The Forward Motion of Faith by Carter Conlon

history where we get an opportunity as pastor tim dalina our senior pastor has been talking about to to get into the word and to begin to pray and i heard pastor tim say recently that we have to become a supernatural people again and i believe that with all my heart the kingdom of god is not advanced through human strategy or human ingenuity the kingdom of god is advanced by ordinary people like you and i and in this case tonight it's the addicted the afflicted the depressed the the hurting the nobodies and nothings of society that god is going to raise up one more time and as you begin to read his word and begin to talk to him he's going to start talking to you and he's going to raise you up out of weakness and give you strength and take you into places to do things that you never believed you could ever do that will bring glory to his name because you know and others will know that only god could have done this through you so take heart i believe that in our generation no matter how dark it looks it's going to be exactly as it was in the beginning god's going to take this whole group of failures in our generation and those who know they need a savior and he's going to raise up an army one more time to bring glory to his name and you're going to be part of that army so i'm not speaking to anybody online tonight as if you're addicted and afflicted and oppressed and imprisoned and all of these other diagnoses that you'd want to place on yourself and others would want to put on you as well i'm speaking to you as the victorious army of god that he's going to raise up in this last generation you're going to stand in the strength of god and you're going to do exploits the scripture tells us those who know their god daniel said in these days are going to do exploits you're going to stand and god is going to do through you things that only god can do that he might receive all of the glory because he shares his glory with none other and by taking you and i when we are in the position of weakness we know then that only god could be doing this and we are very quick to give him the glory we're not quick to touch it for ourselves tonight i'm going to speak to you from the gospel of the epistle of james if you'll turn there if you have a device of some sort where you can get access to that and i'm going to talk to you about the forward motion of faith what faith really is how faith is something that's beyond just learning or beyond just understanding scripture some people think that because they believe scripture they have faith not necessarily so you just have a mental agreement with the word of god it doesn't mean that you're a person of faith so father i thank you tonight god for the anointing of your holy spirit i thank you lord for how you are moving your people forward i thank you for prayer i thank you for fasting i thank you for your word i thank you for faith thank you lord that you're going to raise up an army all over this world an army who are submitting prayer requests an army who feel unlovely and unworthy in many cases but it's in that unloveliness and unworthiness that you become everything to your people and you raise us up oh god out of the ashes and produce something of beauty for your namesake and for your glory god almighty i ask you for the anointing of your holy spirit lord jesus christ don't let the sharing be just the accumulation of more knowledge but let us move forward in faith help us my god from this day forward never to be stagnant never to go backwards or stand still but you are always leading to something that brings glory to your name and your name alone and i thank you for it in jesus name amen james chapter 2 beginning at verse 14. i'm talking about the forward motion of faith what does it profit my brethren if someone says he has faith but does not have works can faith save him if a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food and one of you says to them depart in peace be warned and filled but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body what does it profit thus also faith by itself if it does not have works is dead but someone will say you have faith and i have works show me your faith without your works and i will show you my faith by my works you believe that there is one god you do well even the demons believe and tremble but do you want to know a foolish man that faith without works is dead was not abraham our father justified by works when he offered isaac his son on the altar do you see that faith was working together with his works and by works faith was made perfect and the scripture was fulfilled which says abraham believed god and it was accounted to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of god you see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only likewise was not rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way for as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also that's a phenomenal statement that one line of scriptures the body without the spirit of is dead so faith without works is dead also you see there's there's there's this erroneous thought that the accumulation of knowledge somehow in in this or any other generation is actually faith but true faith is not stagnant true faith does not stand in one place true faith starts moving forward into that which god is desiring to accomplish through the life that belongs to him you see this is what james is implying true faith moves into something that only god can do and it always moves into a mountain of fallen humanity and human need that's that's the point he's trying to make don't say you have faith if you're not willing to go into the work of god if you're not willing to be led by god into the places that only god can take you to do the things that only god can put in your heart to do then don't declare yourself to be a person of faith if that's not what your life is all about learning is not faith learning is a good thing faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of god so it's wonderful to learn the word of god but the word of god and communication with god leads us into a place where god is determining to do through us what he has destined our lives to be from the time we were conceived in our mother's womb god had a plan for you and god had a plan for me and when faith comes into our heart we start moving towards that that plan paul the apostle warns us in second timothy chapter 3 and verse 7 that in the last days many of god's people will be characterized by this this one thing they're always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth always accumulating knowledge but the knowledge never takes them too forward motion to that place where the knowledge of god should take us to we we are given as the scripture says a new mind in other words there are new thoughts that god plants in our mind where we're given a new heart we start moving towards human nade around us human condition we start moving into the actual work of god which is the redemption of fallen humanity and we're given a new spirit by this by god which means that we're given courage maybe that's not our own the ability to hear the voice of god when he says this is the way walk ye in it it is a wonderful thing to be a supernatural person in christ that means we're taken out of the natural by the spirit of god we're given faith