WEBVTT 00:00:01.419 --> 00:00:04.440 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.860 --> 00:00:10.599 Elation Church. Faith Act. Everybody say week 00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:14.339 number eight. Everybody say the grand finale. 00:00:16.760 --> 00:00:20.100 Now we could have kept going and you'll see how 00:00:20.100 --> 00:00:23.280 easy it would be for us to keep going by the 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:27.120 time we complete the message today. But this 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.940 will be the last message eight weeks in our series. 00:00:30.570 --> 00:00:34.070 that we've entitled Faith Act. Let's talk about 00:00:34.070 --> 00:00:36.810 faith a little bit. Because some people, if you 00:00:36.810 --> 00:00:38.670 ask them what faith is, they just say, well, 00:00:38.729 --> 00:00:41.890 it's just believing. It's just acknowledging 00:00:41.890 --> 00:00:45.710 and believing. So where does faith come from? 00:00:45.810 --> 00:00:47.770 How does faith work? We're going to talk about 00:00:47.770 --> 00:00:51.390 that real quick as our introduction. Romans 10, 00:00:51.469 --> 00:00:59.899 17 tells us this. Faith comes by hearing. and 00:00:59.899 --> 00:01:04.120 hearing by the word of God. So when the Bible 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:07.260 talks about faith, you know, some people think 00:01:07.260 --> 00:01:11.280 faith means a denomination or faith is if you're 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:14.439 a person of faith, if you're a believer or not. 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:16.640 And then that's just as far as their definition 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:19.579 gets. But I believe according to the word of 00:01:19.579 --> 00:01:22.159 God, our faith needs to be an active faith, not 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:26.560 just a passive faith. So where does this faith 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:29.540 come from? The Bible says without faith, it's 00:01:29.540 --> 00:01:31.640 impossible to please God. Where does this faith 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:35.280 come from? It comes from hearing and hearing 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:37.319 by the word of God. It doesn't come from our 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:42.159 imagination. It comes from God's word. And the 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:46.079 word of God here, the words, you know, the Greek 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:48.040 words, the New Testament was written in Koine 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:51.140 Greek in the original language. And here's what 00:01:51.140 --> 00:01:55.359 it means. It means divine utterance. That's where 00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:59.200 faith comes from. Faith comes from divine utterance. 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:05.640 Now that can be spoken or written. Spoken or 00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:11.740 written. So, the written word of God is in the 00:02:11.740 --> 00:02:14.680 Bible. Everybody say the Bible. But how many 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:18.219 of you know God speaks to you too? By the still 00:02:18.219 --> 00:02:20.479 small voice of his Holy Spirit, he speaks to 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:25.199 us. So, there's some things that are very black 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:29.099 and white in the Bible. It's like, this is what 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:32.479 God said, right? And then there's times when 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:34.180 God speaks to you because there's some things 00:02:34.180 --> 00:02:36.879 in your life that aren't written out in black 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:39.439 and white ink, on white paper with black ink. 00:02:39.500 --> 00:02:41.939 Some things aren't just written out in the Bible. 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:46.159 Like there's no Bible verse that told Dean to 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:52.199 marry Gayna almost 40 years ago, right? Huh? 00:02:52.819 --> 00:02:55.159 Now, she quoted a Bible verse on me before we 00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:59.520 started dating. One day, because I'd been praying 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:01.840 for a girlfriend, you know, I'm in college. I 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:03.539 had girlfriends in high school. Now we're in 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:05.439 college and I don't have a girlfriend. I'm like, 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:11.099 what happened to me? You know, I lost it. I must 00:03:11.099 --> 00:03:13.020 have lost something when I went to college, right? 00:03:14.500 --> 00:03:16.439 So every week when we'd get together, we were 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:18.400 singing in a group together at the college and 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:20.780 we would have prayer request time and I'd say, 00:03:20.819 --> 00:03:22.740 pray that I can find a girlfriend in college. 00:03:23.879 --> 00:03:31.000 I mean, this is getting bad. And one day Ganna 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:33.039 walked up to me and she said, you have not because 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:36.400 you asked not. Now that's a Bible verse. That's 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:38.479 a Bible verse. She quoted a Bible verse on me. 00:03:38.979 --> 00:03:41.699 I asked and like I said, in August we'll be married 00:03:41.699 --> 00:03:45.639 40 years. So, but there wasn't a Bible verse 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:50.020 specifically that told me to marry Ganna. There's 00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:53.120 not a Bible verse specifically that told me and 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:55.580 my family to move here from South Carolina to 00:03:55.580 --> 00:03:58.639 plant Elation Church. About three years ago, 00:03:58.699 --> 00:04:02.180 I mean, there's just not a Bible verse. But the 00:04:02.180 --> 00:04:05.759 Holy Spirit spoke to us and led us and guided 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:12.419 us, right? So it's still God's Word. When God 00:04:12.419 --> 00:04:17.100 speaks to you, it's God's Word. It's His divine 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:21.300 utterance for you. Now, we've got to be careful 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:24.439 when I say this, and I've talked about it during 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:27.649 the series. If all of a sudden you think God's 00:04:27.649 --> 00:04:32.790 telling you to do something that is not in agreement 00:04:32.790 --> 00:04:37.490 with His written word, then God's not telling 00:04:37.490 --> 00:04:40.149 you that. Because God's not going to rewrite 00:04:40.149 --> 00:04:44.930 the Bible to fit some kind of personal deal to 00:04:44.930 --> 00:04:48.569 you. Alright? Are you with me? If you're with 00:04:48.569 --> 00:04:51.350 me, say amen or oh me or uh -huh or something. 