Faith
Luke 6:47-49, “Whosoever comes to Me, and hearing My sayings, and does them, I will show you to whom he is like:
48-He is like a man who digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock (Jesus, the Word): and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
49-But he that hears and does not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth (sand); against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.”
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EXAMINING THE FOUNDATION:
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A lot of Christian’s today think they’re okay in their walk with the Lord. They have been trying to built on foundation’s that are faulty. Jesus said here in the Scripture we read that the reason a house stands or falls is because:
1- We either hear His Word and we obey it, or
2- We hear it and choose not to ignore it.
Not so long ago, the Holy Spirit said, “I am now in the process of tearing down those faulty foundations that My peole have so carefully built for themselves (upon the sand). Foundations that cannot stand in this day or in the hour that is just ahead.” The Lord said, “I will establish My people on a solid foundation that will stand through anything in the coming days. This foundation will be solid and it will be sure.”
How many of you have thought that you were standing on a pretty solid foundation because you’ve been careful to built it but suddenly, boom, a storm hit and it sort of crumbled underneath you? When this happened, did you feel like you had to more or less start all over again? Has anyone ever been here at this place? I believe we all have at one time or another. So, what was the problem?
Even in the natural, when a house shifts and there are stress cracks, etc., you immediately have the foundation examined. If the foundation of a new house is faulty, then you’re going to have big problems when you try to build upon it. You find this same problem going on in the body of Christ with many Christian’s who have faulty foundations. Not everyone is building on a solid foundation of the word and being a “doer of the word.” Because of this neglect, many of God’s people are experiencing stress cracks in areas of their lives such as in marriage, family, church, business, finances, ministry, children, etc.
One of the things we hear a lot of today from people, both in the secular and in the Christian world is how “stressed out” they are. This is an indication that there is a need to examine the “foundation” you’re building on. Jesus said Himself in Matthew 16:18, “And I say unto you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
For years, people have misunderstood what Jesus said here. It was thought that He was saying Peter was the rock He was going to build the Church upon. I believe we’ve come far enough today that we know now this is not what He was talking about. For one thing, Peter would go through some painful experiences as he came to the end of himself and embraced brokenness. Instead of wavering and being unstable, Peter would become a person of rock-solid faith who loved not his life unto death.
Prior to Matthew 16:18 and looking at Matthew 16:16, when Jesus asked His disciples who did men say that is was, Peter spoke up and said, “Thou art the Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), the Son of the living God.”
In the next verse, verse 17, Jesus blessed Peter and told Him that flesh and blood had not revealed this to him but “My Father which is in heaven.” It was upon this rock of revelation, that Jesus is the Anointed One of God, the Son of the living God, the Messiah, that He would build His Church, to which He is the Chief Cornerstone. Everything is measured by His holy standard of righteousness as the Living Word (John 1:1).
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FAULTLINES:
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If a foundation is not stable, then it will have faultlines. This is because there is so much stress upon it. The house is not built solid enough to withstand the pressure. This discribes many believer’s in the body of Christ today who are crumbling under all the pressure they‘re going through. Because of it, many Christian’s are dealing with depression and hopelessness. Even feeling like giving up their faith and throwing in the towel.
In John 14:6, Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but by Me.” If we’re to build our spiritual houses upon the Rock, who is Jesus Christ as the living Word and Chief Cornerstone, then we have to have our minds renewed to the truth of His word. We have to have not only the Logos Word of God but we’ve also got to have His Rhema Word of revelation knowledge. The Holy Spirit, as our Teacher, is here to lead us into all truth, just as Jesus said He would. But in order for us to receive the real truth of what the Word of God says, we have to be a yielded and willing vessels to learn the lessons of faith. We musy have a teachable spirit.
