♪ (Music playing) ♪ Good morning, class. Class: Good morning. Hi, I'm Keith Moore. Welcome to Faith School. Faith School is the place where
our spirits get fed, our faith is nourished and begins to grow
and develop more and more, and we learn how to please God and
be an overcomer in every aspect of life. It is God's plan and God's will
that we be victorious ones, that we be overcomers. We've saved you a seat right
here on the front row, and like for you to get your Bible, and
get something to take notes with, and come right on into the
class and join us today. We are going to be believing the
Lord, we're going to pray just in a moment here, for answers,
and it's amazing how He can minister to everybody at the
same time, and yet specifically, individually. He knows the things to come. He knows the end from the
beginning. He knows how you got to where
you are right now, and He knows how to get out of problems. He knows how to get to the next
good thing that He has for us. We are believing for these
things, for you, for all of us. So come on in. Let's pray, let's release faith
right now. "Father, in Jesus' name, we are
so thankful for what you have done for us. So many good things You've
already done, so many prayers You've answered, so faithful You
have been and are. We ask You for today, for
utterance, for the anointing, for eyes, and ears, and hearts
and minds, for answers, for direction, exactly what You know
we need right now. And we purpose to receive it,
and put it into practice, and be a doer of it. And as surely as we act on it
and do it, You will watch over it and perform it. And we thank You for doing that
in advance. In Jesus' name, Amen." Would you turn in our Textbook
to a Scripture we've been looking at all week. We want to continue with it in 2
Corinthians the fourth chapter. Second Corinthians chapter four
and verse eighteen. Second Corinthians 4:18 says,
"While we look not at the things which are seen," excuse me, I
skipped to verse eighteen. "While we look not at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for
the things which are seen are temporal," or temporary, "but
the things which are not seen are eternal." There is a seen realm, there's
an unseen realm. Just a few verses later, chapter
five verse seven says, "We walk by faith not by sight." Our focus in life, from the time
we get up to the time we go to bed, can be either on the seen
realm or the unseen realm. It is our choice. Romans eight says, "To be
carnally minded," or that is to be naturally, which would be
seen realm minded, "is death." Literally, focusing on what you
seen and feel around you will Literally, focusing on what you
seen and feel around you will bring you down. It just will. It's possible you can be in the
most beautiful place on the planet, sun shining bright, be
on the beach, whatever the case - wind in the palm trees - and
yet on the inside you can be totally darkened in your
understanding, you can be depressed, you can feel
dejected, you can feel lost. You don't live out here. Sometimes people have thought,
well if, you know, if I'd relocate, if I'd move, then
things would be better. Not automatically, not
necessarily because when you get there, you are there, and you
brought you with you. And if you didn't get the
problems fixed over there, then you just brought the problems
with you to a new location. You don't just live out here. You don't just live at a
physical address, or a state, in a county, country. You live inside. You live in your mind. You live in your heart and your
soul. So that being the case, if it's
true that you could be in the most beautiful of surroundings,
and yet be depressed and defeated inside, well the
opposite is true. You could be in lousy
circumstances physically, but inside be victorious. Depending on what you choose to
focus on. Look at this verse again, verse
eighteen, "We look not at the things that are seen." In fact, why don't let's just
make that a confession today. Say it out loud: "I look not at
the thing which are seen, but I look at the things which are not
seen." How do you look at things you
don't see? He's talking about your physical
eye. Well, you already know that. I mean, there are times we're,
talking about, what somebody might call an abstract concept,
an idea, something that is not physically in the room with you. And the other person says, "Oh! I see that. I see that." Well, they're not talking about
something they see, a physical reflection with their eyes. You see it in your mind's eye. You can see with your heart. You can see with the eyes of
your spirit. Back up to verse thirteen, and
see what this was connected with - what we've been talking about
all week. This was just a very few verses
from this verse. Verse thirteen, "We having the
