Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is
designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
right in. Welcome to church this evening. It's
a blessing to have us once again. to fellowship
together in the world and to enjoy the blessings
therein in the world. So my desire is that we
pay attention and be patient with me as we go
step by step. It's very important that you pay
due diligence to everything I say and And build,
you know, how we build is we build step by step.
You know, and by the time we reach the destination
that I think is required, we'll be able to have
a comprehensive understanding of the things that
we have. We've been discussing all the things
we've started discussing. So, as we all know,
I don't think there's anybody new today, but
if there's anybody new or listening to this,
you know, For the first time in the recordings
for the year, our theme has been Greater Works.
Greater Works. And it's found in John chapter
14. John chapter 14. John chapter 14 verses 12.
John chapter 14 verse 12. Please, I don't want
you to be distracted by anything. Let our attention
be in one place, alright? John chapter 14, from
verse 12 to 14. Most assuredly, I say to you,
that he who believes in me, the works that I
do, he will do also, and greater works than these.
he will do because I go to my father. And we
began on Sunday discussing a topic, understanding
the faith for greater works. We said that from
what we can derive from this text, faith is very
important to doing great works. And for us to
walk in what I would call the promise of God
in this verse, it is essential that we understand.
Without understanding faith, the kind of faith
we are talking about, it's difficult for us to
live out the promise or the instruction is a
promise as well as an instruction to us. It would
be difficult for us to live it out. So that is
my goal in trying to help us to understand the
faith. for greater works. And I want to be very
contextual in my conversation here. You know,
we're talking about biblical faith. Are we together?
So whenever we're discussing faith, I'll take
the context of our conversation is within the
Bible, is within the Word of God. It's within
the provision of the Word of God. So we said
from on Sunday that the promise of doing greater
works is for the church era. Isn't it? which
we mean it is by the Spirit. And it is a work
of faith. So even those whom Jesus was speaking
to, the apostles that were listening to him,
Philip, Peter, and others that were asking him
questions, you know, him speaking to them or
Jesus speaking to them was revealing to them
a reality that will happen in the church era.
When I mean the church era, I mean at the resurrection.
Because the resurrection and the ascension of
Christ give birth to the church. Are we together?
So it is they who are in the spirit or who are
of the spirit of God that can do great works.
And we saw also similarly Jesus communicating
the same thing or something similar in Mark chapter
12. Mark chapter 12 from verse... Mark 11 rather
from verse 12. Mark 11 from verse 12. And yeah,
12 to 14. And then I jump as well as we did on
Sunday to 20 and 24. Now the next day when they
had come out from Bethany, Jesus was hungry.
And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves,
he went to see if perhaps he will find something
on it. When he came to it, he found nothing.
but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
In response, Jesus said to it, Let no one eat
fruit from you ever again. And his disciples
heard what he said. Now, verse 20. In response,
verse 20. Verse 20? Yes. Now in the morning,
as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried
up from the roots. And Peter remembering and
said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which
you curse has withered away. So Jesus answered
and said to them, have faith in God. For assuredly,
I said to you, whoever says to this mountain,
be removed and be cast into the sea and does
not doubt in his heart. but believes that those
things he says will be done. He will have whatever
he says. Therefore, I say to you, whatever things
you ask, when you pray, believe that you receive
them and you will have them. Hallelujah. So equally,
what Jesus is saying here, what Jesus is speaking
in this passage is also in line with what we
saw in John 14, verse 12. what Jesus is teaching
is the work of faith. What faith does, okay?
What faith does in and through the believer and
not necessarily how faith comes. We'll look at
it on Sunday, hopefully, how, you know, faith
comes to us. He's generally talking about, you
know, how faith works, the activity of faith.
Now, we say that Mark 22, From our study, I'm
not going to go back to what we said on Sunday
or study, you know, it's better rendered as have
the faith of God or if you have the faith of
God, you will be able to say to this mountain,
be moved. And based on our conversation is that
faith comes from God. Hallelujah. Faith comes
from God. And God is the origin of faith. That
is what we... established on Sunday. That faith
does not come from man, but this faith for these
greater works or for great works comes from God.
And God, by His infinite mercy and grace and
love for us, His children, who believe in the
message of salvation, God has worked in us. Hallelujah.
He has worked in you. He has worked in me. His
faith So we have all it takes to do greater works.
So now the faith we have, we have faith in us.
We have faith in us and the faith we exercise
is a gift that God has granted us. The faith
of God we have in us. The goal is to show to
us that God is a source of our faith and that
we already have the faith of God in us. Therefore,
we are prepared or we are equipped in all ways,
you know, to do the greater works that you have
called us to do. Oftentimes, you know, when it
comes to the issue of doing works or greater
works or performance or doing anything, ministry,
preaching the gospel, healing the sick, you know,
or even living out rightly, oftentimes think
that it is an effort that we put in. For example,
now we want to do the work of ministry as important
as fasting is, right? We go into 40 days of fasting.
