The Triumphs of Faith...
Praise God Church!!!
Turn to Numbers chapter 13.
a) God Said It...
How many in here tonight believes that God speaks?
How many believe that the Bible is the written word of God?
Word that was spoken before it was written? Amen?
If we believe God speaks,
If we truly have faith in the fact that God speaks,
Wouldn’t the outward manifestation of our faith be to listen,
Shouldn’t we be listening when God is speaking,
You know when I was coming up I always thought that children should be seen and not heard.
There was an occassion or two when I was told not to speak unless spoken to.
See when I was a child the rule was when grown folks was talking,
You shut your mouth,
And maybe you might learn something, Amen?
Well how many of God’s children are in here tonight?
How many know that when you were saved you received a spirit of adoption,
A spirit that crys abba, father! (Rom. 8:15)
A spirit that made you a beautiful child of God.
And as a child of God,
How many know when Daddy’s talking we need to shut our mouths and listen,
We need to listen to His words,
Learn what they mean,
And Believe what they say!!!
When God speaks it’s time to listen,
And not just let it go in one ear and out the other,
We need to listen with understanding ears,
And write it down on a believing heart!
b) God Meant It...
Many people say they believe that the Bible is the written word of God,
They’ll tell you that it’s the inerrant, infallible, Word of God,
They’ll tell you that it’s packed full of promises to the believer,
And all of that’s true,
But what they won’t tell you is that studies show that less than two percent of Christians read their Bible on a regular basis,
They won’t tell you that even though the Bible is a book full of promises,
Those promises are rarely believed,
The word of God offers blessings to the children of God,
Yet we rarely take God up on His offer.
Either we don’t know what the word says because we don’t read it,
Or we don’t believe what the word says because we’ve been endoctrinated,
Maybe we just don’t understand what it says,
And that’s because we aren’t being taught and led by the Spirit,
c) That Settles It...
See, no matter what the excuse is,
No matter what your explanation is,
Or you reasoning,
It’s a lie straight from the pits of Hell,
It’s a lie straight from Satan himself who is the father of all lies,
He’s got into some of our heads and told us we don’t need to read God’s word,
He’s got into some denominations theology and told them the gifts were for another time,
That the power and authority that God wants every believer to walk in,
Was just for Paul,
It was just for Peter, or Stephen, or Phillip,
The Pentecostal experience was a one time occurrance,
He’s been flooding our eargate with this kind of doubt and unbelief since the dawn of the Church age,
And how many know that we have to protect our eargate?
We have to refute those lies with the Word of God,
That’s what Jesus did!!! etc. etc. etc.
See we have to know the truths written in the word,
But above all of that we have to believe those truths and apply them to our faith life,
What I’m trying to say is we have to accept those truths and walk in them,
Claim them for ourselves, Claim that Victory, Claim the Triumph,
Our motto should be God said it, He meant it, That settles it all for me,
Because when the word and your faith line up together,
Then you’re gonna be triumphant in the name of Jesus,
Then you’re gonna recieve the victory,
Because The word is your sword amen?
And with that sword you are blazing a trail through that spiritual battle field,
Destroying the works of the Devil. Amen?
But how many knows he’s coming right back at you with fiery darts,
Tipped with lies, doubt and unbelief,
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
See you can’t do battle with just a sword or just a shield, etc. etc. etc.
If you know the word....If you have the head knowledge that’s good because now you’re dealing with fertile ground,
You’ve got some fertile soil to sow your faith seed into.
But you can’t reap your blessing without both things being present,
Faith is the victory, Amen?
But the word is the promise?
So let’s read His Word tonight. Amen?
d) Read:
Num 13:27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
Num 13:28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.
Num 13:29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.
Num 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
Num 13:31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
Num 13:32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.
Num 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
e) Activate Your Faith...
See the theme of this conference has been to Activate Your Faith.
To put your faith into action.
How many know that faith is an action word.
Faith itself is a noun, Amen?
But it requires us to put a verb some where in the midst.
It requires action!
A wise man once said I’ll show you my faith by my works,
By my actions,
But can you show me yours without them?
Without action, with out works, where’s your faith?
The Bible says it’s dead,
Oh, but faith in action, faith with works is very much alive amen.
Things start happening when you walk by faith.
The tides of life start changing, Amen!
I want to talk about what happens when your faith is added to the word and then put into action!!!
1) Your Faith Confirms the Promise of God...
Your faith becomes evidence.
It becomes a witness to what God has already promised,
Your faith bcomes a testimony to what God has not only promised but fulfilled in your life. Amen?
Num 13:27 ....We came unto the land...and surely it floweth with milk and honey...
How many know that this is what God had already said about it?
He said I’m going to bring you to a land flowing with milk and honey,
And when they went out into the land,
Walking by faith, they saw that what God said was true,
It was confirmed that God is not a lie. Amen?