to believe god by the word of god because the things that god speaks are true they're eternal truths they can't be taken away this is who god is this is what god does and every life that will accomplish something for god moves towards its purpose by that which god supplies now here's a point i want you to think about for what you're called to do every person who's listening tonight god has given you exactly what you need to accomplish it you don't have to add to it you don't have to take away from it he knows what you need in the book of esther this young girl was raised up by god and planted in the king's court sovereignly for a specific time in history truly amazing but this young girl had to go through a test i believe before god could use her and here's where the test really begins in esther chapter 2 and verse 15 it says now when the turn came for esther the daughter of abigail the uncle of mordecai who had taken her as his daughter to go into the king she requested nothing but what hagai the king's eunuch the custodian of the women advised and esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her and esther was taken to king of hazras in his royal palace in the tenth month which is the month of tebah in the seventh year of his reign the king loved esther more than all the other women and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins so we set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of vashti and i love the fact this was the initial test god had a specific plan for esther and she didn't add to that plan she didn't take away from that plan there was a trust in this young girl's heart she didn't ask she didn't try to she didn't try to procure other things other than what was provided what it really tells me is that she said i'm in the hands of god and whatever god provides for me that's what that's all that i'm going to need to accomplish what he has called me to do you see a lot of people miss out on the plan of god because they scheme and they add things to the plan of god to the purpose of god and to the the things that god gives to accomplish uh what our lives are supposed to be and a life that will be supernaturally used of god the hallmark of that life is simple trust in god i trust in god you'll read it in the psalms with of david you'll you'll see it all throughout scripture those who learn to trust in god they are the ones that god will use when we don't have to have a plan we don't have to sit down and add to the to the work of god we don't have to reach our hand out to try to support the work of god that god's plan and god's provision is actually enough for each of us to move forward into the life plan that god has for us esther had no idea i don't she had no idea at the moment where she requires nothing to go in in her first encounter with the king she requires nothing she has no idea that her life is the life that's going to spare the lives of countless hundreds of thousands of her people she has no idea that she's going to become a co-regent with her husband one day and she's going to be rewriting the laws of death into laws of life she has no idea what god is about to do but she trusts that she is in the hand of god and god is going to use her life for a divine purpose if i can bring it to summation this particular thought this evening is don't add to what god has for your life and you don't have to figure it all out that's what makes a people a supernatural people when god starts doing sovereignly through your life what only god can do you can't do it for yourself you can't do it in yourself and it makes no sense to the natural man the the person outside the kingdom of god the ways of god are total foolishness to that particular person esther moves initially into this encounter with the king with a simple trust in her heart and and i believe that was the preliminary test not adding not not scheming not asking for for things that really she didn't need to do what she was called to do because later on she was going to have to go in again with the things that god had provided through prayers and through fasting she was going to have to go in and trust in the simple intercession that the hand of the king was going to move in her direction and the mercy of the king and the favor of the king was going to be given to her and later on when she arranged a banquet to expose the enemy of god's people she had enough wisdom not to speak the first night at the banquet but to wait see she had learned to trust in god and until god gave the word she was not to speak until god unfolded the plan she was not to try to unfold it herself she could have done it so much sooner but she she was a young girl who simply learned to trust in god and that god will give me everything i need to do his work and quite often it will appear to be foolish in the sight of natural people and maybe even in your own sight think of david for a moment when he goes down to the brook to pick five smooth stones out of a brook to fight against a nine foot nine giant who's been a warrior from his youth who's whose tip of his spear alone weighs 15 pounds he's wearing a coat of iron that weighs 125 pounds and he's going to fight against him with five little pebbles out of a brook it would have seemed ridiculous but it was what god had provided for the battle think of moses heading out of uh into egypt with his staff and his one-line sermon and his his brother who was not even fully engaged in the things of god thinking this in the natural this is ridiculous i've got to have more than this surely i've got to maybe contact some of my old friends in the palace and see if they can muster together at least some people with political influence or or some kind of a rag tag army that we can put together to make ourselves more of an imposing threat when we come before the throne of pharaoh but no this man had just a simple trust that the one-line sermon in this stick in his hand and his older brother was going to be enough to defeat one of the largest and most powerful armies on the earth of his day and bring millions of his own countrymen out of bondage and into freedom you think of gideon heading up a mountainside in in groups of 100 300 of them all together with a sword and a jar and a torch in their hand and nothing more of a battle plan that's all they needed that's what god gave them for this battle he gave them a plan and he gave them a sword he gave them a torch and he gave them a clay jar and said you just do it my way and there's going to be a wonderful victory won against 000 midianites that had come in prepared to fight and prepared to devour the land jonathan all he had was a sword and an armor bearer who was with him in heart climbing up as on their hands and knees up on this mountainside to take a half acre back from a garrison of the philistine army and how about samson where the lord sent him out to uh fight against some of the philistine army with nothing more than the donkey's jawbone in his hand not only did was it a weapon that succeeded in defeating a thousand warriors but it also gave him drink out of the hollow in the jaw you see the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they're mighty through god to the pulling down of strongholds casting down imaginations and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of christ and the bible says in the book of hebrews chapter 11 the writer of hebrews