Fasting and prayer, which is very essential.
I'm not in any way downgrading and in any way
saying fasting is not important. It's an important
Christian discipline. But oftentimes, if we don't
fast and pray, we think that we can't teach the
word of God, all right? We can't heal. For example,
now you are in a place where somebody, maybe
there's a demonic manifestation, right? And as
a child of God, you're supposed to do what is
necessary. What do you do as a child of God?
You cast out the devils, right? But sometimes
we think that there's a special exercise we need
to do. First of all, we need to have fasted,
you know, 40 days and we're in the mood. You
know, by the fasting that we fasted, then we
now have the required faith in order to do that
which God has enabled us to do. So there's a
lot of emphasis, emphasis on human effort, emphasis
on what you can do, emphasis on your discipline.
Now, we are not calling you to a life of indiscipline.
But what we are telling you is that God has created
everything in you. The ability in you. The power
is within you by the power of the Spirit of God
that lives in you. The faith that is in you,
God has worked out perfectly. The believer has
no faith issues. Are we together? The believer
does not have a faith issue. The believer has
all it takes to do all that God has created him
to do. The believer has everything it takes to
do all that God has recreated him in Christ to
do. We are his workmanship. Workmanship simply
means we are his masterpiece. We are the perfection
of the creation of God in Christ Jesus. So we
have all sufficiency. Hallelujah. We have only
text to do what God has called us to do as believers,
as Christians, as those who are of the household
of faith. So we ask the question, what about
the text that says without faith, it is impossible
to please God? You know, and oftentimes, as we
always will say, we assume, That the faith to
please God comes from us. The moment we don't,
you know, activate the faith towards God, we
don't please God. But we forget that our identity
is that of faith. We forget that we have already
pleased God in Christ Jesus. We forget that God
has already created in us the ability, not only
that we are going to please God, But we have
already pleased God in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah.
Positionally, the believer has pleased God. So
what we see us doing is a product of what God
has already done in us. Amen. So let's turn to
Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 from verse
1 to 6. We read this passively on Sunday. Now
faith is a substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen, for by it the elders
obtain a good testimony. So the elders obtain
good testimony because of faith. By faith we
understand that the walls were framed. Which
walls? The walls, are they different walls? The
walls were framed by the word of God so that
the things which were seen were not made of things
which were visible. By faith Abel offered to
God a more excellent sacrifice. A more excellent
sacrifice? Or rather we will say a more excellent
offering? than Cain, through which he obtained
witness that he was righteous. God testifying
of his gifts. Now you see, that sacrifice is
a gift. Means that Abel offered a gift. Sacrifice
will mean that he offers something for something,
but it's a gift he offered. Through it, he been
dead. Yet, speak right, by faith Enoch was taken
away. So that he did not see death. And was not
found because God had taken him. For before he
was taken, he had this testimony. There is a
testimony. And the testimony is that he pleased
God. Verse 6. But without faith, it is impossible
to please God. For he who comes to God must believe
that he is. And that he is. the rewarder of those
who diligently seek him. Hallelujah. And then
we asked, or rather we saw that the context of
this conversation is from chapter 10, all right?
Because the Bible was not written in chapters.
It was not written in verses. It was a letter.
Even though the chapters and the verses are important
to help us to identify part of scripture, But
the chapter in all this, the verses of scriptures
are not an inspiration of the spirit of God.
All right. They are not an inspiration of the
spirit of God, but they help us. Sometimes if
not properly used, they can mislead us. So we
say that the conversation did not start in chapter
11, right? Right from chapter one, the conversation
started. But particularly speaking of faith,
we see in verse 35. In verse 35 to 39 of chapter
10. Give me Hebrews 11 verse 35. No, rather Hebrews
10 verse 35. Hebrews 10 verse 35. Therefore,
do not cast away your confidence, which has great
reward. For you have need of endurance, so that
after you have done the will of God, you may
receive the promise. And the next verse explains
this promise. For a little while and he who is
coming will come, our Lord tarry. Now they just
shall live by what? By faith. They just shall
live by what? By faith. And I ask, how does a
man become just? In God's sight. How does a man,
how is a man justified? A man is justified by
what? By faith. So now the just shall live by
faith, by faith. But if anyone draws back, my
soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of
those who draw back to partition, partition,
partition, but of those who believe to the saving
of the soul. And we said these verses were a
reference of Habakkuk 2, verse 3 -4. Habakkuk
3, verse 2 -4 was where the writer of Hebrews,
got his text from to explain. And in the original
text, particularly verse 4, you know, I mentioned
that in the Septuagint Bible, the faith here
is not talking about the faith of the person,
but it's talking about the faith of God. Alright?
