WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.419 Real joy is not dependent on circumstances. It 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:05.599 can be a steady source of strength, no matter 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:08.240 what you're facing. Discover how joy is more 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.900 than a feeling, it's a way of life. Order your 00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:13.539 copy of The Strength of Joy by Dean and Jeffrey 00:00:13.539 --> 00:00:16.600 Forrest, now available on Amazon and Kindle. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:21.000 Welcome to week number seven in our series on 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:25.920 spiritual growth. And I have preached many series 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:28.300 about the word that we're going to talk about 00:00:28.300 --> 00:00:31.929 today. So it's going to be all I can do to keep 00:00:31.929 --> 00:00:37.969 it within a moderate time frame. Because I've 00:00:37.969 --> 00:00:40.090 got so much to say. But let's jump right in. 00:00:40.429 --> 00:00:44.950 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14 says this, The natural 00:00:44.950 --> 00:00:47.689 man does not receive the things of the Spirit 00:00:47.689 --> 00:00:50.950 of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor 00:00:50.950 --> 00:00:53.490 can he know them, because they are spiritually 00:00:53.490 --> 00:00:57.210 discerned. Going to chapter 3, verses 1 through 00:00:57.210 --> 00:01:01.000 3. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:04.500 spiritual people, but as to carnal, as to babes 00:01:04.500 --> 00:01:07.959 in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:12.060 food, for until now you were not able to receive 00:01:12.060 --> 00:01:16.900 it. And even now you are still not able. For 00:01:16.900 --> 00:01:20.120 you are still carnal. For where there are envy, 00:01:20.299 --> 00:01:24.120 strife, and divisions among you, are you not 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:29.060 carnal? And behaving like mere men. We could 00:01:29.060 --> 00:01:31.959 go back and pick up that word from chapter 2 00:01:31.959 --> 00:01:37.099 and say natural men. Natural men. So here we 00:01:37.099 --> 00:01:39.920 see that there are three types of people in these 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:43.060 verses. And these three categories represent 00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:46.799 everyone who's alive in the world today. The 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:49.239 first type of person is a natural person. Everybody 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:53.260 say natural. Everybody say natural this time. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:56.750 Natural. I try to keep you focused and keep you 00:01:56.750 --> 00:02:00.030 engaged by getting you to repeat things. The 00:02:00.030 --> 00:02:02.250 natural person. This is a person who's not born 00:02:02.250 --> 00:02:05.370 again. They're without Christ. They don't have 00:02:05.370 --> 00:02:07.469 the Holy Spirit living inside of them, so they 00:02:07.469 --> 00:02:12.169 have no direction other than their flesh or their 00:02:12.169 --> 00:02:17.069 soul. So they live by whatever feels good or 00:02:17.069 --> 00:02:19.669 whatever seems right in their own eyes. That's 00:02:19.669 --> 00:02:22.650 the only thing they have. And then we have a 00:02:22.650 --> 00:02:26.759 carnal person. Everyone say carnal. A carnal 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:30.680 person is a Christian, but they're still living 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:34.719 like a natural person. They've come into a relationship 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:38.460 with Christ, but you know what? They don't feed 00:02:38.460 --> 00:02:42.180 on the Word of God. They don't acknowledge the 00:02:42.180 --> 00:02:44.439 Holy Spirit living inside of them. They don't 00:02:44.439 --> 00:02:47.300 walk in the Spirit, yield to the Spirit like 00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:51.840 we're supposed to. So they wind up living like 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:54.849 a natural person. Can't really see a difference. 00:02:54.949 --> 00:02:57.650 Has anyone ever met someone who goes to church 00:02:57.650 --> 00:02:59.430 all the time, but they still act like everybody 00:02:59.430 --> 00:03:05.150 who don't? Everybody say carnal. That's a good 00:03:05.150 --> 00:03:09.310 description. Good description. Then there are 00:03:09.310 --> 00:03:13.550 spiritual people. A spiritual person is a Christian 00:03:13.550 --> 00:03:17.610 who is led by the Spirit of God through the Word 00:03:17.610 --> 00:03:21.490 of God. They're growing. Everybody say growing. 00:03:22.219 --> 00:03:26.159 Now they haven't arrived. Because none of us 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:30.919 have. We're all in the process. We're all in 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:34.719 the process. Some of us are at different stages 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:38.900 in the process. But we're all in the process. 00:03:39.759 --> 00:03:42.340 So it's not like a super spiritual person that 00:03:42.340 --> 00:03:44.379 always gets everything right and does everything 00:03:44.379 --> 00:03:48.460 right. No, but at least they're working towards 00:03:48.460 --> 00:03:53.219 that and wanting to be that. A spiritual person. 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:56.460 They're wanting Christ to make a difference in 00:03:56.460 --> 00:04:01.939 their life. Not just by carving out a little 00:04:01.939 --> 00:04:05.960 bit of time on Sunday morning. But in their everyday 00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:10.840 life. At work, at school, at home. Christ makes 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:15.560 a difference. So where does this spiritual growth 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:22.189 take place? Where does it take place? 1 Thessalonians 00:04:22.189 --> 00:04:24.910 5 .23 tells us something about ourselves. The 00:04:24.910 --> 00:04:29.430 Bible says, Now may the peace of God make you 00:04:29.430 --> 00:04:35.389 holy. Everybody say, set apart. May the God of 00:04:35.389 --> 00:04:39.529 peace make you holy in every way. And may your 00:04:39.529 --> 00:04:45.610 whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless 00:04:45.610 --> 00:04:52.149 until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Everybody 00:04:52.149 --> 00:04:56.069 say spirit. Everybody say soul. Everybody say 00:04:56.069 --> 00:05:01.949 body. So we are three part beings. Now, in our 00:05:01.949 --> 00:05:04.529 minds, we would say, well, if I'm a spiritual 00:05:04.529 --> 00:05:08.350 person, then it's my spirit that has to grow. 00:05:10.170 --> 00:05:17.029 Well, when you come to Christ, your spirit is 00:05:17.029 --> 00:05:20.959 made alive unto God. You see, we are a spirit. 00:05:21.060 --> 00:05:25.259 We have a soul and we live in a body. But when 00:05:25.259 --> 00:05:28.959 we come to Christ, the Bible teaches us that 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:31.620 our spirit is complete, that our spirit becomes 00:05:31.620 --> 00:05:34.120 righteous because we put on the righteousness 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:43.220 of God in Christ Jesus. Everything that Jesus 00:05:43.220 --> 00:05:46.319 has done for us and made available to us, it 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:53.670 is ours. It belongs to us because we are a spirit 00:05:53.670 --> 00:05:56.790 created in the image of God. And when our spirit 00:05:56.790 --> 00:05:59.970 comes alive to God at salvation, when we are 00:05:59.970 --> 00:06:04.089 born again, when our spirit becomes alive unto 00:06:04.089 --> 00:06:14.750 God, we're complete. But, we have a soul to deal 00:06:14.750 --> 00:06:21.069 with. Our soul is our mind, our will, and our 00:06:21.069 --> 00:06:25.310 emotion. Our soul is our thought life. Our soul 00:06:25.310 --> 00:06:31.310 is our desires. Our soul is our feelings. How 00:06:31.310 --> 00:06:32.990 many of you know that when you came to Christ, 00:06:33.069 --> 00:06:35.389 all of those just didn't become holy and set 00:06:35.389 --> 00:06:40.470 apart immediately? Now your spirit did, but your 00:06:40.470 --> 00:06:45.269 soul is going to have to take some work. Hello? 