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[0:46] Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Last week I didn't finish what I was attempting to speak about. I was talking about the walk of faith or the faith walk.
[0:56] In Habakkuk 2, verse 4, it said, The just shall live by his faith. In Romans 1, verse 17, it says, The just shall live by faith.
[1:11] In Galatians 3, verse 11, it says, The just shall live by faith. And in Hebrews 10, verse 38, it said, The just shall live by faith.
[1:23] For you to be able to walk with God effectively as a believer, faith is a necessary requirement. It's essential. Because Hebrews 11, 6 posted this way, Without faith, it is impossible.
[1:39] Can I get pregnant? Are you sure? Not with the help of science? With the help of science, I can get pregnant. And breastfeed, don't you think so?
[1:51] It's not. A transvestite, a woman who has been, a male who has been turned into a woman, cannot get pregnant. Can't.
[2:01] Because you don't have the necessary equipment. They can do a few changes, but the womb, they give you the womb, and then you start producing ovaries, release, to release, for your ovaries to release eggs.
[2:14] And check, transvestites don't do menstruation. They do. So, I can never be pregnant. It's not possible. The way you know I cannot be pregnant, it is the same way you cannot please God without faith.
[2:30] How many of you, how many of us can decide to fly without the aid of anything? Just jump it. You can't do that. Can you? You can. In the same way, you can't please God without faith.
[2:42] So, to please God, you actually need faith to please God. Let the Lord to be the friend, to be classified as the friend of God. You just saw it in 2 Chronicles 20, verse 7.
[2:53] He said, Abraham, your friend. Can you imagine? They were praying to God. God, God, you have to do this. He says that, and you give the, he said, you give this land to the descendants of Abraham, your friend forever.
[3:08] He will give the land to them forever. That's what actually means. He will give the land to them forever. But he's your friend. Why would almighty God reduce himself and call someone his friend?
[3:21] And he didn't even just call him his friend. He, listen to this, he chose to call himself and the God of Abraham. What if Abraham has some bad record and stuff like, God, you have tarnished your image.
[3:34] You have tarnished your reputation. You choose, the almighty God chooses to slap his identity or mix his identity with a man.
[3:45] He chose to be called the God of Abraham. Abraham, and he didn't stop with Abraham. To make Matthew's words, he said his descendants. So he moved it to the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. What is it about Abraham that Jesus has to say in John chapter 8, I think verse 54 or 56, that before Abraham, I am.
[4:07] Before Abraham, I am. Verse 58. Jesus said that. Before Abraham, I am. But what did he say before, what did he say, didn't he say before Noah?
[4:18] What did he say before the first prophet, Abel? In fact, Enoch was also a prophet, right? But Abel, Abel was before Enoch. He was killed and then Enoch came.
[4:29] He was the first person to be mentioned in the hall of faith. By faith, Abel offered unto God. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 2, verse 3, verse 4. Actually, verse 4. Abel offered unto God a more excellent.
[4:41] Abel, before he mentioned all the others. So, even Hebrews, he mentioned by faith. Abel operated by faith, prophet Abel. And then Enoch, operated by faith because that's how he pleased God and God took him.
[4:55] He didn't see death. And then Noah, by faith. So, Abraham was not the first to operate by faith. Why is he called our father? Is he called the father of faith?
[5:06] Why does the scriptures connect the origin or the start of God's people with Abraham and not Noah, not Enoch, not all these guys who also equally operated by faith?
[5:19] They equally labored by faith. Why? Why Abraham? There's none in the scriptures you find the scriptures calling them the friends of God but Abraham, your friend.
[5:31] To the extent that God himself says that, you know, I won't do anything and hide it from Abraham. God? What is this? But Abraham lied. Isaac, Isaac lied about his wife, Rebecca, that she's not my wife, she's my sister.
[5:48] How many times? Once. Abraham did it twice. He did it in Genesis chapter 13 when he went to Egypt. He did it there. And guess what?
[5:59] After seven chapters, seven chapters later, Abraham did it again to Abimelech. Twice. Hebrew chapter, sorry, Genesis chapter 13, Bible says they went to Egypt and from verse 9, 11, 12 there, he said of Sarah that he's not his wife.
[6:17] She's not his wife. She's his sister. And because of that, Pharaoh suffered some losses and he returned Sarah to Abraham and then actually warned the last verse in verse, chapter 13, the last verse.
[6:36] He warned his people that none of you to touch Abraham and just leave him alone. They gave him a deportation order. Genesis chapter 13. So, and so he lied about his wife the first time in Genesis chapter 13.
[6:51] And then, Genesis chapter 15, Genesis chapter 14, he went and fought for Lot, to deliver Lot from the hands of the kings who had come to ransack Sodom.
[7:06] Then, in Genesis chapter 15, that's Genesis chapter 14, Melchizedek, Melchizedek come to meet him and then give him communion. And in Genesis chapter 15, God shows him from verse 1, Bible said, God appeared to Abraham in a vision and said, I am almighty.
[7:22] No, no. He said, I'm your great, shield, exceedingly great reward. I'm your shield and exceedingly great reward. And he said that, Abraham said, how, what would I get from you since Eliezer of Damascus, verse 5, will be my heir.
[7:37] And God said, no, this will not be your heir, but one from your own ways. So, God had a good relation with him. And then, chapter 16, Sarah said, Sarai said, since God is delaying in giving us a child, go to her guy, my maid, go into the Egyptian maid we have.