It states that, but the righteous One by my faith
shall live. And I gave us instances of translations
that particularly interpreted this verse correctly
and accurately. And we also saw some texts such
as Romans 1, verse 17, that also quoted from
that same Habakkuk. Romans 1, verse 17 says,
For in the righteousness of God is revealed.
From faith to faith. And the context here is
that the writer here is describing two kinds
of righteousness. Two kinds of righteousness.
One righteousness that comes from the effort
of man, which we will call the righteousness
by works, and that which is from God, which is
a product of what? Of faith, which is a gift
from God. So for in it, the righteousness of
God is revealed from faith to faith. The righteousness
of God is what? From faith to faith. The just,
as it is written, the just shall live by faith.
And we know exactly, particularly, what this
faith is. Which faith, specifically, this is
talking about. Galatians 3, verse 11 also. Galatians
3, verse 11. Galatians 3, verse 11. But that
no one is justified. Okay? That no one is justified.
By the law. The law has to do with performances.
The law has to do with what humans will do. The
law has to do with the performance of men. But
that no one is justified by the law in the sight
of God is evident. For the just shall live by
what? Shall live by the faith. Particularly,
we talk about the faith of God. So we concluded
that it is by the faith of God that the heroes
of faith, the people we call the heroes of faith
in Hebrews 11, that it is by the faith of God
that they did the mighty works that they did.
That they did. Hallelujah. So Hebrews 11 verse
1 says, Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for. Right? Faith. is a substance of things
hoped for. So which faith are we talking about?
The faith of the men that have lived before us.
Because he's trying to describe the effect of
faith in this man's life. All the activities,
all the works of faith in their life. Now, oftentimes
we try to clarify that the Bible is not an English
dictionary. Okay? Where when you're looking for
words, you go to the Bible to get the meaningful
words. So, Hebrews 11 .1 is not an English definition
of faith. But rather, it is a description of
what faith does. It's important that we note
this. Alright? The verse shows what faith does.
The works of faith. The description of or faith,
or what I would say, the activities of faith
in men. It says, faith is a substance of things
hoped for. The conviction about what they have
not seen. The conviction about what these men
have not seen. It is a substance of things. And
oftentimes, we also think that the things we
are talking about here are material things or
our wants. or the things we want for ourselves.
For example, my school fees. So, because I have
not seen my school fees, so I use this verse,
and I say, faith is a substance of things not
seen. I have not seen the school fees. But of
course, we trust God, and we exercise our faith
in God, alright? Perceiving things. But contextually
here, the things here, he's talking about the
men. Abraham, okay? Enoch, Abel, and all of them.
And the things I've not seen, listen, it's not
talking about material things. Alright? The verse
here is not, the faith here is not talking about
material things. Because if it's material things,
Abraham was rich even before God called him.
Alright? So it wouldn't be talking about material
things. Faith is a substance of things hoped
for, the conviction about what they have not
seen. It is a substance of things. You know?
Hebrews 11, 14 and 16 talks about, talks about
it, gives us an explanation. Hebrews 11, give
me verse 14 of verse 16. It says, For those who
say such things, declare plainly that they seek
a homeland. These are the things. This is the
explanation of the things that they hope for.
That they seek a homeland. And truly, if they
had called to mind that a country from which
they had come out, they would have had opportunity
to do what? To go back. But now they desire a
better, okay? So what they have not seen is something
better. They desire a better, a heavenly country.
Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their
God, for he has prepared a city for them. So
what they see is something beyond them natural.
God spoke his word to them concerning what he
will do. And they believe the word of God. And
the Bible says it accounted to them as righteousness.
So their faith, or rather faith here, gives present
substance to something that is in the future.
The sense here, when I mean the sense, I mean
Those that the Hebrew is speaking about, the
saints had nothing but the promise of hope. The
promise of God to hope for. Okay? They have nothing
tangible, but they believe the word of God. Invisible
evidence of the Messiah, but yet they believe.
Now, these promises were so real to the Old Testament
men, that they build their entire life on. If
you read Genesis 12, you see that God spoke to
Abraham. And Abraham believed God and what? And
he moved. He left his family. He left everything.
And then he embraced the word of God. And he
moved. who see that some of them were willing
to die for the sake of the word they receive.