00:04:51.550 --> 00:04:54.759 Alright? So faith comes by hearing and hearing 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:57.439 by the word of God. That's the first step of 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:01.899 faith is hearing a divine utterance from God. 00:05:02.620 --> 00:05:05.399 It has to come from God for it to be God -pleasing 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:09.579 faith. Let's keep going. Hebrews 11 .1. Faith 00:05:09.579 --> 00:05:12.839 is the confidence that what we hope for will 00:05:12.839 --> 00:05:17.720 actually happen. It gives us assurance about 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:23.819 things we cannot see. So this is the second step 00:05:23.819 --> 00:05:29.699 of faith. Second step. Now that word hope, you 00:05:29.699 --> 00:05:32.100 know, we use the word hope like hope so hope. 00:05:32.259 --> 00:05:37.660 I hope so. You know, I've been hoping that the 00:05:37.660 --> 00:05:39.899 South Carolina Gamecocks will win a national 00:05:39.899 --> 00:05:44.740 football championship all my life. But it's just 00:05:44.740 --> 00:05:47.879 hope so hope. And it doesn't look like it's going 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:51.279 to change anytime soon. Thank God for women's 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:56.819 basketball. That's all I've got to say. But we 00:05:56.819 --> 00:05:59.519 hope for things, and it's just like a hope -so 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:05.300 hope. But when you read hope in the Bible, it's 00:06:05.300 --> 00:06:08.639 not talking about hope -so at all. That's why 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:10.540 we've got to acknowledge that the Bible is written 00:06:10.540 --> 00:06:12.899 in Koine Greek, and we've got to look at those 00:06:12.899 --> 00:06:15.459 words sometimes to know what they mean. Here's 00:06:15.459 --> 00:06:17.769 what hope... means in the Bible. It's the Greek 00:06:17.769 --> 00:06:20.889 word elpo and it means have a confident expectation. 00:06:24.029 --> 00:06:27.689 Somebody say confident expectation. See, so if 00:06:27.689 --> 00:06:31.629 we have heard God say something, if we had heard 00:06:31.629 --> 00:06:34.660 a divine utterance, if we have read... a divine 00:06:34.660 --> 00:06:36.839 utterance, if the Holy Spirit has caused that 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:39.360 word to come alive on the inside of us, you know 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:41.500 what? We can go ahead and get confident about 00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:44.459 it. We can have a confident expectation to the 00:06:44.459 --> 00:06:46.399 point that we can go ahead and get happy about 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:49.000 it even before we see it fulfilled in our lives. 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:55.480 The hope that we have in Christ is a confident 00:06:55.480 --> 00:06:57.600 expectation that we're going to see the goodness 00:06:57.600 --> 00:06:59.800 of God, that we're going to see the promises 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:03.639 of God fulfilled in our lives. That's the hope 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:05.660 that the Bible is talking about. So the second 00:07:05.660 --> 00:07:12.480 step of faith is wholeheartedly believing, having 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:18.459 confidence in what God has said. Second step. 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:22.980 Third step. This is what we've been focusing 00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:27.500 on. Because see, most people already know about, 00:07:27.579 --> 00:07:33.019 and I mean, for, I don't know. Almost 50 years 00:07:33.019 --> 00:07:35.459 I've been a follower of Christ and I've known 00:07:35.459 --> 00:07:41.720 about hearing and believing, but I haven't really 00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:47.860 understood the faith act part except maybe the 00:07:47.860 --> 00:07:52.220 last 10 years of my life. James 2 .26 tells us 00:07:52.220 --> 00:07:56.199 this, faith without works is dead. It's just 00:07:56.199 --> 00:08:03.759 dead. What does dead produce? Nothing. So faith 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:07.240 without works is dead. Faith without a corresponding 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:12.860 action is dead. So the third step of faith is 00:08:12.860 --> 00:08:19.459 acting in obedience. Acting in obedience. And 00:08:19.459 --> 00:08:21.660 most people never get to that point where they 00:08:21.660 --> 00:08:24.319 act in obedience. It's just like the verses that 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:26.139 we read during the offering. It says, if we do 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:28.689 this, then God will do this. Well, us doing our 00:08:28.689 --> 00:08:33.710 part is acting in obedience. It's our faith act 00:08:33.710 --> 00:08:39.570 to connect to God's promise. So, let's talk about 00:08:39.570 --> 00:08:43.350 it a little bit more. Faith, the faith that pleases 00:08:43.350 --> 00:08:45.950 God responds. The faith that pleases God says, 00:08:46.350 --> 00:08:53.090 gives, does, acts. It just doesn't hear and have 00:08:53.090 --> 00:08:56.909 a mental agreement with hearing. It has to go. 00:08:57.320 --> 00:09:00.860 to the third step of responding, saying, giving, 00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:04.980 doing, or acting. Now, it's easy for us to see 00:09:04.980 --> 00:09:08.480 this when it comes to our salvation, right? Ephesians 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:13.919 2 .8 says this, For by grace you have been saved 00:09:13.919 --> 00:09:20.279 through faith. Everybody say grace. What is grace? 00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:25.080 A lot of people say unmerited favor. You know, 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:28.149 that's just like our common... Common thing, 00:09:28.269 --> 00:09:33.830 right? Unmerited favor. But how does that, what 00:09:33.830 --> 00:09:37.370 does that look like? What does that look like? 00:09:38.429 --> 00:09:42.830 Well, grace, everybody say grace again. Grace 00:09:42.830 --> 00:09:46.889 is what God does. Everybody say what God does. 00:09:47.850 --> 00:09:52.210 See, grace is God's acts of kindness and favor 00:09:52.210 --> 00:09:57.539 towards you and towards me. You know what? God 00:09:57.539 --> 00:10:03.299 has done a lot. Hello? God's done a lot of very 00:10:03.299 --> 00:10:06.220 great things and good things, and He's shown 00:10:06.220 --> 00:10:10.059 His love and His kindness and His favor towards 00:10:10.059 --> 00:10:15.539 you and towards me. So in salvation, God's grace 00:10:15.539 --> 00:10:20.389 is... Jesus dying on the cross in your place 00:10:20.389 --> 00:10:23.590 for your sins, shedding his blood, because without 00:10:23.590 --> 00:10:25.470 the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness 00:10:25.470 --> 00:10:28.990 of sin, the Bible says. So that's Jesus' work 00:10:28.990 --> 00:10:32.129 of grace for you is the cross and the resurrection. 00:10:32.230 --> 00:10:34.850 The resurrection just put a stamp on everything 00:10:34.850 --> 00:10:38.450 that Jesus said, everything that Jesus did. I 00:10:38.450 --> 00:10:41.029 mean, we can have confidence in what he has said 00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:44.710 and what he has done. So grace is God's part. 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:52.179 You can't earn it, be good enough for it. You 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:54.580 can't be good enough for God's forgiveness and 00:10:54.580 --> 00:10:57.799 God's goodness. You can't deserve it. That's 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:00.759 why we call it unmerited favor, undeserved favor. 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:06.259 It's just God's part. It's God's part. But it 00:11:06.259 --> 00:11:11.039 says we've been saved by grace, by God's acts 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:14.299 of kindness and favor towards you. You have been 00:11:14.299 --> 00:11:20.220 saved, but you receive it by faith. By grace 00:11:20.220 --> 00:11:25.559 through faith. Right? Just because Jesus died 00:11:25.559 --> 00:11:27.580 on the cross, does that mean everybody's forgiven 00:11:27.580 --> 00:11:29.919 and everybody's going to heaven and everybody 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:36.360 has eternal life? I don't know. Do you know that? 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:39.259 Some of you are looking at me like, either you 00:11:39.259 --> 00:11:41.159 quit listening or you don't know the answer. 