says what more shall i say time would fail me to tell of gideon and barack and samson and jephthah and david and samuel and the prophets who through faith subdued kingdom see their faith had a forward motion to it worked righteousness obtained promises stop the mouths of lions quench the violence of fire escape the edge of the sword out of weakness were made strong became valiant or courageous in battle and turned to flight the armies of the aliens i encourage you again read hebrews chapter 11. it's all about the weak and the afflicted and the nobodies and the nothings of society that god raised up and through them his kingdom advanced because their faith had a forward motion and so i want to challenge all that are listening to that challenge the young people in this sanctuary i challenge those that are online tonight let your faith have a forward motion not just to get you out of something but to get you into where you need to go not to get you just out of egypt but get you into the promised land your faith must have a forward motion and that forward motion is literally fueled by the desire to bring glory to god again in the earth the desire to say lord jesus christ i want you to be honored through my life i want you to use my life for a healing oil for those that have no joy no hope and no future i want you to use me as a key to unlock prison doors i want you to use me god as a voice that can that can conquer as it is the voices of the enemy that are trying to push people into depression and drugs and suicide god almighty in the name of jesus use my life for your glory that is the that is the cry that produces a forward motion that is the cry of the heart that says god i trust you you will put into my hand everything i need i don't have to scheme this i don't have to plan this i don't have to strategize this you will lead me you will be the voice that says this is the way walk in it and you'll give me what i need if i need a word of wisdom you'll give me a word of wisdom if i need the faith to believe somebody can be healed you'll put that faith in my heart before you put it in my hand and in my voice if i need to be a key to unlock somebody's prison door you'll give me the courage to approach that place of darkness and the courage to believe that there's no door there's no barrier that can stop the hand and the word of almighty god through jesus christ this is the forward motion of faith for for much too long many of god's people have i've just stayed in a place where the devil has told them don't move because you're this or you're that because you're depressed or you're addicted or you're or you're poor or you're uneducated or whatever it is you are but god says no rise up my beloved army rise up people of god rise up and let me one more time be god to you and let me be god through you and let me show through you to this generation that i indeed am still god i am all-powerful i have all knowledge i created all things and i will be here when this world is folded up and recreated when it's all over i'll still be here let me show you once again who i am by taking a week by taking a marginalized by taking those of you listening to me online tonight that have come to the understanding or this world has tried to tell you you're never going to amount to anything your life will never have any kind of a divine purpose it's time to put that thinking under your feet it's time to tread on those words of the devil himself and stand up in your living room and say no i'm going forward in the strength of my god and god will give me what i need if it's some spices some ointments some stones a stick if it's a one-line sermon it doesn't matter god has already proven to me that he's able to bring people out of bondage and into freedom through the weakest vessel in his hand i refuse to be still in this generation i refuse to lay down and suffer defeat and let that be the portion of my life when people all around me are headed for an eternal hell without the saving knowledge of jesus christ i'm not going to just tell them who god is i'm going to let god show them who he is through my life by the grace of almighty god and i'm going to start at the beginning and i'm going to go in with what god gives me and do what god calls me to do in the strength of god's holy spirit you are the end time army of god listen to me you who have come to believe that you'll never amount to anything more than a drug addict or a poor person or somebody that no nobody listens to you are no different from those who have come before you all through scriptural history it is god who has taken the barren wound to produce a voice that can guide the nation it is god who causes the blind men to see and gives him a testimony to tell others i used to be blind but the hand of christ touched me and now i can see it is god who raises people out of death and brings them into life it is god who opens prison doors and we we beckon to the prisoners behind us follow me as i follow christ it is god who takes the weak and the weary and the nobodies and the nothings in the marginalized of society and raises us up to be a victorious mighty army hallelujah not in our strength but in our weakness and in the strength of our god so i'm calling you rise up oh church of god rise up beloved bride of jesus christ let something get into your spirit this is enough of this enough of being beaten by the winds of life enough of being cast down by the works of darkness i'm going to stand up and in the power of my god i'm going to let him declare his own majesty his own glory his own grace his own power his own victory through my life as weak as it might be it's not about me anymore it's about the christ in me who raises men and women from the dead hallelujah hallelujah remember this one thing the gospel we preach is about dead men living hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah we're going to come to the communion table this evening and while we prepare to do that our worship team is going to return to the platform to sing to lead us in a song i praise him while we prepare to come to the communion table remember remember that the son of god went to a cross died on that cross in your place to pay the price for the sin which means the wrong that you've done against the way god says you should live speak or be he took your place when you believed on him your sin was washed away the spirit of god came and took up residence inside your life and you became a new creation and as you confess him with your mouth every promise in this book that was given to you and given to me by the shed blood of jesus christ becomes ours and with the promises comes the power to start moving forward in christ's name so we're going to come we're going to share communion together and as we do i encourage you to believe that not only are you forgiven your sin but you have become a new creation in christ god's going to do something marvelous through your life get some juice get some crackers some bread whatever you have and we're going to have communion together in just

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Keywords: Revival, Character Of God, Free Sermons, Video Sermons, Jesus Christ, What Is The Gospel, SermonIndex, What Is The Truth, Carter Conlon

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Length: 23min 45sec (1425 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 24 2021