They have strong conviction. They have strong,
you know, conviction in what the word of God,
in what God said to them. In verse 39 and 40,
we will see, they believe in a promise of what
they did not receive. Look at verse 39 and verse
40. Verse 39 and verse 40. He says, and all these
have, having obtained a good testimony, Their
testimony is true faith did not receive the promise,
all right? God having provided something better
for us, that they should not be made perfect
apart from us. Hallelujah. So they did not receive,
right? But they believe. They did not receive,
but they believe. They believe the word of God.
The Bible said they died in faith. Verse 13.
Verse 13 says they died in faith. These all died
in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them from afar off, were assured
of them, embraced them, and confessed that they
were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. So
we see that by this faith, right? The elders
obtained this good report. They obtained good
report. The elders obtained a good report. Of
course, we know who these elders are. Referring
to, you know, the kind of people we see in Hebrews
chapter 11, in Israel, and listed in subsequent
verses, we see they had a good report. For example,
Abraham. Abraham in Genesis 15 verse 6. Genesis
15 verse 6. I was saying. And he believed in
the Lord. He believed in the Lord. After God
had spoken to him. And he accounted it to him.
That is God accounted to him. As righteousness.
We will see it explained in Genesis. In Galatians
chapter 3. Hallelujah. Verse 3 of Hebrews 11.
It says, through faith we understand that the
worlds were framed by the word of God so that
things which were seen were not made of the things
which do appear. And oftentimes, as again, the
worlds here, we interpret it as a universe. And
I try to look at the context. First of all, contextually,
the communication here is not about creation.
He's not speaking about creation. He's talking
about the work of faith in the life of these
men. All right? And we saw earlier the description,
or rather the source of this faith. And even
the words in this text, I mean, in the Greek,
is the word aeons. It says true faith, we understand.
And this word worlds does not mean that God created
the earth. That is what I want to stress here,
by faith. But it is by faith that we understand.
The word worlds or ages here in some translations,
ages, is translated from the word aeons. Aeons
is different from the word cosmos. And I want
us to note clearly, in the course of our, what
do you call it, cell teachings, we discuss the
issue of the end of the ages, isn't it? And what
did we say are these ages? The word aeons translated
from the ages, the foundation of the world, right?
What did we say is the explanation of that particular
word? What did you say was it? Aeons? Hmm? Who
forgot him? Huh? Huh? Okay, we're talking about
the end of the age, especially Matthew 24. Hmm?
Hmm? What? The word age, not the N. We're talking
about the word age, aeons. What does it mean?
Time, all right? Time, okay? What? Era, right?
So I'm much, much convinced, right, that the
words here, aeons, listen to this carefully,
is speaking specifically about the generation
of these men. Through faith, we understand that
their walls were framed by the word of God. God
spoke a word, right? They believed the word of
God and their reality, right, was followed by
the faith of God. Hallelujah. So that the things
which were seen were not made of the things which
they saw or the things that appear. So the word
worlds or ages in verse 3 was translated from
this Greek word aeons, which means a time or
a period. And this contextually, when examined,
I say it clearly, will mean the time or the generation
of the elders. That is, in the time of Noah,
right? In the time of Abraham, in the time of...
of Abel, for example, that is an aeons, right?
That is a time, a time frame. So, for example,
in Hebrews 1, verse 1 to 2, we see that God,
who has sundry times and in diverse manners,
spoke in time past. What time past? How to do
it? Specific communication of God at different
times and in different seasons to different people.
Are we together? So God, who at sundry times
and in diverse ways, diverse manners, spoke in
time past unto the fathers by the prophets. So
the means by which God spoke to that generation,
that particular eons, right, is by the prophet.
Had in these last days spoken unto us by his
son. So in our own generation, in our own time,
God speaks to us by who? By His Son, by Jesus
Christ. Alright? So I see consistency in that
communication even in Hebrews 11 verse 3. Each
dispensation has a revelation of God. So verse
3 is talking about the dispensation of time for
every person as we mentioned in Hebrews 11. I
will see that each of their experiences in their
dispensation as seen from this text is defined
by faith. By faith. It's defined by faith. The
experience is defined by faith. By faith, verse
4, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain. through which he obtained a witness.
That witness is also the word testimony. He obtained
a testimony that he was righteous. God testifying
of his gifts. And through it, he being dead still
speaks. So we see consistently that the testimonies
they receive is a testimony of faith. They believe
in the word of God. They believe in the promise
of God. And it was an account to them. a testimony
that they were righteous men. Genesis chapter
4 verse 1 to 7 speaks of the times of Abel and
Cain. Let's look at it briefly. Now Adam knew
his wife and she conceived and bore Cain and
said, I have acquired a man from the Lord. Then
she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now
Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller.
of the ground. And in the process of time, it
came to pass that Cain brought an offering of
a fruit of the ground to the Lord. So who first
offered? Cain first offered, right? Abel also
brought of the first of his flock and of their
fat. And the Lord respected Abel, right? The
Lord has respected Abel and his offering, but
he did not respect Cain. And it's often, and
Cain was very angry and his countenance fell.