00:11:42.889 --> 00:11:45.789 Because of what Jesus did on the cross, his death, 00:11:45.789 --> 00:11:48.289 burial, and resurrection, does that mean that 00:11:48.289 --> 00:11:50.909 every person who's ever been born on planet earth 00:11:50.909 --> 00:11:59.909 is going to heaven? No. No. Could they? Yes. 00:12:01.870 --> 00:12:06.750 Because God's work is sufficient. Right? His 00:12:06.750 --> 00:12:12.409 work is sufficient. But only the people... Who 00:12:12.409 --> 00:12:15.590 come to Him in faith, right? You hear about God's 00:12:15.590 --> 00:12:17.629 goodness. You hear about God's love. You hear 00:12:17.629 --> 00:12:22.769 about Him dying on the cross for you. For your 00:12:22.769 --> 00:12:25.590 sin and your place. Offering you His gift of 00:12:25.590 --> 00:12:29.389 eternal life. You hear those things. And then 00:12:29.389 --> 00:12:33.809 you say, I believe that. I believe He died for 00:12:33.809 --> 00:12:37.590 me. I believe He wants to give me eternal life. 00:12:37.690 --> 00:12:42.299 I believe that. So then how do we act? How do 00:12:42.299 --> 00:12:48.000 we take hold of that? The Bible says, with the 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:54.379 heart we believe, but with confession... I'm 00:12:54.379 --> 00:12:57.340 trying to quote that verse. Confession is made 00:12:57.340 --> 00:13:01.899 unto salvation, is what the Bible says. If we 00:13:01.899 --> 00:13:04.600 call on the name of the Lord, we'll be saved. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:09.179 If we confess our sin, he's faithful and he's 00:13:09.179 --> 00:13:12.059 just, he will forgive us and wash us clean. Cleanse 00:13:12.059 --> 00:13:15.700 us from all unrighteousness. So that's our part. 00:13:15.740 --> 00:13:21.519 That's how we attach to God's work of salvation. 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:25.059 It's when we come to the point where we say, 00:13:25.139 --> 00:13:28.340 Jesus, I've messed up. I'm a sinner. I've done 00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:31.139 wrong. I'm guilty. I've broke your law. And I 00:13:31.139 --> 00:13:33.399 ask you to forgive me. Thank you for dying on 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:37.259 the cross for me, Jesus. Thank you for offering 00:13:37.259 --> 00:13:39.860 me your gift of eternal life. Up until today, 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.360 my life's just been about me, but from now on, 00:13:42.379 --> 00:13:45.039 I want my life to be about you too. And Jesus, 00:13:45.139 --> 00:13:49.399 I ask you to be my Lord. I surrender my life 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:55.139 to you. Call on the name of the Lord. That's 00:13:55.139 --> 00:13:58.000 how we connect. Everybody say connect. That's 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:02.860 how we connect with our faith to his grace gift 00:14:02.860 --> 00:14:06.470 of salvation. Here's the deal. Saving faith, 00:14:06.710 --> 00:14:11.370 living faith, walking faith, victory faith, God 00:14:11.370 --> 00:14:16.350 -pleasing faith, they all work the same. They 00:14:16.350 --> 00:14:22.509 all work the same. The just shall live by faith. 00:14:23.350 --> 00:14:26.769 We're to walk by faith and not by sight. This 00:14:26.769 --> 00:14:28.610 is the victory that overcomes the world, even 00:14:28.610 --> 00:14:32.509 our faith. Without faith, it's impossible to 00:14:32.509 --> 00:14:36.340 please God. These all come from verses, but faith 00:14:36.340 --> 00:14:38.279 works the same. Look at the person beside you 00:14:38.279 --> 00:14:40.759 and say, faith works the same. Faith works the 00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:44.279 same. No matter what kind of faith it is, faith 00:14:44.279 --> 00:14:49.539 works the same. Faith is more than just a mental 00:14:49.539 --> 00:14:53.620 agreement and a belief. It's more than that. 00:14:55.320 --> 00:14:58.820 Ultimately, our connection to the power and the 00:14:58.820 --> 00:15:04.159 ability of God is when we act. upon what he said. 00:15:05.259 --> 00:15:08.779 This is important. It's important. If we're going 00:15:08.779 --> 00:15:10.820 to live in victory, I mean, this is important. 00:15:12.500 --> 00:15:15.179 This is important. So that's why we've looked 00:15:15.179 --> 00:15:17.460 at this series now and we're wrapping it up today 00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:21.240 called Faith Act. Now, we've looked at all kinds 00:15:21.240 --> 00:15:24.799 of stories and we've talked about how people 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:29.389 heard and believed and then they acted. Today 00:15:29.389 --> 00:15:30.769 we're going to wrap it up. It's going to be a 00:15:30.769 --> 00:15:32.889 little bit different than the other seven messages. 00:15:32.929 --> 00:15:36.690 If this spurs interest, guess what? They're all 00:15:36.690 --> 00:15:39.330 on YouTube and they're all on Facebook. You can 00:15:39.330 --> 00:15:41.529 look at, hey, they're also all on our podcast, 00:15:41.590 --> 00:15:44.250 which might be the easiest way to find them. 00:15:45.909 --> 00:15:50.090 Whether you're on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or 00:15:50.090 --> 00:15:52.009 whatever, you can find all the messages there. 00:15:52.730 --> 00:15:55.250 Actually, the messages on podcasts are recordings 00:15:55.250 --> 00:15:57.960 from Sunday morning. which are different than 00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:01.299 the other ones on Facebook. Here's the deal. 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:05.799 James 2, 14 through 20. What does it profit, 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:11.419 my brethren? If someone says he has faith, but 00:16:11.419 --> 00:16:18.360 does not have works, can faith save him? Some 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:20.299 people look at this verse and they say, oh, well, 00:16:20.299 --> 00:16:23.580 now you're going to have to talk about works, 00:16:23.580 --> 00:16:28.610 righteousness. No. No, because we can't earn 00:16:28.610 --> 00:16:33.110 it. You can't be good enough to deserve salvation. 00:16:35.330 --> 00:16:40.830 The Bible talks about it being like a target. 00:16:42.490 --> 00:16:45.570 And it comes from the language and it's talking 00:16:45.570 --> 00:16:50.429 about a target and there's like an archery shot. 00:16:51.909 --> 00:16:55.210 And everybody's life is like... You're shooting 00:16:55.210 --> 00:16:59.450 an arrow at the target. When it says that all 00:16:59.450 --> 00:17:02.309 of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory 00:17:02.309 --> 00:17:04.710 of God, it means that all of us have fallen short. 00:17:04.789 --> 00:17:07.549 We've missed the mark. Everybody say, missed 00:17:07.549 --> 00:17:12.789 the mark. That's the visual that that word is 00:17:12.789 --> 00:17:16.609 talking about. So see, every single one of us, 00:17:16.650 --> 00:17:23.710 by our life, we have shot at the target. Some 00:17:23.710 --> 00:17:28.130 of us, including myself at times, if the target's 00:17:28.130 --> 00:17:30.809 over there, some of us have shot our lives this 00:17:30.809 --> 00:17:37.309 way. Has anybody ever missed it so much it was 00:17:37.309 --> 00:17:39.509 like shooting in the opposite direction? Anybody 00:17:39.509 --> 00:17:41.730 but me and about three other people. Let's go 00:17:41.730 --> 00:17:46.009 ahead and fess up, all right? There are other 00:17:46.009 --> 00:17:51.880 times when I try, you know. I'm not saying to 00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:54.539 live a sloppy life and don't even try. But even 00:17:54.539 --> 00:18:01.099 at my best, as the preacher, I mean, with a seminary 00:18:01.099 --> 00:18:06.079 degree, at my best, I can't hit the bullseye. 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:10.759 Look at the person beside you and say, you can't 00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:12.880 hit the bullseye. He's a hot shot. Come on. Tell 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:16.420 him that. You can't hit it either. We've all 00:18:16.420 --> 00:18:21.690 missed it. So James is not talking about works 00:18:21.690 --> 00:18:27.390 of righteousness to gain salvation. He's talking 00:18:27.390 --> 00:18:28.710 about those things that we were just talking 00:18:28.710 --> 00:18:31.410 about. What is a prophet? If someone says he 00:18:31.410 --> 00:18:33.849 has faith but doesn't have works, if you say 00:18:33.849 --> 00:18:35.809 that you believe in Jesus, a lot of people say 00:18:35.809 --> 00:18:38.470 they believe in Jesus, but they've never confessed 00:18:38.470 --> 00:18:41.589 him as Lord. They've never called on the name 00:18:41.589 --> 00:18:47.029 of the Lord. They've never repented. Never. Not 00:18:47.029 --> 00:18:50.269 even the idea to repent. Oh, I just believe in 00:18:50.269 --> 00:18:53.450 Jesus, so I'm good now. How many of you know 00:18:53.450 --> 00:18:56.670 that's not good enough to have some kind of mental 00:18:56.670 --> 00:19:00.250 ascent? So can that kind of faith save somebody 00:19:00.250 --> 00:19:03.210 if you just say that you have faith, but then 00:19:03.210 --> 00:19:04.950 there's no evidence? Everybody say evidence. 