FAITH PLEASES GOD - Faith Series

FAITH PLEASES GOD - Faith Series

Hebrews 11:6 states that without faith, pleasing God is impossible, but it becomes possible with faith. Its true value depends on its subject, which is Jesus. Faith pleases God because of Jesus Christ, as God is already pleased with the Son. Therefore, our access to God is through faith in Christ, not personal merit, religious effort, or reliance on the flesh.

Chapter Markers
- 0:00 Faith As A Daily Reality
- 2:30 What Faith Really Means
- 6:20 Faith As Gift And Fruit
- 8:45 Why The Flesh Cannot Please God
- 11:00 Abel Enoch And The Hebrews Principle
- 15:24 Faith Pleases God Through Jesus
- 23:33 God Himself As The Reward
- 29:44 Living By Faith Not By Sight
- 39:03 Blessing Results And Prayer Of Faith

Transcript

Faith As A Daily Reality

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Faith pleases God. Faith is a fact of life. Faith is part and parcel of life. Not merely a religious term without evidence, as the world claims. The world is accustomed to evidence-based trust when you speak about faith. We see the application of faith in every aspect of life. Faith is applied by everyone, with or without knowing. It is applied every time, it is applied everywhere. Professor John Lenox states that in life we can never be 100% secure of anything. But we can be sure enough to commit. We may not know everything about life, but God has given us a tangible evidence to base our faith on, that is, the written word of God. Let's look at the importance and impact of faith. Faith is one of the greats, but not the greatest. Just as the apostle shared with us yesterday the three essential virtues of Christianity, and faith is among them. Look what it states in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 3. And now are by faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of this is love. We also see another important and impact of faith is that faith in God makes the impossible possible through God. Look what it states in Mark chapter 9, verse 23. Jesus said to him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. So faith essentially is a currency that we can utilize in the spiritual realm. Faith is a channel to access the spiritual realm to obtain an answer. Now let's define briefly what is faith. This word derives from Latin fides. It means trust, fidelity. As in a religious sense, the things to be believed, a system of religious belief, a strong belief in the doctrines of a religion based on spiritual conviction rather than proof. Now, faith in a subjective sense means complete trust or confidence in a person, thin, or concept. So in our Christian application, when we use the word our our common salvation or the faith, according to Jude, when it states that we need to contend for the faith. So it's referring to the Christian religion. But most times when we talk about have faith in God, we're pretty much defining it as a subjective personal application of you having a complete trust and confidence in a person. At times we can also have confidence in things, we can also have confidence in concepts, but the focus should be having confidence in a person. The biblical definition in the epistle of Hebrew defines what faith is. Look what it states in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1. Now, faith is. What does it mean when we talk about things? Things are like object without a specific name. Things things can be anything, anything, but you don't have a name for it. So things here is generic, is general, and it can be anything. So the first instance is that faith is a substance. When we talk about substance, it means being an essence, standing firm, the properties of a thing or the quality of a thing, the the importance of something. Also here is saying that faith is a substance, it's pretty much saying that faith is the essence, is it's what you and I we stand on, it's what you and I we stand upon, and and the properties of those things that we offer is the basis of faith. And now the other definition is that faith is the evidence of things not seen. So the evidence of the things that that we we are hoping for, or the evidence of the things that we are trusting for, we have not seen them physically, or we have not seen them tangibly. We have the the spiritual eye to believe that those things exist. So faith makes it possible to believe that the things that you're trusting God for exist. They exist in God. You might not see them physically. So that is why faith is an evidence. It gives us um information, it gives it gives us um facts that whatever we're asking from God actually exists in God. It might not exist in the natural realm yet, we might not see it in reality, but they are there. Why? Why is that? Because everything comes from God. Everything comes from God. That is why faith is the evidence, and it's only faith that pleases God. Composition of faith, most times when we talk about words such as believe, confidence, trust, and hope, these are all composition of faith. Believe in Christ, have confidence in him, truth, trust, hope. These are all elements of faith. What I've also learned about faith is that faith is a gift. It's a gift, meaning that God endowed you and I as believers the ability. So we have different types of faith. Like we have saving faith, faith that is necessary for salvation, but we also have faith as a spiritual gift for ministry that is profitable for all. Look what it states in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 9. To another, faith by the same spirit. 