So the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry?
And why have you your countenance fallen? If
you do well, how do men do well? If you do well,
will you not be accepted? How do we get accepted
before God? How is man accepted in Christ? By
faith, right? And if you do not do well, sin
lies at the door and its desire is for you. But
you should do what? You should rule over it.
So the offering of Abel was done in response
to faith. So the testimony that Abel received
was not because he offered. Are we together?
Oftentimes in our Bible schools or Bible Sunday
school, they taught us with pictures the different
offerings they brought. All right. And they will
say, okay, Ken brought something that is rotten.
Okay. And Evel brought something that is alive
and is beautiful. I mean, this picture will not
communicate effectively what really happened
there. One brought offering in faith, out of
faith, the other out of works, that is in unbelief.
All right. Let's look at Genesis 4 .4 in the
Good News Translation. Let's see. Good News Translation.
It says, Then Abel brought the first lamb born
to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the
best part of it as an offering. The Lord was
pleased with Abel. Alright? The Lord was pleased
with Abel and his offering. So we saw or we will
see that God was pleased. Okay? How can a man
please God? Except by what? By faith. Abel pleased
God first. Then his offering was accepted. Alright?
It was not his offering that made God accept
him. But rather that he pleased God. Alright?
And then his offering was accepted. But Cain
did not come by faith. So his offering was not
accepted. Let's see how John commented on this.
Ephesians chapter 3 verse 11. 1 John 3, verse
11 and 12. For this is a message that you heard
from the beginning, from Genesis. We should love
one another, not as Cain, who was of the wicked
one and murdered his brother. And why did he
murder his brother? Because his works, okay,
his works were evil. You see, his works were
evil and his brother's works righteous. How does
man work the work of righteousness? Righteousness
is a gift. Hallelujah. So that comes by the faith
of God. When we believe the word of God, God
said it, right? We accept what God said. We have
faith and we please God. So Hebrews 11, 39 to
40. And all of this, though they gained divine
approval, I'm reading from Amplified. Though
they gained divine approval through their faith,
through faith, they did not receive the fulfillment
of what was promised because God had us in mind
and had something better for us. so that they,
these men and women of authentic faith, okay,
they are of authentic faith, will not be made
perfect, that is, completed in him, apart from
us. And we continue the reading in chapter 12.
Therefore we also, okay, therefore we also, since
we are surrounded by so a great cloud of witnesses,
now the witness is here. speaks of all these
people and their exploits. Right? Now, we're
not saying that, oh, they're in heaven cheering
for us. Come on, come on, come on. No, that's
not the picture here. But since we have these
examples of men that in their time, all right,
they believed God. And we see through their lives,
you can read through all, you see, even Rahab.
Rahab that we know, her name, the only name we
know is Rahab. And her son named her Lord. Okay?
She believed the message. What did she believe?
She believed that God was going to save the nation
of Israel. She believed the word of God's salvation.
All right. And she was listed among the heroes
of faith. What about Samson? And all and all
and all of them that we'll see in the Old Testament.
So the cloud of witness is here referring to
all these people. And it says, let us. let us
like verse 2 looking unto Jesus therefore we
also since we are surrendered by so great a cloud
of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and
the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us
run with endurance the race that is set before
us looking unto Jesus okay the author and the
finisher of our faith who For the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat at the right hand of the throne
of God. He says, let us. A specific set of people
reading. Right? Those to whom the epistle was
written to. And of course, an extension to us.
Let us. Let us lay aside. So faith begins in
Jesus, right? And it ends in Jesus. Jesus is
a boundary of our faith. Outside Jesus, we don't
have faith. Outside Christ and what he has done
for us, we don't have faith. There is no faith
for us. The essence and the substance of all
truth is Jesus Christ. That was what they saw
from afar and they believe. That was what God
presented to them in types and in shadows, in
activities, in diverse manners, in diverse ways,
in different, even in the works of the law. Moses
embalmed it with the truth about the reality
of Christ. So the essence and the substance of
all truth is Jesus Christ. Faith is perfected
in him, in Christ. Faith is all self -generated.
It comes from God. The faith of the Bible comes
from the person of Jesus Christ. It comes from
the revelation of Jesus Christ. It comes by hearing
of the word of God, the message of God. The message
of Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 10, verse 17.
Romans chapter 10, verse 17. It says, so then
faith comes by what? By hearing. We're going
to spend quality time on this text on Sunday.