00:19:05.369 --> 00:19:09.009 There's no evidence at all. Can that faith save 00:19:09.009 --> 00:19:12.269 you? The answer is no. Look at the person beside 00:19:12.269 --> 00:19:16.170 you and say, the answer is no. Will saying you 00:19:16.170 --> 00:19:18.390 have faith save you without a corresponding action? 00:19:18.589 --> 00:19:22.730 The answer is no. Saving faith hears, believes, 00:19:23.029 --> 00:19:28.910 acts by saying and surrendering, calling on the 00:19:28.910 --> 00:19:33.529 name of the Lord, confessing your sin. All right? 00:19:34.490 --> 00:19:39.430 So now we move to an illustration. In James, 00:19:39.650 --> 00:19:44.940 the very next verse begins an illustration. Here's 00:19:44.940 --> 00:19:47.160 what it says. If a brother or sister is naked 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:53.779 and destitute of daily food, and one of you says 00:19:53.779 --> 00:19:59.619 to them, depart in peace, be warmed, and be filled, 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:03.420 but you do not give them the things which are 00:20:03.420 --> 00:20:09.220 needed for the body, what does it profit? Look 00:20:09.220 --> 00:20:10.500 at the person beside you and say, not a lot. 00:20:13.289 --> 00:20:15.990 It's in your ability. So this is an illustration. 00:20:16.970 --> 00:20:19.730 If someone doesn't have clothes and they don't 00:20:19.730 --> 00:20:23.549 have food and you just say, well, just have peace 00:20:23.549 --> 00:20:27.529 and be warmed and be filled and that's just what 00:20:27.529 --> 00:20:33.890 you say, is that really helping them? No. So 00:20:33.890 --> 00:20:36.650 heartfelt words without a corresponding action, 00:20:36.789 --> 00:20:44.670 that's useless. So that's the illustration. That's 00:20:44.670 --> 00:20:49.230 the illustration. And here's why I know it's 00:20:49.230 --> 00:20:51.329 an illustration, because James says in verse 00:20:51.329 --> 00:20:54.049 17, he says, just also, he says, well, just like 00:20:54.049 --> 00:20:57.069 that. Everybody say, just like that. Just like 00:20:57.069 --> 00:21:02.390 that illustration that I just gave you. Thus 00:21:02.390 --> 00:21:07.089 also, faith by itself, if it does not have works 00:21:07.089 --> 00:21:12.329 or a corresponding action, is dead. It's dead. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:16.420 So faith without a corresponding action is dead. 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:18.539 That means it's lifeless. That means it's ineffective. 00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:20.980 That means it's powerless. That means it's useless. 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:27.079 There's no corresponding action. He goes on in 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:30.980 verse 18, but someone will say, you have faith 00:21:30.980 --> 00:21:35.440 and I have works. Show me your faith without 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:38.039 your works and I will show you my faith by my 00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:42.799 works. Because faith without a corresponding 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:45.380 action, there's not going to be any results. 00:21:45.539 --> 00:21:49.599 It's dead. It's going to be lifeless and useless. 00:21:53.220 --> 00:21:55.500 You believe that there's one God, you do well. 00:21:57.559 --> 00:22:02.920 Even the demons believe. They even believe so 00:22:02.920 --> 00:22:05.980 much that they tremble when they think about 00:22:05.980 --> 00:22:09.480 the power of God and the judgment of God. They 00:22:09.480 --> 00:22:17.019 tremble. So what's James saying? He's saying, 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:18.640 well, when I look at some people, it looks like 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:23.700 the demons have more faith than they do. Hello? 00:22:25.180 --> 00:22:27.039 Don't get mad at me while I'm preaching, all 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:31.240 right? Hearing and believing are not enough. 00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:36.079 And then he goes on to say, but do you want to 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:40.099 know, oh foolish man, that faith without works 00:22:40.099 --> 00:22:45.630 is dead? Faith without works is dead. So here's 00:22:45.630 --> 00:22:48.029 what he's saying. He's saying there's multiple 00:22:48.029 --> 00:22:51.250 kinds of faith. He points out that there's a 00:22:51.250 --> 00:22:56.509 demon faith, a demon faith that recognizes God 00:22:56.509 --> 00:23:00.049 and recognizes who he is and trembles. I mean, 00:23:00.049 --> 00:23:04.549 so much faith in God and his ability and his 00:23:04.549 --> 00:23:08.069 power and his coming judgment for them that they 00:23:08.069 --> 00:23:13.859 tremble. And then there's dead faith. And really 00:23:13.859 --> 00:23:18.359 when you look at both of them, they're both about 00:23:18.359 --> 00:23:23.339 the same. They're both about the same. Demon 00:23:23.339 --> 00:23:27.599 faith and dead faith. Now this is a point where 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:28.920 you look at the person beside you and say, I 00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:31.980 don't have demon faith and I don't have dead 00:23:31.980 --> 00:23:36.000 faith. And if I do, I don't want to anymore after 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:38.980 today. If I realize that that's the level of 00:23:38.980 --> 00:23:41.440 my faith, I don't want to leave here with demon 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:48.160 faith or dead faith anymore. Alright? So, because 00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:50.200 we want to have doing faith. Everybody say doing 00:23:50.200 --> 00:23:53.579 faith. So we can have demon faith, dead faith, 00:23:53.660 --> 00:23:57.079 or doing faith. Now, even though this is the 00:23:57.079 --> 00:23:59.099 end of our eight -week sermon series, it doesn't 00:23:59.099 --> 00:24:02.980 mean that we've exhausted every biblical support. 00:24:03.500 --> 00:24:07.480 of how very important and critically important 00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:12.799 faith acts are. I mean, we've looked at... I 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:16.059 don't know if I can even recall seven sermons 00:24:16.059 --> 00:24:18.240 off the top of my head, but we talked about quit 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:20.440 crying and move when God's people went through 00:24:20.440 --> 00:24:24.420 the Red Sea. We talked about Naaman. having leprosy 00:24:24.420 --> 00:24:26.380 and the prophet telling him to go dip in the 00:24:26.380 --> 00:24:30.079 Jordan seven times and how he got offended. And 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:31.940 if you get offended, you're not going to have 00:24:31.940 --> 00:24:34.720 your faith back to receive your miracle. I mean, 00:24:34.740 --> 00:24:36.920 we've talked about the woman with the issue of 00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:42.039 blood last week. We've talked about... You just 00:24:42.039 --> 00:24:47.019 have to look them up. And there's so many more. 00:24:48.220 --> 00:24:53.440 So many more. So I decided to talk about Hebrews 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:58.000 11. That's like the chapter of our faith heroes 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:03.000 in the New Testament. So in Hebrews chapter 11, 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:08.400 we see some faith acts. Right? By faith, Abel 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:12.839 gave an acceptable offering to God. By faith, 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:16.259 Enoch walked with God, and he walked with God 00:25:16.259 --> 00:25:20.720 and pleased God so much that God just took him. 00:25:22.380 --> 00:25:27.859 I mean, just, I guess he's the first person to 00:25:27.859 --> 00:25:31.380 get a glorified body straight off the earth. 