[7:58] so that she can produce a child for you. And Abraham, he did to that. Haggai got pregnant by Abraham and gave birth to Ishmael. And after he gave birth to Ishmael, God went quiet on Abraham for 13 years.
[8:13] And so, chapter 17, verse 1, God shows up again to Abraham and he tells him that I am the God almighty, Abraham. That's the first time God described himself as God almighty, El Shaddai.
[8:24] That's the first time. The other one, verse 15, he said, I'm your exceeding great reward, your shield andness. But in chapter 17, he said, I'm God almighty. Walk before me. God almighty.
[8:35] El Shaddai, the supplier, the provider. There's nothing that I can provide for you. Why do you have to go into Hagar and provide? If I say, I'm going to give you a child, why do you have to use different means?
[8:46] Means that I have not endorsed. So, God went quiet, but after 13 years, he came back to Abraham because Abraham, he had a plan for Abraham. And he came back to Abraham and he said, Abraham, walk before me and be perfect.
[8:58] Ishmael is not the one I'm talking about. Sarah, your wife, shall have a child. And then chapter 18, Bible talks about how three men visited Abraham. He hosted them.
[9:09] And then verse 14, they said that, according to the time of life, Sarah, your wife, shall conceive. And Sarah laughed, and stopped the joke. And God said, why did Sarah laugh? Sarah said, me? I didn't lie.
[9:19] I didn't lie. Like some of us would normally do. I didn't lie. And God said, God told Abraham about his intentions about Sodom and Gomorrah.
[9:31] The judgment is bringing on Sodom and Gomorrah. And Abraham, from verse 20, 21, 22 of Yonah chapter 18, went into intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah. Said, what if you find 50 men righteous?
[9:41] 45. All that. Sodom and Gomorrah gets destroyed. Lot escapes with his family. And then, the end of chapter 19, Lot impregnates his two daughters.
[9:53] Because they made him get drunk, and they forced him to impregnate them. And they had Ben-Amin and Moab, who became the Moabites and the Ammonites.
[10:05] Then, Genesis chapter 20, Abraham travels and goes into somebody's land and tells the wife, when we go, say, you are my sister. Again?
[10:17] He did that the first time. He's doing it again. And because of that, Abimelech suffered judgment in his family, in his kingdom and his family.
[10:28] And God appeared to Abimelech and said to him that you are but a dead man. Say, what have I done? Because you're going for somebody's wife. Ah! Somebody's wife? No! God, he told me she's his sister.
[10:42] He said, yes. And he said, from the integrity of my heart have I done this because I didn't go for somebody's wife. And God said, that's why, that's why I kept you from touching her. If you have touched her, it should have been a different story for you.
[10:53] And God said, return his wife to him, return his wife to him and he will pray for you for he's a prophet. Ah! A lying prophet.
[11:04] Watch this. Watch this. If you were God, would you slap your identity on such a man and choose to call him your friend?
[11:14] So what is it about Abraham in spite of his behavior? Two great things Abraham did. Two great things. The first one is when God told him to leave his father's house. And we found out that in Genesis chapter 12, verse 1-2, Bible says that, and now the Lord had told Abraham.
[11:32] Now the Lord had said to Abraham, get out. When did he had said? After his father died. Because his father died at the end of chapter 11.
[11:44] Okay. In the days of terror, terror died in Haran. Okay. So, his father died and then God came now, Bible said, now the Lord has said to Abraham.
[11:55] Before his father died, God told him to move. But Abraham laughed. Oh, okay. Abraham was a family man, but a family man without a son, a family man without a child. He had a wife, but he didn't even treat his wife well.
[12:07] He used his wife for prosperity. Colation. Economic nature. That's what he did in Genesis chapter 11, chapter 13.
[12:20] He traded in his wife. Actually, in chapter 13, that's why he did that. He traded in his wife and he got a lot of money, a lot of cattle, a lot of things. Because he was prospering in the land.
[12:32] Immigration can make you do all kinds of things. On paper, they were your wives. All right, let me not digress because I'm talking about faith. So, Abraham, with all this kind of mis, misdemeanor or misbehavior, with all this kind of unacceptable to a certain degree misbehavior, pastor, why must God call himself the God of Abraham?
[12:58] Abraham. And not just that, a friend of Abraham. A friend of Abraham. In James chapter 2, verse 23. In James chapter 2, verse 23, he said, and the scriptures, the scripture was fulfilled, which says, Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness and he was, you see where the, he being called a friend of God came from.
[13:21] And he was called. Before the end, he was called. He did something. What did he do? He believed God. So, it wasn't his behavior by his believing that made him get God's attention in that way.
[13:36] So, as I said, he did two things, two serious things by faith. First of all, he left his land by faith. But I found out that it wasn't only his land, he was landless and he became, he also, when God told him, I'll give you a child, that's even interesting.
[13:52] At the age, God came and promised him again. In Genesis chapter 15, he was not too old because in Genesis chapter 16, he impregnated Hagar.
[14:05] So, in Genesis chapter 15, when he told God, that God, see, what would you give me since I have no child and a laser of Damascus will be my heir, God said, no, you have a child.
[14:19] a child is going to come from your body. At that time, he's, can I digress and talk about, I was listening to my bishop, Bishop Doug, who is a medical doctor and he was explaining that, he was explaining that, biologically, a healthy man, okay, in every semen, semen has got sperms inside, okay, the sperms.