We have to allow the Holy Spirit to not only reveal the Word to our spirits, but we’ve also got to allow Him to tear down old mind-sets of distorted truths that have been a big part of our faulty foundations. From childhood on up to adulthood, we’ve taken a vast amount of information into our memory banks, as it were. Or you could say that we’ve created many files of information through the years and when something comes up, we can go and pull out a file and say, “Well, this is what my preacher said years ago.” Or, “this is what I’ve always heard my grandma say.”
Traditions and half-truths are distortions of God’s truth that we’ve taken into our belief system just because grandma said this or that was so. Or because this preacher said something was the truth, or sister or brother so and so said this is how you’re supposed to be as a Christain. Just because something sounds good and religious doesn’t make it spiritual truth. Here’s one of those faultlines. For years people have been saying (I used to be one of them), “You have to look over me because, after all, I’m just an old sinner saved by grace.”
Doesn’t that sound good and religious? It sounds like truth but is it God’s truth? If you want the real truth then it stands to reason that you go to the person Who has the truth. Jesus is THE truth (John 14:6). So, from God‘s word, what is the truth concerning a sinner being saved by grace? “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
When you look a little closer at this Scripture, you can see that the old traditional saying is a half-truth, which is still a lie because there is no such thing as half-truth or partial truth. There is absolute truth and there is absolute lies (John 8:44-45). There is no such thing as a white lie, or a black lie, or a big lie, or a little lie. There is only lies and truth. Yes, we are “saved by grace through faith...” And after you’ve received God’s free gift of salvation, where does it mention that you’re still an old sinner?
In fact, if you look again at this scripture, it doesn’t even include the word sinner. That Scripture said, you’re saved, you’re delivered, you’ve been translatled out of darkness and into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son, Jesus when you received Him as your Lord and Savior (Colossians 1:13). You were an old sinner, but now you’ve been saved by grace through faith and you’re the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. If you sin after re-birth, you do as 1 John 1:9 says, confess it to God and receive forgiveness and cleansing.
Bottomline, you’re either “saved by grace through faith” or you’re still an old sinner who needs to get born again. You can’t be both saved and still an old sinner at the same time because
II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: OLD things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The OLD SINNER passed away, he/she died, was crucified with Christ, and has become a brand new creation, whose spirit has been quickened and made alive unto God by the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 28:16 says, that Jesus is our ‘sure foundation’ on which to build our lives. Amen. And if Jesus is our sure foundation, then we need to know more about Him. We need to know Him more by entering into closer fellowship with Him. As we allow the Holy Spirit to teach us all truth, we will have a fresh revelation of Jesus, whereby, we will KNOW Him more intimately as that Foundation upon which we’ve chosen to stand and build our lives upon. Amen!
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JESUS, THE SON OF GOD:
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“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”
(John 1:1).
The Apostle John in this verse calls Jesus, God. In John 20:28, He’s called God by the Apostle Thomas, “And Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord, and my God.” Jesus is called God by the Father in Hebrews 1:8, “Thy throne O God is forever.” Jesus Himself said in John 17:5, “And now, O Father, glorify Me with your own self, which I had with You before the world was.”
In these Scriptures, we can see the deity of Jesus Christ, and how its established throughout the New Testament. The prophet’s in the Old Testament foretold it. And part of the deity of Jesus Christ was the truth that in being the Word with God, He was, in fact, God in the beginning just as John told us. In being God, He was also worshiped.
“Then they that were in the ship came and worshiped Him saying, ‘of a truth, You are the Son of God.”
In Revelation 22:8,9, we see that afterJohn had been shown some awesome things to come in the future, he fell down at the feet of an angel to worship it. But the angel told him immediately to get up saying,“don’t worship me. I’m a fellow servant. Worship God.” No doubt, John got up as quickly as he’d fallen down because we’re not to worship any other being or man-made objects. We’re to worship ‘the Lord your God, and only Him shall you worship.’ Amen!
I want to give you some other Scriptures that you can use to conduct your own study on the deity of Jesus Christ. What I’m giving you so far is not in depth but I pray that what we are touching on will stir a hunger in your heart to go digging in the Word for yourself. I’ll give you the highlight of what they’re about. The rest of it, I’ll leave that to you to look into for yourself. Amen? Amen.