00:06:50.279 --> 00:06:54.899 A lot of work. Regular work. As long as we live 00:06:54.899 --> 00:06:58.800 in the earth, right? I mean, my thought life 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:02.540 didn't just get holy all of a sudden when I came 00:07:02.540 --> 00:07:06.800 to Christ. My desires didn't change immediately. 00:07:07.819 --> 00:07:10.279 Now, the Bible says I'm a new creature. Old has 00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:12.019 passed away. Behold, all things have become new. 00:07:12.279 --> 00:07:20.269 But that's my spirit. Because I dare say, No 00:07:20.269 --> 00:07:23.129 one in this room would say, my thought life is 00:07:23.129 --> 00:07:29.750 completely holy and righteous. My desires are 00:07:29.750 --> 00:07:35.949 all completely holy and righteous. My feelings 00:07:35.949 --> 00:07:41.829 and emotions, they're always in check. They never 00:07:41.829 --> 00:07:44.970 get out of check at any point. They never go 00:07:44.970 --> 00:07:49.420 towards worry and anxiety. They're just always 00:07:49.420 --> 00:07:57.980 joy and peace. We have some work, right? That's 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:01.839 where the spiritual growth takes effect. That's 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:06.459 where it happens. Spiritual growth happens when 00:08:06.459 --> 00:08:12.139 our spirit, who is now alive unto God, when our 00:08:12.139 --> 00:08:19.269 spirit is allowed to dominate, our thought life, 00:08:19.389 --> 00:08:26.569 our desires, and our feelings. Should I say that 00:08:26.569 --> 00:08:30.930 again? The spiritual growth takes place when 00:08:30.930 --> 00:08:35.070 our spirit, who is perfectly united and connected 00:08:35.070 --> 00:08:38.710 with Christ and the Holy Spirit, when our spirit 00:08:38.710 --> 00:08:45.809 begins to have dominance over our soul. When 00:08:45.809 --> 00:08:52.960 we yield. And we yield. And we don't let any 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:56.159 thought that comes into our mind control our 00:08:56.159 --> 00:09:02.279 life anymore. We don't let any desire that our 00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:06.000 flesh wants or our mind wants, we don't let those 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:14.500 desires take us away from Christ. We stay in 00:09:14.500 --> 00:09:18.750 charge. Our spirit stays in charge of our emotions. 00:09:20.029 --> 00:09:26.149 Based on what God has said and what God has promised, 00:09:26.230 --> 00:09:38.250 our spirit takes charge over our emotions. Has 00:09:38.250 --> 00:09:40.789 anybody seen this work just a little bit in your 00:09:40.789 --> 00:09:46.370 life? Have you seen it work a little bit? Does 00:09:46.370 --> 00:09:57.110 it work? Is there some growth taking place? If 00:09:57.110 --> 00:10:02.789 you're spiritual, there's some growth taking 00:10:02.789 --> 00:10:06.570 place. If there's no growth taking place and 00:10:06.570 --> 00:10:16.789 you are a believer, you're karma. I love every 00:10:16.789 --> 00:10:22.370 one of you. That's why I'm trying to help you. 00:10:24.490 --> 00:10:30.789 I'm trying to help you. You are a spirit. Don't 00:10:30.789 --> 00:10:33.990 let your soul dominate you anymore. Because you're 00:10:33.990 --> 00:10:37.049 a spirit made in the image of God. God is spirit 00:10:37.049 --> 00:10:39.730 and we are made in His image. The only being 00:10:39.730 --> 00:10:43.049 in this earth, the only physical being in this 00:10:43.049 --> 00:10:45.009 earth that's made in the image of God is us. 00:10:49.419 --> 00:10:56.200 Rise up. Rise up. Spiritual maturity is not measured 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:59.039 by how long you've been a Christian. A couple 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:01.139 of weeks ago, I realized that I've been a Christian 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:08.899 for 51 years. That's a long time. 51 years. But 00:11:08.899 --> 00:11:11.799 spiritual maturity is not measured by how long 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:16.000 you've been a Christian. It's not measured by 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:18.899 how often you attend a worship service with other 00:11:18.899 --> 00:11:23.159 Christians. It's not determined by how much scripture 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:29.320 you can quote. I'm telling you now, listen. All 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:33.580 these things are good things. Attending worship 00:11:33.580 --> 00:11:37.399 services, that's a good thing. We have too many 00:11:37.399 --> 00:11:42.740 Lone Ranger Christians in the world today. That 00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:44.960 are ineffective and useless for the kingdom of 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:51.120 God because they're not connected. They'll get 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:55.799 to heaven. But they're not accomplishing anything 00:11:55.799 --> 00:12:00.320 for the kingdom of God. God does that work through 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:05.379 the church. I'm not talking about just the service. 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:08.440 I'm talking about the called out ones coming 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:12.070 together. rallying around a single purpose and 00:12:12.070 --> 00:12:15.669 vision. That's where the kingdom work happens 00:12:15.669 --> 00:12:19.950 in this earth. So attending worship services 00:12:19.950 --> 00:12:22.929 is a good thing. I want you to attend every week, 00:12:22.929 --> 00:12:25.330 and I believe God wants you to attend every week. 00:12:25.850 --> 00:12:28.070 But that doesn't make you a spiritual person. 00:12:28.570 --> 00:12:33.409 Just attending. I know some people who have attended 00:12:33.409 --> 00:12:36.429 church about every week of their entire life, 00:12:36.549 --> 00:12:38.029 and they're still some of the meanest people 00:12:38.029 --> 00:12:42.379 I've ever met. Some of the most sour people I've 00:12:42.379 --> 00:12:50.759 ever met. But not all of them. There's just some 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:55.940 exceptions that are mean and sour, right? It's 00:12:55.940 --> 00:12:59.960 not about how much Scripture you can quote. It 00:12:59.960 --> 00:13:05.059 doesn't make you spiritual. Again, I know some 00:13:05.059 --> 00:13:06.840 people who can quote a lot about verses that 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:10.019 are just mean. I know some preachers that are 00:13:10.019 --> 00:13:12.980 just mean. I mean, they done gone to seminary 00:13:12.980 --> 00:13:15.860 and everything, and they're just mean. They just 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:18.139 want to beat everybody up and beat everybody 00:13:18.139 --> 00:13:22.220 down all the time. And I just don't see that 00:13:22.220 --> 00:13:26.240 in the Bible. Don't see it. That's not who God 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:36.230 is. That's not who God is. Jesus tells us in 00:13:36.230 --> 00:13:39.870 Luke chapter 6, verses 43 and 44, For a good 00:13:39.870 --> 00:13:42.830 tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad 00:13:42.830 --> 00:13:47.330 tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known 00:13:47.330 --> 00:13:56.450 by its own fruit. We are known by the fruit in 00:13:56.450 --> 00:14:00.610 our lives. The fruit that is growing. The fruit 00:14:00.610 --> 00:14:03.710 that is maturing. The fruit that's being cultivated. 