit Him for an hour and 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:09.939 a half on Sunday. No. It's life. Somebody smile. 00:07:10.980 --> 00:07:12.639 Look at the person beside you and say, you need 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:14.519 to listen faster than you're listening because 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:18.019 any time we go over, it's because you were listening 00:07:18.019 --> 00:07:20.350 slow and not listening. Because I'll just keep 00:07:20.350 --> 00:07:22.290 saying it a hundred different ways until I think 00:07:22.290 --> 00:07:26.930 you get it. 1 John 5, 4. This is just an introduction, 00:07:27.029 --> 00:07:29.769 by the way. For every child of God who is a child 00:07:29.769 --> 00:07:32.589 of God, who has come to Him by faith, received 00:07:32.589 --> 00:07:36.069 His gift of eternal life, every child of God 00:07:36.069 --> 00:07:40.529 defeats this evil world. My question is, does 00:07:40.529 --> 00:07:45.569 that look like your daily experience? If not, 00:07:45.709 --> 00:07:51.860 we have a faith problem. Every child of God defeats 00:07:51.860 --> 00:07:54.040 this evil world and we achieve this victory. 00:07:54.100 --> 00:08:01.439 How? Through our faith. Hebrews 11, 6. Does anybody 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:06.720 want to please God today or this week? Well, 00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:10.879 guess what? It is impossible to please God without 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:17.160 faith. Hello? Anyone who wants to come to Him 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:20.500 must believe that God exists. He rewards those 00:08:20.500 --> 00:08:27.000 who sincerely seek Him. Do you believe that God 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:31.079 exists? Everybody's quick on that one. Do you 00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:34.460 believe that He rewards those who sincerely seek 00:08:34.460 --> 00:08:38.679 Him? I didn't write this. I'm just reading it. 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:46.639 So if I was you, I'd believe it. So if we are 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:49.779 saved, through faith, if we're supposed to live 00:08:49.779 --> 00:08:53.279 and walk by faith, if we can only experience 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.879 the victorious Christian life through our faith, 00:08:56.980 --> 00:09:02.200 if we can only please God by our faith, then 00:09:02.200 --> 00:09:07.220 faith must be pretty important. Three of you 00:09:07.220 --> 00:09:15.220 are shaking your head. So, how does faith work? 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:21.139 Where does it come from? What is my response? 00:09:21.220 --> 00:09:23.299 How does that look? I just talked to you about 00:09:23.299 --> 00:09:26.460 it when it comes to salvation. Let's talk about 00:09:26.460 --> 00:09:29.059 it when it comes to do with everything that we're 00:09:29.059 --> 00:09:32.220 engaged in in our life. It says this, so then 00:09:32.220 --> 00:09:37.000 faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:41.460 of God. See, we don't just have faith in faith. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:45.580 I mean, you can go to the trinket shop and buy 00:09:45.580 --> 00:09:47.940 all these little plaques that say faith and hope 00:09:47.940 --> 00:09:51.519 and love. But our faith is not in faith. Our 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:57.919 faith is in what God has said and what God is 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:05.139 saying. This isn't just talking about written 00:10:05.139 --> 00:10:10.700 Word of God. It's talking about divine utterance. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:18.000 Supernatural utterance. See, the Bible gives 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:20.500 us a whole lot of black and white about how to 00:10:20.500 --> 00:10:23.799 live our lives and how to respond. Hey, the Bible's 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:25.799 filled with that, but the Bible don't necessarily 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:30.899 tell you where to work, who to marry, who to 00:10:30.899 --> 00:10:36.899 date. Right? So we've got to be led by the Holy 00:10:36.899 --> 00:10:41.240 Spirit of God who is in us. Are you with me? 00:10:42.509 --> 00:10:44.169 If you don't know what I'm talking about, go 00:10:44.169 --> 00:10:46.669 to YouTube and look at our series on spirit -led 00:10:46.669 --> 00:10:50.570 that we did last year. Because we have to be 00:10:50.570 --> 00:10:54.909 led by the Holy Spirit. Our body, when we're 00:10:54.909 --> 00:10:58.110 in Christ, our body is the temple of the Holy 00:10:58.110 --> 00:11:03.610 Spirit. God is alive on the inside of us. Not 00:11:03.610 --> 00:11:05.830 just to give us warm fuzzies, even though that's 00:11:05.830 --> 00:11:09.610 cool. Has anybody ever got warm fuzzies? Because 00:11:09.610 --> 00:11:12.000 God's inside of you. Anybody know what I'm talking 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:17.000 about? It's not just the warm fuzzies. It's for 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:24.700 life. How would you like to always be able to 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:28.440 talk to someone who actually knows everything 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:34.759 about everything? Would anybody like some of 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:43.769 that advice? That's the Holy Spirit. That's the 00:11:43.769 --> 00:11:48.529 Holy Spirit. He wants to lead you and guide you. 00:11:48.610 --> 00:11:51.490 I mean, I can't tell you how many years I was 00:11:51.490 --> 00:11:53.309 a Christian and didn't even understand that or 00:11:53.309 --> 00:11:55.830 even have any concept of that because I just 00:11:55.830 --> 00:11:57.629 thought it was about going to church on Sunday 00:11:57.629 --> 00:11:59.490 and then doing the best I can the rest of the 00:11:59.490 --> 00:12:02.970 week. Now, you might not have grown up like that, 00:12:03.029 --> 00:12:06.190 but I'm just telling you how I grew up. Even 00:12:06.190 --> 00:12:12.990 preaching. Hello? Even preaching. That's all 00:12:12.990 --> 00:12:16.250 I had. Give God all I can on Sunday morning and 00:12:16.250 --> 00:12:19.629 then just figure it out the best I can. Listen. 