John 8:51-59, ‘In his day, Abraham saw Him,’
Of course, we know, this is refering to Jesus. And if you recall, this is what made the Pharaisees so mad at Jesus because He told them, “Abraham saw My day and rejoiced.” They started sputtering and carrying on with indignation saying, “how can that be when you’re not even 50 years old yet?”I just love the way Jesus answered them with authoritive confidence. He said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” Well, this made them so mad that they wanted to kill Him---and eventually, they did.
The next Scripture is Mark 2:5-11--He forgave sin.
Only God can forgive sin. Once again, the Pharaisees were trying to entrap Jesus, such as the time when He was teaching in Peter’s home. Everybody from town and the surrrounding areas were there---the doctors of the law and so forth. It was so crowded in the house that there was no more room for anyone to get in.
This was not understood by four men who came carrying a friend on his bed who had the palsy. They were determined and had the faith that if they could get this guy into the meeting where Jesus was, he would be healed. If you’ve read the account in the second chapter of Mark, you know that these men tore up Peter’s roof and dropped this guy into the midst of the meeting where Jesus was preaching the Word.
So, here’s this man dangling through Peter’s torn up roof, all eyes are on him, and he says, “Hi Jesus, I just dropped in to see You.” The Bible says that when Jesus saw the faith of these men, He said to the man with the palsy, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” The Pharisees begin reasoning and saying, “who can forgive sins but God?” Now, they’re getting the message.
To answer their question, Jesus said to them, “But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins (he said to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up your bed, and go your way into your own house.” And the man got up and went his way healed and forgiven of his sins. Meanwhile, the Pharaisees, the Bible says, were amazed and glorified God. Amen! Halleluejah! None were saved, none were healed, though the power was there, but they were amazed at the miracle.
Colossians 1:16, He, Jesus, is Creator and Maker of all things.
Nothing was made that wasn’t made by Jesus. Hebrews 1:3, He is the sustainer of all things. He is holding up this universe by the Word of His power. Only God can control the universe. Matthew 28:18, Jesus said, all power in heaven and earth had been given to Him. Only God has all power. And in the Greek text, the word power here is exsousia and it means, authority.
Jesus Christ, as the Living Word of God, walked on the water. The raging winds and waves obeyed His command when He said, “Peace be still.” He healed the sick, and raised the dead. He gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. He cast out demons and made the lame to walk. He turned the water into wine and fed a group of five thousand with a little boy’s fish lunch. He was God, but He was also man. Some people have had a hard time believing that Jesus was also man too, but He was God come to earth wrapped up in human flesh. Of a truth, He was indeed All-God/All-man.
John 1:14 says,“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt (lived) among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Jesus was the one and only sole representative of God, the Father, Who sent Him to this earth to show forth His character to the world. He was the express image of God. Jesus said, “When you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father.” He brought forth grace and truth.
If you read through the New Testament prayerfully, you can see how the apostles endeavored to demonstrate what sort of glory it was they had seen. They tried to show that it wasn’t in just mere earthly relationships that they had seen this glory. The glory they were talking about was witnessed through a unique relationship.
This word, ‘begotten’ in the Greek text, means, “sole, single, only one.” But in using the word begotten here in this Scripture, it doesn’t mean that it was the beginning of the Sonship of Jesus to God, the Father. And we’re definitely talking about a unique relationship but not in the earthly sense as we know relationships to be. The relationship between Jesus, the Son, and God, the Father has no beginning and it has no ending. It always was before the beginning of time as we know it, and it always will be throughout all eternity. It won’t ever change.