00:14:04.570 --> 00:14:10.269 In our lives. That's how we're known. Jesus even 00:14:10.269 --> 00:14:12.570 says, I'm the vine, you're the branches. And 00:14:12.570 --> 00:14:15.289 if you connect with me in the right way, you're 00:14:15.289 --> 00:14:19.450 going to bear much fruit. Jesus said. So spiritual 00:14:19.450 --> 00:14:24.210 growth is measured by spiritual fruit. And that 00:14:24.210 --> 00:14:28.549 spiritual fruit constantly increasing. And always 00:14:28.549 --> 00:14:32.629 being evidenced in our lives. That's a spiritual 00:14:32.629 --> 00:14:37.200 person. Who is spiritually growing and winds 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:40.120 up being spiritually mature. Being spiritually 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:42.779 mature, again, doesn't mean that you've arrived. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:47.279 Because none of us have. Now this series, I'm 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:49.179 going to remind you, it's not about us looking 00:14:49.179 --> 00:14:51.879 at our kids. It's not about us looking at our 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:55.179 parents. It's not about us looking at our spouses. 00:14:58.279 --> 00:15:01.860 It's not about thinking about people who aren't 00:15:01.860 --> 00:15:04.559 here that you wish were here. That happens a 00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:11.399 lot in church. Boy, I wish so -and -so was here. 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:20.120 Because they really need this. So just go ahead 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:24.000 and say, I need this. I need this. It's not about 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.299 someone who's not here. God knew that they weren't 00:15:26.299 --> 00:15:28.460 going to be here. God knew that you were going 00:15:28.460 --> 00:15:32.240 to be here. So this is obviously for you. Hallelujah. 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:37.320 Self -examination. We're all a work in progress. 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:42.720 Galatians 5, 22. We hadn't made it to 23 yet. 00:15:44.179 --> 00:15:47.080 In six weeks. In week number seven, we're still 00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:49.779 in verse 22. The fruit of the Spirit is love, 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:59.039 joy, peace, patience, patience, patience, kindness, 00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:09.940 goodness. Faithfulness. How many of you have 00:16:09.940 --> 00:16:14.139 had a doorway in your house and as the kids grew, 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:17.179 you marked their heights on the doorway and might 00:16:17.179 --> 00:16:21.580 write down the year and write their name? Well, 00:16:21.659 --> 00:16:29.179 if you want to be growing spiritually, I want 00:16:29.179 --> 00:16:36.769 you to think about how is your love walk? Not 00:16:36.769 --> 00:16:40.549 with just the easy people to love. With everybody. 00:16:40.649 --> 00:16:45.509 How's your love walk? How is your joy? What's 00:16:45.509 --> 00:16:48.029 your level of joy that you experience every day? 00:16:49.009 --> 00:16:55.330 Because that's kingdom right there. Joy is. How's 00:16:55.330 --> 00:16:58.629 your level of peace? Not just when everything's 00:16:58.629 --> 00:17:01.870 smooth sailing. Not when everything's going your 00:17:01.870 --> 00:17:07.680 way. To have joy and peace and to walk in love 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:15.359 shows that we are spiritually mature. If we lose 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:19.039 our joy and lose our peace at the drop of anything 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:21.740 that happens, guess what? We live in a fallen 00:17:21.740 --> 00:17:24.259 world and stuff is going to happen to all of 00:17:24.259 --> 00:17:29.200 us. On a regular daily basis, there are things 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:31.539 that are going to happen that are going to give 00:17:31.539 --> 00:17:35.079 you and me an opportunity. To lose our joy and 00:17:35.079 --> 00:17:41.140 lose our peace every day. Every five minutes 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:47.140 or less when you're driving on 27 or I -4. You 00:17:47.140 --> 00:17:51.359 have an opportunity to lose your peace and lose 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:58.819 your joy and not walk in love. Hello? What about 00:17:58.819 --> 00:18:04.990 patience? How patient are you? That's going to 00:18:04.990 --> 00:18:08.289 let you know how spiritually mature you are, 00:18:08.329 --> 00:18:11.670 is how much patience you have, how kind you are. 00:18:14.509 --> 00:18:17.450 Do people look at you as a kind person or a mean 00:18:17.450 --> 00:18:23.250 person? What about goodness? Are things going 00:18:23.250 --> 00:18:25.490 on in your life where other people say, well, 00:18:25.529 --> 00:18:27.450 I wouldn't think a Christian should say that, 00:18:27.470 --> 00:18:29.349 or I wouldn't think a Christian should do that. 00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:39.319 Those things shouldn't be in our lives. And today, 00:18:39.500 --> 00:18:42.799 we're going to talk about faithfulness. Everybody 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:46.039 say faithfulness. Faithfulness. Now, if you need 00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:48.160 to catch up on those other ones, all you have 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:50.140 to do is go to our podcast and listen to all 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:54.900 of them. It'd be the easiest way to get it. Now, 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:58.819 faithfulness, that Koine Greek word that's translated 00:18:58.819 --> 00:19:05.140 faithfulness is the word pistis. This is a definition. 00:19:06.680 --> 00:19:11.700 It's not just faithfulness like last week. Right? 00:19:11.819 --> 00:19:14.200 We looked up goodness and it just said goodness. 00:19:14.420 --> 00:19:17.740 And then it gave us some examples. But this word 00:19:17.740 --> 00:19:26.240 is faith, belief, trust, assurance, confidence, 00:19:26.539 --> 00:19:37.359 and fidelity. That's what the word is. It's not 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:42.779 just fidelity, which we would translate as faithfulness. 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:49.160 It's not just that word. It includes faith. We 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:51.839 talk about faith a lot here at Elation Church. 00:19:52.819 --> 00:19:55.200 Because without faith, it's impossible to please 00:19:55.200 --> 00:20:04.680 God. Faith is persuasion. It's a moral conviction 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:08.440 of a religious truth. It's reliance upon Christ 00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:15.160 and its constancy in our profession or our confession. 00:20:17.079 --> 00:20:24.339 Faithfulness is the consistency part. Consistency 00:20:24.339 --> 00:20:27.200 in your faith, in your persuasion, in your conviction 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:31.559 of religious truth. Consistency in your reliance 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:36.900 upon Christ. Consistency in your confession, 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:42.099 profession, in your words. Consistent. Consistent 00:20:42.099 --> 00:20:45.180 in faith. That's what faithfulness is. And you 00:20:45.180 --> 00:20:46.819 might say, well, the Bible says faithfulness. 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:52.920 No, the Bible says faith. Everybody knows the 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:56.619 Bible was not written in English, right? The 00:20:56.619 --> 00:20:59.490 New Testament was written in Koine Greek. The 00:20:59.490 --> 00:21:03.829 word is faith. But it includes faithfulness. 