[14:46] In every semen, the seeds, the sperm seeds, are normal semen, about 80 million per meal. So, a normal, a normal healthy man can give about three meals, three meals.
[15:06] And, Bishop Doug said that 80 male. So, he said, normally, if a man ejaculates 10 times, you can actually produce seeds that is equivalent to China.
[15:21] Imagine the number of seeds God has embedded in you. Seeds. Say, what has that got to do with Abraham?
[15:31] Abraham, God waited when Abraham's 80 million was finished. Then God came to him and he said, can you lift up your eyes and look at the stars?
[15:44] God had told him actually before then that look at the stars, so shall your seed be. And so, he went to try it on Hagar and it backfired.
[15:58] And God said, okay, then I'll wait. Once you can't produce anymore, then I'll come back again and tell you what I, continue the conversation. So, God waited when Abraham was almost 100 years and it came back to him that your seed shall be like a star.
[16:15] And Abraham believed that one. The first one he believed, but the second one, he was 100 years when he, according to Romans. So, he believed twice about having children.
[16:27] According to Romans chapter 4, verse 17, okay, who against, Romans chapter 4, who contrary to hope in hope believed that he became, believed that, believed that he became the father, so that, so he believed, so that he became the father of many nations.
[16:47] According to what was spoken, so shall thy descendants be. All right. The next verse, before God, before him, not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body.
[16:59] We are going to go into this a little bit today. On the deadness of Sarah's womb, since he was already 100 years, okay. So, that time God told you he was 100 years. All right. That was after Ishmael.
[17:11] This is after Ishmael. Go to the next verse. How to show you something. He was not weak, sorry, he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.
[17:23] The next verse, I'll show you something. And being fully convinced that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. Watch this. And therefore, you see, therefore, because he believed at that time, it was accounted to him for righteousness.
[17:38] So, being accounted to him for righteousness, it happened in Genesis chapter 15 before Ishmael when he had his body was okay, Sarah's womb was okay. So, Genesis chapter 15, I think verse 6 also, verse 6, let's go to verse 6.
[17:52] And he believed in the Lord and he, God, counted it to him for righteousness. That was verse 15. But chapter 16, he impregnated somebody.
[18:04] So, he wasn't, at that time, at that time, he wasn't 100. Because, the last verse in chapter 16, go to the last verse in chapter 16, just chapter 17, go back once, let me show you something.
[18:15] Chapter 17, verse 1, Genesis chapters, okay. And Abraham was how old? 86. That's chapter 16. So, when it was accounted to him for righteousness in chapter 15, verse 6, he wasn't yet 86.
[18:29] Or at most, he would be 86. Because he was 85 when he impregnated Hagar. And Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. So, when Hagar brought Ishmael to Abraham, so Hagar was his own seed.
[18:46] So, Ishmael was his own human sperm. That impregnated because of that. But then, look at chapter 17, verse 1. When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him, I am more mighty God.
[19:01] Walk before me and be perfect. Go to the next verse. Let me show you something. Go to the next verse. And I will make my covenant with you between me and you and you. I'll multiply you.
[19:12] Go to the next verse 3. Verse 3. Then Abraham fell on his feet and God talked with him saying, go to the next verse. As for me, behold, my covenant is with you and you'll be a father of many nations.
[19:23] Verse 5, weekly. You shall not be called Abraham. You shall be called Abraham. Verse 6. Your wife also will be called, I'll make your city grateful. Verse 7. Your wife shall be called, will no longer be called Sarai, whatever, Sarah.
[19:37] And then, your descendants after you go to the next verse. Go to verse 9. Let's go to verse 9. And God said to Abraham, as for you, you shall keep my covenant and you and your descendants after you in a generation.
[19:51] Verse 10. Verse 10. This is my covenant with you between me and you and your descendants forever. Every male that is born must be circumcised. Verse 11. All right. You shall circumcise them.
[20:02] I think it's somewhere there. It says that Ishmael will not be your way. Ishmael. God said it's not Ishmael. By Isaac. And then, so, at this time, how old was he? 99.
[20:14] Okay. When, and according to Romans, it said, at the time, Romans, we just read, Romans chapter 4, verse 17. Verse 17. I believe God will, okay.
[20:27] Okay, verse 18. Let's go verse 18. I think, father of many nations. So, verse 19 says that, and he believed, and he be no weak in faith, did not consider his own body, which was already dead, since he was about 100 years old.
[20:41] So, the time he was 100 years old, that was when God, 99, about 100 years old. 99, God came and told him that you give birth. By that time, he couldn't produce mems.
[20:52] Wow. But, he believed God, and God accounted that believing to him for righteousness. Do you understand that? Yeah. So, the first one, is different from the second, accounting for righteousness.
[21:07] That's how Abraham got mileage with God. He was building credit by believing. First of all, God said, leave your house. No land, he believed. Then God said, I'm going to give you a child.
[21:19] At the time that he couldn't have a child, he believed. And God accounted for righteousness so much that God liked this man's believing. God said, you are my friend forever. You are my friend.
[21:31] God made Abraham. So, Abraham secured or procured that position as God's friend because of his belief. Are you getting this Abraham thing? Because Abraham is one.
[21:42] In Acts chapter 7, you need to hear about Abraham. Acts chapter 7, theologians have described Acts chapter 7 as the summary of the entire Old Testament.