12 verse 7. But the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. So what I'm trying to do before we actually get to the meat of the message, which is faith pleases God, is trying to define or describe the scope of what faith is all about. Faith is also part of the fruit of the spirit. That is, faith is an attribute, not just an ability. Some translations use the words faithfulness, as you can see in your translation, truthfulness. However, the Greek noun Paul uses is pitius. It is the basic word for faith throughout the New Testament. Let's see Galatians chapter 5, verse 22 to 23. It states, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In my NKJV translation, the word here for faith is faithfulness. So faith is a gift, faith is also an attribute, part of the fruit of the spirit. Faith is an awareness and acknowledgement of the existence, encounter, and experience of God. Faith is also expressed in our attitude. And faith is also expressed in our actions. Faith believes the truth about God, what God says, and what God accepts and acts on it. Look what it states in James chapter 2, verse 20. But do you want to know, oh foolish man, that faith without works is dead? So we express our faith in God through our actions, and our actions indicate that we trust in God or we believe in God. Why does faith please God? That's a good question to ask yourself. Why is it that faith is the only thing that pleases God? Why not prayer? Why not Bible study? Like I mentioned earlier on, for you to interact with God, for you to engage with God, you need faith because faith is a currency, faith is a channel. Before we get to that, I want you to know that the flesh cannot please God. When we talk about the flesh, at times we signify sin. But flesh also means humanity as your body. Reliance on the flesh, reliance on yourself to come to God or to do the things for God, our own efforts, our own good works, our wisdom, or our networks of people that we know, they cannot please God. So get rid of yourself that you on your own merit, you cannot please God. So your flesh cannot please God according to Romans chapter 8, verse 5. For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds, because when you are in the flesh, you think according to the flesh, and you do things according to the flesh. Flesh set their minds on things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be kindly minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the kind of mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. So you cannot please God at all in the flesh. That is why when you are serving God, when you are living for God, when you are working for God, don't depend on the flesh. Reliance on the flesh cannot please God at all. That is why it takes faith now to please God, not by sight to please God, or not by works to please God. It is not by what you see in order to please God, it is not by what you do on your own will, in your own strength that can please God only by faith. Before we get down to Hebrews 11, verse 6, let's look at the previous verses to illustrate Abel and Enoch, two of the heroes of faith. And these two individuals, God was pleased with them as a result of their faith in God, not because of who they are as a person, because Abel and Enoch are also sinners, but because of their faith in God, God was pleased with them, just like the rest of all the eros of faith that we see. Abel by faith was accepted by God. By faith, Abel offered to God, I'm reading from Hebrews 11, verse 4, a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Remember that same account in Genesis, God gave an opportunity for Cain to come back and offer a sacrifice that will be accepted to God. But Cain, because of his attitude, didn't take the mercy and grace of God that he offered, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts, and through it being dead, still speaks. So what qualified Abel to be accepted by God is because of his faith. Now, Enoch by faith pleased God. Hebrews 11, verse 5. 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 that he pleased God. He had a personal experience, a personal revelation that he lived a life that pleased God. Now, Hebrews 11, verse 6. So a principle, an insight from the altar here. Before he made this uh observation, he he mentioned two people in the Old Testament, Abel and Enoch. They live by faith, and as a result of them living by faith, that God was pleased with them. So now the conclusion to this principle is that, but without faith, without faith, it is impossible to please him. Okay, you cannot please God without faith. You can never please God without faith. That's a strong statement. Without faith, it is impossible to please him. But now the opposite is this with faith, it is possible to please God. So you're asking yourself, how do I please God in my personal life? You can please God by faith, you can only please God by faith, and when you please God by faith, guess what happens? All things become possible. So faith is what causes God to take pleasure in himself. The only way to truly please God is through faith. Faith causes and compels God to take pleasure in you because of whom the subject of faith is in. That's very essential. I'll get there. The subject of faith, not on faith itself. Faith doesn't have its own inevitable value for God to take pleasure in it. But it is the subject of faith that matters. That's why I define briefly that sometimes we have faith, confidence, and trust in a person. We can have faith and confidence in an idea, in a thing that cannot really produce results in your life. The only person that can produce, at least when you have faith in a human being, they can at least try to produce results in your life. But you don't expect a thing to produce results in your life. Because things don't have power on their own. Concepts don't have power on their own. It's essential to know the subject of faith that will make faith to work for you. Because faith by itself cannot work for you dependent on the subject of faith. Faith pleases God. Do you know why faith pleases God now? Faith pleases God because of Jesus Christ. Faith pleases God because of Jesus Christ, not on the basis of faith itself. When I learned this, I was baffled. I'm like, wow. So all along I thought that faith itself has its own power to make God to move, to compel God to take action. No, no, no, no. There is a person behind that faith. That is why we have different types of faith. Saving faith, serving faith, even sanctification, faith. If you want to live right, you need faith. You want to be safe, you need faith. You want to serve God, you need faith. Everything rises and falls on faith because that's the only thing that can please God. So I'm here to remind us as believers that faith pleases God because of Jesus Christ, as God is already very, very pleased with his son. Look what it states in Matthew chapter 3, verse 17. And suddenly a voice came from heaven saying, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Public announcing to the whole world that, guys, if you want to get to me, that is why Jesus will say, No one comes to the Father except through me. For you and I to get to the Father, we have to do what? Have faith in Jesus, and God will accept our faith because God is very pleased with Jesus. Look what it states in Matthew 17, verse 5. In a private occasion, this voice came from heaven while he was still speaking. Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved son, in whom I am I am well pleased. Hear him. Two occasions God stated that to the world publicly during his baptism to the entire world that this is my beloved son, I am well pleased. So if you want to get to me, get through my son, believe in my son, then you will come to me. And now he's speaking to us as believers because in this instance it was only Jesus, Elijah, and Moses, and and and the three disciples, Peter, John, and James. And God was saying to them, he was saying to the Old Testament representatives, the law and the prophet, and the new dispensation that hey, I am well pleased now, I am well satisfied now, I am I have I will only accept human beings because of my son. That is why he confirmed when the law was present, it signifies Moses, when the prophet was present, which signifies Elijah, when the new dispensation, Peter and James and John, when Jesus said, I will build my church. This is my son, and I'm well pleased with him. From now on, hear him. If you want to get to me, my son, everything about me, my son. See how important that our faith in Jesus Christ is what makes God pleased with us, not because on our own merit or faith itself. Look what it states in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 11 to 12, according to the internal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Wow. In whom we have boldness, again, in whom we have, we as believers have boldness and access with confidence, true faith in him. Wow, like I said, faith is a channel of access, and Jesus Christ made it possible for you and I to have access. So the subject of faith is not a what, it's a who. Faith looks upon the subject, faith looks upon a person who possesses the power to do anything. Muslims, as believers, we believe in God because we put our faith in God's power. Oh, I'm trusting God for a house, I'm trusting God for a car. Yes, God has the power to make things like this happen. But we have missing out the essence of faith that faith abides in a person who carries power. We want his power, but we don't want him as a person. That is why Peter said, Gold and silver I do not have, but what I have I give Jesus. Faith is not looking to the power itself, but to the person who possesses it. Faith is that you can do nothing else apart from God, and there are two facts about when you come to God by faith or true faith or in faith. Hebrews, look what it states. Number one, when you come to God in faith, you have to believe that God is. For he who comes to God must believe that he is. What does that mean? That when you and I, when we come to God, we must believe that God is. It's not just about knowing that God exists, because God already existed. If you don't believe in God's existence, you can't really please him. If you don't believe that God exists, you can't really have faith. So we know that God exists. What the author is saying here is that you have to believe that God is, meaning that you have to believe God's nature, God's personhood. Everything that the Bible declares about God, I am that I am. Sometimes when you read the Old Testament, God will describe Himself as I am that I am. I am anything that I introduce myself to you to. So you cannot put me in a box. You must believe that God is what He states He is, what He claims He is. That is why Jesus will make such claims that I am the bread of life, I am the fountain of life, I am life and resurrection, I am the Alpha and Omega. These are all truths about Jesus Himself that we need to believe that this is who Jesus is. On the knowledge of who Jesus is, is what you and I we can base our faith on. So our faith has evidence. It's not without evidence. And the evidence is the word of God. We need to know that God is who is, who was, who is to come, is the self-existent, self-sufficient one. His existence depends on nothing else. Only God is truly self-existent. He is everything needed to exist, residing entirely in himself. For you and I, as human beings, we rely on many things outside ourselves that at times we have no control over. You don't even know what's what's going on in your immune system. You don't even know what makes you wake up every morning. You're dependent on the things that God has created, whereas God doesn't depend on anything. So we have to accept the revelation of who God is and base our faith on that. And another point, when you come to God and you believe that God is, you also must believe that God is a rewarder. Okay, we like this. Oh, yes, you know what? I believe in God, God is a rewarder, God is gonna reward me with a car, God is gonna reward me with a house. Again, we tend to focus on tangible things. Our Christianity is all about now in this generation about tangible things, what God can do for us. But we'll miss out on blessings that are intangible. Life, life eternal, peace, purpose, meaning. When we talk about blessing, when we talk about rewards, we don't talk about this type of things. Rewards are oh, I need a car, I need I need I need a wife, I need a husband, I need a job. Don't get me wrong, there's a place for all of this. But what about what makes life