00:25:32.059 --> 00:25:34.259 He didn't just walk with God and God said, okay, 00:25:34.299 --> 00:25:41.119 come on home with me today. Noah, by faith, built 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:44.700 a boat. Not just a little bass boat. This thing 00:25:44.700 --> 00:25:49.869 was huge. Right? About 100 years he worked on 00:25:49.869 --> 00:25:52.130 this boat. Had to work on it every day by faith 00:25:52.130 --> 00:25:57.490 for 100 years. He didn't give up. By faith, Abraham 00:25:57.490 --> 00:26:01.630 went without knowing where he was going. God 00:26:01.630 --> 00:26:05.730 just said, go. Go to a place that I'm going to 00:26:05.730 --> 00:26:08.569 show you. And he packed up his whole family and 00:26:08.569 --> 00:26:10.910 his whole entourage. And they just took off, 00:26:10.950 --> 00:26:12.569 not even knowing where they were going. But by 00:26:12.569 --> 00:26:16.750 faith, they obeyed and they followed and they 00:26:16.750 --> 00:26:22.230 went. Everybody say gave. Everybody say walked. 00:26:22.630 --> 00:26:26.849 Everybody say built. Everybody say went. These 00:26:26.849 --> 00:26:34.130 are acts. These are all acts. Faith actions. 00:26:35.950 --> 00:26:39.930 By faith, Sarah, 90 years old, she took hold 00:26:39.930 --> 00:26:43.750 of God's faithfulness and ability and had a baby 00:26:43.750 --> 00:26:46.170 at 90 years old when she couldn't have a baby 00:26:46.170 --> 00:26:52.509 at 20 years old. By faith, Isaac and Jacob pronounced 00:26:52.509 --> 00:26:56.289 blessings and made promises to their families. 00:26:58.250 --> 00:27:03.089 How do you confidently bless and make a promise 00:27:03.089 --> 00:27:05.650 when you're not even going to be around to fulfill 00:27:05.650 --> 00:27:14.890 it? By faith. By faith, Joseph confidently prophesied. 00:27:16.779 --> 00:27:18.819 Here's what he said. He said, you know what? 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:21.920 We're in Egypt right now because this is God's 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:24.500 provision for us during this time of famine, 00:27:24.579 --> 00:27:30.220 but we're coming out. One day, one day, we're 00:27:30.220 --> 00:27:33.779 going to leave Egypt. And when we leave Egypt, 00:27:33.819 --> 00:27:36.279 make sure to take my bones because I don't want 00:27:36.279 --> 00:27:39.660 my bones buried in Egypt. That's how confident 00:27:39.660 --> 00:27:45.220 he was. By faith, Moses led God's people out 00:27:45.220 --> 00:27:50.220 of Egypt. By faith, they went through the Red 00:27:50.220 --> 00:27:53.880 Sea. Do we have some action words there? Prophesied, 00:27:53.880 --> 00:28:00.079 led, took, pronounced, made promises. Those are 00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:03.720 all faith acts. By faith, they marched around 00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:08.200 Jericho. That took a lot of faith, didn't it? 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:12.880 To just march around the city seven days and 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:15.779 be quiet? Don't say anything. I mean... Over 00:28:15.779 --> 00:28:17.920 a million people being quiet walking around the 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:22.039 city. When people on the top of the city walls 00:28:22.039 --> 00:28:24.039 are probably heckling you and saying, what are 00:28:24.039 --> 00:28:31.220 you doing? It took faith, right? To march around 00:28:31.220 --> 00:28:35.680 Jericho silently for six days and then on the 00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:37.519 seventh day to march around it seven times and 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:41.339 then to shout before. Everybody say before. You 00:28:41.339 --> 00:28:44.119 had to shout before the walls came down. See, 00:28:44.180 --> 00:28:46.539 it's easy to shout after the walls come down. 00:28:48.119 --> 00:28:51.000 But you shout by faith before the walls come 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:57.079 down. Now, here's what the writer of Hebrews 00:28:57.079 --> 00:28:58.859 says all of a sudden. Right in the middle of 00:28:58.859 --> 00:29:01.759 that big old long list about faith, he says, 00:29:01.799 --> 00:29:05.579 how much more do I need to say? I'm just reading 00:29:05.579 --> 00:29:07.380 this out of the Bible now. How much more do I 00:29:07.380 --> 00:29:10.470 need to say? He said it would take too long to 00:29:10.470 --> 00:29:13.710 recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, 00:29:13.730 --> 00:29:17.549 Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, all the prophets. 00:29:18.609 --> 00:29:23.170 All of them had faith acts too. And all those 00:29:23.170 --> 00:29:25.450 stories, I mean, we could preach a message on 00:29:25.450 --> 00:29:27.470 this series out of every one of these people. 00:29:27.990 --> 00:29:31.750 The acts of faith. Not only did they hear and 00:29:31.750 --> 00:29:36.039 believe, they acted on it. And then he goes on 00:29:36.039 --> 00:29:38.460 to say this, By faith these people overthrew 00:29:38.460 --> 00:29:42.339 kingdoms, ruled with justice, received what God 00:29:42.339 --> 00:29:46.160 had promised to them. They shut the mouths of 00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:49.640 lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped 00:29:49.640 --> 00:29:55.059 death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness 00:29:55.059 --> 00:30:00.759 was turned to strength, just like yours can be. 00:30:01.980 --> 00:30:05.500 What does the Bible say? Let the weak say, I'm 00:30:05.500 --> 00:30:12.119 strong. Do we do that? How many of you felt weak 00:30:12.119 --> 00:30:15.539 this past week? Weak this past week. W -E -A 00:30:15.539 --> 00:30:21.539 -K and W -E -E -K. When you feel weak, do you 00:30:21.539 --> 00:30:27.480 start saying, I'm strong? Or do you start saying, 00:30:27.579 --> 00:30:32.490 I'm weak? Well, if you want to agree with the 00:30:32.490 --> 00:30:34.609 weak part, you can stay weak. But if you want 00:30:34.609 --> 00:30:36.690 to confess the God part and say, I'm strong, 00:30:36.990 --> 00:30:44.710 then you can be strong. Some of you are thinking 00:30:44.710 --> 00:30:48.130 about that really hard. Their weakness was turned 00:30:48.130 --> 00:30:50.769 to strength. They became strong in battle, put 00:30:50.769 --> 00:30:59.170 whole armies to flight. 300 people, over 100 00:30:59.170 --> 00:31:02.589 ,000 people, I mean, put the whole army to flight. 00:31:04.930 --> 00:31:09.670 And then get this. By faith, women received their 00:31:09.670 --> 00:31:17.289 loved ones back again from death. Sit on that 00:31:17.289 --> 00:31:24.410 one a minute. Mary and Martha received their 00:31:24.410 --> 00:31:26.690 brother back from death. Been dead four days. 00:31:29.109 --> 00:31:34.470 Hello? Do we believe the Bible? Do we believe 00:31:34.470 --> 00:31:41.190 the Bible? Mary and Martha received their brother 00:31:41.190 --> 00:31:45.950 back. The lady, two ladies actually, whose sons 00:31:45.950 --> 00:31:50.210 died after their encounter and their work with, 00:31:50.250 --> 00:31:53.089 what, Elijah and Elijah, both of them, they were 00:31:53.089 --> 00:31:56.920 women whose sons died. They got their sons back 00:31:56.920 --> 00:32:02.940 because of their faith in God. It's in the Bible. 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:07.259 So by faith, they received their loved ones back 00:32:07.259 --> 00:32:13.420 again from death. And then it says this. It says, 00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:21.380 back in James, going back to verse 22. Going 00:32:21.380 --> 00:32:23.839 to chapter 1. I mean, we've been focusing on... 00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:30.460 Faith without works is dead, right? But let's 00:32:30.460 --> 00:32:33.599 back up and see the first part of James. James 00:32:33.599 --> 00:32:39.259 1 .22. Be doers of the word. Not only hearers 00:32:39.259 --> 00:32:43.680 of it. Blinding yourselves with false ideas. 