The begetting of Jesus, as we’ve read about it in the Scriptures, is not an event of time because you can’t pinpoint a time of His beginning. Don’t that flip your hat around? He always was, and will always be Who He claims to be. From John 1:14, Jesus didn’t BECOME the Son of God as soon as He entered this planet, being born of a woman. It’s easy for us to think sometimes, that Jesus “became” the moment He entered this earthly realm, but He was the Son of God BEFORE He ever set foot on earth as a man. And He’s STILL the Son of God, as He sits at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for all of His children today.
Jesus, as God’s only Son, has every attribute of PURE God-hood, which equals to eternity. He is absolute. No shadow of turning. He changes not. All through John’s gospel, John shows us the deep affection between the Son and the Father. “...the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father...” Being in the ‘bosom’ of the Father speaks of intimacy, plus it shows us His eternal union with the Father in the Godhead, as well as His union with God, the Holy Spirt.
It also shows us all the Father’s counsel and His enjoying all His (the Son’s) affections. Just like you and I, being the adopted son’s and daughters of God. Through the Son, Jesus, you and I can share this same intimacy with God, our heavenly Father. Being born again through the shed blood of Jesus, we too are in the Father’s bosom, as His children. Praise the Lord!
John 3:18 says,”...Because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
If you study out the Scriptures prior to this one and the proceeding verses, you can plainly see God’s love and grace---all conveyed to mankind through the NAME of ONE Who was provided by God, the Father---now listen to this---AS THE OBJECT OF OUR FAITH.
Mark 11:22 says, “Have faith in God.” That means, we’re not only to have faith IN God, but we’re also to operate in the GOD-KIND of faith.
We have a measure, a seed, if you will, of the faith of God (Romans 12:3). But these Scriptures also talks about having a unique relationship of intimacy with the Father, and we come into that by faith.. So in going back to what I said before, the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem didn’t mean this is when He became God’s Son. He always has been and always will be God’s only begotten Son.
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JESUS, THE MAN:
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In speaking of Jesus’ birth, I want to take a moment to talk about His humanity. In Matthew 2:11, you see the wise men who came to find the Christ child, bringing gifts. Now, notice this, the wise men came bringing costly gifts that made Jesus the richest baby in town. Jesus had money throughout His entire 3 and 1/2 year ministry. If He had no money, there would have been no need for a treasurer on His staff. Amen. Judas was assigned as the treasurer and it was his responsibility to look after the money that came in to support Jesus’ ministry. Praise the Lord!
When Jesus came to this earth, He set aside all His glory and power in order to come and live here on earth as a human man. But as soon as He got here, the Father made sure that He had financial support at His disposal. Joseph and Mary would need money to flee to Egypt with the young child when Herod set out to kill all the infants from 2 years old and under. The wise men were used to deliver the financial provision to Him. Praise God! If He took care to supply the needs of Jesus, then God can and will surely take care to supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil.4:19). Amen!
Now, when the wise men had found Jesus in the manger, they also found His human father and mother. But the wise men fell down and worshiped Jesus. They didn’t fall down before His mother and father to worship them. On the one hand, Jesus was just as human as they were, but by divine revelation, these wise men, who weren’t even considered godly men, knew that this ‘Baby’ was more than just any baby. Praise the Lord! He was the Messiah. He was the Anointed One that God had spoken of through the mouths of the old sages--the prophets and had promised was coming. And here He was---a babe, the Christ-child lying in a manger.
Jesus didn’t stay a baby, the Bible says in Luke 2:52 that Jesus grew and developed just as any child would. And as He grew, He experienced the same human needs that we do such as thirst (John19:28). He had hunger for food, just like you and I (Matt. 4:2). He even became tired and weary in His body like we get tired after hard physical labor (John 4:6). And John 11:35 (the shortest verse in the Bible) says, “Jesus wept.” Yes, He cried real tears. He was also tempted just as Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities (weaknesses); but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
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BASIC FOUNDATION TRUTHS:
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This message is about laying a solid and sure foundation (Jesus, the living Word) on which to build up your spiritual house (temple). I want to reinterate what I said in the beginning that in order for us to build wisely, we must first have a firm foundation that will keep us stable. And if we don‘t first know something about the Foundation Himself upon which we want to build, then we‘re more apt to build on other foundations that will turn out to be sinking sand. We build wisely by doing what James 1:22 says, “Be a doer of the Word, and not a hearer only, deceiving your own selves.”