same spirit of faith." "Faith is the evidence of things
not seen." Faith deals with the unseen. "According as it is written, I
believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and
therefore speak." Faith is not just believing. Faith is believing and
expressing that belief, primarily through your words,
but then other actions as well. He said, "We having the same
spirit of faith, according as it is written I believed, and
therefore have I spoken." You'll hear people say, "Well
I'll believe it when I see it." That is a completely incorrect
phrase. When you see it it's too late to
believe it. Believing has to do with the
unseen. Faith - "I believe, therefore
have I spoken," looking at the things that are seen, but at the
things that are not seen. We just make a choice in our
daily affairs. What am I going to look at? I can focus on how I feel, but
there is something else I could look at. Maybe I'm hurting in my body,
but it is written, "He took my infirmities, He bore my
sicknesses, He carried my pains. By His stripes I am healed. With long life He'll satisfy me,
and show me His salvation." Can I look at that? Can I look at that instead of
looking at this? I can, amazingly. It's a choice. It's something I can choose to
do. Go with me to a Scripture that
we looked at on yesterday and continue. This is how Jesus functioned. It is how He operated. Mark 11:22. Mark 11:22, when Jesus had
spoken to that tree, and He spoke to what you couldn't see,
and it affected change in what spoke to what you couldn't see,
and it affected change in what they did see. And when they remarked and said,
"Lord, look how quickly that tree dried up, shriveled up, and
you just spoke to it a few hours ago. Jesus used it as an opportunity
and an example to teach them and us how to function by faith. He said, verse twenty-two, and
I'm reading in the Douay translation, "Have the faith of
God. Have the faith of God." And in the King James in verse
twenty-three he said, "Whoever will say to this mountain, be
removed, and be cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his
heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall
come to pass; he shall have whatever he says." Now Jesus had what He said when
He spoke to that fig tree. What He said happened, and He is
telling them and us, "You can have happen what you say." I know when I say it there,
sadly, there are many, many church going people who reject
that. They go, "Well that sounds like
hocus pocus, magic type thinking to me. You say it and it happens." Are you making fun of what Jesus
did? Are you making fun of what He
said? "Well, no, but that's Him. He could do that." He just got through saying, and
if you were with us in yesterday's class we went into
detail in Matthew twenty-one He said, "You can not only do what
I just did, but you could also do this." Jesus had what He said happen. What He said affected changes in
the natural world, and He's telling us the same thing can
happen with you. You can have happen what you
say. I want us to go through this
again carefully to see exactly what He said. And again, if you're watching,
don't make fun of Jesus. Don't make fun of what He said. This is the key to changing your
life, my friend. Become a disciple of the Master. Become a follower of Him. Is there a better way to live,
and act, and respond in life than the way Jesus did it? We are saying He is the Master. He is our hero. Nobody has ever done it better,
nobody ever will. But He said, "If you'll become
like me, and be fully developed, you'll never be above me," He
said, "but you can be like Me. You can do what I did." This is exciting. This is exciting. How did He say He did it? Verse twenty-three. Verse twenty-three, "Whosoever,"
so who will this work for? Anybody, anybody. If you'll do what? "Say to the mountain," so you've
got to say. Everybody say it out loud: "You
have to say." You have to say it. You've got to open your mouth,
you have to push air, you have to make noise. You must say it. Many Christians don't, they
don't believe this. They get hung up on it, but
we're following Jesus. "If you'll say to the mountain,"
so this is not praying, begging God to move the mountain. This is you talking to the
mountain. Jesus talked to trees, He talked
to wind and waves, He talked to fevers. You and I need to do the same
things. Talk - if you've got an
infection in your body, talk to that infection. If you have some kind of
congestion in your lungs, some kind of inflammation in your
body, talk to it. Talk to it. In fact, let's do it right now. Let's do it right now. Put your hand, class, put your
hands on your body somewhere - same thing with you. When I say class I'm talking
about everybody in class, you know. You're right here. Say it out loud: "Body, I'm