We'll understand how we receive faith. Somebody
said, are we now saying that the unbeliever does
not have faith, well, if the unbeliever has faith,
that is not the kind of faith we are talking
about here. It's not the faith of Jesus. If he
already has faith, he doesn't need the faith
of Jesus. Because faith comes by hearing and
he has to hear. And what will he hear? The gift
of faith. And that makes him an unbeliever. A
man is only an unbeliever when he's presented
the message and he rejects it. That's what makes
him an unbeliever. That's where he exercises
his will and his own choice to not receive what
God has given. So, faith is in Christ. The understanding
of the scriptures comes from the person of Jesus
Christ. Because it says, faith comes by hearing,
right? So the understanding of scriptures comes
from the person of Jesus Christ. John chapter
1 verse 45. We see where Jesus was speaking.
John chapter 1 verse 45. It says, Joseph, which
means that what Moses wrote in the law, right,
was communicating Jesus of Nazareth, the son
of Joseph. Luke 24, verse 44. Luke 24, 44, we
see where Jesus summarizes. Then he said to them,
these are the words which I spoke to you while
I was still with you, that all things must be
fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses.
and the prophets, and the Psalms, concerning
who? Concerning me. So revelation in the midst
of revelation comes from the person of Jesus
Christ. All biblical faith, if we say, the faith
that we know, or the faith that we have in Christ,
comes from the same source. Okay? There are no
different sources of faith. 2 Corinthians 4,
verse 13 speaks of, The same spirit. 2 Corinthians
4, verse 13. And since we have the same spirit
of faith, according to what was written, I believe
and therefore I spoke. Now remember when Jesus
said today, Jesus was speaking in Mark 11, verse
12. If you have the faith of God, you shall say.
Are we together? That is to say, faith empowers
the mind to speak. Okay? You have faith in your
heart. Alright? Faith should also be far away
in your mouth. Are we together? That is, what
you say should align with the reality in your
heart. So oftentimes, there's a divergence between
what we have in our heart and what is on our
lips. So we don't see. The realities of the things
that we ought to see. Since we have the same
spirit of faith, according to what is written,
I believe. So when you believe, you do what?
You speak, I spoke. We also believe and therefore
we speak. Now the emphasis is that same spirit
of faith. Now whatsoever is out of faith, we
see the Bible will describe it as sin. Okay?
I'm just pointing out scriptures. Generally,
in the Epistles, it speaks about faith. Whatsoever
is not of faith, the Bible calls it sin. Okay?
Whatsoever is not of faith, the Bible calls it
sin. Romans chapter 14 verse 23. Whatever whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. Romans chapter 14 verse
23. But who doubts? It's condemned if he eats.
Talking about eating, washings and some ceremonial
things. All right? Because he does not eat from
faith. For whatsoever is not from faith, the
Bible calls it what? We call it sin. Now, be
patient. Don't worry. We'll come to details of
this later on. Faith is called the faith of God.
In the epistles, Romans 3, verse 1 to 3. Romans
3, verse 1 to 3. What advantage then has a Jew
or what is a prophet of circumcision? Much in
every way chiefly because to them they were committed
the oracles of God. For what if some did not
believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness
of God without effect? All right? Will it make
that faithfulness? It talks about the faith of
God. Will it make the faith of God? Can you give
me the all King James? The all King James, yes.
Say, for what if some did not believe? Shall
their unbelief make the faith of God without
effect? All right? Speaking of the nation of
Israel, their unbelief does not make the faith
of God void. And then we'll see in scriptures,
that same faith of God is called the faith of
Jesus Christ. And we are justified by the faith
of Jesus Christ. Galatians chapter 2 verse 16,
the old kingdoms. Galatians chapter 2 verse 16.
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works
of the law. The works of the law speaks of what
a man does. The works of the law speaks of what
originates from man. The works of the law speaks
of what the effort of man produces. So, knowing
that the man is not justified by the works of
the law, but by faith of who? By what? By the
faith of who? How is a man justified? By the
faith. The faith of who? His faith. By the faith
of who? Of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed
in who? In Jesus Christ. That we might be justified
by the faith of who? Of Christ. So the faith
is of who? It's of Christ. And not by the works
of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Okay? So we are justified
by the faith of Christ, of Jesus Christ. So anything
you can trace to you is works. By works shall
no man be justified. Any faith outside what Christ
has done, It's dead. You know? Faith is a noun.
Okay? Faith is what? It's a gift. Not a verb.
They're what? Pistons. So, believing is a work
of faith. Galatians 2 verse 20. We see also,
number one, it says the faith is of faith of
God. We've seen it that the faith is a faith
of Jesus Christ. And here we see he's also putting
it that the faith of the son of God. I am crucified
with Christ. Okay. I am crucified with Christ.