00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:51.259 Be doers of the word. Don't deceive yourself. 00:32:52.619 --> 00:32:54.680 This translation that I'm reading right now is 00:32:54.680 --> 00:32:57.000 a Bible in basic English, but it's... It's staying 00:32:57.000 --> 00:32:58.799 true to what it means. It's just putting it in 00:32:58.799 --> 00:33:01.240 a way that we can understand it. Be doers of 00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:04.779 the word, not hearers of it. Not only hearers 00:33:04.779 --> 00:33:10.720 of it, because when you just hear it, without 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:13.700 doing it, you blind yourself with false ideas. 00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:21.240 It's a false idea, a self -deception, to think 00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:25.400 that hearing the word is all you need. Is that 00:33:25.400 --> 00:33:28.339 what that says? Somebody help me out. Is that 00:33:28.339 --> 00:33:32.039 what it says? It's a false idea. You're deceiving 00:33:32.039 --> 00:33:34.259 yourself to think that hearing the word is all 00:33:34.259 --> 00:33:37.160 you need. And then here's another illustration 00:33:37.160 --> 00:33:42.819 that James has given us. Listen to what he says. 00:33:42.920 --> 00:33:45.500 Because if any man is a hearer of the word and 00:33:45.500 --> 00:33:49.859 not a doer, he's like a man looking at his natural 00:33:49.859 --> 00:33:55.319 face in a glass or in a mirror. Now this is what 00:33:55.319 --> 00:33:58.720 it looks like to just hear it and not do it. 00:33:58.779 --> 00:34:01.740 You look at your face. So hearing is like looking 00:34:01.740 --> 00:34:04.420 at yourself in a mirror. You're looking at something 00:34:04.420 --> 00:34:07.039 in a mirror. And then it says in verse 24, For 00:34:07.039 --> 00:34:10.400 after looking at himself, he goes away, and in 00:34:10.400 --> 00:34:13.719 a short time he has no memory of what he was 00:34:13.719 --> 00:34:17.019 like. When I walk away from the mirror, I'm a 00:34:17.019 --> 00:34:19.219 whole lot more good looking than I was when I 00:34:19.219 --> 00:34:28.860 was looking in the mirror. Here's the deal. We 00:34:28.860 --> 00:34:37.059 hear and hear and hear. I mean, don't get me 00:34:37.059 --> 00:34:39.739 wrong. It's important to gather together with 00:34:39.739 --> 00:34:43.960 God's people and look into the Word of God together 00:34:43.960 --> 00:34:46.679 and study the Word of God together. The Bible 00:34:46.679 --> 00:34:49.539 says don't forsake that. I mean, we have somebody 00:34:49.539 --> 00:34:51.940 here from North Carolina today who's on vacation, 00:34:52.059 --> 00:34:54.960 and she told me, she said, oh, going to church 00:34:54.960 --> 00:34:59.989 is not an option. So she got up and read the 00:34:59.989 --> 00:35:02.610 Google reviews and whatever, and I keep telling 00:35:02.610 --> 00:35:05.110 you that Google's important. Well, somebody left 00:35:05.110 --> 00:35:07.230 a Google review that she read, and she said, 00:35:07.250 --> 00:35:12.869 I want to go to that church. Okay? But we hear 00:35:12.869 --> 00:35:19.349 and we hear and we hear. I'm about to preach 00:35:19.349 --> 00:35:20.969 hard, so you might want to pull in your toes 00:35:20.969 --> 00:35:26.659 just a little bit. We hear and we hear and we 00:35:26.659 --> 00:35:34.500 hear, but do we respond to what we hear? Because 00:35:34.500 --> 00:35:38.360 just hearing is like somebody looking in a mirror 00:35:38.360 --> 00:35:49.280 and forgetting it when they walk away. So, as 00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:52.420 I was praying this morning, I was like, okay. 00:35:52.780 --> 00:35:54.420 We do a lot of hearing here at Alation Church. 00:35:56.260 --> 00:35:59.099 We've done a whole series, a long series on who 00:35:59.099 --> 00:36:02.840 God is and who God wants to be for us, who He 00:36:02.840 --> 00:36:06.440 is for us. And He's given us His identity and 00:36:06.440 --> 00:36:11.460 His work in His names. So we spent a long time 00:36:11.460 --> 00:36:14.440 talking about this and how it's only going to 00:36:14.440 --> 00:36:17.219 apply to us when we connect to who He is by faith 00:36:17.219 --> 00:36:21.659 and who He wants to be for us by faith. When 00:36:21.659 --> 00:36:26.599 God says, I'm El Shaddai and I can take care 00:36:26.599 --> 00:36:28.880 of everything, I'm more than enough. Everybody 00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:31.360 say, more than enough. God's more than enough. 00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:33.780 God is El Shaddai. He's more than enough to take 00:36:33.780 --> 00:36:36.099 care of everything. When He says that, just because 00:36:36.099 --> 00:36:38.360 He says it, don't make it reality in our lives. 00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:43.219 We've got to connect to who He is. Did a whole 00:36:43.219 --> 00:36:45.380 big long series on spiritual growth, talking 00:36:45.380 --> 00:36:47.880 about the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of 00:36:47.880 --> 00:36:50.940 the Spirit increasing in our lives. on a daily 00:36:50.940 --> 00:36:53.260 measure we talked about putting on the armor 00:36:53.260 --> 00:36:56.139 of god and how we've got to align our words with 00:36:56.139 --> 00:36:59.480 god's word and what god says to put on this armor 00:36:59.480 --> 00:37:05.579 every day we've talked about who we are in christ 00:37:05.579 --> 00:37:08.159 and what we have in christ and we went through 00:37:08.159 --> 00:37:11.360 all of paul's letters in the new testament and 00:37:11.360 --> 00:37:13.840 picked out every single time where he said in 00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:18.969 christ in whom you know in him we found out who 00:37:18.969 --> 00:37:21.389 we are and what we have. We've talked about authentic 00:37:21.389 --> 00:37:23.750 praise and worship and what that looks like and 00:37:23.750 --> 00:37:27.570 what that brings us. I mean, it's going to bring 00:37:27.570 --> 00:37:30.369 us victory and deliverance and peace and joy 00:37:30.369 --> 00:37:35.449 and life. We talked about and did a whole series 00:37:35.449 --> 00:37:37.869 on what it means to follow the Holy Spirit and 00:37:37.869 --> 00:37:41.150 be led by the Spirit and how He's a genius. He 00:37:41.150 --> 00:37:43.769 knows everything about everything. And why do 00:37:43.769 --> 00:37:45.989 we just want to do it on our own all the time 00:37:45.989 --> 00:37:49.150 when we have the person who... knows everything 00:37:49.150 --> 00:37:51.329 about everything living on the inside of us. 00:37:51.389 --> 00:37:57.409 We just need to be Spirit -led. So we hear and 00:37:57.409 --> 00:38:03.829 we hear and we hear and we hear. Just in this 00:38:03.829 --> 00:38:07.289 series, we've talked about faith for deliverance. 00:38:07.289 --> 00:38:09.309 We've talked about faith for victory. We've talked 00:38:09.309 --> 00:38:11.670 about faith for provision. We've talked about 00:38:11.670 --> 00:38:18.079 faith for healing. Just in this series. Give 00:38:18.079 --> 00:38:24.280 examples from God's Word. How this works. And 00:38:24.280 --> 00:38:28.900 you know what? It'd be a shame for the people 00:38:28.900 --> 00:38:31.159 who come every week to say, well, what's next? 00:38:31.380 --> 00:38:33.380 I mean, you're in the faith act, so what am I 00:38:33.380 --> 00:38:40.360 going to hear next week? Because I'm hearing 00:38:40.360 --> 00:38:42.420 and I'm hearing and I'm hearing and I'm hearing. 