When we hear the Word of God and we obey it by acting on it in faith, then Jesus, as the living Word of God becomes our sure foundation. God’s Word, as we’re willing to be obedient to it once we hear it---when the Holy Spirit illuminates that Word in our spirits and it lives, that revelation becomes the ROCK beneath us as a sure foundation. It will keep us holding steady for when the shaking comes and when the winds of adversity comes. By taking care to build right to start with, when the shaking does come (and it will), your foundation will be Rock-solid beneathe you until all you feel at the most will be a tremor. Hallelujah! Amen!
From Matthew 16:13-19, I want to say again that when Jesus asked of His disciples, who were men saying He was, Peter finally spoke up and said, He was the Christ---the Son of the living God. And Jesus told him that flesh and blood had not revealed this knowledge to him but the Father in heaven. Jesus said, it is upon THIS rock (this revelation knowledge, that He is the Anointed of God), I’ll build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (they won’t be able to destroy it). That ROCK was Jesus Himself, as being the Anointed One of God---the chief Cornerstone, and He said, that you and I would be the living stones He would use to build His Church with.
In order to have a sure and firm foundation, it has to be built on basic foundational truths of God’s Word. Some people--probably most of us at one time or the other, have only taken a crash course in the basics. You know what I’m talking about---skim through it in a hurry, thinking
you’ve graduated to the ‘meat’ of the Word. Of course, most of the time, this is not the case.
Babies with very few teeth can’t chew up meat properly, and some have been known to choke when trying to swallow the ‘meat’ half-chewed. Their digestive system hasn’t developed to the stage where they can handle much meat yet. Yes, I’m talking about real babies here, but I’m also talking about spiritual ‘babies’ who skim by with taking a crash course in the basic foundational truths of the Word and think they’re ready for the more ‘meaty’ spiritual food when in fact, they are not.
Actually, you can liken your spiritual growth in God and His Word, to being promoted to the next grade level in regular school. By the time you get through those first few grades in school, you’ll need to have learned the basic’s because they’re the foundation on which you will build on when you enter high school. If you didn’t learn it in grade school, but only skimmed by, crash course style, you’re going to be hurting for certain when you reach high school and you’re faced with those tougher giants (lessons).
You can easily see the connection from the natural to the spiritual and how it applies to our growing in God from one level of faith to the next level. I’m here to tell you from my own personal experience with the Holy Spirit as my Teacher---in those times when I’ve tried to skim by in something He has for me to learn, or I’ve done a hurried crash course, He’s not pleased with me. I didn’t say He was so angry that His wrath was about to fall on me in those times.
I am saying that He let me know He was displeased through the conviction of my heart. This conviction came to me through His love. I never felt condemned, but I felt the correction through my Father’s love. I want you to understand that. For any of you who have been led to believe that God is a big bad God who’s just sitting by with a huge club, ready to knock you over the head if you make one wrong move---hear me, it’s a lie of the devil. Jesus came into the world to save people, not to condemn us (John 3:17). But when I tried to ‘get out of ‘ school, as it were, and skimmed over the lessons He gave me, at some point, I’ve had to go back and do it over again. Can anyone relate? Amen, some of you know what I’m talking about. You’ve been there too.
You see, God loves you and He won’t let you fail, regardless of how many times you TRY to fail. He will just keep giving you opportunity’s until you do the lesson and get it right. That is, unless YOU give up on you by a choice of your own will. But God will never give up on you, although He will honor your decision either way. But even then, He won’t give up on you. He will continue to bring everything and every one across your path to get your attention and let you know He loves you, and wants you to go on to succeed and bear much fruit for the Kingdom of God.