[21:54] The summary. Everything that really the Old Testament was practically about. The history of the Old Testament was summarized in Acts chapter 7. By who?
[22:05] By Stephen. Stephen, who was doing miracles and the Pharisees were envious. So, they started persecuting him and attacking him. And the Bible says that they subunded some people to come and testify against him.
[22:26] So, Acts chapter 6, verse 11. Acts chapter 6, verse 11. Look at this. And so, they secretly induced men to come and say, we have heard him say, the King James, use King James, give me the King James.
[22:40] It says that, so they subunded men. Who said, we have heard? We have heard him say all kinds of things. And so, after they accused him of all he hasn't said, which they said he said, the high priest in chapter 7, verse 1, said, Stephen, do you have anything to say?
[22:59] Are these things so? Are these things so? The high priest said, these things they are saying, are they so? And then Stephen said, men and brethren, look at verse 2. Then, brethren, fathers, I've got something to say.
[23:13] Yes. Brethren, and fathers, listen, God, the God of glory appeared to him when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran.
[23:23] So, before his father died, God appeared to him in Mesopotamia, the land of idols, idol worship. That's where Babylon is, the place of Babel, the same place.
[23:35] God appeared to him. He didn't know God. He was living an ordinary life, and God appeared to him in the land of Mesopotamia and told him to live before he dwelt in Haran and said to him, get out of your country.
[23:49] Remember this? It says, get out of your country and from your relative and come to the land which I will show you. When you read Genesis, it says, get out of your country, get out of your people, your relative, and your house, your family, your people.
[24:05] It's very interesting. He said, the prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own people, and his own family.
[24:16] So, God said, God, get out. Get out. Prophet Abraham, get out. So, God said, get out. And so, he got out. But look at it. When they asked Stephen, what have you got to say?
[24:26] See where he started the history of the Old Testament. Not Noah. Noah was actually very instrumental in God preserving humanity.
[24:37] Noah. God started a new generation with Noah. Everyone was going to Noah. So, it should have started with Noah, even if not Adam. But he bypassed Noah and went straight to Abraham.
[24:48] He said, when God spoke to Abraham, that's the beginning. Abraham was a beginning of something unusual with God. And then, you will like this. Verse 3.
[24:59] He said to him, get out of your country. Verse 4. Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, his father, from there, when his father was dead, he moved, he moved him to the land in which you now dwell.
[25:17] Talking about when he was addressing the Jews, the Israelites said, the land you are now dwelling. Abraham finally came here. But watch this. Verse 4. Verse 5. And God gave him no inheritance in this land.
[25:30] That now, it belongs to you. He didn't have any, not even enough to set his foot on. You remember? God said, come out of your family and I'll take you to a place.
[25:42] I'll give you a land. I'll take you to a promising land. And yet, he died having not found even one place he can set his foot on. Where he can say, this is mine. This is mine. He didn't own a land.
[25:54] Yet, he died in faith. And yet, he was in the plan of God. Never let material things distract you out of the plan of God. Amen.
[26:05] Never let material things. Because material things can never secure your future. Go and ask lots. He loved the watered plains. Prosperity.
[26:18] Bishop Dagg said, when you see a pastor who is only preaching about prosperity, stop listening to him. He's always talking about money, money, money, money, money. He's a sign that he's a bad pastor.
[26:30] Oh, he's talking about, oh, he's talking about, oh, money, you have money. Listen, in this church, you don't have any value based on your physical acquisition. Your value in this church, your value to us is based on your heart for God.
[26:44] Apart from that, we treat everybody as a creation of God. We love you. We respect you. We value you in that sense. But you don't matter. You are.
[26:56] Because when you join the bus, you respect people, but what are they going to do with your life? So that's how you are. You can be driving, you can come to church in a helicopter.
[27:07] It still doesn't matter. That's not determining your value before God. So Abraham was so valuable to God. Listen, let me tell you something. Don't reduce your value before God and how God, the value of God in your life, don't reduce it to the job you got.
[27:24] Don't reduce it to the house you have just bought. You went for an interview and it was glorious and all that. That's good. It's nice. Thank you, Lord. But even if you lose your job, don't suddenly begin to behave like God has not blessed me.
[27:39] Do you understand? We have reduced blessing to physical acquisition. But the greatest blessing is the forgiveness of sins. because you shouldn't have been in church. God should have thrown you out of church because of you.
[27:52] You should thank God that he has allowed you to sit here. The church should have spilled you out. But with him, we have acceptance and forgiveness of sins.
[28:05] That is the starting of blessing. Tell someone I'm blessed. I am blessed. You can't even say that. Tell someone I'm blessed. I am blessed. God didn't give Abraham even, he didn't even have a land to live.
[28:17] And God gave him no inheritance in it, in the land that you people are claiming now. Even enough to set his foot on. Even when Abraham had no, see another one coming here, no child, God, he, God, promised to give it, that's the land, to him for a possession and to his descendants.
[28:37] He was talking to a childless man. And he said, I'll give this land to you and your descendants. And the man was childless. He was childless.
[28:48] And the truth is, eventually he didn't even own the land. He died having not owned the land. But he went to his descendants. But the problem with Abraham, which is a good problem, which I want to be my problem, is he believed God.
[29:04] Your weakness, can I tell you something? Your weakness is not your non-attendance of church. your weakness is not a sin you are committing. Your weakness is the unbelief in your heart.