Faith sets to its seal that God is true!
See God promises peace in believing!
His Word promises rest to the weary who believe!
Salvation to you who believe!
Prosperity to those who believe!
The key word is believe.
If you don’t have the promise don’t tell me you believe. etc. etc. etc.
God is not a man that He should lie.
So long as your will and His Word, or His written will line up together,
Then what you ask believing in your heart you will receive. Amen?
See when you put faith in God’s Word,
When His Word is believed, He is honoured,
You honor God just by believing, just by your faith.
Because the just shall live by faith,
You are justified by your faith,
and when your soul is Justified it justifies God.
2) Your Faith Proves There’s Fruitfulness...
Num 13:27 ....and this is the fruit of it.
They showed them the fruit of the promised land.
See they brought into the wilderness that which the wilderness could not produce.
They were walking over here in the promised land for forty days,
And the Lord made them fruitful.
When you start walking in the promise,
When you step out in faith and become a child of promise,
When you put your faith in the Child that was promised,
Who waxed old 33 years and then lay down His Life that you may have life,
And Have it more abundantly,
When you start standing on that promise,
Then God’s gonna make you fruitful
And God’s gonna send you back into the wilderness with that fruit,
He’s gonna say go ye therefore into all the world,
with all the good fruit that I gave you,
And share that fruit in the wilderness,
And take the seeds from that fruit and sow them into the hearts of men,
God’s going to make you fruitful just like His Apostles were fruitful.
Act 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
See, every believer’s life ought to be a witness to the truth of God’s Word.
We all ought to be fruitful,
Walking around in the power and authority given us by the Spirit of God,
Claiming the power of the Blood of Jesus over every trial in our life,
Knowing, Growing, and walking in a holy boldness,
The same boldness as John and Peter,
The fruit of the Spirit which is,
Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, and Temperance,
should abound in us and testify to God’s greatness.
When our faith confirms God’s promise and makes us fruitful we become like Caleb.
3) Your Faith Makes You an Advocate For Present Possesion...
The Bible says in....
Num 13:30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.
See, Caleb new that they could overcome it because God had already promised the victory.
God said I’m going to give you a land flowing with milk and honey,
Not I’m going to show you that land,
God said you are an overcomer in Christ,
My question is if God said you’re an overcomer,
Why are you still being overcome by the wiles of the devil,
Could it be because there’s doubt in the mix,
You’re waiting on a sure thing instead of walking by faith,
<<<<
See, unbelief creeps in and puts things off until a more convenient season,
But God made you promises for here and now,
And the now and later,
If His word says I can have it now, Then I’m going to have it now,
When His word says By faith,
I look back at the definition in Hebrews 11:1 which says NOW FAITH
Through Faith, Right Now Faith,
It’s when I demonstrate now faith,
That I start to receive His right now blessings,
When I’m Walking by now faith I’ve already lined up with His Word
I’m meeting His requirement of Faith,
He promised me eternal life, That’s a present possession,
I can know I have it right now if right now I’m walking in now faith,
Matt. 11:28,29 Promises rest from Labor which is in Heaven,
That’s right now faith for an on time blessing,
But it also promises rest in Labor,
That’s right now faith for a right now blessing,
Not only in Heaven but now...etc...unity...prosperity...etc.
The land of promise is before you, tonight.
God is saying go up and possess it!!!
Faith values the present because,
it knows future blessedness depends upon it.
4) Faith Rests in the Lord...
Num 14:8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
Num 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
Caleb and Joshua were pleading with them yet they were focused on the difficulties,
Faith doesn’t over look the difficulties,
But instead it compares them with the promise and power of God,
Unbelief doesn’t include God in its reasonings,
Yet Faith says is anything to hard for him...
Greater is He in me... Ican do all things through Him....
1) When He finds pleasure in you, delights
2) And you know His promise, He will bring you,
3) And His presence is with you,
4) You can Walk in his Power, He is able.
f) Encouragement>>>Follow God...
Num 14:23 Surely they shall not see the land which I swore unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
Num 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
God said Caleb followed me fully,
Was Caleb perfect? Probably not.
But God was saying His faith in me never waivered,
All the doubt and unbelief of the other spys could not change Calebs mind,
He was focused on God Continually,
Caleb didn’t care how big or how numerous the Giants were in the land,
He didn’t care how high the walls were around the cities,
His heart was stayed on God,
g) Conclusion>>>Following God Brings Promise...
Num 14:24...him will I bring into the land...
This is the Victory, even our faith,
Those that walk by it are not sent away empty,
He told the thief on the cross that today you will be with me in paradise...
Alter call...
The Triumphs of Faith by:
Rev. John Butler Jr. (Copyright © 2008)