life? Peace, companionship, purpose, meaning, joy, things that money cannot buy, things that are inside of you, these are all blessings. So you must believe that God is a rewarder. Reward is not a merit. Because when you apply faith, you're thinking that okay, God, I'm applying faith in you, so I'm expecting you to reward me. No, no. Faith is a gift. So the reward that you receive from God is not based on your merit, it is just God's gracious kindness and goodness to you. God does not expect us to seek or have faith in him in vain without receiving or seeing results in our lives. He is a giver who does not disappoint anyone who approaches him with faith. God receives those who come to him by faith. God responds to those who call on him by faith. God also rewards those who come to him with faith. These rewards at times we think they're tangible, but they're not tangible. Such as the hope of salvation, eternal life, a life filled with peace and joy in the inside. Now, get this. Ultimately, God Himself is the greatest reward. So when you possess God, you possess everything. That's why at times as believers we miss it out. We want things, but we don't want to possess God. God will still give you those things. But God is saying, I wish you can have me, Brahim. I wish you can have me, Anna. I wish you can have me, Carol. Have me, have me. Don't just have my hands, have my heart, have my heart. That is why the Bible said David was a man after God's heart. I wish you can have me, Tina. I wish you can have me, Musumba. I wish you can have me apostle. I wish you can have me. Because God is the ultimate reward. So God is saying that if you seek me by faith, I will give myself to you. Oh shot. If you seek me, I will give myself to you because I am your reward. Look what it states to Genesis chapter 15, verse 1, to Abraham. After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision saying, Do not be afraid, Abraham. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. Abraham, we know that Abraham is a blessed man, but God didn't allow Abraham to focus just on the blessings. He said, Abraham, keep your eyes off the blessings I'm giving you, but focus that I in your life, I, God, making covenant with you. I am your exceedingly great reward. Hey, we miss out at times, but God is saying that have me. When you have me, you have the whole world. When you have Jesus, you have the whole world. How did God express that ultimate reward of Himself? He did that by giving us the indescribable gifts. That expression of that reward is Christ and the cross. Who Christ is and what he accomplished for humanity. Because of the Christ and because of the cross, that is why we have grace, we have access, we can exercise faith. So the greatest reward is pretty much Christ Himself. I know you want to hear me talk about oh, you you get rewarded in money. There's a place for all that, but don't get me wrong. But most times as believers, we need we need to know the meat, we need to know the substance, we need to know the essence of our faith. We need to focus that everything boils down to who? Christ. He says, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. All these things, oh my god, all these things, but most times we seek the things first, and then later on we want to seek Christ. But Christ is a priority. Seek me, me, me, me as a person. Have a personal relationship with me. You can love God, you can serve God and don't love God. That was his feedback to one of the churches in the Revelation. Yes, I like that you're working in ministry, I like that you're you're feeding the hungry, but no, go back to your first love. What God is really looking for, child of God, is relationship with you and I. And by faith, we can have that relationship. Now you're asking yourself, okay, without faith I cannot please God. But with faith, I can please God. And when I do that, I have to I have to believe that God is, and that is a rewarder. But how am I gonna do that? Of those who diligently seek Him. So faith is not passive, faith is active. Faith is not passive, faith is active. Those who diligently seek him involves having that thirst, that hunger, that longing for God. Oh, I just believe, I just believe. No, no, no, no, no. You have to diligently seek God, persistent faith, progressive faith. So faith is not passive, it's expressed in your attitude and your actions. So we please God through faith by living in faith. Our deeds and your many scriptural references, I'll just name a few. For Romans chapter 1, verse 17. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. For you and I to live our Christian life, it must be by faith. Just as we are saved by faith, we serve God by faith, and we must do what? Live by faith. So pretty much our that's what the that's what the Christian religion is called the faith. The faith. Because faith is pretty much everything. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 38. Now the just shall live by faith. Galatians chapter 3, verse 11 to 12 says, but that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident for the just shall live by faith. No one, you can that's why I said off by saying that Moses was presented, Elijah was presented, the law and the prophet, they were all presented, and the church was also presented, symbolizing Peter, James, and John. God is saying that Jesus Christ, I'm well pleased. Listen to him. And how do we get to Jesus Christ? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. So, faith in Jesus. So we are justified by faith in Jesus through grace. Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. It states, I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God. So even though you are living your life in the flesh, not just sin, but living your life as a human being, you are living it by faith in who? In the Son of God. Faith in who? In the person. Who is that person? Jesus. Not just the concept of faith. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. A person of faith. The person who embodies trust Jesus, who loved me and gave himself for me.