00:21:03.869 --> 00:21:05.690 So we're going to talk about both. The Bible 00:21:05.690 --> 00:21:09.009 says in 2 Corinthians 5, 7, we walk by faith, 00:21:09.089 --> 00:21:11.829 just like we sang in our song, we walk by faith, 00:21:11.829 --> 00:21:17.750 not by sight. We walk by faith, not by sight. 00:21:19.710 --> 00:21:22.210 So we don't live our lives based on what we see. 00:21:25.349 --> 00:21:29.640 We don't always react. Based on what we see. 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:35.220 Because how many of us have the opportunity to 00:21:35.220 --> 00:21:39.200 react in a way that is not spiritual based on 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:44.660 what we see? We react, we're quick to react in 00:21:44.660 --> 00:21:49.859 a way that doesn't honor God or please God. If 00:21:49.859 --> 00:21:52.319 we just live on what we see, what we think or 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.920 we feel, we could just put those along with us. 00:21:55.019 --> 00:21:59.160 We walk by faith. And not by sight. Galatians 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:03.720 3 .11 says this, No one is justified by the law 00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:08.299 in the sight of God. That's evident. For the 00:22:08.299 --> 00:22:13.839 just, those who are justified, just as if they 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:17.200 never sinned before God, the just shall live 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:23.339 by faith. The just shall live by faith. Hebrews 00:22:23.339 --> 00:22:27.829 11 .6 It is impossible to please God without 00:22:27.829 --> 00:22:34.130 faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe 00:22:34.130 --> 00:22:37.490 that God exists and that He rewards those who 00:22:37.490 --> 00:22:43.289 sincerely seek Him. Got to believe those things. 00:22:45.650 --> 00:22:48.430 Now, if we're supposed to live by faith and walk 00:22:48.430 --> 00:22:51.190 by faith, and we can only please God through 00:22:51.190 --> 00:22:58.750 faith, then we need to know what it is. We need 00:22:58.750 --> 00:23:03.089 to know what it is. So what is faith? It's a 00:23:03.089 --> 00:23:07.470 strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a 00:23:07.470 --> 00:23:10.609 religion. Now that's what most people think that 00:23:10.609 --> 00:23:14.329 faith is. That's the Merriam -Webster definition 00:23:14.329 --> 00:23:19.609 of faith. It's kind of like, are you a person 00:23:19.609 --> 00:23:26.359 of faith? So it's just a real general term. Do 00:23:26.359 --> 00:23:29.339 you have a strong belief in God or in the doctrines 00:23:29.339 --> 00:23:35.660 of a religion? People call that faith. Merriam 00:23:35.660 --> 00:23:40.059 -Webster calls that faith. Webster also calls 00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:44.859 faith complete trust or confidence in someone 00:23:44.859 --> 00:23:51.759 or something. When you surrendered your weight 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:56.900 to the chair that you're in, you believed that 00:23:56.900 --> 00:23:59.180 it would hold you up. You had faith that it would 00:23:59.180 --> 00:24:02.980 hold you up. I've sat in some chairs before that 00:24:02.980 --> 00:24:05.000 I had faith it would hold me up, but they didn't. 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:14.079 Not just because I'm fat, but because they were 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:17.019 those plastic stackable ones and over time they 00:24:17.019 --> 00:24:21.460 get brittle. and you sit in them, and pop, there 00:24:21.460 --> 00:24:25.099 goes the leg, and I'm on the floor. Gen and I 00:24:25.099 --> 00:24:28.279 sat at a pastor's house in a tree swing, and 00:24:28.279 --> 00:24:31.059 not a tree swing, a porch swing that was attached 00:24:31.059 --> 00:24:38.359 by a chain, and we were swinging. Boom! Right 00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:40.819 after my first back surgery, boom, there I went. 00:24:42.900 --> 00:24:44.880 I had faith that it would hold me up, but it 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:53.230 wouldn't. I've had faith in people that was misplaced 00:24:53.230 --> 00:25:01.769 because they let me down. So faith is complete 00:25:01.769 --> 00:25:04.390 trust or confidence in someone or something. 00:25:05.470 --> 00:25:10.349 We just have to make sure that our faith is in 00:25:10.349 --> 00:25:14.750 the right someone who will never let us down. 00:25:15.490 --> 00:25:18.049 Hebrews 11 .1, this is the Bible definition of 00:25:18.049 --> 00:25:19.849 faith. We looked at Webster's definition. Here's 00:25:19.849 --> 00:25:24.329 the Bible definition. Now, faith is the substance 00:25:24.329 --> 00:25:30.029 of things hoped for. Everybody say confident 00:25:30.029 --> 00:25:33.369 expectation. That's what the word hope means 00:25:33.369 --> 00:25:36.869 in the Bible. It's not hope, so hope. That Greek 00:25:36.869 --> 00:25:40.430 word means a confident expectation that you can 00:25:40.430 --> 00:25:44.410 anticipate with pleasure. You're so confident 00:25:44.410 --> 00:25:49.230 you can be happy about it. Faith is the substance 00:25:49.230 --> 00:25:54.029 of things hoped for, the evidence of things not 00:25:54.029 --> 00:25:57.690 seen. Now, I did a little bit of study and I 00:25:57.690 --> 00:26:02.930 looked at word helps online and took the phrases 00:26:02.930 --> 00:26:06.829 from that to give us an easier understanding. 00:26:08.470 --> 00:26:13.809 Faith is standing. In confident expectation of 00:26:13.809 --> 00:26:18.609 a guaranteed agreement. How many of you know 00:26:18.609 --> 00:26:22.650 if God said it, it's guaranteed? So faith is 00:26:22.650 --> 00:26:26.650 standing in confident expectation of a guaranteed 00:26:26.650 --> 00:26:33.410 agreement with an inner conviction before seeing 00:26:33.410 --> 00:26:39.750 the deed fulfilled. And then the Bible goes on 00:26:39.750 --> 00:26:44.849 and talks about... People like Abraham. He's 00:26:44.849 --> 00:26:48.230 75 years old. God says, I'm going to make you 00:26:48.230 --> 00:26:50.150 the father of nations. He didn't have a child. 00:26:52.630 --> 00:26:57.849 For 25 years, he believed God. Stood in faith. 00:26:59.789 --> 00:27:01.450 There's probably a little wavering along the 00:27:01.450 --> 00:27:07.579 way, but he's human. There's some little things 00:27:07.579 --> 00:27:09.400 that we can pick out in his life and say, well, 00:27:09.579 --> 00:27:12.599 he was kind of wavering a little bit. Well, bless 00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:14.180 your heart, you're probably going to waver a 00:27:14.180 --> 00:27:20.380 little bit too. But he stood in confident expectation 00:27:20.380 --> 00:27:22.900 that God was going to keep his word because he 00:27:22.900 --> 00:27:25.779 had a guaranteed agreement from God that he was 00:27:25.779 --> 00:27:28.000 going to be the father of nations. He didn't 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:30.099 know how it was going to happen and the longer 00:27:30.099 --> 00:27:35.940 it took, he's like, my body's dead, my wife's, 00:27:38.259 --> 00:27:42.819 Old, not going to have a baby. Wavered a little 00:27:42.819 --> 00:27:46.299 bit. But God came back and said, no, no more 00:27:46.299 --> 00:27:48.119 wavering because I'm going to change your name. 00:27:50.759 --> 00:27:53.059 Now everybody's going to say that you're going 00:27:53.059 --> 00:27:55.160 to be the father of many nations and you're going 00:27:55.160 --> 00:27:56.880 to have to tell everybody that's who you are 00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:03.900 because I changed your name. And that was even 00:28:03.900 --> 00:28:09.200 a year before. The promise was fulfilled. Hello? 