00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:44.920 So now that this is over, what am I going to 00:38:44.920 --> 00:38:52.940 hear next? See, we hear, and when we hear the 00:38:52.940 --> 00:38:55.780 promises of God and see the work of God and the 00:38:55.780 --> 00:39:00.679 Word of God, we see what can be. I'm going to 00:39:00.679 --> 00:39:04.219 say that again. When we look into the Word of 00:39:04.219 --> 00:39:06.440 God and when we study who God is and what He 00:39:06.440 --> 00:39:08.559 wants to do for us and the promises that He's 00:39:08.559 --> 00:39:15.300 made for us, we see what life can be like. But 00:39:15.300 --> 00:39:25.420 if we never act, We're going to forget. If we 00:39:25.420 --> 00:39:27.260 don't act, we're just like, okay, I heard that, 00:39:27.320 --> 00:39:37.059 what's next? I mean, I was so encouraged by J 00:39:37.059 --> 00:39:39.780 .T. when we did the J .T. and Michelle, when 00:39:39.780 --> 00:39:42.159 we did the spiritual warfare and putting on the 00:39:42.159 --> 00:39:44.139 armor of God. I mean, almost every week he would 00:39:44.139 --> 00:39:46.460 say, you know what, we're saying that every day. 00:39:46.579 --> 00:39:49.480 I mean, we're just... We're speaking God's truth 00:39:49.480 --> 00:39:51.980 and putting the armor of God on every day and 00:39:51.980 --> 00:39:54.360 then seeing things happen in their lives. I mean, 00:39:54.440 --> 00:40:02.719 he did something about it. Right? So when we 00:40:02.719 --> 00:40:05.519 hear, when we see what it can be, but if we don't 00:40:05.519 --> 00:40:07.719 act, we're going to be like that person looking 00:40:07.719 --> 00:40:18.820 in the mirror that forgets. Forgets. And just 00:40:18.820 --> 00:40:20.900 like me, like I said, I look in the mirror and 00:40:20.900 --> 00:40:25.679 I look a lot better when I'm not looking in the 00:40:25.679 --> 00:40:29.159 mirror because I can't remember the blemishes 00:40:29.159 --> 00:40:33.400 and stuff. When I'm not looking in the mirror, 00:40:33.500 --> 00:40:38.320 I still think I'm 20. Does anybody know what 00:40:38.320 --> 00:40:40.679 I'm talking about? When I'm not looking in the 00:40:40.679 --> 00:40:45.980 mirror, I mean, I'm still 20. When I'm looking 00:40:45.980 --> 00:40:55.130 in the mirror, I'm 58. You know? Here's what 00:40:55.130 --> 00:40:57.530 James says. Under the inspiration of the Holy 00:40:57.530 --> 00:40:59.389 Spirit. This is the Holy Spirit talking. Even 00:40:59.389 --> 00:41:01.030 though I say it's Paul or James, we know that 00:41:01.030 --> 00:41:03.230 the Word of God is inspired and breathed by God. 00:41:04.809 --> 00:41:07.170 But he who goes on looking into the true law, 00:41:07.289 --> 00:41:11.730 which makes him free, being not a hearer without 00:41:11.730 --> 00:41:16.090 memory, but a doer. Putting it into effect, this 00:41:16.090 --> 00:41:23.329 man will have a blessing on his... That means 00:41:23.329 --> 00:41:26.409 you're supposed to say it. This man will have 00:41:26.409 --> 00:41:30.150 a blessing on his... This man will have a blessing 00:41:30.150 --> 00:41:34.329 on his... Acts. He will have a blessing on how 00:41:34.329 --> 00:41:38.690 he responds to the Word of God. How he responds 00:41:38.690 --> 00:41:41.860 to the promises of God. He's going to have a 00:41:41.860 --> 00:41:43.940 blessing. God's going to bless that, and we're 00:41:43.940 --> 00:41:53.940 going to see God's promises fulfilled. And in 00:41:53.940 --> 00:41:57.820 all those stories that we looked at over the 00:41:57.820 --> 00:41:59.739 last seven weeks, if those people would not have 00:41:59.739 --> 00:42:04.840 acted, just Naaman's coming to mind. If Naaman 00:42:04.840 --> 00:42:06.820 wouldn't have dipped into Jordan seven times, 00:42:07.579 --> 00:42:09.400 he would have went back home to dip in his own 00:42:09.400 --> 00:42:12.760 river, he wouldn't have been healed. If he had 00:42:12.760 --> 00:42:15.059 dipped into Jordan six times, he wouldn't have 00:42:15.059 --> 00:42:24.659 been healed. Right? If the lady with the issue 00:42:24.659 --> 00:42:27.139 of blood, Jeffrey made this big nice Lego, but 00:42:27.139 --> 00:42:32.760 he didn't bring it to church last week. If the 00:42:32.760 --> 00:42:35.019 lady with the issue of blood would not have Lego'd, 00:42:35.099 --> 00:42:40.320 everybody say Lego. Lego. It's translated said 00:42:40.320 --> 00:42:44.699 in your Bible. And when Jesus talked about faith, 00:42:44.960 --> 00:42:47.139 he said, have faith in God. And then he says, 00:42:47.159 --> 00:42:50.179 anyone who says to this mountain, be removed 00:42:50.179 --> 00:42:53.019 and cast into the sea, does not doubt, but believe 00:42:53.019 --> 00:42:55.179 those things which he says, he will have what 00:42:55.179 --> 00:42:59.079 he says. Everybody say three times says. One 00:42:59.079 --> 00:43:01.920 of them is Lego in the Greek. Just like the lady 00:43:01.920 --> 00:43:04.940 with the issue of blood, it said she said Lego. 00:43:06.800 --> 00:43:10.800 If I only touch the hem of his garment, I'll 00:43:10.800 --> 00:43:14.340 be made well. And when it says Lego, that means 00:43:14.340 --> 00:43:16.019 she didn't just say it one time. It means it 00:43:16.019 --> 00:43:19.119 was a systematic discourse is what that word 00:43:19.119 --> 00:43:22.739 means in the Greek. It's over and over and over 00:43:22.739 --> 00:43:24.820 again, and you're building a foundation. It's 00:43:24.820 --> 00:43:28.099 a systematic discourse. Just like this, I mean, 00:43:28.099 --> 00:43:30.360 when we bought it, it had a picture that gave 00:43:30.360 --> 00:43:32.989 us a vision. Everybody say a vision. The picture 00:43:32.989 --> 00:43:34.829 gave us a vision of what it would look like, 00:43:34.869 --> 00:43:37.250 but then when you open it up, it's like, it's 00:43:37.250 --> 00:43:42.349 just a bunch of little pieces of plastic. But 00:43:42.349 --> 00:43:45.050 then there was some instructions. It said, put 00:43:45.050 --> 00:43:46.949 this piece with this piece, and put this piece 00:43:46.949 --> 00:43:48.809 with this piece, and then put all those pieces 00:43:48.809 --> 00:43:50.690 together with this piece that you put together. 00:43:51.610 --> 00:43:53.809 And all of a sudden, it becomes a Star Wars X 00:43:53.809 --> 00:43:59.409 -Wing. Because you followed the instructions. 00:43:59.510 --> 00:44:05.070 The Word of God says, Faith without works is 00:44:05.070 --> 00:44:09.989 dead. I mean, you could sit there and look at 00:44:09.989 --> 00:44:11.829 that picture of that X -Wing and say, boy, that's 00:44:11.829 --> 00:44:16.929 a good -looking X -Wing. But if you don't act 00:44:16.929 --> 00:44:18.989 and put it together and follow the directions, 00:44:19.190 --> 00:44:22.010 if you don't do what God has said to do by His 00:44:22.010 --> 00:44:24.789 divine utterance, if you don't respond, if there's 00:44:24.789 --> 00:44:27.329 no corresponding action, you're not going to 00:44:27.329 --> 00:44:29.349 see the promise of God fulfilled in your life. 00:44:33.260 --> 00:44:37.239 I don't know about you, but I want to see some 00:44:37.239 --> 00:44:40.360 promises of God fulfilled in my life, in my family, 00:44:40.460 --> 00:44:43.559 in our church. I want to see some promises of 00:44:43.559 --> 00:44:49.440 God fulfilled. Does anybody want some promises 00:44:49.440 --> 00:44:51.300 of God fulfilled in your life? Have you read 00:44:51.300 --> 00:44:54.739 the Word of God and you say, boy, this promise? 00:44:57.260 --> 00:45:00.340 God promised me that. And when I look at my life, 00:45:00.380 --> 00:45:05.059 I don't see it. Well, the problem is not with 00:45:05.059 --> 00:45:10.380 God holding out on you. God's not holding out 00:45:10.380 --> 00:45:17.900 on you. The problem is in our response. Sometimes 00:45:17.900 --> 00:45:29.880 it's not immediate. Are you with me? Are you 00:45:29.880 --> 00:45:38.920 with me? Sometimes there's a due season that 00:45:38.920 --> 00:45:40.880 has to take place before you see the promise 00:45:40.880 --> 00:45:45.360 fulfilled. So you've got to keep holding on to 00:45:45.360 --> 00:45:48.059 faith. You've got to fight the good fight of 00:45:48.059 --> 00:45:51.079 faith. You've got to stay connected to the promises. 