♪ (Music playing) ♪ Good morning, Class. Class: Good morning. Hi, I'm Keith Moore, and we
welcome you to Faith School. Faith School is the place where
our spirits are fed on the Word of God, and our faith begins to
grow. You know, faith, when it is fed
and exercised, it develops, it grows. And where we learn how to live
the victorious, overcoming life that God intended for all His
children to live. We've saved you a place right on
the front row. Get your Bible, get something to
take notes with, and come right on in here, and prepare to have
your mind enlighten with the Word, have your spirit, like we
said, fed and built up. I know years ago when I began
pursuing the Lord, you know, seriously, to learn about Him,
He challenged me. His spirit, I don't mean I heard
a voice, but inside me distinctly said, "Examine
everything you believe, and find it in the Scriptures." And over the course of the next
year or so I kept doing that, and I was surprised at how many
things I couldn't find in the Scripture that I thought I had
believed, and even things that were contradicted by Scripture. So have your mind open to be
renewed to think like the Lord does, and realize that many
things that people have believed in church, many things that
people have preached from the pulpit are not in line with the
Scriptures. And all of us have made
mistakes, but be quick and ready to submit to the Word and say,
"Well, if that's what the Word says then mom, and daddy, and
grandpa were wrong, and I've been wrong because He's right,
and what He has said is right." So let's believe for that to
happen today because the great thing about that is even when
you find out that you've been wrong, when you find out the
truth, now you know why that didn't work. And now you have the answer what
to do that can work, and the truth will make you free. Let's pray about this today. "Father, in Jesus' name, all of
us together are agreeing together, touching this, asking
You for the anointing, for revelation, for direction, for
utterance, ears and hearts that can hear, answers for today,
help for right now. We ask it in Jesus' name, and we
say we'll be doers of it, and we thank you for helping us in
advance. Amen." Turn in the Textbook today again
to 2 Corinthians four, Scripture that we've been looking at for a
number of days now. Second Corinthians four, and if
you haven't been with us on our previous weeks of Faith School,
class, you can. Use the information on the
screen and go back to the archives, and you can start at
week one, and build with us up to where we are now. And it's very important that you
do so because we are building on the foundation that has already
been laid. In 2 Corinthians 4:13 He says,
"We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is
written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also
believe, and therefore speak." Faith involves more than
believing. Living faith involves acting on
your belief, and the number one action acting on your belief is
what you say. Roman 10:8, 9, 10 repeat three
times how we got saved, how you get born again. "You believe in your heart, you
confess with your mouth, and that confession is made unto
salvation." Our High Priest uses our
confession to manifest things in our life. He backs up from heaven what we
say on earth when we say what He said. You could say it like this, when
you say what He said, He will do what you say. Look with me in Hebrews the
eleventh chapter. Hebrews 11:1, which is the
definition of faith. Hebrews 11:1, King James says
it, "Now fwaith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen." But the NIV, and not just the
NIV but half a dozen other translations that I noticed say
it like this, Hebrews 11:1 NIV, "Now faith is being sure of what
we hope for, and certain of what we do not see." Did you hear these two words:
sure and certain? Actually the Good News
translation says it like this - and again you'll find this in
the Complete English, the New Century, the New English,
Today's English, I mean, several different translations render it
this way. The Good News says, "To have
faith is to be sure of the things we hope for." And you could say it like this,
"To have faith is to be certain of the things we cannot see." So let's say it like this: "To
have faith is to be sure. To have faith is to be certain." So he said, "Sure of things we
hope for," or expect, "and certain of things we cannot
see," and yet you're being sure, and you're being certain. One of the areas where many are
making mistakes concerning living by faith is that they
have been taught that you're supposed to add to every prayer
if it be thy will, and that you're supposed to say,
basically, concerning everything, if it be God's will,
if it be God's will. And so, how are we going to find
out - like I had somebody ask me one time, they said, "Well,
would you pray with me about this?" And I said, "Well, do you
believe it's God's will for this to happen," and they said, "Well
I don't know, but I thought we'd pray and then we would find
out." I thought well how are we going