Not that you will be crucified, but you are already
crucified with Christ. Identification. Nevertheless,
I live. All right. I live. Yet not I, but what?
But Christ liveth in me. Okay? And the life which
I now live, which means that every single thing
you do henceforth is what? And the life which
I now live in the flesh, in the natural, alright?
I live by the faith of who? Who sponsored the
life you live now? Huh? The faith of the son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
So what should energize our works today? But
the things we do, all right, how we conduct ourselves
must be he in us. Are we together? Must be he
working in us. So the greater works we're going
to do. Who energizes? Who is walking through
us? Christ walking through us. Are we together?
So, we see the faith of the Son at work in us.
We see the faith of Christ at work in us. Christ
lives in us. Therefore, we live by the faith
of the Son of God. It's a gift given unto us.
Now, this faith is based on the love that God
has shown unto us. Isn't it? Further on, we see
in chapter 5, verse 6 of the same Galatians,
that it's because of love. Galatians chapter
5, verse 6. Not that we did anything to earn
it, but it's because of love. For Christ, King
James, for in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision,
what is done, and, alright, availed anything,
nor all circumcision. But faith, which worketh
by, which is worketh by what? By love. Which
worketh by love. And in Colossians 2, verse 11,
we'll go on to say that we are who we are by
the faith produced in us by the power of God.
Colossians 2, verse 11 and 12. Colossians 2,
11. In who also ye are circumcised with a circumcision
made without hands, which means that it is not
a circumcision, it's not a natural activity,
right? But in putting off the body of sins of
the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, verse
12, buried with him in baptism, wherein also,
wherein also rather, We are risen with him through
what? Through the faith. Now look at the faith
clearly. Through the faith of the operation of
God. The faith is what? Is of the operation of
God. Who had raised him from the dead. So we
see that this faith is of the operation of God.
We are who we are. By the faith that is produced
in by the power of God in us. Hallelujah. Ephesians
chapter 3 verse 10 talks about the boldness that
we have access with confidence. And the boldness
we have is not because we have faith on our own.
Ephesians chapter 3 verse 10 to 12. It says to
the intent that now unto the principalities.
and powers in the heavenly places might be known
by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according
to the eternal purpose which he proposed in Christ
Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and
access with confidence By our faith. By the faith
of Him. Are we together? By the faith of Him.
By the faith of Him. Now, we are not in any way
saying that we don't have a responsibility. We're
going to come to that subsequently. But what
I am emphasizing from Sunday and today is that
the source of our faith is God. It's that our
faith is a gift. Hallelujah. So it puts us in
a place of rest that we can live in the rest
of God. Okay? In the Sabbath of God. Alright?
That we don't begin to measure, do I have faith
or I don't have faith? Alright? So we all begin
to say, let's go out and preach. You know that
you have all sufficiency to go out and preach.
When we say lay out on the sick, you begin to
know that you have the ability to lay out on
the sick. Because God is in you, working out
his will and his purpose. So what we see expressed
through you is obedience in alignment to his
word. Hallelujah. So that is the emphasis. That
the faith for greater works comes from the gift,
or rather it's a gift that we've received in
Christ. Let's see what Paul was saying in 1 Timothy
4, verse 1 to 16, talking about, you know, let's
leave this one because it's going to take time.
James 2, verse 1, but you can write 1 Timothy
4, verse 1 to 16. He talks about faith as a teaching,
all right? The four teachers were taking people
away from the teaching of Christ. So he talks
about the teaching of faith, all right? So you
can read that one. But James 2, verse 1. James
2, verse 1. James 2, verse 1. It says, My brethren
have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. have
not the faith of God, alright, again, have not
the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord
of glory, with respect of Christ. He's talking
about partiality. Okay? What the emphasis that
I want to see from that verse is that James is
speaking concerning this faith. That this faith,
right, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That the faith is actually of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Alright? We can read in order translation.
So, the believer, okay, the believer is counted
faithful in Christ. The believer does not need
to do so that God will say he is faithful. God
has found us faithful, has founded us faithful
in Christ. Therefore, he has entrusted us in
order to do the works that he has called us to
do. 1 Timothy 1, verse 11 -12. You know, oftentimes
we think that faithfulness is when we are faithful.
Okay? Faithfulness is where you are faithful.
You see, I was telling Pastor Oluwadadi, I say,
see, when you go to apply for a job, you look
at your CV. You look at your ability in the past,
in the previous job, whether you were, you ask,
how did you leave the previous job? Some of you
that used to fight with your bosses before you
leave and go to a new job. May the next person
interviewing you not be your previous boss, in
Jesus' name. The system of the world is that
you have to be faithful, all right? And you'll
be given a reward or a tax or a responsibility.