speaking to you in Jesus' name. Infection, go away. Inflammation, go away. Any growths, anything that ought
not be in my body, any bad bacteria, any virus, any deadly
thing, die and be removed from my body. My whole body, be quickened. Be made normal. Become healthy. Become strong, and work right. In Jesus' name. Hallelujah." Thank you, Lord. Would Jesus do something like
that? He did. He did do things just like that. He spoke to fevers. He spoke to wind and waves. He spoke to trees. We're reading about that right
here. Now I want to draw your
attention to the two big things He said to do. "If you would," what, "say it,"
and you're talking to the mountain, to the thing you want
changed. This is not prayer. And you tell it what you want it
to do. And then what else? "And shall not doubt in his
heart, but shall believe that what he says comes to pass; he
will have what he said." Now some people have heard a
part of this, and then they have emphasized one, and not
emphasized the other. And then people, you know, just
got confused. Now I'm not claiming that we
know all about it, but I will draw your attention to this - He
did not say you would have everything you believe, nor did
He say you would have everything you said. Are y'all with me, class? What did He say? He said, "If you would say it
and not doubt in your heart, but believe what you said, then you
would have what you said." Sometimes people would grab a
phrase of that and say and say, "Well, you know, you can have
everything that you say." He didn't say that. "Well, you'll have everything
that you believe." He didn't say that either. Let's say exactly what He said,
right? If you'll do what? If you'll speak to whatever you
want changed, if you'll speak to it, and then what else? Not doubt in your heart. Now that's actually kind of a
biggie. Don't just fly past that. Don't doubt in your heart. Let me read - I was reading the
Douay translation earlier. I want to read that again in
verse twenty-two and twenty-three. Mark 11:22, Douay Translation,
said, "Jesus answered and said to them: Have the faith of God." Verse twenty-three, "Amen I say
to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, be thou
removed and be cast into the sea, and shall not stagger in
his heart, but believe, that whatsoever he says shall be
done; it shall be done unto him." I wanted you to notice the word
"stagger" because this is the same Greek word that is
translated "waver" in some other parts of the New Testament. We have to overcome wavering for
our words to have any affect and power. So, you say it, "And not stagger
in your heart." Let's go to Romans 4:20. You're familiar with this, but
it is the same word that we just saw here in Mark 11:23. If you'll say it, "And not
stagger in your heart." Romans 4:20, talking about
Abraham, and we know Abraham's faith was good because he got
what he believed for. He got results, and it is held
up as an example to us. Romans 4:20 says, "He staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong
in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded,"
which is the opposite of staggering or wavering. "Being fully persuaded that,
what He promised, He was able also to perform." So Abraham did what Jesus is
talking about in Mark 11:23. When God told him, "I have made
you the father of many nations," when he and Sarah had been
unable to have a child. The Bible said, when He showed
him, you know, the stars in the heaven, and He showed him -
talked about the sand on the seashore, and He said, "So shall
your seed be," well you're going to have to have at least one
child for them to have children, and them to have children. For all that to come to pass
there is going to have to be a child. And the Bible said, "Abraham
believed God." Based on what? Not anything He is seeing, not
anything he has experienced. He is looking at something
unseen. He is believing what God told
him, and the Scripture said, "He staggered not at the promise of
God. He was strong in faith giving
glory to God." He was, "Being fully persuaded." I want to say this, and then we
are going to keep seeing it in Scripture after Scripture. Faith is sure. Faith is convinced. Faith is assured. Faith is sure. If you are not sure, you are not
in faith. What is wavering? What is staggering? Look in James. We know this, but it will do us
good to look at it again. James 1:5-6. James 1:5 he talked about, "If
anybody lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all men
liberally, and upbraids not." But verse six says, "Let him ask
in faith, nothing wavering." That's the same word that's in
Mark 11:23, that's in Romans 4:20, it's here. Sometimes it is translated
"stagger", sometimes it's translated "waver", sometimes