[29:17] That's your weakness when it comes to God. When it comes to God, your weakness is at the point not of your behavior, but the point of your unbelief. With God, your rating is defined, is determined by your belief, your faith, not what you are doing.
[29:34] because faith will always generate works. So the works produced by faith is what catches God's attention. Not the works produced by flesh. So God, when God shows up, he's always looking for evidence of faith in you.
[29:51] I see your faith rising. There are people seated here this morning who are very worried about issues in their life. Things are not going their way.
[30:01] And you are down. You are worried about, I know God, this and this and this. Listen, if you can choose to believe in God, you will be fine. Amen.
[30:12] Amen. That's true. It's your faith that is under attack, not your life. Satan will do anything possible to attack your faith.
[30:25] So you may think, my life, everything is going wrong. No, everything is not going wrong. As long as your faith is intact, everything is not going wrong. That's why I want to talk, I'm talking to somebody about faith.
[30:39] That's how Abraham got through with God and he became the friend of God. How? He was a man of faith. Whatever God says, he just says, Amen. Amen.
[30:51] Whatever God says, sometimes you will see, can you imagine, God, at the time when he didn't have a child, God said, I'm going to give, I'm going to give this land to you and your descendants.
[31:02] Let's look at it again. Acts chapter 7. I really want to look at this before I move forward. And God spoke on this wise that his seed should sojourn in a strange land and that they should bring them into bondage and, and treat them, sorry, and treat them evil, evil 400 years.
[31:21] Verse 7. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage, I will judge, says the Lord. And after that, shall they, after that, shall they come forth and serve me in this place where I'm talking to you.
[31:34] And where Stephen was talking. And, and the patriarchs moved with envy and so Joseph. So, God promised Abraham all these things and Bible says that Abraham died, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
[31:50] And they, and Sarah, for that matter, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Hebrews chapter 11, verse 13 to 16, they died having not obtained the promise of the land. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but have seen them afar off, having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth.
[32:16] So, they were walking in faith. They died in faith, embraced the promise. They didn't receive the promise, but they knew the promise was real. They knew the promise was real. They walked as though they already were walking in the reality of the promise.
[32:31] So, guess what? They made their decisions based on the promise, based on what God has said. Abraham, Abraham, I believe, did, went to, um, is it mamas and papas?
[32:44] Is it mamas and papas? Oh, it's mamas and papas, eh? And the other one, um, mother care. Yes. Abraham went to mother care and did serious shopping.
[32:57] Blue, bought a lot of blue stuff. At the, can you imagine, at the age of 99, what are you doing mamas and papas, and your wife, 90 years, we, we are, we are buying, we are making, we are doing shopping for Isaac.
[33:10] Why would Abraham go to mother care to go and make, to go and do shopping for a child which doctor said he can never have because he believed God.
[33:24] And God said, that's my friend. He believed God. So, when he believed God, you see, when you go to the doctors and you are not well, after the diagnosis, they will give you a prescription. And so you are supposed to be taking them.
[33:35] So if you are maybe some serious flu, you take the medication and after a while, you'll be fine. Okay. Now, Abraham's prescription from God for his childlessness was God's word that you have many descendants.
[33:51] And Abraham took that prescription. So God said, that you are doing what is right. So there's, don't worry, no problem. So he said, when you go to the doctor, he said, they said, take it for two weeks and after three days, he goes, he's still there.
[34:02] He said, are you taking the medication? Yeah, you'll be okay. Because you are doing righteousness. You are taking the medication is accounted to you by the doctors as righteousness for your healing.
[34:13] Abraham's believing was accounted by God for righteousness. So as, the point I'm trying to, as long as you can keep believing, God said, you don't have a problem.
[34:26] It's a sober down. As long as you can keep taking the medication they prescribe for two weeks, you let the two weeks come and then they will see what to do. But as long as you are within the two weeks, you are fine.
[34:38] as long as you're, as long as you are still within your work permits, your business, your business, your business, they can't say that we can't employ you again because you're, it's still valid.
[34:50] So don't, no, I would say, don't worry, you have two more years. Don't worry. They gave you five years. Two more years, we'll sort you out. Just, just go to work. Don't worry. It's, we are within the time limit. As long as that parking fine, you are within the 14 day.
[35:02] You are fine. You are fine. So within the 14 days, suddenly they gave you 14 days notice and then five days later, they bring belief to come and take your car.
[35:16] How? Can that be? No. Why? Because you haven't done anything wrong. You are actually abiding by the prescription and you are doing righteousness. Abraham, as long as you can still believe what God has said, don't worry, the baby is going to come.
[35:30] Amen. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him. It was accounted to him for, as righteousness.
[35:43] That means, just believe in, you've done enough. Keep believing in that. This is what God is trying to tell you. That all I require from you to be able to bless you and help you is just believe in me.
[35:56] Amen. Believe me. Just believe and keep believing. Keep believing. Put your faith in me. Amen. Because you definitely, when you choose to believe God, you definitely see some scary things.
[36:08] Yeah. Some scary things. I'm telling you, scary things. Some scary things. When you are believing God for a promotion, suddenly they said, oh, your company has lost the contract, so they are laying people off.
[36:22] and they called your boss and told him he's the first to go. I am. So you know, if your boss has gone, I don't know how many of you have tried, attempted to believe God before and just when you started believing, you started seeing some contrary, contrary evidence that begins to make you, you have to be careful.