00:12:23.009 --> 00:12:29.190 God is... God didn't stop speaking when he wrote 00:12:29.190 --> 00:12:35.289 a book. But I'm going to give you a warning. 00:12:37.629 --> 00:12:41.269 When God speaks, it's going to be in agreement. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:47.940 With the written word of God. That's our foundation. 00:12:47.980 --> 00:12:51.940 To know God's word and to discern. Everybody 00:12:51.940 --> 00:12:58.340 say discern. Discern the voice of God. Because 00:12:58.340 --> 00:13:01.320 there's a whole lot of things that can pop in 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:03.440 your mind that are not the Holy Spirit talking 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:08.399 to you. Do I need to give you examples or are 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:12.289 you good? One time I had a preacher tell me that 00:13:12.289 --> 00:13:18.490 God told him that him and his wife needed to 00:13:18.490 --> 00:13:24.649 separate from ministry. And I looked at him and 00:13:24.649 --> 00:13:29.389 I said, oh, okay. So if God's telling you and 00:13:29.389 --> 00:13:32.110 your wife to separate, to devote yourselves more 00:13:32.110 --> 00:13:34.049 to ministry, that means that you'll never get 00:13:34.049 --> 00:13:39.460 married again, right? Oh, no. We can get married 00:13:39.460 --> 00:13:44.720 again to somebody else. And I looked at him and 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:50.360 I said, you know, I'm going to go ahead and tell 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:53.460 you this. God did not tell you to separate from 00:13:53.460 --> 00:13:59.440 your wife. He puffed up. I mean, we were sitting 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:02.360 there with him and his wife, Gannon and I were. 00:14:02.419 --> 00:14:04.379 Jeffrey was up playing with their two daughters. 00:14:05.289 --> 00:14:07.710 And I said, God didn't tell you that. And boy, 00:14:07.730 --> 00:14:10.870 he bowed up in me. I said, you want me to tell 00:14:10.870 --> 00:14:12.970 you why God didn't tell you that? Because if 00:14:12.970 --> 00:14:15.169 he did, he would have to rewrite a lot of the 00:14:15.169 --> 00:14:24.049 Bible. He said, I think you need to leave now. 00:14:26.629 --> 00:14:28.769 I said, if that's what you want, I'm just telling 00:14:28.769 --> 00:14:36.779 you, God, you're not listening to God. Because 00:14:36.779 --> 00:14:41.179 there was no even biblical grounds for anything. 00:14:41.320 --> 00:14:44.159 It's just come to find out he was having an affair. 00:14:45.539 --> 00:14:48.480 Because I caught him in Myrtle Beach. He was 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:50.220 from Charleston. I caught him in Myrtle Beach 00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:56.120 with another woman not long after that. Somebody 00:14:56.120 --> 00:15:01.320 say, uh -oh. Uh -oh. But you want some good news? 00:15:03.259 --> 00:15:09.360 They couldn't afford to get a divorce. And their 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:12.080 parents called me and, you know, I'm just like, 00:15:12.200 --> 00:15:15.620 good for you for not giving them the money to 00:15:15.620 --> 00:15:18.340 get a divorce. Guess what? They're still together 00:15:18.340 --> 00:15:21.279 today, pastoring a church in Anderson, South 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:23.899 Carolina. Everything is wonderful. They're working 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:26.840 together in ministry. They made it through. Hallelujah. 00:15:31.039 --> 00:15:33.159 And if he was standing here today, he would say, 00:15:33.220 --> 00:15:37.240 you know what? God didn't tell me to do that. 00:15:37.610 --> 00:15:39.889 That's just what my flesh wanted to do and I 00:15:39.889 --> 00:15:46.730 decided to put God's name on it. Hmm. See how 00:15:46.730 --> 00:15:50.110 that works out for you. Faith comes by hearing 00:15:50.110 --> 00:15:51.629 and hearing by the Word of God. Y 'all don't 00:15:51.629 --> 00:15:53.450 need another example, do you? I got all kinds 00:15:53.450 --> 00:15:57.690 of examples. But we got a lot to cover. Look 00:15:57.690 --> 00:15:59.110 at the person beside you and say, listen fast. 00:15:59.950 --> 00:16:01.830 Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word 00:16:01.830 --> 00:16:04.350 of God. Hey, the Holy Spirit is speaking to us. 00:16:04.409 --> 00:16:08.139 The Word of God is guiding us. We've got to hear 00:16:08.139 --> 00:16:10.740 from God before we can say that we're standing 00:16:10.740 --> 00:16:17.360 in faith. First step. Everybody say first step. 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:20.919 First step of faith is hearing a divine utterance 00:16:20.919 --> 00:16:24.240 from God, knowing that this is what God says. 00:16:24.940 --> 00:16:29.440 Okay? Let's keep going. Hebrews 11 .1. It's our 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:31.720 definition of faith in the Bible, just straight 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:34.019 up. I didn't write it. Here you go. Faith is 00:16:34.019 --> 00:16:37.169 the confidence. Everybody say confidence. That 00:16:37.169 --> 00:16:41.190 what we hope for, everybody say hope. Now, when 00:16:41.190 --> 00:16:42.970 the Bible talks about hope, the Greek word is 00:16:42.970 --> 00:16:48.169 elpo, and it means, you know, just you believe 00:16:48.169 --> 00:16:53.070 it, you know it, you're expecting it to such 00:16:53.070 --> 00:16:55.450 a point that you're already happy about it before 00:16:55.450 --> 00:16:59.669 you see it. That's what the word means. It don't 00:16:59.669 --> 00:17:03.370 mean hope so. It don't mean like shake dice and 00:17:03.370 --> 00:17:05.769 roll, ooh, hope. Maybe needs a new pair of shoes 00:17:05.769 --> 00:17:08.289 or whatever. I mean, that's not what it's talking 00:17:08.289 --> 00:17:11.329 about. It's not hope so hope. It's a confident 00:17:11.329 --> 00:17:14.170 expectation that you're going to see the goodness 00:17:14.170 --> 00:17:16.390 of God and you're going to see the promises of 00:17:16.390 --> 00:17:23.650 God revealed in your life. Somebody smile. I'm 00:17:23.650 --> 00:17:26.549 about to get happy. It's a pitiful preacher that 00:17:26.549 --> 00:17:31.440 can't preach himself happy. Faith is the confidence 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:35.900 that what we hope for will actually happen. It 00:17:35.900 --> 00:17:37.619 gives us assurance. Everybody say assurance. 