it's translated "doubt". But it means back and forth. Back and forth. Wavering is this way and then
this way, and then this way and this way. If you are this way you can't be
in faith, and so what you say is not going to come to pass
because you are doubting in your heart. You are wavering in your heart,
and it could come out like this - well, is it going to happen? I don't know, maybe it will,
maybe it won't. I hope so. We'll see. We'll try it. If it is God's will. If it is not, I don't know. You cannot be in faith when you
are not sure of God's will. You cannot be in faith when you
are not sure, when you are wavering. That's why oftentimes people are
not in position to pray the prayer of faith initially. You've got to hear enough Word
of God until you stop vacillating, you stop wondering,
you stop questioning, and you get to the place where you are
like Abraham, you're not almost there, you are fully persuaded. Somebody say: "Fully persuaded." Fully persuaded. Fully persuaded. See, this is the reason many
have been confused about attempting to use faith
principles. They said something, and it
didn't happen. And they said, "Well, see there. There is nothing to that. I thought that was goofy
anyway." Well they were never convinced. They didn't do what He said. Mark 11:23, Jesus did not say
you'll have everything you believe. He did not say you'll have
everything you say. What did He say? "If you speak to it, and you
don't waver, you don't vacillate and stagger in your heart, but
you believe," in other words, you are convinced, you're fully
persuaded like Abraham, "that what you say will happen." Then Jesus said, "What you say
will happen." How many think Jesus is right? How many think He knows what
He's talking about? He just got through doing it. He demonstrated it. That's how He lived. That's how He functioned. That's how God the Father
functions. So never let somebody tell you,
"Oh that faith stuff doesn't work." They are just talking about a
lack of understanding they have concerning faith. Surely no person that is a real
Christian is going to disrespect Jesus and say that what He said
doesn't work. If He said that you, "Say it,
and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say
will come to pass, it will come to pass." How many are going to go with
Jesus and say He knows what He is talking about? If you do what He said, it is
going to happen. If you think you did what He
said and it didn't happen, guess what? He is still right. He's still right, and you just
missed it somewhere. You didn't do what He told you
to do, and as soon as you do what He said, you are going to
see results. We should not be proud and
haughty. It's surprising how haughty
folks can be. Something didn't work, they
prayed something, they said something, they did something,
and their first conclusion is, "God let me down." That's the only possibility to
say, "God let us down, faith didn't work, the Bible isn't
true." That's the only possibility you
can come up with? How about this, maybe you did
something wrong. Maybe you and I didn't know
something, right? Right? That's why we have Faith School. We're learning, we're growing. No, friends. God is faithful. He never let's us down. His Word is forever settled in
heaven. It cannot fail. Real faith in God gets real
results every time when you do what He said. No, thank God, Abraham staggered
not. He was fully persuaded. He said, "Don't ask wavering
like the wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. Don't let that man think he'll
receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable
in all his ways." Can you get this fixed? Yes you can, but not by watching
a bunch of foolish TV, and listening to a bunch of people
tell you all their, you know, misgivings about everything. You have to put your nose in the
Textbook. You've got to spend some time
with Him, and keep hearing what He said, hearing what He said,
hearing what He said until it pushes out all of the
questionings, and all of the wonderings, and all of the
reasoning's. And all you are left with is He
said it, and I believe it. That's it. Then when you're fully
persuaded, and you can say something and not waver about it
- not wondering will it happen, will it not happen? Is it His will? Is it not His will? If you're still doing that, you
are not ready to speak. Your words will have no power. But when you get fully
persuaded, you will say, and it will come to pass. Hallelujah! Say it out loud: "I can be like
Abraham. No wavering, fully persuaded,
totally convinced of God's faithfulness." Hallelujah. Well, that's it again today for
Faith Class. Join us again tomorrow. Join us again. Go back and get the previous
ones, and become a strong in faith, giving glory to God child
yourself. We'll see you next time in Faith
School.