00:28:10.059 --> 00:28:13.200 So faith is standing in confident expectation 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:16.200 of a guaranteed agreement with an inner conviction 00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:23.299 before seeing the deed fulfilled. Faith is being 00:28:23.299 --> 00:28:27.099 completely confident in God's faithfulness. Look 00:28:27.099 --> 00:28:28.579 to the person beside you and tell them, God's 00:28:28.579 --> 00:28:33.220 faithful. We've got to be completely confident 00:28:33.220 --> 00:28:37.349 of His faithfulness. Now, it's recorded in the 00:28:37.349 --> 00:28:40.809 Gospels that Jesus was amazed on two occasions. 00:28:41.450 --> 00:28:46.690 Only two times it's recorded. Two times. And 00:28:46.690 --> 00:28:51.529 both times that he was amazed, he was amazed 00:28:51.529 --> 00:28:57.309 over people's faith. I mean, think about it. 00:28:58.309 --> 00:29:07.660 For God to say, wow. Look to the person beside 00:29:07.660 --> 00:29:10.579 you and tell them, listen fast. Listen fast. 00:29:10.660 --> 00:29:12.819 The first one is because of lack of faith. In 00:29:12.819 --> 00:29:16.140 Mark 6, verses 4 through 6, Jesus told them, 00:29:16.339 --> 00:29:19.279 a prophet is honored everywhere except in his 00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:22.579 own hometown and among his own relatives and 00:29:22.579 --> 00:29:25.920 his own family. And because of their unbelief, 00:29:25.980 --> 00:29:28.259 everybody say the people of Nazareth, because 00:29:28.259 --> 00:29:33.980 of their unbelief, Jesus, who is all God and 00:29:33.980 --> 00:29:37.950 all man at the same time, The Bible is filled 00:29:37.950 --> 00:29:43.150 with so many miracles that He did while He was 00:29:43.150 --> 00:29:46.029 here, and all of them aren't even recorded, just 00:29:46.029 --> 00:29:48.609 the ones that we need to know to understand. 00:29:49.529 --> 00:29:54.390 He did way more than the Bible records. It says, 00:29:54.470 --> 00:29:56.950 because of their unbelief, Jesus couldn't do 00:29:56.950 --> 00:30:00.309 any mighty miracles among them except to place 00:30:00.309 --> 00:30:02.470 His hands on a few sick people and heal them. 00:30:03.079 --> 00:30:06.380 This tells us that Jesus wanted to do a lot more 00:30:06.380 --> 00:30:12.859 for the people of Nazareth. But it says He couldn't. 00:30:14.460 --> 00:30:22.500 He couldn't. I believe God wants to do a lot 00:30:22.500 --> 00:30:27.319 more for me and for you than we're experiencing 00:30:27.319 --> 00:30:40.970 right now. But we're not seeing it because of 00:30:40.970 --> 00:30:45.170 a lack of faith. He was amazed at their unbelief, 00:30:45.170 --> 00:30:51.690 the Bible says. Everybody say, wow. Jesus is 00:30:51.690 --> 00:30:57.029 like, I have so much for you because of your 00:30:57.029 --> 00:31:09.240 unbelief. Can't do it. Can't help you. The second 00:31:09.240 --> 00:31:12.779 time he said wow over someone's faith was because 00:31:12.779 --> 00:31:16.900 of great faith. Everybody say great faith. Luke 00:31:16.900 --> 00:31:19.539 7, verses 1 through 10. When Jesus had finished 00:31:19.539 --> 00:31:22.259 saying all this to the people, he returned to 00:31:22.259 --> 00:31:27.160 Capernaum. At that time, the highly valued slave 00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:31.339 of a Roman officer was sick and near death. When 00:31:31.339 --> 00:31:35.440 the officer heard about Jesus, he heard about 00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:40.180 Jesus. Oh, Jesus is helping a lot of people. 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:44.859 Jesus is healing a lot of people. When he heard 00:31:44.859 --> 00:31:48.140 about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish leaders 00:31:48.140 --> 00:31:50.900 to ask him to come and heal his slave. So they 00:31:50.900 --> 00:31:53.559 earnestly begged Jesus to come help the man. 00:31:53.640 --> 00:31:57.700 If anyone deserves your help, he does, they said. 00:31:58.460 --> 00:32:02.539 For he loves the Jewish people. And even built 00:32:02.539 --> 00:32:06.559 a synagogue for us. So Jesus went with them. 00:32:07.819 --> 00:32:10.279 But just before they arrived at the house, the 00:32:10.279 --> 00:32:13.059 officer sent some friends to say, listen, Lord, 00:32:13.259 --> 00:32:16.119 don't trouble yourself by coming to my home. 00:32:17.480 --> 00:32:20.920 I'm not worthy of such an honor. I'm not even 00:32:20.920 --> 00:32:25.000 worthy to come and meet you. Listen to the message 00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.339 that he sent to Jesus. Just say the word from 00:32:29.339 --> 00:32:34.160 where you are, and my servant will be healed. 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:38.309 Jesus, just say the word. You don't have to come. 00:32:39.369 --> 00:32:41.349 You don't have to lay hands on him. You don't 00:32:41.349 --> 00:32:50.150 have to do anything but say the word. And then 00:32:50.150 --> 00:32:52.450 he says, I know this because I'm a man under 00:32:52.450 --> 00:32:55.470 the authority of my superior officers and I have 00:32:55.470 --> 00:32:58.730 authority over my soldiers. I only need to say 00:32:58.730 --> 00:33:05.609 go and they go. Or come and they come. And if 00:33:05.609 --> 00:33:11.789 I say to my slaves, do this, they do it. When 00:33:11.789 --> 00:33:17.890 Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Everybody say, 00:33:17.990 --> 00:33:20.670 wow. I mean, the first time he said wow, I was 00:33:20.670 --> 00:33:28.470 like, wow. This time he said, wow. Turning to 00:33:28.470 --> 00:33:30.349 the crowd that was following him, he said, I 00:33:30.349 --> 00:33:34.329 tell you. I haven't seen faith like this in all 00:33:34.329 --> 00:33:38.329 of Israel. And when the officer's friends returned 00:33:38.329 --> 00:33:40.849 to his house, they found the slave completely 00:33:40.849 --> 00:33:52.890 healed. Completely. Because Jesus spoke a word. 00:33:54.690 --> 00:33:59.910 And a Roman officer had faith that if Jesus said 00:33:59.910 --> 00:34:04.240 it, It's as good as done. It's as good as done. 00:34:07.579 --> 00:34:12.639 Guaranteed. Looking back to our definition. Guaranteed. 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:21.099 If Jesus said it, He saw it as guaranteed. So 00:34:21.099 --> 00:34:25.019 where does this faith come from? Faith comes 00:34:25.019 --> 00:34:28.679 from hearing. It begins with hearing. Hearing 00:34:28.679 --> 00:34:34.159 what God has said. Romans 10, 17 says this. So 00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:37.460 faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word 00:34:37.460 --> 00:34:42.760 of God. So we have to hear what God said. It's 00:34:42.760 --> 00:34:45.239 got to come from God for us to have our faith 00:34:45.239 --> 00:34:50.579 placed in the right person. Has to come from 00:34:50.579 --> 00:34:56.659 God. Is everybody with me? The next step is believing. 00:35:00.489 --> 00:35:05.909 After we hear, we have an option. Are we going 00:35:05.909 --> 00:35:13.769 to believe? Are we going to really believe? Are 00:35:13.769 --> 00:35:16.650 we going to say, God, you said it? That means 00:35:16.650 --> 00:35:23.949 it's guaranteed. I believe. Even in the face 00:35:23.949 --> 00:35:27.769 of seeing something in the natural realm, in 00:35:27.769 --> 00:35:30.880 our earthly realm. that looks like it's in contrast 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:36.739 to what God has said, are we going to go with 00:35:36.739 --> 00:35:40.079 what God has said, or are we going to go with 00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:52.840 what we see? Faith continues by wholeheartedly 00:35:52.840 --> 00:35:56.420 believing and having confidence in what God has 00:35:56.420 --> 00:36:05.429 said. 2 Corinthians 5, 7, we've already looked 00:36:05.429 --> 00:36:09.530 at this. We walk by faith and not by sight. We 00:36:09.530 --> 00:36:15.250 wholeheartedly believe what God has said. And 00:36:15.250 --> 00:36:19.250 that's where we walk. That's where we live. In 00:36:19.250 --> 00:36:25.050 what God has said. Not saying that what we see 00:36:25.050 --> 00:36:29.420 doesn't exist. What we're saying is, there's 00:36:29.420 --> 00:36:33.079 a higher truth that's bigger and higher, and 00:36:33.079 --> 00:36:36.519 there's supernatural power that is higher than 00:36:36.519 --> 00:36:42.900 what I'm seeing right now. The next thing is 00:36:42.900 --> 00:36:47.519 speaking. Everybody say speaking. Because when 00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:49.900 you wholeheartedly believe it, you begin to speak 00:36:49.900 --> 00:36:53.900 in agreement with what God has said. Your words 00:36:53.900 --> 00:36:59.269 change. I gave you more than one verse on this 00:36:59.269 --> 00:37:03.829 one, just so, you know, just in case you bucked 00:37:03.829 --> 00:37:07.650 that a little bit. Got more than one verse. 