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:40.380 It gives us assurance about the things that we 00:17:40.380 --> 00:17:43.880 cannot see. Because we're walking by faith and 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:46.299 not by sight. We're not walking by what we see. 00:17:47.460 --> 00:17:50.880 Second step of faith is wholeheartedly believing 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:59.029 and having confidence in what God has said. And 00:17:59.029 --> 00:18:02.009 you can't just hear it. And you can't just say, 00:18:02.069 --> 00:18:05.650 well, you know, maybe, maybe not. No, you've 00:18:05.650 --> 00:18:07.670 got to wholeheartedly believe what God has said 00:18:07.670 --> 00:18:10.910 and have confidence in His Word, just like salvation, 00:18:11.089 --> 00:18:17.210 right? I believed it. I have confidence that 00:18:17.210 --> 00:18:19.710 I am a child of God, that I'm born again, that 00:18:19.710 --> 00:18:21.730 I'm on my way to heaven, that I represent the 00:18:21.730 --> 00:18:24.509 kingdom of God in this world. Hey, I've got confidence 00:18:24.509 --> 00:18:28.230 in that. I don't wake up tomorrow morning and 00:18:28.230 --> 00:18:29.829 say, well, I don't know if I'm saved or not. 00:18:33.430 --> 00:18:43.230 Hello? Y 'all got to smile. Y 'all got to help 00:18:43.230 --> 00:18:47.690 me. Somebody help me. Y 'all are thinking way 00:18:47.690 --> 00:18:54.369 too hard. James 2 .26 Faith without works is 00:18:54.369 --> 00:19:01.970 dead. Everybody say corresponding action. Because 00:19:01.970 --> 00:19:04.730 when you hear and when you believe, let me tell 00:19:04.730 --> 00:19:07.190 you something, you can hear, you can believe, 00:19:07.309 --> 00:19:11.849 you can have confidence, but if there's never 00:19:11.849 --> 00:19:19.710 a corresponding action, it's not complete. It's 00:19:19.710 --> 00:19:23.490 not complete. You can hear and believe all you 00:19:23.490 --> 00:19:25.970 want to and not receive the promise of God in 00:19:25.970 --> 00:19:32.009 your life because, You didn't follow through 00:19:32.009 --> 00:19:36.069 with the corresponding action. So the third step 00:19:36.069 --> 00:19:41.190 of faith is acting. Everybody say acting. Acting 00:19:41.190 --> 00:19:46.529 and obedience. The same Holy Spirit that gave 00:19:46.529 --> 00:19:48.789 you that Word, that empowered the written Word 00:19:48.789 --> 00:19:51.450 of God, where you can take it and say, it's mine, 00:19:51.589 --> 00:19:54.450 because the Holy Spirit takes the things of God 00:19:54.450 --> 00:19:57.369 and makes them real and reality in our lives. 00:19:57.410 --> 00:19:59.710 That's what He does. That's what He is doing 00:19:59.710 --> 00:20:02.750 and wants to do. But He's going to tell you something 00:20:02.750 --> 00:20:05.970 to do in response to what you have heard and 00:20:05.970 --> 00:20:14.119 what you believe. Sometimes those responses are 00:20:14.119 --> 00:20:16.839 written in black and white in the Word and we're 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:18.700 trying to hold on to some kind of promise and 00:20:18.700 --> 00:20:23.119 we haven't done our part of it yet. We haven't 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:30.480 acted in it yet. That's why this is called Faith 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:32.619 Act. We're going to focus on the acting part. 00:20:33.579 --> 00:20:35.940 Not just the hearing part. Not just the good 00:20:35.940 --> 00:20:39.660 note -taking part at church. Not just... Not 00:20:39.660 --> 00:20:41.900 just the listening to it over and over again 00:20:41.900 --> 00:20:45.440 to get it in your soul where you actually believe 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:47.380 it and have confidence in it, but we're talking 00:20:47.380 --> 00:20:51.940 about the acting part. Everybody say acting part. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:55.420 Here we go. We're going to Exodus 13 through. 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:01.880 Okay. This is where God's people have been slaves 00:21:01.880 --> 00:21:06.650 in Egypt for 430 years. And we went through all 00:21:06.650 --> 00:21:08.589 the plagues and all the different things. They 00:21:08.589 --> 00:21:12.470 were released to go worship God in the wilderness. 00:21:12.869 --> 00:21:14.789 They were actually going to the promised land. 00:21:14.970 --> 00:21:19.869 Everybody say the promised land. God's great 00:21:19.869 --> 00:21:24.450 promise for them. He had already given it to 00:21:24.450 --> 00:21:27.930 them. He gave it to Abraham. Now he's like, now 00:21:27.930 --> 00:21:33.490 you're going to get it in a good way. Because 00:21:33.490 --> 00:21:35.009 I've been told now you're going to get it in 00:21:35.009 --> 00:21:37.069 a bad way so many times. I had to clarify that 00:21:37.069 --> 00:21:40.029 growing up. You're going to get it when you get 00:21:40.029 --> 00:21:45.170 home. No, this is a good getting it. So they've 00:21:45.170 --> 00:21:54.490 left Egypt. They go up to the Red Sea. In Exodus 00:21:54.490 --> 00:21:57.549 13, 3, it says, this is a day to remember forever. 00:21:57.890 --> 00:22:01.180 Everybody say remember. The day you left Egypt, 00:22:01.299 --> 00:22:05.059 the place of your slavery, today the Lord has 00:22:05.059 --> 00:22:09.619 brought you out by the power of His mighty hand. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:14.799 They've seen the power of God. They've seen the 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:17.900 work of God. Now they experience freedom. They're 00:22:17.900 --> 00:22:20.099 no longer slaves in Egypt, and they're experiencing 00:22:20.099 --> 00:22:23.359 freedom, and they walk up to the Red Sea, and 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:28.369 guess what happens next? All of a sudden, a dust 00:22:28.369 --> 00:22:34.390 cloud comes over the horizon behind them. Listen, 00:22:34.529 --> 00:22:38.309 God's people left Egypt. They left Egypt celebrating. 