00:45:51.179 --> 00:45:53.260 You've got to keep doing because you don't know 00:45:53.260 --> 00:45:57.130 which faith act. Is God speaking to you? And 00:45:57.130 --> 00:45:59.130 I said this one week. It's like, well, one day 00:45:59.130 --> 00:46:01.869 God told me to give this little girl at Publix 00:46:01.869 --> 00:46:05.590 a $100 bill. And I started giving God all kinds 00:46:05.590 --> 00:46:11.030 of excuses on why I shouldn't do that. In the 00:46:11.030 --> 00:46:14.590 world that we live in today. And she had red 00:46:14.590 --> 00:46:20.159 glasses on. Bright red glasses. And I just knew 00:46:20.159 --> 00:46:21.619 that God wanted me to give it to her, but I'm 00:46:21.619 --> 00:46:23.239 just like, God, she's going to think I'm some 00:46:23.239 --> 00:46:24.920 kind of creeper. She's going to think I've got 00:46:24.920 --> 00:46:27.760 a van out in the parking lot. I mean, you know, 00:46:27.900 --> 00:46:32.480 she's like 20, and I'm like almost 60, and I 00:46:32.480 --> 00:46:38.719 mean, this could go wrong. So I talked myself 00:46:38.719 --> 00:46:41.039 out of it, and then it just kept gnawing at me. 00:46:44.119 --> 00:46:47.960 I went back to that Publix. It's the one up there 00:46:47.960 --> 00:46:50.880 by... South Claremont is where Jeffrey lives 00:46:50.880 --> 00:46:53.619 across the street from there. I went back to 00:46:53.619 --> 00:46:56.679 that Publix at least ten times asking other employees. 00:46:59.000 --> 00:47:01.699 There's this girl about 20, and she has some 00:47:01.699 --> 00:47:06.440 red glasses. God told me to give her something, 00:47:06.539 --> 00:47:10.059 and I didn't give it to her. I'm telling you, 00:47:10.079 --> 00:47:13.280 I've talked to at least five or six employees 00:47:13.280 --> 00:47:16.440 at that Publix asking about this girl with red 00:47:16.440 --> 00:47:19.820 glasses. Nobody has a clue who I'm talking about. 00:47:26.260 --> 00:47:29.920 She might have been an angel or something. The 00:47:29.920 --> 00:47:32.059 Bible says we entertain angels unaware at times. 00:47:32.860 --> 00:47:36.239 It might have been a test. You know what? Me 00:47:36.239 --> 00:47:39.579 giving her $100 might have been connected to 00:47:39.579 --> 00:47:42.500 something. It might have been a faith act. For 00:47:42.500 --> 00:47:45.360 me, it might have been a faith test for me that 00:47:45.360 --> 00:47:47.559 was connected to something else that had nothing 00:47:47.559 --> 00:47:59.460 to do with that. I missed it. I missed it. Can't 00:47:59.460 --> 00:48:02.960 find her. Looked for her a long time. Gave that 00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:05.539 $100 bill to somebody else with bright red glasses 00:48:05.539 --> 00:48:11.610 on. And then the next time when I was in... Dairy 00:48:11.610 --> 00:48:14.809 Queen, you can tell I don't eat right a lot. 00:48:16.829 --> 00:48:20.230 Next time I was in Dairy Queen eating two hot 00:48:20.230 --> 00:48:25.409 dogs and a blizzard, one of them chocolate -covered 00:48:25.409 --> 00:48:27.769 strawberry blizzards. If you had that, oh man, 00:48:27.889 --> 00:48:35.010 that's good. God told me to give money to somebody 00:48:35.010 --> 00:48:36.989 else in a booth behind me. You know what I did 00:48:36.989 --> 00:48:41.059 after that? I jumped up quick and I said, I know 00:48:41.059 --> 00:48:43.340 you don't know me and I don't know you, but God 00:48:43.340 --> 00:48:50.539 told me to give you this. I don't want to miss 00:48:50.539 --> 00:48:56.000 it again. Don't want to miss it. See, if we go 00:48:56.000 --> 00:48:58.380 on looking into the true law, which makes us 00:48:58.380 --> 00:49:03.440 free, not just to hear, because if you just hear 00:49:03.440 --> 00:49:06.429 it, you forget it. Just like all those... sermon 00:49:06.429 --> 00:49:08.789 series is if you didn't put it into action, you're 00:49:08.789 --> 00:49:10.690 going to forget it and you're like, what's next? 00:49:12.590 --> 00:49:15.670 And you're not the only one guilty of that. Maybe 00:49:15.670 --> 00:49:17.789 I'm the only one guilty of that. I don't know, 00:49:17.849 --> 00:49:19.989 but God laid that on my heart today to tell you 00:49:19.989 --> 00:49:29.750 that. But if we're a doer of the Word, we'll 00:49:29.750 --> 00:49:32.769 have blessing on our acts. So when we hear... 00:49:33.320 --> 00:49:37.159 We see what can be by the promises of God, by 00:49:37.159 --> 00:49:40.139 the word of God. We can see that, yeah, we can 00:49:40.139 --> 00:49:42.940 have abundant life, life to the fullest, life 00:49:42.940 --> 00:49:47.599 of love and peace and joy and hope. We can have 00:49:47.599 --> 00:49:49.900 it. We can see it because Jesus came to give 00:49:49.900 --> 00:49:53.599 it to us. When we see what it can be and then 00:49:53.599 --> 00:49:56.360 when we act, when we have a corresponding action 00:49:56.360 --> 00:49:59.059 to what we have heard and what we have believed, 00:49:59.179 --> 00:50:07.119 then our lives can be transformed. If we don't 00:50:07.119 --> 00:50:10.840 act, going to church on a Sunday morning is just 00:50:10.840 --> 00:50:18.119 rubbing a little bit of Jesus on you weak. And 00:50:18.119 --> 00:50:20.079 here's the deal. If that's all you've ever done, 00:50:20.179 --> 00:50:26.400 I want to tell you there's so much more. So much 00:50:26.400 --> 00:50:30.300 more than just rubbing a little bit of Jesus 00:50:30.300 --> 00:50:41.179 on you weak. So much more. I want it. Here it 00:50:41.179 --> 00:50:43.880 is. We will connect to the grace gifts of God, 00:50:44.039 --> 00:50:48.219 to the promises of God. We will connect to God's 00:50:48.219 --> 00:50:51.019 power and ability. Everybody say, God is able. 00:50:52.139 --> 00:50:55.099 See, God's omnipotent. He's all -powerful, and 00:50:55.099 --> 00:50:57.900 He is able, and He has given us promises and 00:50:57.900 --> 00:51:01.239 gifts. He's given us everything we need, the 00:51:01.239 --> 00:51:03.679 Bible says, for life and godliness. Everything 00:51:03.679 --> 00:51:06.679 we need. He's already given it to us. But we 00:51:06.679 --> 00:51:10.000 take a hold of it when we hear it, when we believe 00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:20.880 it, and then when we act. When we act. I'm going 00:51:20.880 --> 00:51:22.920 to bring this out again. I showed it to you a 00:51:22.920 --> 00:51:26.760 few weeks ago. That's a big old bullet. But I 00:51:26.760 --> 00:51:29.980 wanted a big one that you could see instead of 00:51:29.980 --> 00:51:32.280 just a little bitty one. It's a .50 caliber bullet. 00:51:33.420 --> 00:51:40.039 Here's the deal. Inside this is all the power 00:51:40.039 --> 00:51:45.460 it needs. All the power's in it. Because the 00:51:45.460 --> 00:51:47.739 powder and everything's in it. There's enough 00:51:47.739 --> 00:51:52.639 power in this to send this little brass, that's 00:51:52.639 --> 00:51:55.719 not brass, copper or whatever that is. There's 00:51:55.719 --> 00:51:58.380 enough power in this bullet to send this projectile 00:51:58.380 --> 00:52:10.480 3 ,000 feet in one second. Power is here. That 00:52:10.480 --> 00:52:14.280 doesn't matter until it's released. See, there 00:52:14.280 --> 00:52:22.119 has to be an action to release this power. It 00:52:22.119 --> 00:52:27.219 has to be in a rifle and the pin has to hit to 00:52:27.219 --> 00:52:29.699 detonate this bullet to send that projectile 00:52:29.699 --> 00:52:34.920 3 ,000 feet in one second towards a target. This 00:52:34.920 --> 00:52:37.119 bullet's pretty harmless until that happens. 00:52:38.960 --> 00:52:48.440 But all the power necessary is here. All of God's 00:52:48.440 --> 00:52:55.159 power is already in his promises. The power to 00:52:55.159 --> 00:52:57.780 fulfill the promise is in the promise. The power 00:52:57.780 --> 00:53:01.019 to fulfill the promise is in the word of God. 00:53:02.139 --> 00:53:06.699 Are you with me? Will we release that with our 00:53:06.699 --> 00:53:10.539 faith act? Let's pray together. God, thank you 00:53:10.539 --> 00:53:14.340 for today. Thank you for your word. Thank you 00:53:14.340 --> 00:53:17.860 for your truth. I pray that it will be hidden 00:53:17.860 --> 00:53:22.340 in our hearts that we just won't say, okay, this 00:53:22.340 --> 00:53:27.059 is over, what's next? But that we will act on 00:53:27.059 --> 00:53:31.550 what you said. We will listen for the still small 00:53:31.550 --> 00:53:34.170 voice of your Holy Spirit that leads us and guides 00:53:34.170 --> 00:53:43.469 us to do, to give, to say, to act. Help us to 00:53:43.469 --> 00:53:48.030 be quick to obey. Quick to obey. Help us to be 00:53:48.030 --> 00:53:50.849 serious about your word so that we know what 00:53:50.849 --> 00:53:53.909 your promises are and we're able to see what 00:53:53.909 --> 00:54:01.579 life can be in you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 00:54:02.579 --> 00:54:05.300 This online worship experience was brought to 00:54:05.300 --> 00:54:08.059 you by the friends and partners of Eulation Church.