God, your heavenly Father desires for you to graduate to the next level of faith and glory in Him more than you want to. Why? Because He knows the plans He has for you and your life. Plans for good. Plans to give you hope. Good plans that does not include evil or failure (Jeremiah 29:11). So yes, I’ve had to, more or less, go back to school (the Holy Spirit’s school) to redo quite a few lessons and get them right so I could graduate to the next level of faith and anointing. He wanted me to receive all the good things He had waiting for me.
If you’ve ever had to repeat a grade in school, then you will have a real easy time in identifying with what I’m going to say. I’ve never had to repeat any grades in regular school but I was sent back to first grade once when I was in the 7th grade. This happened because I was goofing off in class and according to Gal.6:7, I sowed bad seed, and I reaped the fruit off those bad seed in the form of being sent back to the first grade for a day.
I mean, picture me, a 5’6” seventh grader at a little low table that made my long legs have to fold up under me. And here are all these “little people” with big and wide staring eyes. I mean, ALL eyes were on me as I sat there wishing for a hole to appear in the floor under me so I could fall through it. I was so embarrassed. And that was the objective of my 7th grade teacher who sent me there. Did this ever happen again? Not ever came close! I learned my lesson. And in this same context, we, as God’s children, are sent back to places and things because we’ve been goofing off spiritually and haven’t learned our lesson.
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TAKING GOD AT HIS WORD:
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Don’t you suppose the Israelite children got tired of having to be sent back around that same mountain in the wilderness over and over again? I’m sure they did. But don’t forget, they had been continually sowing the bad seed of murmuring and complaining,in unbelief, which God didn‘t like very much at all.
They complained against the God Who had heard their cry for deliverance and had brought them out of Egypt with the wealth of the Egyptians. On top of that, God healed every person. There wasn’t a weak one among them. This same God had parted the Red Sea in order for them to cross on dry land, then released the sea so that it swallowed up their enemies. They heard God’s Word through Moses, but they were rebellious and didn’t act on His Word in faith to obey what He said. Therefore, they were building on a faulty foundation that wasn’t going to hold them up for very long. And it didn’t.
If you’ve read through the Old Testament about the journey of the Israelites, then you know how the literal ground under them opened up and swallowed thousands of them because they heard God’s Word but complained against it and refused to obey it. That also happens spiritually as well when you’ve been careless in hearing God’s Word and you haven’t acted on it in faith to obey it. But yet, you’ve deceived yourself into believing that you have been obedient.
‘Well, at least, I’ve heard the Word,’ somebody says because they heard a radio or TV sermon for the week. ‘Well, at least, I read my Bible and I go to church every Sunday,’ somebody else says. That’s all well and good but is this person , by faith, applying what they‘ve heard to their everyday life? If this describes you, are you walking in God’s Word and growing in faith and producing good fruit? What is your faith producing? This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where we find out what kind of foundation we’re laying for our spiritual lives. If we’re not sure, then it’s time to check up on things a bit, amen?
But like those Israelites in the wilderness, we have people today who still don’t believe God. We have a lot of unbelieving Believer’s in the body of Christ. Some pople talk like they believe God’s Word as final truth and authority but they don‘t act like it in the realities of everyday life. How far do you think you’re going to get like that? Nowhere, because when you shake it all down, you’re operating in fear and unbelief. It comes down to, either you believe God and His Word, or you don’t. There is no in between.
“Well, I’m trying to believe.” Or, “I think I believe but I don’t really know for sure.” Nowhere in the holy Scripture’s will you ever find where God tell’s us, His children, “to try” anything. We’re told to “do.” He didn’t say, “TRY to hear the Word, and TRY to be a doer of it.” He said, “BE (that means, ‘do it’) a doer of the word (practice it daily), and not just a hearer only, deceiving your own selves.”