00:22:39.690 --> 00:22:43.029 I mean, they were free. I don't know if you've 00:22:43.029 --> 00:22:44.869 ever read this or not, but God told them to go 00:22:44.869 --> 00:22:48.230 ask the Egyptians for gold and silver and clothes 00:22:48.230 --> 00:22:51.589 and all this stuff. I mean, they were loaded 00:22:51.589 --> 00:22:56.210 up with gold and silver and everything they needed. 00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:03.059 Hello? Get this. There's at least 1 .4 million 00:23:03.059 --> 00:23:08.619 people. That's the most conservative estimate 00:23:08.619 --> 00:23:13.339 that I can come up with. Some theologians say 00:23:13.339 --> 00:23:18.519 as many as 4 to 6 million. So we're really backing 00:23:18.519 --> 00:23:23.519 up to say 1 .4 million. There were 600 ,000 strong 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:28.019 men that were... Within like fighting range. 00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:33.240 Age. Okay. Warrior kind of men. Even though they've 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:35.819 been slaves. So there were 600 ,000 of them. 00:23:35.900 --> 00:23:37.339 That's not counting the women. That's not counting 00:23:37.339 --> 00:23:39.140 the children. That's not counting the people 00:23:39.140 --> 00:23:44.240 above that age. At least 1 .4 million. And guess 00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:47.460 what? Every single one of them was strong and 00:23:47.460 --> 00:23:50.160 healthy. There was not a single person feeble 00:23:50.160 --> 00:24:00.319 among them. That in itself is a miracle. Hello? 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:02.339 Because sometimes if I've been sitting too long 00:24:02.339 --> 00:24:06.299 and I get up, you might say the preacher's a 00:24:06.299 --> 00:24:10.160 little feeble, you know, from three back surgeries 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:14.160 and all kind of stuff. Not a single one of them 00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:19.380 were feeble. That'd be a time to celebrate, right? 00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:23.599 You're free, you're rich, you're healthy and 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:29.900 strong. They were celebrating. Look what God 00:24:29.900 --> 00:24:33.859 has done. All of a sudden, they see a dust cloud 00:24:33.859 --> 00:24:40.000 on the horizon. And they hear horses and chariots 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:45.200 and a bunch of noise and there's dust. Right 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:47.019 in the middle of their celebration, here comes 00:24:47.019 --> 00:24:49.640 the dust. You know what? They lost their victory 00:24:49.640 --> 00:25:02.890 in one second. Somebody say, oh me. Because we're 00:25:02.890 --> 00:25:05.069 not just talking about them. We're talking about 00:25:05.069 --> 00:25:08.630 us too. How many times are we just walking in 00:25:08.630 --> 00:25:10.670 the victory of what God has just done and then 00:25:10.670 --> 00:25:12.710 a little dust cloud comes and then it's like, 00:25:12.809 --> 00:25:17.609 oh no. What am I going to do? How am I going 00:25:17.609 --> 00:25:19.029 to make it? What's happening? Oh, I'm going to 00:25:19.029 --> 00:25:25.750 fail. Y 'all are thinking way too hard. Exodus 00:25:25.750 --> 00:25:29.250 14 .10. As Pharaoh approached, The people of 00:25:29.250 --> 00:25:32.630 Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the 00:25:32.630 --> 00:25:34.890 Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to 00:25:34.890 --> 00:25:37.289 the Lord, and they didn't cry out in faith. They 00:25:37.289 --> 00:25:40.829 cried out in whining and complaining and just 00:25:40.829 --> 00:25:45.089 lost it. One dust cloud, they immediately lost 00:25:45.089 --> 00:25:47.049 their victory. Here's what they began to say 00:25:47.049 --> 00:25:48.910 to Moses. Why did you bring us out here to die 00:25:48.910 --> 00:25:51.809 in the wilderness? Weren't there enough graves 00:25:51.809 --> 00:25:56.440 for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why 00:25:56.440 --> 00:25:59.720 did you make us leave Egypt? I mean, just straight 00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:01.579 out of their celebration, this is where they 00:26:01.579 --> 00:26:08.500 went. Didn't we tell you this would happen while 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:11.480 we were still in Egypt? We said, leave us alone. 00:26:12.099 --> 00:26:14.440 Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. They've been 00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:16.960 praying for 400 years to not be slaves to the 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:22.079 Egyptians. It's better to be a slave in Egypt 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:33.269 than a corpse in the wilderness. Hello? Here's 00:26:33.269 --> 00:26:36.910 the deal. If you think God has brought you here 00:26:36.910 --> 00:26:43.529 to kill you, you don't know who God is. I'm saying 00:26:43.529 --> 00:26:47.609 that to them and I'm saying that to you. If you 00:26:47.609 --> 00:26:50.289 think that God, you've walked with God to this 00:26:50.289 --> 00:26:53.329 point in your life and God just brought you here 00:26:53.329 --> 00:26:56.990 to hurt you, to take from you, to kill still 00:26:56.990 --> 00:27:02.509 and destroy you, You don't know God. You need 00:27:02.509 --> 00:27:05.349 to get to know God. Because you don't know Him. 00:27:05.690 --> 00:27:08.309 If you think He's brought you this far to take 00:27:08.309 --> 00:27:16.910 you out. And I'll stand on that. God's a good 00:27:16.910 --> 00:27:21.309 God. Jesus said that He came to give us life 00:27:21.309 --> 00:27:24.390 and that we would have it to the fullest. I'm 00:27:24.390 --> 00:27:27.549 not going into all that again. It's not talking 00:27:27.549 --> 00:27:29.650 about stuff, even though God's not against stuff. 00:27:29.730 --> 00:27:33.089 It's talking about life and hope and peace and 00:27:33.089 --> 00:27:42.369 joy. Jesus came so that we could live that. He 00:27:42.369 --> 00:27:44.289 said the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. 