unknown 31:49

Wow.

Blessing Results And Prayer Of Faith

SPEAKER_00 31:50

James chapter 2, verse 26. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead. You have to live out your faith. Faith accomplies works, work accomplishes faith. We can please God by faith, by walking by faith. That is our decisions, our direction, our destination in life. Look what it states in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 2. For we walk by faith, not by sight. So you live by faith, your day-to-day existence, and you walk your movement, your decisions, your directions. Let it all be by faith. So God, I'm planning this venture or I'm about to go into ministry. He might not get the answers right away. Just like just as Abraham, Abraham walked by faith. Because God said, Abraham, just leave your father's house and go where I'm gonna call you though. He was just walking by faith. He didn't have any clear picture, but he was walking by faith that wherever God is saying, wherever God is taking him, it's a wonderful place. Why faith pleases God? Faith is a complete dependence on God's grace and goodness as revealed through Jesus Christ. I come empty and dead, I only claim the cross. Faith honors God by elevating him above everything else. Faith and faith's power alone is misguided. True faith is in God rather than itself. Faith trusts God's word completely. He does not earn anything from God. Faith in itself does not impose any obligation on God, it is a gift and therefore not merit. Faith is not about your will, it is about reliance and dependence on what God is to us. He does not boast of works but humbly depends on God. Quotation from our Bishop Richard about grace and faith. He states that faith is not an effort to convince God to do something, it is our response to what he has already done by grace. Grace makes the provision, faith takes possession. Everything God gives is by grace, everything man receives is by faith. You see how grace and faith work hand in hand. Grace is the provision of salvation, faith is how we obtain salvation. Let me say it again. Grace is the provision for salvation, faith is how we obtain salvation. So we don't need to work for anything. Both grace and faith, they're what? They are gifts. So grace is the capacity, faith is the channel. To conclude, how we have faith that please God. How can we have faith that please God? The word and faith looking onto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Again, who started this journey of faith? Jesus, the author of our faith, and the finisher of our faith, which shows that we have nothing to do when it comes to our faith. Jesus started it, and Jesus will end it. So there's no contribution on our end. Our only response is just to believe. Believe the accomplished work of Jesus Christ, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, again, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right end of the throne of God. And because of him, we have access to the throne of God by grace, through faith. Romans chapter 10, verse 17. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 3. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Why the emphasis on the word of God? Because Christian, our faith has an evidence, and the evidence is the word of God. So we don't have a blind faith when people, oh, you guys just believe in a God that you don't know. No, we know it's in the word of God. We have evidence of him in the word of God, not just in creation, but also in the communication of his word written about him. You and I we believe in Jesus because of the gospels. So there's evidence to our faith. We know the birth of Jesus, we know his crucifixion because of the four gospels. Without the gospels, how are we gonna believe in Jesus Christ? How can you believe somebody you don't know? So faith has an evidence. You might not see it, but it has an evidence by hearing. This is where it gets very confusing when it comes to the Jew and the Greek. Look what it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 22 to 25. For Jews request a sign. This has always been their issue. Even with Jesus in the Old Testament. They had so many signs in the Old Testament to the point where guess what happened? Apostasy. They don't believe. You can still have sign, don't believe. You can still have sign, don't believe. And the Greeks seek after wisdom. They want knowledge that is so supreme to make them believe. Again, you can actually read the Bible and still don't believe in God. You can see signs and wonders and still don't believe in God. So that is why faith is on a person, Jesus Christ, that will make it possible. But we preach Christ crucified to the Jews as a stumbling block. Wow. And to the Greeks as foolishness. Wow. Again, again, why? This Jesus Christ doesn't make any sense. Jesus and the cross don't make any sense. Greek, this is a foolish concept. This gospel thing is doesn't make any sense. Why would God come down as a man and die for us? But look what Paul says. But those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, without any partiality, any discrimination, Christ is who? The power of God and the wisdom of God. So that power to see manifestations of signs and wonder is as a result of Christ. That power to have revelation, wisdom is as a result of Christ. Look what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 5. That your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Now, who is the power of God? Jesus, a person. A person. So our faith lies in the word, and that word is Jesus. It is the word of God. Because of the foolishness