2 00:37:07.650 --> 00:37:11.349 Corinthians 4 .13 Since we have the same spirit 00:37:11.349 --> 00:37:15.329 of faith, according to what is written, I believed 00:37:15.329 --> 00:37:20.070 and therefore I spoke. This is David talking. 00:37:20.809 --> 00:37:23.150 That's where the quote is coming from. It's coming 00:37:23.150 --> 00:37:26.630 from Psalms. I believed and therefore I spoke. 00:37:30.449 --> 00:37:34.690 When David was facing Goliath, he believed that 00:37:34.690 --> 00:37:37.909 God was with him. He believed that God was going 00:37:37.909 --> 00:37:40.670 to give him victory. Even though he looked up 00:37:40.670 --> 00:37:43.130 and saw a giant whose head would hit that basketball 00:37:43.130 --> 00:37:45.989 rim, or at least the net. He was nine feet tall, 00:37:46.130 --> 00:37:50.590 plus. Even though he's a young kid and he looks 00:37:50.590 --> 00:37:55.139 at that, he says, hey. I come at you in the name 00:37:55.139 --> 00:37:56.880 of the Lord and God's going to give you unto 00:37:56.880 --> 00:38:04.880 my hand. He believed it and he said it. Before 00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:09.019 he received it. Before the deed was done. He 00:38:09.019 --> 00:38:13.619 said it. And then he put in this psalm to God 00:38:13.619 --> 00:38:16.219 that winds up being the inspired word of God 00:38:16.219 --> 00:38:18.760 for us. He says, I believed and therefore I spoke. 00:38:19.900 --> 00:38:23.860 And then Paul. reiterates that in the New Testament. 00:38:23.900 --> 00:38:29.480 He says, look, we also believe and therefore 00:38:29.480 --> 00:38:35.320 speak. So we have to have our words in agreement 00:38:35.320 --> 00:38:39.780 with what God has said. Romans 10, 8 through 00:38:39.780 --> 00:38:44.260 10. Give you more than one verse here. The Word 00:38:44.260 --> 00:38:49.920 is near you in your mouth and in your heart. 00:38:51.299 --> 00:38:55.940 See, we have to believe in our heart. But it's 00:38:55.940 --> 00:38:58.139 more than just believing in our heart. It's got 00:38:58.139 --> 00:39:02.800 to move to our mouth. Some of you are thinking 00:39:02.800 --> 00:39:07.159 way too hard. I can tell it on your face. The 00:39:07.159 --> 00:39:11.760 word is near you. What is that word? It says 00:39:11.760 --> 00:39:14.139 right here, that is the word of faith which we 00:39:14.139 --> 00:39:17.059 preach. The word is near you in your mouth and 00:39:17.059 --> 00:39:21.340 in your heart. It's got to be in your mouth too, 00:39:21.420 --> 00:39:25.639 not just your heart. Romans 10, 8 through 10, 00:39:25.780 --> 00:39:28.780 verse 9, listen. If you confess with your mouth 00:39:28.780 --> 00:39:34.440 the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that 00:39:34.440 --> 00:39:37.420 God has raised him from the dead, you will be 00:39:37.420 --> 00:39:45.019 saved. Confess with your mouth, believe with 00:39:45.019 --> 00:39:51.550 your heart, and to walk by faith, You know what? 00:39:51.750 --> 00:39:56.130 We're saved by grace through faith. That's how 00:39:56.130 --> 00:39:59.210 we come into a relationship with Christ. But 00:39:59.210 --> 00:40:02.630 that's not where it ends. Faith does not end 00:40:02.630 --> 00:40:10.170 at salvation. And faith works the same way. Works 00:40:10.170 --> 00:40:14.869 the same way. It's God who has declared it. It's 00:40:14.869 --> 00:40:19.750 God who has said it. It's His Word. His promise. 00:40:21.880 --> 00:40:27.440 But we receive it by faith. That's how we take 00:40:27.440 --> 00:40:29.199 hold of it. That's how we took hold of salvation. 00:40:31.960 --> 00:40:36.320 Hello? So it works the same. Confessing with 00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:45.739 our mouth and believing in our heart. For with 00:40:45.739 --> 00:40:49.909 the heart one believes unto righteousness. And 00:40:49.909 --> 00:40:53.889 with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. 00:40:55.730 --> 00:41:03.949 So we believe and we speak. And then, speaking 00:41:03.949 --> 00:41:09.349 is part of acting, but there has to be some kind 00:41:09.349 --> 00:41:13.929 of action. Some kind of corresponding action. 00:41:15.690 --> 00:41:19.110 that is directed by God and directed by the Spirit, 00:41:19.429 --> 00:41:27.829 a corresponding action. Faith acts in agreement 00:41:27.829 --> 00:41:31.969 with what God has said. The Bible says in James 00:41:31.969 --> 00:41:36.110 2 .26, faith without works is dead. Faith without 00:41:36.110 --> 00:41:42.750 a corresponding action is a faith that doesn't 00:41:42.750 --> 00:41:48.829 produce. It's a dead faith. It's not going to 00:41:48.829 --> 00:41:51.829 produce or accomplish anything. It's not going 00:41:51.829 --> 00:41:55.929 to receive anything. It has to be a corresponding 00:41:55.929 --> 00:41:59.929 action. How many of you know the man Charles 00:41:59.929 --> 00:42:02.070 Blondin? I hadn't talked about him in a while. 00:42:02.110 --> 00:42:06.590 I've talked about him before. That was his stage 00:42:06.590 --> 00:42:10.210 name or his performer name was Charles Blondin. 00:42:10.869 --> 00:42:16.409 His real name was Jean -Francois Gravelet. That's 00:42:16.409 --> 00:42:18.309 four years of French. That's as good as I get. 00:42:19.250 --> 00:42:26.070 He lived from 1824 to 1897. He was a French tightrope 00:42:26.070 --> 00:42:36.449 walker and acrobat. He had an affinity for Niagara 00:42:36.449 --> 00:42:44.929 Falls. So on multiple occasions, he put a tightrope. 00:42:46.110 --> 00:42:50.650 Has anybody ever been to Niagara Falls? It's 00:42:50.650 --> 00:42:54.570 pictures do not do it justice. Just going to 00:42:54.570 --> 00:42:57.590 say. If you haven't been to Niagara Falls, but 00:42:57.590 --> 00:43:00.210 you've been to the Grand Canyon, I say it in 00:43:00.210 --> 00:43:04.309 the same sense of the phrase, pictures do not 00:43:04.309 --> 00:43:12.289 do it justice. Okay? He put a tightrope. You 00:43:12.289 --> 00:43:15.780 know. Not like right on the falls, that would 00:43:15.780 --> 00:43:18.039 be stupid because it would be wet all the time. 00:43:18.679 --> 00:43:20.659 Because it's just wet. If you've been there, 00:43:20.699 --> 00:43:24.360 it's wet. But he put it where you could see the 00:43:24.360 --> 00:43:27.820 falls, right? And back then it was just newspapers, 00:43:27.940 --> 00:43:32.199 and so here's some actual copies of old newspapers, 00:43:32.320 --> 00:43:36.800 some pictures. Put a big tightrope across the 00:43:36.800 --> 00:43:40.119 Niagara River, right there at the falls, and 00:43:40.119 --> 00:43:46.880 he would walk across the tightrope. One time 00:43:46.880 --> 00:43:51.639 he even took a table and a chair and got out 00:43:51.639 --> 00:43:54.320 there and set that on the tightrope and sat down. 00:43:56.739 --> 00:43:59.059 Acted like he was eating on this tightrope. I 00:43:59.059 --> 00:44:04.059 mean, it's a long way down. One time he even 00:44:04.059 --> 00:44:09.360 got somebody to get on his back. That was a brave 00:44:09.360 --> 00:44:13.179 person, right? To get on the back of Charles 00:44:13.179 --> 00:44:18.880 Blondin. And go across the tightrope. But one 00:44:18.880 --> 00:44:24.059 day. Everybody say one day. One day. He brought 00:44:24.059 --> 00:44:26.460 a wheelbarrow. I don't have a picture of a wheelbarrow. 