00:27:44.890 --> 00:27:47.190 Some people think that God has come to kill, 00:27:47.210 --> 00:27:48.990 steal, and destroy, but they don't know God. 00:27:51.009 --> 00:27:54.730 Just like these people. they didn't really know 00:27:54.730 --> 00:27:56.289 him if they're saying that he's brought them 00:27:56.289 --> 00:27:59.130 out here to kill them. And here's what we've 00:27:59.130 --> 00:28:01.410 got to deal with. Our sight is real. Everybody 00:28:01.410 --> 00:28:03.990 say, sight is real. I mean, they look back, they 00:28:03.990 --> 00:28:06.170 saw the dust, they saw the chariots, they saw 00:28:06.170 --> 00:28:09.049 Pharaoh's army, probably the greatest army on 00:28:09.049 --> 00:28:11.410 the face of the earth at this time. What they 00:28:11.410 --> 00:28:13.690 were seeing was real. It was not an illusion. 00:28:19.890 --> 00:28:25.599 What you see, The things that you see in this 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:27.960 fallen, broken world that are headed your way, 00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:33.059 that you're dealing with, it's real. What you 00:28:33.059 --> 00:28:41.519 see is real. Their fear was real. Their fear 00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:47.339 was real. Are you with me? The feelings that 00:28:47.339 --> 00:28:51.119 they resulted, that resulted from what they were 00:28:51.119 --> 00:28:56.450 seeing, Those feelings, it's like, they were 00:28:56.450 --> 00:29:03.130 real. They were real. So we're not supposed to 00:29:03.130 --> 00:29:05.869 deny that what we see is real, or what we fear 00:29:05.869 --> 00:29:08.930 is real, or our feelings being real or not. We're 00:29:08.930 --> 00:29:12.529 not supposed to just completely deny that. Like, 00:29:12.710 --> 00:29:16.910 oh, that don't exist. Because it's real. Everybody 00:29:16.910 --> 00:29:26.640 says it's real. Even though it's real. If we're 00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:28.759 going to be people of faith, we can't be overwhelmed. 00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:36.519 Can't be overwhelmed by what we see, by our feelings, 00:29:36.619 --> 00:29:40.839 by our fear. We can't be overwhelmed. Now that's 00:29:40.839 --> 00:29:43.700 what the story that we just read, that's the 00:29:43.700 --> 00:29:45.359 picture that we're seeing. They're overwhelmed 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:49.660 by what they see, by what they fear, by what 00:29:49.660 --> 00:29:54.890 they feel. And they yielded to that. And it threw 00:29:54.890 --> 00:29:57.769 them, listen to me, it threw them into a loop 00:29:57.769 --> 00:30:02.109 of fear -based words, of failure -based words, 00:30:02.210 --> 00:30:05.329 of doubt -based words, of death -based words. 00:30:12.390 --> 00:30:16.950 Is that a faith act? Some of you aren't sure. 00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:27.279 Some of you aren't sure. Well, let's let God 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:35.799 answer it, because I didn't write it. 1 Timothy 00:30:35.799 --> 00:30:40.539 6 .12 tells us this, to fight the good fight 00:30:40.539 --> 00:30:49.240 of faith. See, faith is fighting. It's fighting. 00:30:49.930 --> 00:30:53.450 When we are overwhelmed by what we see, by the 00:30:53.450 --> 00:30:55.750 fear that's coming on us, by the feelings that 00:30:55.750 --> 00:31:00.309 are overtaking us, we've got to fight. Somebody 00:31:00.309 --> 00:31:05.230 say fight. We've got to fight. These people weren't 00:31:05.230 --> 00:31:10.589 fighting. They were yielding and succumbing to 00:31:10.589 --> 00:31:13.950 it. We've got to fight. Fight a good fight of 00:31:13.950 --> 00:31:16.700 faith. How does that look? 2 Corinthians 10 and 00:31:16.700 --> 00:31:19.259 5 tells us to bring every thought into captivity 00:31:19.259 --> 00:31:23.519 to the obedience of Christ. So if what we see 00:31:23.519 --> 00:31:30.660 brings thoughts, negative thoughts, thoughts 00:31:30.660 --> 00:31:34.200 that are a result of our fear and our feelings, 00:31:34.359 --> 00:31:39.299 you know what? We've got to bring those thoughts 00:31:39.299 --> 00:31:42.200 into captivity because God has told us something. 00:31:44.879 --> 00:31:49.019 God's told us something. And you might say, I 00:31:49.019 --> 00:31:55.220 can't. I can't do it. Yes, you can. Yes, you 00:31:55.220 --> 00:31:58.039 can. I want everybody to say this with me. My 00:31:58.039 --> 00:32:02.720 mind is my mind. I don't have to think about. 00:32:04.180 --> 00:32:07.359 Is everybody saying it? I don't have to think 00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:09.640 about. I don't have to dwell on. Go ahead and 00:32:09.640 --> 00:32:14.440 say it. Every thought. That pops into my head. 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:21.599 I can take them captive. You know why? Because 00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:29.960 God's going to help me take them captive. If 00:32:29.960 --> 00:32:32.359 y 'all could only see your faces right now, you'd 00:32:32.359 --> 00:32:39.059 be smiling with me. Your mind is your mind. You 00:32:39.059 --> 00:32:41.259 don't have to dwell on every thought that pops 00:32:41.259 --> 00:32:45.339 into your mind. If it's going to take you into 00:32:45.339 --> 00:32:47.839 some kind of loop of where you're just talking 00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:52.440 failure and defeat and fear and all this, quit 00:32:52.440 --> 00:33:03.000 thinking it. Quit. Take that thought captive. 00:33:03.220 --> 00:33:06.980 Everybody say, smack it down. Smack it down. 00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:13.450 And take hold of what God has said. Think on 00:33:13.450 --> 00:33:15.849 that. Think about that. Think about what God 00:33:15.849 --> 00:33:17.750 has said about the situation that you're going 00:33:17.750 --> 00:33:25.349 through right now. Think about that. What I'm 00:33:25.349 --> 00:33:28.230 telling you today will revolutionize your life. 00:33:32.230 --> 00:33:37.450 But I can't make you do it. You have to want 00:33:37.450 --> 00:33:40.950 to have victory. You have to want to have peace. 