But God, first of all, he met us in Christ. He
marked us faithful before he gave us a responsibility.
Hallelujah. Now let's see 1 Timothy 11 verse
1, 11 rather, where Paul was speaking of himself.
It says, according to the glorious gospel of
the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
And I tell Christ Jesus, our Lord. What did he
do? Who had enabled us, enabled me. For that
he counted me what? He counted me faithful. Then
putting me into the ministry. Hallelujah. So
God counts him faithful. to do the work of ministry.
And this is in line with what God exemplified
in Christ Jesus when Christ came upon the face
of the earth. In Matthew 23, verse 17, we'll
see that at the very baptism of Jesus Christ,
right? There was a word that was given concerning
him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying, this
is my beloved son in whom I am what? I'm well
pleased. Jesus Christ have not even died on the
cross. Jesus Christ has not even healed the sick.
But God's testimony concerning Christ is that
what? Is that I am well pleased with him. Are
we together? So, he lived to prove the righteousness
of God. Jesus Christ on earth lived to prove
the endorsement of God. Now, we are not living
to please God. Alright? That's what I'm trying
to draw home to. We're not trying to live so
that God will try to do our effort, you know,
in order for God to be happy with us. Now, when
we say these things, people say, oh, we are giving
people the liberty to do it. We're giving people
the license to live life officially, right? We're
giving people the license to live a life of sin.
Okay? We are telling you that there's nothing
you can do, all right, to make God happy. Okay?
There's nothing you can do to make God happy.
The reason why God is happy with you is because
you are in Christ. Alright? So what do you do?
You hold on to what? Faithfulness of God in Christ
Jesus. We're telling you that what? There's nothing
you can do to please God except in faith. You
know you're telling people that they must do
in order for God to be happy. We are emphasizing
the efforts that they will do in order to make
themselves happy with God. When you go to preach
Christ to people, when you go out for evangelism,
it's important that you emphasize what Christ
has done. And what is of the one that you're
speaking to is to receive what Christ has done.
Are we together? Is to receive what Christ has
done. And then begin to live. in response to
what Christ has done in his life. Hallelujah.
So because of time, greater works are not produced
by human effort. I'm summarizing everything I've
said. Greater works are not produced by human
efforts, but by the faith that originates from
God and is revealed in Jesus Christ. Greater
works are not produced by human effort, but by
the faith that originates from God and is revealed
in Jesus Christ. Scripture shows that faith is
not self -generated, nor it is a human achievement.
It is rooted in Christ, who is the author and
the finisher of our faith. Now the heroes of
faith, in Hebrews 11, lived, they acted, and
pleased God by faith. How? They trusted His promises,
even when they did not see its fulfillment. This
faith is anchored in Christ, sustained by His
Word, and perfected in Him. We are justified,
speaking about us, we live, and we come alive,
Our work by the faith of the Son of God. Not
by works that originate from ourselves. In Christ,
we are already approved and accepted by God.
And our works becomes a visible expression of
that faith. Therefore, the greater works Jesus
promised are the hard working of his faith. active
in us as we abide in him. Hallelujah. So when
you begin to say we do great works, know what
you are saying. You are giving an expression
to a life that God has put in you. Conclusively,
let us fix our eyes on Jesus. The Bible says
he's a source, right? The boundary of our faith.
We don't stop striving to produce results by
human effort and human strength. Instead, what
we do is that we rest in the finished work of
Christ. We must rest in what? In the finished
work of Christ. Lay aside every self -effort,
unbelief, and performance -based thinking because
always we think that it's based on what we're
doing. that will earn the result that is ought
to be seen. And boldly we live from the faith
already given to you or to us in him. We step
out in confidence when you go out to preach.
Have this assurance in your heart that what?
You go out with confidence. Okay? You speak in
faith. You act in obedience. And trust the one
who walks in you both to will and to do his good
pleasure. The greater works are not ahead of
you, but they flow from Christ in you. Hallelujah.
Walk in him and let his faith find expression
through your life. Let the faith of God find
his expression through your life. What you do
is that you permit God to walk through your life.
Hallelujah. So, what about walks? We see the
place of good walks. But good walks are a function
of what? Of our position and our identity in
Him. Alright? It's an outflow of the life of
God that we have in us. Hallelujah. So, can we
just open our mouth and thank God for this reality?
We appreciate you being here today. We hope you
carry this word with you throughout your week.
Don't forget to check the show notes for additional
insights. Stay connected with us through our
website or follow us on social media. If you
are encouraged, share this message with someone
you care about. Until next time, stay blessed.