00:44:26.579 --> 00:44:30.059 But one day he brought a wheelbarrow. And he 00:44:30.059 --> 00:44:32.460 got on the tightrope. And he pushed the wheelbarrow 00:44:32.460 --> 00:44:35.460 all the way across Niagara River. Turned around 00:44:35.460 --> 00:44:40.619 and came back. And then when he got back to where 00:44:40.619 --> 00:44:43.699 hundreds of people had gathered. Maybe thousands. 00:44:45.569 --> 00:44:51.590 He said, how many of you think that I can put 00:44:51.590 --> 00:44:55.449 a person in this wheelbarrow and push it across 00:44:55.449 --> 00:44:57.469 this tightrope, go all the way across Niagara 00:44:57.469 --> 00:44:59.730 River and come back? How many of you think I 00:44:59.730 --> 00:45:03.250 can? Boy, the crowd just cheered. We believe. 00:45:04.750 --> 00:45:06.789 We believe you can do it, Charles. We've seen 00:45:06.789 --> 00:45:09.269 you do all this amazing stuff. We believe that 00:45:09.269 --> 00:45:13.070 you can do it. They were just cheering him. He's 00:45:13.070 --> 00:45:14.809 like, do you really believe? I mean, he worked 00:45:14.809 --> 00:45:17.400 them up. Do you really believe I can push somebody 00:45:17.400 --> 00:45:20.019 in this wheelbarrow across? Yes, we believe. 00:45:23.840 --> 00:45:27.639 And then he said this. Who wants to volunteer 00:45:27.639 --> 00:45:37.380 to get in a wheelbarrow? Crickets. Well, I believe 00:45:37.380 --> 00:45:39.099 you can do it, but I'm not getting in a wheelbarrow. 00:45:43.369 --> 00:45:45.469 Finally, his promoter got in the wheelbarrow. 00:45:46.949 --> 00:45:53.230 And he pushed his promoter across and back. Everyone 00:45:53.230 --> 00:45:58.389 believed he could. But no one was willing to 00:45:58.389 --> 00:46:07.550 get in the wheelbarrow. No. I want you to get 00:46:07.550 --> 00:46:21.559 this. Faith is getting in the wheelbarrow. With 00:46:21.559 --> 00:46:26.659 Jesus pushing it, right? No matter what you see, 00:46:26.719 --> 00:46:28.239 no matter what you think, no matter what you 00:46:28.239 --> 00:46:32.119 feel, faith is getting in that wheelbarrow. Having 00:46:32.119 --> 00:46:37.159 total trust and confidence in what God has said. 00:46:38.400 --> 00:46:42.480 So you're just like, it's already guaranteed 00:46:42.480 --> 00:46:45.820 because God said it, so I will have no fear. 00:46:47.559 --> 00:46:53.960 I will have no hesitation. Following what God 00:46:53.960 --> 00:46:58.519 has said. Doing what God has said. Believing 00:46:58.519 --> 00:47:01.340 that He is faithful and He's going to keep His 00:47:01.340 --> 00:47:07.179 word. Now, faithfulness is staying in the wheelbarrow. 00:47:08.280 --> 00:47:10.539 Because sometimes we can get a little motivated 00:47:10.539 --> 00:47:12.380 and we can hop in the wheelbarrow, but then we 00:47:12.380 --> 00:47:16.219 want to jump out. When we see something, we're 00:47:16.219 --> 00:47:20.269 like, no, mm -mm. It'd be like being in Charles 00:47:20.269 --> 00:47:22.030 Blondin's wheelbarrow and then all of a sudden 00:47:22.030 --> 00:47:25.269 a big thunderstorm come up. Well, that changes 00:47:25.269 --> 00:47:33.110 everything now. When somebody on the other side 00:47:33.110 --> 00:47:35.989 grabs a tightrope and starts shaking it. Nope, 00:47:36.010 --> 00:47:40.570 not getting in it now. Faithfulness is staying 00:47:40.570 --> 00:47:46.329 in the wheelbarrow. No matter what you see. Because 00:47:46.329 --> 00:47:49.219 you have confidence in God. in what God has said. 00:47:53.699 --> 00:47:57.179 See, the world struggles with faithfulness. People 00:47:57.179 --> 00:48:01.340 are quick to quit. I can't tell you already now 00:48:01.340 --> 00:48:04.059 how many people, I mean, I can count it on both 00:48:04.059 --> 00:48:07.000 hands and both feet, how many people have came 00:48:07.000 --> 00:48:08.980 to our church and said, boy, we've been praying 00:48:08.980 --> 00:48:10.559 for a church and looking for a church, and this 00:48:10.559 --> 00:48:16.389 is it. We found it. I can't tell you how many 00:48:16.389 --> 00:48:21.630 people said, we found it. And then I've never 00:48:21.630 --> 00:48:23.909 seen them again. They didn't even come back the 00:48:23.909 --> 00:48:32.130 second week. It's easy to get emotional and jump 00:48:32.130 --> 00:48:35.670 in, but people are quick to quit. Commitments 00:48:35.670 --> 00:48:42.550 change quickly. Attention shifts quickly. Faithfulness 00:48:42.550 --> 00:48:46.949 is a fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit produces 00:48:46.949 --> 00:48:51.630 faithfulness. And that is the ability to remain 00:48:51.630 --> 00:48:58.710 steady over time. Remain steady. Anyone can be 00:48:58.710 --> 00:49:02.670 passionate temporarily. Anybody can get excited 00:49:02.670 --> 00:49:05.610 in the moment. Anybody can start something emotionally. 00:49:06.369 --> 00:49:09.869 But spiritually mature believers remain faithful 00:49:09.869 --> 00:49:17.460 over time. You know why faithfulness is a fruit 00:49:17.460 --> 00:49:24.639 of the Spirit? Because God is faithful. And the 00:49:24.639 --> 00:49:29.460 fruit of the Spirit is the perfect character 00:49:29.460 --> 00:49:36.539 of God. It reveals perfect character of God. 00:49:39.679 --> 00:49:41.320 Lamentations. You might have to rub the pages 00:49:41.320 --> 00:49:44.920 together to find that one in your Bible. Lamentations 00:49:44.920 --> 00:49:49.219 3, verses 22 and 23. The faithful love of the 00:49:49.219 --> 00:49:58.480 Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great 00:49:58.480 --> 00:50:04.820 is His faithfulness. Great is His faithfulness. 00:50:06.320 --> 00:50:11.460 He's not fickle. He's faithful. Great is His 00:50:11.460 --> 00:50:14.500 faithfulness. His mercies begin afresh. each 00:50:14.500 --> 00:50:19.800 morning, every morning, His love and His mercy 00:50:19.800 --> 00:50:28.300 never ceases, never ends. God is faithful. God 00:50:28.300 --> 00:50:35.179 always does what He says He will do. Always. 00:50:40.079 --> 00:50:48.449 Always. God's faithfulness does not depend on 00:50:48.449 --> 00:50:57.369 people's responses. Whether His faithfulness 00:50:57.369 --> 00:51:01.469 is evident in your life depends on your faith. 00:51:04.730 --> 00:51:07.489 That's what He said, right? He said, I want to 00:51:07.489 --> 00:51:10.110 do more than just lay hands on a few sick people, 00:51:10.190 --> 00:51:17.289 but I couldn't because of your unbelief. But 00:51:17.289 --> 00:51:25.909 He is faithful. He is faithful. He will always 00:51:25.909 --> 00:51:34.150 keep His promises. But some of His promises are 00:51:34.150 --> 00:51:37.989 attached to I'll do this for you if you will 00:51:37.989 --> 00:51:48.150 do this. But God's going to keep His end of the 00:51:48.150 --> 00:51:52.889 deal. Always. Jesus was faithful to the end. 00:51:53.789 --> 00:51:56.050 He didn't run from His calling when it got tough. 00:51:58.269 --> 00:52:00.949 He knew what was going to happen the night that 00:52:00.949 --> 00:52:03.150 He was betrayed when He was beaten and whipped 00:52:03.150 --> 00:52:05.750 and nailed to the cross. He knew all that was 00:52:05.750 --> 00:52:10.469 going to happen. And just the intensity of that 00:52:10.469 --> 00:52:15.170 moment. I mean, He's sweating blood. The capillaries 00:52:15.170 --> 00:52:21.130 under his skin are bursting. Not just from the 00:52:21.130 --> 00:52:27.409 physical pain, but from the spiritual heaviness 00:52:27.409 --> 00:52:33.010 of the sins of humanity being placed on him. 00:52:37.010 --> 00:52:43.360 This is God. Completely righteous, completely 00:52:43.360 --> 00:52:57.940 holy. Becoming your sin and my sin. God took 00:52:57.940 --> 00:53:07.300 on sin for us. His faithfulness wasn't based 00:53:07.300 --> 00:53:12.170 on circumstances. His faithfulness wasn't based 00:53:12.170 --> 00:53:15.210 on everything going well and everything going 00:53:15.210 --> 00:53:22.409 easy. He was faithful to the end. Faithful to 00:53:22.409 --> 00:53:27.730 the end. Since God is faithful, it makes absolute 00:53:27.730 --> 00:53:31.289 perfect sense that He would desire to cultivate 00:53:31.289 --> 00:53:35.250 and manifest this same characteristic of faithfulness 00:53:35.250 --> 00:53:41.210 in His people, in us. That's why faith and faithfulness 00:53:41.210 --> 00:53:45.230 is a fruit of the