00:33:41.819 --> 00:33:43.880 To the point that you're willing to fight for 00:33:43.880 --> 00:33:51.640 it. Boy, I'm having fun. Everybody say this. 00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:56.759 I'm in charge of my feelings. I have the power 00:33:56.759 --> 00:34:09.079 to choose which ones I yield to. You do. All 00:34:09.079 --> 00:34:16.300 feelings aren't bad. How many of you got some 00:34:16.300 --> 00:34:17.940 good feels every once in a while? You got some 00:34:17.940 --> 00:34:22.920 good feelings? Yeah. Well, choose to yield to 00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:28.380 that. God talks about it. I mean, the kingdom 00:34:28.380 --> 00:34:30.519 of God, I've said this the last several weeks, 00:34:30.599 --> 00:34:32.920 the kingdom of God is not about rules. It's not 00:34:32.920 --> 00:34:34.820 about what we eat or drink and acts. It tells 00:34:34.820 --> 00:34:37.039 us the kingdom of God is about righteousness, 00:34:37.079 --> 00:34:41.739 peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. We need to... 00:34:42.110 --> 00:34:44.889 Have that feeling of confidence in what God has 00:34:44.889 --> 00:34:47.250 done for us. We need to have that feeling of 00:34:47.250 --> 00:34:49.949 peace because that's what Jesus has given us. 00:34:50.010 --> 00:34:52.710 We need to have joy because the Holy Spirit is 00:34:52.710 --> 00:34:55.010 in us. And there's no such thing as a sad, depressed 00:34:55.010 --> 00:35:04.110 Holy Spirit. I'm about to start amening myself. 00:35:05.449 --> 00:35:11.320 Hebrews 10 .23 Does it say let's hold on to our 00:35:11.320 --> 00:35:17.159 fear -based words? Our sorrow -based words? Our 00:35:17.159 --> 00:35:19.079 failure -based words? Is that the words that 00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:21.079 we're supposed to hold on to? No, let us hold 00:35:21.079 --> 00:35:26.820 fast the confession of our hope. Our hope is 00:35:26.820 --> 00:35:28.920 our confident expectation that we're going to 00:35:28.920 --> 00:35:34.679 see the goodness of God. Hold fast to what God 00:35:34.679 --> 00:35:39.150 has said. Hey, when you see the dust cloud coming 00:35:39.150 --> 00:35:41.969 over the hill, you say, boy, I've been seeing 00:35:41.969 --> 00:35:45.250 my God do some amazing things in my life. And 00:35:45.250 --> 00:35:47.230 you know what? I know that He didn't bring me 00:35:47.230 --> 00:35:50.309 out here just to kill me and bury me in this 00:35:50.309 --> 00:35:53.329 sand. I know that my God is going to see me through 00:35:53.329 --> 00:35:55.650 because He made me a promise and I'm going to 00:35:55.650 --> 00:36:00.170 the promised land. Boy, I don't normally get 00:36:00.170 --> 00:36:03.969 this happy, but I like it when I do. Hold fast. 00:36:04.940 --> 00:36:07.300 The confession of our hope without wavering. 00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:14.219 For he who promised is faithful. Somebody say 00:36:14.219 --> 00:36:17.260 God is faithful. Somebody say God keeps his promises. 00:36:17.780 --> 00:36:26.920 He does. He does. That's a faith act. Everybody 00:36:26.920 --> 00:36:31.300 say this. I take control of my mouth. Let's say 00:36:31.300 --> 00:36:36.840 that again. I take control. of my mouth and speak 00:36:36.840 --> 00:36:42.739 words in agreement with God with complete confidence 00:36:42.739 --> 00:36:55.480 in His faithfulness. Hallelujah. Go back to the 00:36:55.480 --> 00:37:01.039 story. Exodus 14, 13. Now we're going to see 00:37:01.039 --> 00:37:03.880 God's response to them getting caught up in this 00:37:03.880 --> 00:37:06.480 loop from their fear and their feelings and their 00:37:06.480 --> 00:37:08.699 failure. They're just like, what are we going 00:37:08.699 --> 00:37:09.940 to do? What are we going to do? Oh no, we're 00:37:09.940 --> 00:37:11.119 going to die. Why did you bring us out here? 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:12.579 We didn't want to be out here. We'd rather be 00:37:12.579 --> 00:37:14.940 slaves in Egypt than be in a corpse. You know, 00:37:14.960 --> 00:37:21.179 they were in a loop. But then God's representative 00:37:21.179 --> 00:37:30.960 said, don't be afraid. That's all in the Bible. 00:37:33.320 --> 00:37:37.860 The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1 .7, is that where 00:37:37.860 --> 00:37:40.880 it is? God hasn't given you a spirit of fear. 00:37:43.000 --> 00:37:45.340 Anytime fear tries to overtake you, know that 00:37:45.340 --> 00:37:50.079 it didn't come from God. Moses told the people, 00:37:50.199 --> 00:37:56.800 faith acts. Don't be afraid. Everybody say, don't 00:37:56.800 --> 00:38:00.059 be afraid. Next time you see something coming 00:38:00.059 --> 00:38:03.000 over the horizon, And it looks like it's coming 00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:08.280 to take you out. Don't be afraid. Stand still. 00:38:10.880 --> 00:38:15.000 Has anybody ever been a parent of kids and it's 00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:17.380 just like, there's just so much, you just say, 00:38:17.400 --> 00:38:21.579 just be still a minute. Anybody know what I'm 00:38:21.579 --> 00:38:24.420 talking about? You just need to be still a minute. 00:38:26.019 --> 00:38:31.239 Stand still. What's this saying? Get out of this 00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:38.079 loop. Just be still. Just be quiet. You know? 00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:40.699 Your words aren't helping you. Your words are 00:38:40.699 --> 00:38:47.280 hurting you. So just be still and watch. What 00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:53.139 are we watching for? The goodness of God. Don't 00:38:53.139 --> 00:38:56.800 be afraid. Stand still and watch the Lord rescue 00:38:56.800 --> 00:39:00.670 you today. I mean, just think of all the miracles 00:39:00.670 --> 00:39:02.409 that He had just done for them, and then now 00:39:02.409 --> 00:39:04.630 they're in this fear loop. And then He's like, 00:39:04.769 --> 00:39:08.309 don't be afraid. Stand still. Watch. I'm going 00:39:08.309 --> 00:39:13.250 to do it again. The Egyptians you see today will 00:39:13.250 --> 00:39:20.550 never be seen again. Listen, the Lord Himself 00:39:20.550 --> 00:39:26.489 will fight for you. Faith act. Just stay calm. 00:39:26.769 --> 00:39:29.820 Everybody say, stay calm. Everybody say, don't 00:39:29.820 --> 00:39:36.840 be afraid. Stand still. Watch. Stay calm. Those 00:39:36.840 --> 00:39:43.280 are faith acts. Then the Lord said to Moses, 00:39:43.800 --> 00:39:47.019 this is where I got my title, even though I hadn't 00:39:47.019 --> 00:39:50.679 talked about my title. Everybody say, quit crying 00:39:50.679 --> 00:39:57.769 and move. The Lord said to Moses, why are you 00:39:57.769 --> 00:40:01.570 crying out to me? Now, there's a difference between 00:40:01.570 --> 00:40:06.349 crying out in faith, sometimes crying out in 00:40:06.349 --> 00:40:09.530 faith. I mean, it's not like tear crying, like, 00:40:09.690 --> 00:40:15.349 oh, pitiful me. Okay? There's a cry of faith. 