We either put our faith out there to know with assurity that Jesus, as the Living Word of God, is the only sure foundation we’re going to build our spiritual lives on and then, do it. Or we refuse to believe God’s Word and act accordingly in unbelief, which is to be in disobedience. Romans 14:23 says, “that whatever is not of faith is sin.” So, if you’re operating in unbelief, then God tells us plainly that its sin. Sin that we need to repent of, receive God’s forgiveness and ask Him to help our unbelief, and He will. That’s why we have His Word and the Holy Spirit here as our Teacher to lead us into all truth. Amen! Praise God!
Many of God’s very own people who have been saved for 20 and 30 years haven’t taken the time to read His Word and seek Him in prayer to even know what the depths of salvation really is. We don’t have a true understanding and revelation about the cross where Jesus shed His life’s blood for us. We only dare glance at that place of humiliation and shame where He died a painful and horrible death for the sins of the whole world. It’s time for the Church to get a new revelation of Jesus. We need a new and fresh vision of Him as our sure foundation.
Can you imagine the Father saying to the Son, Jesus, “Son; the whole world we created is at stake. And because the man, Adam has fallen, all future generations are doomed.”
“I know. What do you have in mind?” The Son ask’s.
“Redemption.” The Father answered.
The weight of that word hangs heavy between Father and Son. They are silent for a few moments. Finally, the Son speaks in a calm and strong voice.
“What's the price required for man’s redemption?”
The Father answered. “Your life for theirs.”
A second silence drapes between Father and Son. “What greater love does a man have than to lay down His life for His friends? I’ll go to earth and pay the price required,” said the Son with final authority. And so He did. Thank God for His love and His willingness to come.
This brings us back to John 1:14, “and the Word was made flesh and dwelt (lived) among men...” And John and the other apostles saw His glory.
Countless people have heard the redemption story. Books have been printed about it, the Bible holds record of it, songs have been written about it but the greatest witness of the redemption story is when God reaches down through the blood of Jesus and washes a filthy sinner clean of all his sins. Now the person hasn’t just read about it, or sung about, but they have experienced the touch of Calvary first hand in their heart and life. God’s redemptive grace and mercy, wrapped up in His love has become a reality in their heart. Hallelujah!
Hear me now, when a person can say, “I once was blind (spiritually) but now I can see (been saved)”, what greater witness to the redemption story could there be than this? Its not a fictional story, or a historical piece written to add to the archives. I want you to know that the Bible’s account of a man called Jesus, is real. And when you come face to face with a living and breathing Jesus, the very presence of God in the Person of His Son, its a Holy Ghost powered experience beyond human reasoning because His love goes straight to the heart to fill that empty void. And when this happens, you will no longer wonder if anyone loves you, you will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God’s love for you, for His child, is real.
It’s one of the most intimate moments in your life when you have a real encounter with Jesus Christ and He touches your heart. He does so in such a way that you can‘t help but ‘lean‘ on Him, instead of continuing to lean on your own understanding. It’s a holy moment because a supernatural birth has takin place and the angel‘s in heaven are rejoicing. Oh what rejoicing in heaven, over a brand new son or daughter, born into the family of God. Praise the name of Jesus!
This is something to get excited about, Amen! And the angel’s get excited about it whether we do or not. There are many miracles that God, by the power of the Spirit, brings forth in a person’s life but a person who surrenders their heart to Jesus, that is the greatest miracle of all. The person has just taken that first, all important step in building their life on a sure Foundation, Whose name is Jesus Christ. This is what its all about, seeing people come to Jesus and receiving the greatest miracle---the miracle of eternal life in Christ.
Many people hear the redemption story of how Jesus went to the cross, shed His blood for the remissions of our sins. They hear how He died on that cross, was buried and rose alive the third day by the glory of God. Yet, many people in the church have become void of sensitivity and they moan under their breath in boredom if the preacher brings the salvation message on Sunday! They want to hear something “fluffy and exciting.” Something that will tickle their itching ears.