[36:49] You have to be careful. You see what that lady did? That was, that's faith. That's faith. She said, when our bishop came and the people were encouraged to sow a seed, she took what she was, the seed that she would use, I don't know if it's all or part of it or whatever, some of what she would use as the down payment for her property.
[37:13] That's all she's got. She took some and went and gave it by faith. Gave it by faith. And how many of you know that that's no wise? In human terms, that's not a good idea.
[37:29] Faith can be risky. Don't do it based on assumption. Do it based on conviction. Because if you two, I had a testimony, so you also go and take your down payment.
[37:40] Unless, of course, God has been speaking to you for a long time. That do it. You do it. And you didn't do it. And then suddenly, here someone did what God told you to do.
[37:51] You have been done. And you knew that now, I don't have a chance. I don't have a choice. I will obey. That's different. But you have somebody and you also want double. You want a credit card company to call you and say that you have overpaid and we owe you, so we are giving you your money back.
[38:11] You know, you'll be waiting by the phone, but no one is calling me. One month, two months, three months. No. They will call you and tell you, in fact, you owe us money.
[38:24] Money that you thought you have paid already. And then suddenly you say, God has let me down. God has let me down. It was your presumption that let you down.
[38:35] It wasn't faith. Most of, Julie, most of what people say, faith. Sometimes it's presumption. Or, positive thinking.
[38:49] It's a bold face. There's the difference between bold face and boldness. There are two different things. Bold face is, okay, okay, I'll take it. Then you run away.
[39:00] But boldness is, maybe you may not have been shown, but it's coming. I'll face it. It's coming. Right now, if I say, a rat, a rat, a rat. All the people who say, I have faith, I have faith, I have faith.
[39:18] But let me, let me put you a disclaimer. When you see a rat and you are jumping, it doesn't mean you don't have faith. Sometimes people mix it, all they say. What has God said about the rats?
[39:29] Has he said anything? You are free to run away when you see a rat, okay? You are free. It's not a reflection of faith. I'm telling you, it's not a reflection of faithlessness. Let's get this faith.
[39:39] If I see a snake here right now, I won't go and say, hey, no, no. I'll say, let's call, RSPC. Let's call them. I say, move the children from there, hey, everybody.
[39:52] And then, but when it gets up and it does this, I really, no, this is a demon. God, let's come. Because what is a, what is a, what is a snake doing here? What is a snake doing here?
[40:04] So, when it comes to demons, no problem. In fact, I like to tackle them headlong. But, if you are beating your wife, and because of that, she said, Blackwater is closed permanently.
[40:26] Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about. You're free to laugh, my friend. He'll be thinking about it all along. Now, if you are abusing your wife, and she says that, I won't say hello.
[40:41] She's really offended. And you say, my wife doesn't talk to me nice. My wife, it's not a demon problem. You are actually the demon. So, let's not miss, oh, this is when we talk about faith.
[40:55] You know, you are, you are in a hurry. You didn't want to miss the train, because the train is 10.30, and you left home 10.25, and it takes you six minutes to get to the station.
[41:08] And so, you are panicking. You are worried. Now, the panicking is not normal human reaction. But if, suddenly, you remember that, God said, you will help me.
[41:20] I know, I mean, but God helped me. And then after, you have a conviction that I can trust God, then you can stop panicking. That now, you are now moving to the realm of faith. So, two people, one can be panicking, and it's not actually done anything wrong.
[41:35] It's not unbelief. Panicking is not always unbelief. It's only when God speaks to your heart, like I'm telling you. You are worried. Don't be worried. And you still continue worrying, then you are operating in unbelief.
[41:47] Yeah. Because faith can never be faith. I'm outside of God's word. What most people do is positive thinking and positive mental projections.
[42:00] By next year, I'll buy a house. I'll buy a house. I'll buy a house. Yes, I believe home. I'll get that new job. I'll buy a house. I'll buy a house near Downing Street.
[42:10] You know, you are just trying to encourage yourself. Like a certain, a lot of ladies do that usually. New Year, when the New Year starts, they said maybe in August, I'll be married by August.
[42:25] And then, they believe that God told them you'll be married by August. And now, October, but this is faith, where we enter the New Year, and you just knew that August.
[42:38] Yeah, okay, something's going to happen for you in your marriage. You just knew. It's, the conviction is so real. Deep inside. And you know that this is what God is telling me. You know, you can't deny it and there are evidence.
[42:51] You can't deny it. Then, when the contrary situations rise up and you begin to cave in and begin to give up on what you're holding, then you have, you have now moved into unbelief.
[43:03] So, two people, one will say, by August, I'll be married. The other one will say, by August, I'll be married. Two people, one is based on a weight and a conviction from God's word. The other one is just based on hope.
[43:14] Assumption. So, there are a lot of people who give tithe based on assumptions. But if I give my tithe, by next week, I'll get an increase, pay rise. And rather, you give your tithe and you get a pay drop.
[43:31] Oh, how many of you have given tithe? There are quite a few who don't give tithe. but let me just say, how many people have given tithe before and didn't take long? Either you lose your job or you had pay drop or some financial loss.
[43:46] It can happen. Oh, now that I'm tithing, I should be a company director. No. So, then why, why, why do I, I tithe?
[43:58] You tithe because you are a man and a woman of faith. Yes. And now, when you stay in faith, God said, don't worry, you might have lost a job, but don't worry. You are okay. You are covered. You are still okay.