00:40:16.449 --> 00:40:19.050 It's a proclamation. A confident proclamation 00:40:19.050 --> 00:40:21.769 can be called a cry. That's not the kind of cries 00:40:21.769 --> 00:40:24.010 he's talking about. He said, why are you crying 00:40:24.010 --> 00:40:30.769 out to me? Tell the people to get moving. Everybody 00:40:30.769 --> 00:40:34.590 say faith act. I want to tell you something. 00:40:35.710 --> 00:40:40.650 Don't get mad at me. Crying and begging will 00:40:40.650 --> 00:40:44.389 never bring victory. It will never bring deliverance. 00:40:45.030 --> 00:40:47.789 It will never bring breakthrough. It will never 00:40:47.789 --> 00:40:53.460 bring salvation. Crying and begging. Oh, God, 00:40:53.559 --> 00:40:56.719 please. I don't know if I can make it anymore. 00:40:56.820 --> 00:41:02.039 I just need you to do something, God. We've all 00:41:02.039 --> 00:41:10.880 done that. Doesn't move God. That's not faith. 00:41:10.980 --> 00:41:15.260 Everybody say, not faith. That's not faith. Crying, 00:41:15.260 --> 00:41:20.880 whining, begging. Those things don't move God. 00:41:23.440 --> 00:41:29.440 Know what moves God? Say it louder so the people 00:41:29.440 --> 00:41:33.039 in the back can hear you. Faith moves God. God's 00:41:33.039 --> 00:41:40.559 a faith God. It's faith that pleases Him. We 00:41:40.559 --> 00:41:42.260 just read all those verses. We've got to apply 00:41:42.260 --> 00:41:46.679 them to our lives. It's faith. It's hearing. 00:41:46.800 --> 00:41:49.539 It's believing. It's confidence. It's agreeing. 00:41:50.019 --> 00:41:54.929 It's doing. That's how you're going to see results. 00:41:56.329 --> 00:42:00.429 Not by begging. God said, quit crying and move. 00:42:01.230 --> 00:42:09.429 And you might say, move where? Move where? Where 00:42:09.429 --> 00:42:12.550 are we going to move? Well, you've got to get 00:42:12.550 --> 00:42:14.409 moving. How many of you know it takes a little 00:42:14.409 --> 00:42:19.889 while to get 1 .4 million people moving? It doesn't 00:42:19.889 --> 00:42:23.079 happen just by a snap of the fingers. It takes 00:42:23.079 --> 00:42:25.699 a little preparation, a little work to get 1 00:42:25.699 --> 00:42:30.880 .4 to 6 million people moving all together. It 00:42:30.880 --> 00:42:36.460 takes effort. Quit crying and move. Move where? 00:42:36.960 --> 00:42:41.780 Go where? Get going. Where are we going? We got 00:42:41.780 --> 00:42:47.360 the Red Sea here. We got the Egyptian army here. 00:42:48.739 --> 00:42:55.739 Where are we going to go? Look at the person 00:42:55.739 --> 00:42:56.940 beside you and say, where are we going to go? 00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:03.579 Let's keep going. Verse 16. Pick up your staff. 00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.739 Raise your hand over the sea. Everybody say faith 00:43:09.739 --> 00:43:15.739 act. Say quit crying is a faith act. Get moving 00:43:15.739 --> 00:43:19.179 is a faith act. Picking up your staff is a faith 00:43:19.179 --> 00:43:22.400 act. Raising your hand over the sea is a faith 00:43:22.400 --> 00:43:27.170 act. I mean, what's that going to do? Okay, so 00:43:27.170 --> 00:43:30.690 I pick up a stick and I hold out my hand. It's 00:43:30.690 --> 00:43:34.570 like that little baby on that dumbbell. What's 00:43:34.570 --> 00:43:39.730 that going to do? Are you with me? Are you seeing 00:43:39.730 --> 00:43:43.389 it? I want you to see it. It's like that little 00:43:43.389 --> 00:43:46.449 baby holding that 300 -pound dumbbell. This baby 00:43:46.449 --> 00:43:57.300 weighs, you know, 12 pounds. Pick up your staff, 00:43:57.380 --> 00:44:00.139 raise your hand, divide the water so the Israelites 00:44:00.139 --> 00:44:01.900 can walk through the middle of the sea on dry 00:44:01.900 --> 00:44:07.800 ground. Somebody say, that don't make sense. 00:44:09.719 --> 00:44:16.480 Don't make sense. What's that going to do? Listen, 00:44:16.599 --> 00:44:18.179 here's what we're learning today. When God tells 00:44:18.179 --> 00:44:23.260 you what to do, it's not time to pray. I'm not 00:44:23.260 --> 00:44:26.340 against praying. But when God tells you to do 00:44:26.340 --> 00:44:28.320 something, it's not time to have a prayer meeting. 00:44:31.559 --> 00:44:35.019 Hello? Because sometimes when God tells us to 00:44:35.019 --> 00:44:38.579 do something, I've got to pray about that. I 00:44:38.579 --> 00:44:41.800 might have to spend a year praying about that 00:44:41.800 --> 00:44:43.800 before I actually do that because that don't 00:44:43.800 --> 00:44:48.920 make sense. When God tells you what to do, it's 00:44:48.920 --> 00:44:51.659 not time to think about it and reason it and 00:44:51.659 --> 00:44:56.199 say, well, how's that going to work? Because 00:44:56.199 --> 00:44:59.400 a lot of times we want to try to figure out everything 00:44:59.400 --> 00:45:01.920 in our mind, how it's going to work before we 00:45:01.920 --> 00:45:07.159 act. Because we want to reason out if this is 00:45:07.159 --> 00:45:10.679 something, just in case God doesn't show up, 00:45:10.699 --> 00:45:13.380 because I'm not really expecting Him to, I've 00:45:13.380 --> 00:45:16.480 got to just set my goal to what I can accomplish. 00:45:20.880 --> 00:45:23.019 It's not time to overthink it. It's not time 00:45:23.019 --> 00:45:26.030 to reason. It's not time to put out a post on 00:45:26.030 --> 00:45:27.909 social media so that you can get everybody's 00:45:27.909 --> 00:45:32.769 opinion. I thought that'd get more than two chuckles. 