to find out? And he said, "Well, if it
happened it was His will, but if it didn't happen then it wasn't
His will." There is zero faith involved in
that, friends. No faith at all, and I'm not
making fun. I'm not knocking anybody because
I did the same thing. I remember years ago I went on a
hospital visitation with my pastor, and this would've been,
you know, many, many years ago before I was married and in the
ministry, just a young guy. And we went to a dear sister's
room who was suffering greatly and had a bad report physically,
and so the pastor prayed, and I stood right there by him and
agreed with him wholeheartedly. That's all we knew. And he said, "Father," you know,
"God, if it be thy will heal our dear sister and raise her up,
and if not, Thy will be done." And I said, "Amen." But, you know, looking back now,
examine the prayer. What are we saying? People are saying, "God is in
control of everything. He is controlling everything,"
and that statement is not true. He has given us a free will. But people say that and so
they're saying, "Nothing is going to happen except it's the
will of God, and if anything does happen it was the will of
God. And it it's not the will of God,
it's not going to happen ever." Well then that means everything
that is happening on the planet is the will of God. Are you really going to say that
all the cruelty, and all the death, and all the terrible
stuff that's happening on the planet is the chosen will of
God? It absolutely is not. God has given us a free will,
and there are all kind of things that are happening that are not
His will, and He allows it because He allows us to choose. And if you hear what we're
saying in praying for this woman back those many years ago, what
we are saying is, "God, You're going to do what You're going to
do. And so if it's Your will to heal
her, heal her. Of course, if it's Your will,
You were going to do that anyway. But if it's not Your will don't,
heal her. Of course, if it wasn't Your
will, You weren't going to. And why are we praying? Because You're going to do what
You're going to do no matter what we do. Your will is already set in
stone." It's not true. It's not true. But if the enemy can keep us
unsure about the will of God, he can keep us in a faithless
position, and that's a powerless place, and a place of no results
in our prayers or in other things. No, as long as we are
questioning the will of God about a thing, we cannot be in
faith about that thing. I didn't say you didn't have
faith in other areas, but if you're - let's say you're
questioning whether it's God's will for you to be healed or
not. Maybe you've got strong faith
that God is real, that He's a good God, that heaven is real,
that you're saved. Maybe your faith is good and
strong there, but if you're questioning whether or not it's
God's will for you to be healed, you cannot have faith for
healing until you get that settled. Come on, read it with me again
in the Good News Translation, Hebrews 11:1. "To have faith is," what, "to be
sure of things we hope for," or expect. We're expecting something, and
we're sure of it. "Well, you think it might
happen?" No, I don't think it might
happen, it will happen. "Well how can you say that?" Because I've heard from Him,
through His Word, by His Spirit, enough to be convinced this is
His will. He has already bought it, He has
already paid for it, He has already given it to us. "Faith is being sure of things
we expect and hope for. Faith is being certain of things
we cannot see." I don't see the money yet, but
I'm certain that I'll have more than enough to pay our bills and
meet our needs. I don't see the change in my
body yet, but I'm certain, "With long like He'll satisfy me, and
show me His salvation." That is faith, but it can't be
wavering. It can't be vacillating, "Maybe
He will, maybe He won't. If it's His will. If it's not His will." No, you have to find out His
will before you can have faith. Go with me, please, to the Book
of Daniel because there's a passage here that you hear
people preach on, talk about sometimes, and many people's
idea about it is just wrong. And I know I'm opening up
something here, but I'm doing it on purpose because this is - if
you don't get this, you don't get faith because you can't be
questioning the will of God in an area and pray a prayer of
faith or make a confession of faith in that area - cannot. In the Book of Daniel, this is
the account in chapter three, where King Nebuchadnezzar, you
know, built that giant statue, that giant gold image of himself
- he was really into himself. And so, he thought him being the
greatest thing around, he built this giant, huge gold image of
him that everybody is supposed to worship. Everybody - and he calls
everybody, all of those that are under him, all of his leaders,
all of his people from all over his kingdom, and they were
commanded, not a suggestion, commanded that when the music
played everybody falls in front of the kings new statue, and
they worship before the image of the great king Nebuchadnezzar. Well, as you know, from reading