[44:10] So, let me show you how it's going to be. I believe that if there were doctors and specialists, after he received the word, he must have gone to his specialist to check.
[44:20] Maybe, maybe things have changed because, when God said, I'll do something for you, we want the normal progression to take place.
[44:31] So, ask a male for you to have a child at the age of, let me say, 70 or 75 and suddenly, you came to church, there's a word, I'm going to give you twins.
[44:44] You know, God is going to give you twins. Am I a male? And you know that you have crossed Andriopos. Right? So, what you do is, if you believe the word, you will go to the doctors to check if things have started working again or some, whatever.
[44:59] And, you go, and they say, in fact, it has looked, it looked waste. Now, this is what Abraham did. Even, oh, thank you, Jesus. In the face of the contrary situation, he chose to believe what God has said, even though, humanly, it is not possible.
[45:18] And what did he believe? Watch this. What did he believe? Come here. Please, come here. Thomas, really? Right. So, come here, Thomas, stand here. A word came to him and the word said, okay, you stand here, right?
[45:35] Yeah, stand here like this. Face. Now, a word came to him, prophet, come. So, this is the prophet of God. He prophesized to me that the prophecy, I'm going to give you a son.
[45:48] Okay? At the time when, naturally, this is where I'm going to end. But prophecy came and he said, I'm taking you here. And so, I went to the doctors to go and check just in case things have changed so that my direction will go here.
[46:06] And I went to the doctors, it's showing me that I'm even going here and further. So, even though evidence is showing that this is where I'm going, he chose to hold on to the word that is showing here.
[46:17] So, physically, physically, everything shows that this is where you are going. But the word, everything shows that this is where you are going. So, he did his, he made his decision, his will, his shopping, based not on the physical evidence, but on the word evidence.
[46:36] Wow. Yeah. Now, watch this. Watch this. For you to have a son, you need to have this. to have a son.
[46:47] If you don't have this, if you don't have this, if you don't have this and this is what you have, this is where you get to. Son is. If you have to have the body working, a male body and wife's body working, healthy, that means that that's male body working, wife body working, you get this.
[47:06] Male body not working, wife body not working, you get this. And the word says that what are you getting? You are getting this. But now, you have checked and this is where you are.
[47:18] The problem is because this is where you are, you're expecting that you end here. And when the word comes, human beings, when God said, I'm going to give you that, because this is the route to that, you quickly begin to look out for this route.
[47:31] Okay. So, when you don't see this route, you conclude that this can happen. Okay. Am I commenting? So, so you need to, you may see this route.
[47:44] Right. But however God does it, as for you, this is where you know you are going. So, you give your tithe, you give your tithe and you lost a job.
[47:56] The loss of job does not mean this is not there. That's it. Because you give your tithe, you are expecting promotion. And you rather got a loss in job. But the loss in job does not mean that you are not getting here.
[48:11] You're not getting there. So, this is where the battle of the faith of faith is. The physical evidence. Now, to be able to walk by faith, Abraham, Bible says that, first, number one, number one, what did he have to do?
[48:27] And what do we have to do? Number one, Romans chapter four, verse 17. Before God, whom he believed. As it's written, I've made you a father of the, in the presence.
[48:40] Let's all go. As it's written, I've made you a father of the nations, in the presence of him whom he believed. God, who he believed. Who did he believe?
[48:52] God. Who did Abraham believe? God. So, first of all, to walk by faith or to, to, to, to walk in faith, the faith walk requires, requires, the faith, believe God.
[49:08] That's where it starts from. You need God to believe him. You must hear from God to believe him. So, if you haven't heard from God and there's no God in the, in the equation, forget it.
[49:20] It's not faith. It's not faith. So, faith walk requires believing in God. Someone shout, I believe God. I believe God. Say it again.
[49:32] I believe God. Shout for the last time. I believe God. Do you know what this does for you? Your confession becomes your possession. Most of us believe only ethereally, cerebrally, but you have to believe by speaking as well.
[49:48] You believe and you say, it says that, that if you shall believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you shall be saved. Romans chapter 10, verse 10.
[49:59] Shout, I believe God. I believe God. Do this for me. I don't know what situation is beset you. I don't know what is challenging you. I don't know what, if really you need the hand of God.
[50:12] But if you can lift up your right hand with that thing in mind and shout, I believe God. I believe God. Shout again. I believe God.
[50:22] I believe God. Is it about your marriage? I believe God. I believe God. Is it about your children? I believe God.
[50:33] I believe God. Is it about your health? I believe God. I believe God. Is it about your family? I believe God. I believe God. Oh, yeah.
[50:45] That is where faith starts from. You can come and sit in church and laugh and dance and go back as an unbeliever.
[50:57] And you suffer the fate of unbelievers. The reason why we come to church is so we can hear a word from God so we can believe God. That's why when you are in trouble, when you go through some rough patch, you don't sit at home and say, I just want to be myself.
[51:14] I can't go to church today. You are behaving like an unbeliever. Because in the time of crisis, the first thing you have to look for is a word from God. A word from God.
[51:25] What is God saying? I need a word from God. I need a word from God. I need a word from God. Bible says, and the word of the Lord came to him saying, and the word of the Lord came to him saying.
[51:38] So this is what I like about God. God is the God, the word. What? What? What? What? Anytime you get a little close to God, the first thing that happens to you is no blessing.