00:45:35.050 --> 00:45:37.190 You know, I think God's asking me to do this. 00:45:37.250 --> 00:45:40.570 What does 3 ,000 people that don't even know 00:45:40.570 --> 00:45:42.550 God, what's their opinion? Because I need to 00:45:42.550 --> 00:45:47.050 know if that makes sense or not. Depends on how 00:45:47.050 --> 00:45:49.010 many likes I got on whether I'm going to do what 00:45:49.010 --> 00:45:51.590 God told me to do or not because I hate to be 00:45:51.590 --> 00:45:55.230 stepping out there. It's not time to do those 00:45:55.230 --> 00:45:57.070 things. It's time to act. Everybody say, it's 00:45:57.070 --> 00:45:59.949 time to act. It's time to act. When God tells 00:45:59.949 --> 00:46:04.989 you what to do, it's time to act. Mark 11, 22. 00:46:05.269 --> 00:46:07.610 Jesus said to the disciples, have faith. Everybody 00:46:07.610 --> 00:46:10.809 say, have faith. In God. Everybody say, in God. 00:46:12.650 --> 00:46:17.469 So what does this tell us? It's not all up to 00:46:17.469 --> 00:46:25.400 God. A lot of people live their lives, que sera, 00:46:25.619 --> 00:46:28.639 sera, whatever it will be, will be. It's just 00:46:28.639 --> 00:46:31.659 whatever God has, you know. I'm just, whatever 00:46:31.659 --> 00:46:34.440 God, if God wants to beat me up this week and 00:46:34.440 --> 00:46:36.579 bless me next week, then that's just good because 00:46:36.579 --> 00:46:39.179 it's all up to God. It ain't got nothing to do 00:46:39.179 --> 00:46:42.360 with me. It's just all up to Him. This tragedy 00:46:42.360 --> 00:46:45.159 that came into my life, you know, God brought 00:46:45.159 --> 00:46:47.579 it to me for some kind of purpose. It's just 00:46:47.579 --> 00:46:59.429 all up to God. Jesus said have faith in God. 00:47:02.929 --> 00:47:11.650 Now, does God need your faith action for your 00:47:11.650 --> 00:47:14.590 miracle to take place in your life? For your 00:47:14.590 --> 00:47:17.010 victory to take place in your life? Does God 00:47:17.010 --> 00:47:23.489 need your faith action to do it? Is God incapable 00:47:23.489 --> 00:47:31.110 of doing it? Without your faith action. Remember 00:47:31.110 --> 00:47:42.309 the picture. Does a muscle man picking up a 300 00:47:42.309 --> 00:47:49.449 -pound dumbbell need that kid to hold on? Technically, 00:47:49.449 --> 00:47:54.550 no. We're going to talk more about this in coming 00:47:54.550 --> 00:47:58.469 weeks, but here's the deal. It's not all up to 00:47:58.469 --> 00:48:04.369 God, but He's chosen to involve us. And here's 00:48:04.369 --> 00:48:13.530 the deal. How can God do something in somebody 00:48:13.530 --> 00:48:16.070 else's life when they're going through this situation, 00:48:16.309 --> 00:48:21.090 and then somebody else is going through the same 00:48:21.090 --> 00:48:24.179 situation, And God doesn't do the same thing 00:48:24.179 --> 00:48:31.519 for them. I'm going to let you think on this 00:48:31.519 --> 00:48:33.019 one all week. I'm going to let you chew on this 00:48:33.019 --> 00:48:43.559 one. The difference is faith act. You can't ever 00:48:43.559 --> 00:48:48.880 say that God is unfair. God is fair. God is just. 00:48:53.139 --> 00:48:58.340 Hello? God is fair and God is just. So the outcomes 00:48:58.340 --> 00:49:01.719 are the two different situations that look exactly 00:49:01.719 --> 00:49:05.940 the same on the outside. I'm just going to toss 00:49:05.940 --> 00:49:12.880 it up for you. Could it be a faith act and a 00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:20.530 lack of a faith act? Think about it. Look to 00:49:20.530 --> 00:49:22.050 the person beside you and say, think about it. 00:49:23.269 --> 00:49:28.050 Think about it. Here's the deal. You can hear, 00:49:28.150 --> 00:49:32.409 you can believe, you can speak in agreement with 00:49:32.409 --> 00:49:38.269 God and still not receive if you don't act. If 00:49:38.269 --> 00:49:41.630 you don't do what God told you to do. And you 00:49:41.630 --> 00:49:43.590 know what? Sometimes what He tells you to do 00:49:43.590 --> 00:49:47.449 seems so disconnected from what He's about to 00:49:47.449 --> 00:49:52.590 do in your life. Really? Pick up a stick and 00:49:52.590 --> 00:49:58.590 hold out your hand? Really? What's that going 00:49:58.590 --> 00:50:04.269 to do? Well, it's an act of obedience in faith 00:50:04.269 --> 00:50:08.210 to what God said. And then we see the Red Sea 00:50:08.210 --> 00:50:10.730 split wide open. They walk across on dry land. 00:50:10.849 --> 00:50:15.230 The Egyptian army is all drowned in the bottom 00:50:15.230 --> 00:50:19.639 of the sea, never to be seen again. But without 00:50:19.639 --> 00:50:24.280 the faith act that we looked at, it wouldn't 00:50:24.280 --> 00:50:30.440 have happened. How do I know that? Because later, 00:50:30.619 --> 00:50:32.380 when it's time to go into the promised land, 00:50:32.500 --> 00:50:39.519 there was no faith act. Those same people that 00:50:39.519 --> 00:50:41.780 God wanted to go to the promised land died in 00:50:41.780 --> 00:50:46.760 the wilderness because of their lack of faith 00:50:46.760 --> 00:50:51.050 and their unbelief. Well, I'm because God didn't 00:50:51.050 --> 00:50:55.409 want them to go in. Are you with me? Well, I'm 00:50:55.409 --> 00:50:58.349 because God didn't want them to go in. It's because 00:50:58.349 --> 00:51:02.050 of a lack of faith, a lack of belief, and a lack 00:51:02.050 --> 00:51:05.769 of acting and having confidence in what God had 00:51:05.769 --> 00:51:10.210 told them. Oh, those giants. We can't have what 00:51:10.210 --> 00:51:12.710 God said because we're reasoning it out now. 00:51:13.409 --> 00:51:18.949 You know, we can't have it. Because they said 00:51:18.949 --> 00:51:23.889 they couldn't have it, they didn't have it. God 00:51:23.889 --> 00:51:26.269 will tell you to go here. God will tell you to 00:51:26.269 --> 00:51:28.869 do that. God will tell you to give this. It might 00:51:28.869 --> 00:51:32.849 seem unrelated to the work that He's about to 00:51:32.849 --> 00:51:36.409 do in your life, but if you will obey Him in 00:51:36.409 --> 00:51:42.869 faith, I'm telling you, you can confidently see 00:51:42.869 --> 00:51:47.179 the goodness of God. This online worship experience 00:51:47.179 --> 00:51:49.780 was brought to you by the friends and partners 00:51:49.780 --> 00:51:50.719 of Elation Church.