Spirit. And the goal of spiritual 00:53:45.230 --> 00:53:47.329 growth, which is what we're talking about. I 00:53:47.329 --> 00:53:50.150 know it might have seemed that we're talking 00:53:50.150 --> 00:53:51.730 about something else, but no, we're still talking 00:53:51.730 --> 00:53:53.989 about spiritual growth. The goal of spiritual 00:53:53.989 --> 00:53:56.409 growth is for you and me to become more like 00:53:56.409 --> 00:54:04.090 Jesus. Conformed into His image. Representing 00:54:04.090 --> 00:54:12.949 His kingdom in the earth. That's the goal. Faithfulness 00:54:12.949 --> 00:54:16.869 is a fruit of the Spirit. I removed these verses 00:54:16.869 --> 00:54:18.269 because I knew I was going to be talking about 00:54:18.269 --> 00:54:21.269 a whole lot more, but listen. The Bible teaches 00:54:21.269 --> 00:54:25.010 us that the Holy Spirit takes the things of God, 00:54:25.190 --> 00:54:28.030 takes hold of the things of God, the things that 00:54:28.030 --> 00:54:31.550 God has for us, and He declares them, He intensifies 00:54:31.550 --> 00:54:36.710 them, He makes them known to us. That's why this 00:54:36.710 --> 00:54:39.170 is the fruit of the Spirit, because He's the 00:54:39.170 --> 00:54:44.630 one who connects us. He is God who connects us 00:54:44.630 --> 00:54:52.329 to the things of God. And also, fruit grows naturally 00:54:52.329 --> 00:54:55.650 where a healthy connection exists. I've already 00:54:55.650 --> 00:54:57.929 shared this verse, but Jesus said, He's the vine, 00:54:58.010 --> 00:55:02.030 we're the branches. If we will abide in Him, 00:55:03.119 --> 00:55:05.460 not just visit Him every once in a while, but 00:55:05.460 --> 00:55:09.559 abide in Him, live in Him, we're going to bear 00:55:09.559 --> 00:55:14.480 much fruit. His fruit is going to be evident 00:55:14.480 --> 00:55:23.139 in our lives. Spiritual fruit. So, spiritual 00:55:23.139 --> 00:55:30.219 growth is not about more self -dedication. It's 00:55:30.219 --> 00:55:32.940 not about you just like... Got to be better. 00:55:32.960 --> 00:55:35.659 Got to do better. I got to do this. I got to 00:55:35.659 --> 00:55:40.099 just rev up all I can to be more faithful and 00:55:40.099 --> 00:55:45.440 have more faith. You're not going to accomplish 00:55:45.440 --> 00:55:47.579 it through self -dedication or determination 00:55:47.579 --> 00:55:50.659 or effort. You're not going to accomplish it. 00:55:52.579 --> 00:55:54.840 But that doesn't mean you can't accomplish it. 00:55:54.940 --> 00:55:58.639 That doesn't mean that you can't grow in faith 00:55:58.639 --> 00:56:01.530 and faithfulness. And that be more evident in 00:56:01.530 --> 00:56:05.690 your life? But here's how it's going to be cultivated. 00:56:07.550 --> 00:56:15.190 By abiding more in Christ. We have things that 00:56:15.190 --> 00:56:22.730 pull on us all the time. Hello? We have things 00:56:22.730 --> 00:56:28.610 just pulling at us. All directions pulling hard. 00:56:32.110 --> 00:56:34.110 I'm not telling you that you have to check out 00:56:34.110 --> 00:56:40.969 of life to abide in Christ. But you have to acknowledge 00:56:40.969 --> 00:56:44.369 Him. You have to acknowledge the indwelling presence 00:56:44.369 --> 00:56:51.170 of the Holy Spirit. I believe all of us could 00:56:51.170 --> 00:56:53.809 acknowledge the indwelling presence of the Holy 00:56:53.809 --> 00:57:02.300 Spirit more than we are right now. Walking in 00:57:02.300 --> 00:57:05.739 the Spirit. Yielding to the Spirit's leading. 00:57:09.099 --> 00:57:14.539 Sensitive to the still small voice of God in 00:57:14.539 --> 00:57:21.019 every moment. I said this before, I'll say it 00:57:21.019 --> 00:57:23.059 again. He knows everything about everything anyway. 00:57:23.559 --> 00:57:26.039 So why do we need to strike out on our own to 00:57:26.039 --> 00:57:30.840 try to do it on our own all the time? We've got 00:57:30.840 --> 00:57:39.260 a perfect genius. God is living in us. Hello? 00:57:40.820 --> 00:57:43.840 He knows everything about every relationship. 00:57:43.960 --> 00:57:46.800 He knows everything about every business dealing. 00:57:46.880 --> 00:57:54.219 He knows everything about everything. But yet... 00:57:56.449 --> 00:57:59.070 God's not really concerned about my life and 00:57:59.070 --> 00:58:01.030 what I'm going through. I just got to figure 00:58:01.030 --> 00:58:03.949 it out on my own. No, we need to acknowledge 00:58:03.949 --> 00:58:08.349 the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God. 00:58:09.429 --> 00:58:18.989 And we need to abide in Christ. Hallelujah. So, 00:58:19.150 --> 00:58:23.940 one more time, the measure. Of your spiritual 00:58:23.940 --> 00:58:26.639 maturity. The measure of your spiritual growth. 00:58:29.519 --> 00:58:32.360 You need to look at the measure of your faith. 00:58:36.820 --> 00:58:41.119 Hearing God. Wholeheartedly believing him. As 00:58:41.119 --> 00:58:45.400 if what he said is a guarantee. Getting your 00:58:45.400 --> 00:58:49.079 words in agreement with what he said. And acting. 00:58:49.440 --> 00:58:52.639 Because the Holy Spirit is going to say. Hey, 00:58:52.639 --> 00:58:56.280 Dean, I want you to say this. Hey, Dean, I want 00:58:56.280 --> 00:58:59.460 you to do this. Hey, Dean, I want you to give 00:58:59.460 --> 00:59:10.119 this. And so many times in my life, I mean, I'm 00:59:10.119 --> 00:59:14.760 trying, right? I'm not perfect. I don't have 00:59:14.760 --> 00:59:20.119 all this down pat. Sometimes, all of a sudden, 00:59:20.119 --> 00:59:23.000 I begin to question God. If I say that, they're 00:59:23.000 --> 00:59:26.559 not going to receive that, so why even say it? 00:59:27.400 --> 00:59:29.800 It's going to be weird if I give them this. It's 00:59:29.800 --> 00:59:37.920 going to be weird if I do this. Sometimes we 00:59:37.920 --> 00:59:42.960 talk God out of what He's telling us to do. I 00:59:42.960 --> 00:59:49.199 know you never have. Because you're way more 00:59:49.199 --> 00:59:54.639 spiritually mature than I am. I know you never 00:59:54.639 --> 01:00:12.159 have. Listen. The measure of our faith and the 01:00:12.159 --> 01:00:16.960 measure of our faithfulness, that's a good measure 01:00:16.960 --> 01:00:21.179 of our spiritual maturity. We should be able 01:00:21.179 --> 01:00:23.800 to look back and say, you know, I remember, that 01:00:23.800 --> 01:00:28.639 time when God told me to say this or do this 01:00:28.639 --> 01:00:34.360 and I didn't do it, but you know what? Just the 01:00:34.360 --> 01:00:39.239 other day, God spoke to me again and I did what 01:00:39.239 --> 01:00:45.019 He asked me to do and here's the result. Because 01:00:45.019 --> 01:00:47.159 I didn't talk Him out of it this time. I didn't 01:00:47.159 --> 01:00:53.590 try to talk Him out of it this time. God, if 01:00:53.590 --> 01:00:55.230 that's what you're leading me to do, then I'm 01:00:55.230 --> 01:01:04.289 going to do it. Because so many times what God 01:01:04.289 --> 01:01:08.510 has asked me to do wound up not having a whole 01:01:08.510 --> 01:01:11.250 lot to do with what God was going to do in my 01:01:11.250 --> 01:01:15.369 life. It wasn't a direct result of what I did 01:01:15.369 --> 01:01:26.230 compared to what God did for me. And I missed 01:01:26.230 --> 01:01:30.889 out on a lot of that. But I don't want to miss 01:01:30.889 --> 01:01:36.590 out. I want to keep growing. I want faith and 01:01:36.590 --> 01:01:39.469 faithfulness to be evident in my life. I want 01:01:39.469 --> 01:01:42.030 faith and faithfulness to be increasing in my 01:01:42.030 --> 01:01:48.250 life. Because without faith, it's impossible 01:01:48.250 --> 01:01:55.489 to please God. But He's going to help us. He's 01:01:55.489 --> 01:02:00.510 going to help us. We're not beaten down in condemnation. 01:02:00.510 --> 01:02:03.829 We're just hearing God say, all right, let's 01:02:03.829 --> 01:02:09.010 go. Come up. Step up from where you are. Step 01:02:09.010 --> 01:02:12.650 up higher. Come up higher. This online worship 01:02:12.650 --> 01:02:15.170 experience was brought to you by the friends 01:02:15.170 --> 01:02:16.829 and partners of Eulation Church.