of God is wiser than man, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. So the Jews request signs, supernatural wonders for them to believe. The Greeks they seek they seek for supreme wisdom for them to believe. But that's not so. We don't have to seek for signs to believe. We don't have to look into special revelation, special knowledge or dreams and visions for us to believe in God. No. The word has been given to us. And let's use the word of God as our basis to believe in God, not outside of anything else. We shouldn't go and look at mediums or go and see special prophets who can give us special revelation. No, it's in the word of God that all of us will have access to, to know this God for yourself. The word is a source of our faith. The word sustains our faith, the word strengthens our faith, the word settles our faith. Finally, the outcome of faith. There's a blessing attached to faith. Look what it states in John chapter 20, verse 29. Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed again, again. Typical Israelite. The only way I'm gonna believe in you, Jesus Christ, you keep claiming that you're God, I have to see. He said, She was the Father. Jesus said, As Thomas, if you have seen me now, you have seen the Father, because I and the Father were one. He said, Thomas, I'm alive. He said, No, Jesus, no, let me touch you. Thomas, because you have seen me and you believe. Wow, this is where Jesus Christ made this powerful statement. He said, Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. He is speaking of Christians that will come ahead, who have not seen or witnessed or experienced the physical, tangible Jesus, the word made flesh. But the word is still available for you and I to believe. Do you know why God gave us the word to believe rather than the flesh to believe? God gave us the word to believe rather than the flesh to believe, because they had the word and the flesh in real time, the disciples. Some of them choose not to believe in the word and the flesh. But you know, we don't have the flesh, but we have what the word. Holy card, total bush. You know, we don't have the flesh. We cannot see the flesh. But we have what? The word. That is why Jesus made the statement that blessed are those who have not seen the flesh, but yet believe that the flesh exists, that the flesh is real, that the flesh is alive, and that is the word of God. We, when we respond to God in faith, we will receive from God, see results, and be rewarded. When it comes to receive, look what it states in Mark chapter 11, verse 24. Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. Matthew chapter 21, verse 22. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believe you receive the result. There are many instances how people obtain their healing, all because of faith. If you study that word, your faith has made you well or whole. There are multiple instances where people receive results for their healing because of their faith. Ah gosh, faith produces results. But guess what? They trust in Jesus, the person who has the power to produce results for them. The reason why we don't get results is because we trust only in the power. Well, you need a person who has the power to be able to produce results in your life. So let's change our method to trust in the person first who possesses the power, not the power, and then the person. No, let's trust the person, let's our faith be in the person, and then he now will exercise his power to produce results in our life. That is why Jesus was saying that the people actually came, Son of David, have mercy on me. Oh uh uh Jesus, uh heal me. He was moved with compassion, and he will always make the statement to them, Your faith has made you well or whole. Let me just give a few examples. Matthew chapter 9, verse 22. But Jesus turned around and when he saw her, he said, Be of good cheer. Daughter, your faith has made you well. Mark chapter 5, verse 37. And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction. Luke chapter 17, verse 19. And he said to him, Arise, go your way, your faith has made you well. Mark chapter 10, verse 52. And then Jesus said to him, Go your way, your faith has made you well. Luke chapter 4, verse 48. And he said to them, Daughter, be of good cheer, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Now, another method of results as a result of your faith is, according to your faith, let it be done. We see your faith has made you well or whole. Now, according to your faith, let it be done. Because faith does the possibilities. Let it be as you desire.

unknown 43:05

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

Finally, reward. Reward. That's what you and I will receive. Receive from God. Get the result from God. And you and I we shall be rewarded. We are gonna pray with this prayer point. The disciples ask Jesus for two things in the Bible where they ask Jesus for help. They ask Jesus for help when it comes to their faith. They ask Jesus for help when it comes to prayer. Look what it states in Luke chapter 17, verse 5. And the apostle said to the Lord, Increase our faith. Look what it states in Luke chapter 11, verse 1. Now it came to pass as he was praying in a certain place when he ceased that one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray. As John also taught his disciple. And then finally, we we need to start practicing a prayer of faith. There's something called a prayer of faith. Most times we pray, but we're not believing. Look what it stated in James chapter five, verse fifteen. And the prayer of faith will save the sick.