Daniel, there were some Hebrew boys there that had been told to
worship the Lord God and Him only are you to worship. And so this was a problem for
them to fall down and worship this image. And so Daniel 3:12, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, they did not bow down when the music
played. And so verse thirteen, Daniel
3:13, "Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to
bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And they brought these men
before the king. So get the picture, I mean, no
telling how many people are here. I guess, you know, at least
scores of thousands, and maybe a whole lot more than that. This is a giant, giant deal. And there is a schedule to this,
I'm sure, and it all comes to a screeching halt. And the king says, "What, hold
on! Hold the phone, come here." And, boy, they grabbed these
guys, and they drug them in front of the king, and so
everybody is hearing and seeing this in the vast crowd. And he says, "Is it true," verse
fourteen, "O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do you not serve
my gods, nor worship the golden image which I haveset up?" Verse fifteen, "Now if you be
ready that at what time you hear the sound of the cornet, flute,
harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of
music, if you fall down and worshp the image which I have
made; well:" everything will be okay. "But if you worship not," if you
don't fall down, "you shall be cast the same hour into the
midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God
that shall deliver you out of my hands?" You watch it when people start
talking sassy about God. They are setting the stage for a
miracle. A minister friend of mine, there
were some equipment things that he needed for his ministry. And they had told him, business
people around him, that he would never have that. You'll never have that. And one fella even piped up and
said, "Not even your God can do that." Well, we both laughed when we
heard that. We thought, oh yeah. Say it again. Say it again. Well, what do you think? Within a few months time he had
it, and everybody was shocked out of their wits that that
preacher had that. But anytime people rail and go,
"Oh, God can't do that. What kind of God can do that?" They are setting the stage. And so the king said, "What kind
of God, your God? Who is that God that can deliver
you out of my hands? Shadrach," verse sixteen,
"Meshach, and Abednego answered and they said to the king, O
Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you in this
matter." They said we don't need any time
to think about this. We've got your answer right
here. "If it be so, our God whom we
serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, he
will deliver us out of your hand, O king. Butif not, be it known to you, O
king, we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden
image which you have set up." Now, the reason I'm bringing
this up today is because there are modern translations, maybe
you have one that says it, that says, verse seventeen, "If you
throw us in, you know, God will deliver us. But even if He doesn't deliver
us," they will say it like that. Verse eighteen, "Even if God
doesn't rescue us. Even if God doesn't deliver us,
be it known to you, O king, we will not serve your gods, nor
worship your golden image." That cannot be correct because
faith happened here, and faith is not questioning the will of
God. You might say, "Why would you
say that, Brother Keith, because that's what it says." That's not what it says. You've got to beware some modern
translations that call themselves translations because
they are actually paraphrases. They are not real translations. And the translators are adding
words, and they are telling you what they think it means. Well, we've got the Author of
the Book. We don't need men telling us
what they think it means. We need to hear what it said. Are you with me, friends? So beware of paraphrases versus
accurate translations. If you - I have a very accurate
translation, the Young's Literal Translation, and this is how it
actually reads. Young's Literal, verse
seventeen, he said, and I know it doesn't read that smoothly,
but this is from another language and an archaic
structure. "Lo, it is;" is what's actually
said, "our God whom we are serving, is able to deliver us
from a burning fiery furnace." Verse eighteen, "And lo not!" That is exactly what was said,
and they are not saying if God doesn't deliver us. Listen to how adamant they were
on the first part. "If it be so," if what be so? Well they are answering his two
statements that he made. He said, "If you'll fall down
when the music plays, everything will be okay. But if you don't fall down, I'm
going to throw you in this fiery furnace." So they're saying, "If you do
throw us in the fiery furnace, our God whom we serve is able to
deliver us, and He will deliver us." Do you hear how positive that
is? How clear, how strong? "But if you don't throw us in,"
see they're answering his statement. "If not," if not what? "If it's so," if you throw us