But I want to tell you, the truth of Jesus conquering death for all people on the cross, past, present and future is still shouting ground! As believers,we should be rejoicing and shouting all over the place that we‘ve been washed in that precious blood and our sins have been forgiven. Praise the Lord! Death could not hold Jesus down in that grave, and if you’re a blood-washed child of God, then death can’t hold you down either. That same resurrection power and life in you will raise you up out of all situations that seems like death, just as it raised Jesus from death to life. Praise the Lord! I mean, if you’re ever going to shout and praise God, now would be a good time to do so. Hallelujah!
A lot of people don’t get excited today when you talk about basic (doctrine) foundational truths, that is, getting back to them and making sure that Jesus is our sure foundation. I’ve seen people like this and truthfully, there have been times that I’ve been here myself. I’ve seen these people with no smiles. No light of joy in their eyes, while you’re talking about the most exciting Person in all the universe---Jesus Christ. If you’re the one preaching or teaching this message, y ou’re so excited and blessed to know that you‘re one of His own that you’re about to have a Holy Ghost fit. Meanwhile, many of these people sit watching you with their no-life, gloomy faces. You’re shouting and praising God and about the most enthusiasm they can muster is a dull, “Bravo.” Isn’t this just too pitiful?
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RE-CLAIM, RE-COVER, RE-NEW:
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Like I said in the beginning of this message, I wanted to give you some Scriptures so you can take this study further and go with it on your own. And in closing, I want to leave you with this---we have been redeemed from sin through the precious blood of Jesus. He bought and paid for our Redemption by giving His life as a vicarious sacrifice in our place. “He was made to be sin who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God.” (II Cor.5:21).
RE-CLAIM:
The word, Redemption means to,“Re-Claim.” This means that God had claim on you when He created you. He’s the Potter, we’re the clay. But through sin, we were lost to Him. Sin had seperated us from God. And because we were seperated from Him, He set about through Jesus and His going to the cross, to Re-claim you and I back to Himself. God was willing to spare no cost to reclaim what was His, even if it meant sending His only Son to die for us. That’s love beyond human comprehension, but yet, thats how much God loves every individual person in the world. He doesn’t want anyone to perish. He wants all people to have His life that comes through the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
RE-COVER:
Also, there is the word, “Re-Cover.” In the garden, man was covered with the glory of God. Man wasn’t conscious of Himself but rather he was God-conscious. Through the sin of unbelief and disobedience man fell from right standing with God. When he did, he lost his glory covering. Instead, he found that he was naked. He was exposed, fearful and vulnerable to the affects of sin. Through the power of the blood of Jesus, God did Re-cover man again with His glory
(Isaiah 61:1)
RE-NEW:
Lastly, there is the word “Re-New.” We were a new creation in the beginning when God breathed the breath of life into us and we became a living soul. Everything about us was ‘brand new,’ including our mind. But then, sin slipped in and our mind got re-programmed by the enemy, satan. We were re-programmed to a different set of standards in our ways of thinking, judging, speaking and acting, etc.
Everything became impure that had once been pure in man. Defiled now by sin’s pollution. Therefore, God set about to get our minds Re-Newed to His Word again and to wash all the impurities out. Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the Re-Newing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”
It is within this Re-Newing of our minds to the Word of God, that we can easily see how we’re building our spiritual lives on one of two foundations---either the solid Rock, or sinking sand. God have moved us to the place, through the new birth, to where we can take His Word as we hear it and by faith, be obedient to build that sure foundation under us. That solid Rock, which is none other than Jesus Chirst, the Living Word, that will hold us up no matter what comes our way. Praise the name of the Lord!
STUDY SCRIPTURES:
1 Corinthians 3:11
Ephesians 2:19,20
2 Timothy 2:19-21
1 Peter 2:4-6
Matthew 7:24-27
Romans 10:17
Acts 14:22
Luke 6:46-49
Plain As Day Ministries
Shirley Williams
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