in. "If you don't throw us in we
want you to know, we're not worshiping your idol." Now it's really unnecessary to
say, "We're not going to worship your idol if God doesn't deliver
us." You ain't worshiping any idols,
right? If God doesn't deliver us that
is an unnecessary statement. Come on, can you see this? But the reason I bring this up
is you've got to beware, even with translations. People are adding words,
changing what was said, because they don't understand faith. And they think it's humility,
they think it's submission to say, "Well, you know, maybe he
will, maybe he won't. But even if he doesn't we're not
going to worship your image." They didn't say even if he
doesn't. I know they didn't because
Hebrews eleven says that, "The violence of the fire was
quenched by faith." Hebrews eleven says so, so we
know what happened here was faith. And we know at the very
beginning of Hebrews 11:1, we just got through reading it,
"Faith is being sure of what you expect. Faith is being certain of what
you don't see yet." Oh, the faith is in that first
verse that we read, in verse seventeen. If you throw us in, king - we're
not careful to answer you. We don't need any time to think
about this. We've got your answer right
here. What? If you throw us in - he just got
through saying, "What God can deliver you out of my hand?" We've got your answer right
here. "Our God can, we know what God
can deliver us, and if you do throw us into this fiery
furnace, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us and he
will deliver." Oh come on, can you see that? The reason why this is in the
Bible, and why this is the story we tell our children in Sunday
School, "Delivered Out of the Fiery Furnace", is because of
the faith. And you hear the spirit of faith
in their boldness to declare what God is going to do. Come on, can you see that? That's why it cannot be that
they're saying, "But if he doesn't deliver us," it cannot
be. It cannot be. That is someone who doesn't
understand faith. That is someone who does not
understand that faith is based on the known, revealed will of
God. That would be like coming to be
born again and saying, "Lord, you know, save me. I'm going to receive Jesus,
unless you don't want me too." That vacillation, "God, heal me
unless it's not Your will." Yeah, God will get us out of
here unless he doesn't want too. Maybe He doesn't want too. Can you see, what you are saying
- if that is what you are
saying, it makes no difference about
anything. There is no faith, there is
nothing for God to work with. You have to have found and
ascertained the will of God. And when they took this stand on
this very public day - I mean, it's easy for us to talk about
it. Maybe you've heard, you know,
since Sunday School if you grew up in church, but this is a big
deal. If you were there, and you're
already feeling the heat from that thing as they are heating
it up over there then your flesh is crying out, "Hey, what's the
problem? Just bending the knee a little
bit and saying okay, no problem." But something had happened in
their heart, and they refused to compromise the commandment of
the Lord, you worship the Lord of God, and Him only will you
worship. So they knew it wasn't God's
will for them to bow their knee. And knowing they are doing God's
will, they also knew their God could deliver them, and they
were convinced He would. Come on, can you see this? It's not enough to believe He
can. You've got to believe He does,
he has, he will, right? Can you see this? You not only must believe that
He is, you've got to believe He will reward you for taking that
kind of stand. And, oh friends, isn't it
wonderful? I mean, you know, if you tell
your little children, "And the king said he's going to throw
them in the fire! And so they heated it up real
quick, and then God moved on the king and said, 'Don't throw them
in,' and he said, okay. So they got to go back to their
seat, and the kids will go, "More Kool-Aid? More Animal Cookies?" No, that's not the miracle. Being delivered from the fiery
furnace is not like being delivered out of the midst, out
of the middle of the fiery furnace. This is an astounding miracle. The church has been talking
about it for all these centuries. It's worth talking about, and it
is such an amazing example of faith. But can you, class, hear the
spirit of faith? Can you hear the spirit of faith
in this when they stood up and said, "We've got your answer
right here. We ain't bowing, and you said
what God can do this? Our God is able to deliver us,"
come on give me the rest of it, "and He will deliver us." And He did. Did He? Did He? In such a glorious, amazing way
that it brought the king to humility and changed the whole
thing. And the king began to pass new
rules that everybody has to worship this God. But what a bold stand they took. Well, that's it for Faith School
today. Come back tomorrow. Until then, say it out loud: "I
live by faith, I walk by faith, I overcome the world by faith. I'm strong in faith giving glory
to God."