[51:50] It's a word. What? What? So you need a word in order to believe God. And the word believed is the word manifested. For God so loved the world that he gave his holy begotten son.
[52:08] Shout, I believe God. I believe God. So number one, to work by faith, you have to believe God. Abraham believed God. Number two, I want to show you this quickly.
[52:19] Number two, verse, put it on the screen again, verse 18. I like this. Talking about Abraham, who, contrary to hope, believed, in hope, believed so that he became the father of many nations.
[52:38] According to what was spoken, so shall thy seed be. Okay, James. The next verse. The next verse. And being not, first of all, he believed.
[52:50] But he kept his faith intact. I don't know how many of us have started believing and then somewhere along the line, you are weak in faith. And you say, oh, I. In fact, there are people who have said this, I don't even want to believe anymore.
[53:05] Satan has a way of pounding you so bad. He can pound you and pound you and pound you and pound you. You can get to a position of saying, you know, I don't even want to believe anymore.
[53:18] I don't want to believe anymore. It's too much. It's too much. If it's too much, that's why you have to even believe more much. Believe more.
[53:28] Because, listen, listen. As long as you are believing, heaven says that you are fine. Amen. Amen. You move out of the realm of okay when you stop believing, not when everything stops working.
[53:45] Everything can stop working like that. But if you can still believe God, it still validates your end results. You'll get there. If God said, I'm going to make you the owner of this company, and suddenly you begin to, after hearing the word, you even begin to sow seeds and do things, and then suddenly you lost the, the, the, the, the, the, you are fired.
[54:09] Certainly not. But I'm going to. See, being fired doesn't mean you can't own it. Okay. It's not that. Human beings, human beings think, I'm fired. That's it. It's gone. It's gone.
[54:20] It's gone. I'm fired. This relation can't work again. It's gone. No. No. No. You can later on move on. Five years later, this company is for sale, and you, you just, and you bought it.
[54:32] Faith is in your heart. You actually want to do it. Your mind will say, are you sure? Are you sure? But your heart, you have this conviction. That's where I'm going. Let's, weakness. Verse 19. Not being weak.
[54:43] Watch it. Let's all read it together. Let's go. And when you are weakly today, Jesus is not to sow what we have yet. When you are 100 years old, my life is never so sad.
[54:57] So, he did not consider his own body. That's what I'm saying. So, God has, I have to come back down. God has given you a word. And then you realize that my body is weak. My body is dead, sorry.
[55:09] Sarah's womb is also dead. This is the situation. And when you have this, the resultant effect is this. But you are here. And God also says, take you here.
[55:19] So, why God? If you are taking me here, why don't you fix this thing so that I will be here? Then I automatically result here. But this situation, automatic result is this one.
[55:31] Abraham said, he, Bible, sorry. Bible said, Abraham did not consider his own body, which is now dead. In other translations, he put it in a better way. He said, he actually did amplify, I think, he said, he did consider his body.
[55:44] He looked at the situation. And he said, he chose anyway. I'm still going here. Amplify. And he did not weaken in faith, okay, when he considered, you see, the utter impotence of it.
[56:00] So, when he looked at his body, hey, this thing can't do anything. He looked at it by his faith. Sorry. Some of you think very well.
[56:12] We are in church. Okay, we are in church. Oh. That's what he did. He, he actually considered his body and considered Sarah's womb, which was like this. You know?
[56:24] It's gone. Sarah's womb. It's nothing. He considered it. He considered his body, which was dead. Sarah's womb was gone. And guess what? He concluded. Still, we are going here.
[56:38] Why was he able to say that? Because he did not, he wasn't weakened in faith. He was not weakened in faith. So, his faith was so strong. There are things that can weaken you in your faith.
[56:50] Let me only give you two things. Number one, the things you keep watching. The evidence you keep watching and thinking and pondering over. You are looking at so many negative evidence.
[57:02] Every time you are looking at it and you have been researching into the extent of its negativity. You keep watching. Abraham noticed his body but he ignored it because we walk by faith and not by sight.
[57:16] If you look at the things you are seeing, you will be harmed. You will miss out on the promise of God. There are too many things that are working against you.
[57:28] You should know that on the physical level. But there is much more that is working for you if you can stay in faith. There's much more. There's much more that is working for your family. You can't be here and be worried.
[57:40] How can you? A young woman like you, a woman of faith, you are sitting here. You are worrying that I may not have a child. The devil is a liar. You will not have what? You will not have what?
[57:51] Satan is the one talking to you. God never said that. There's nowhere in the Bible where someone who walked with God didn't have a child. Nowhere. Check your Bible. Nowhere. The only person who didn't have a child in the entire scripture was David's wife who was ridiculing David for praising God in a wild way.
[58:11] God didn't forgive him. Hey. She is the only one who never had a child. But all the rest, they had children. A woman is meant to have a child if you want it.
[58:24] So if you are not married or you are married, you don't have a business worrying, I may not have a child. I won't have a... And some of us are so sure you won't have a child. I know what you are thinking.
[58:36] But I've done seven abortions. It's not what you are doing. It's how you believe is what makes you right, qualified for God's blessing.
[58:46] You don't understand what I'm saying. Your believing is what qualifies you for the blessing of God. I know what some of you scientists are thinking. Yeah, okay. So I can believe one thing and do another thing. It doesn't work.
[58:58] You can't believe one thing and behave another way. Your believing would produce your behavior. Because there can never... Bible said faith without corresponding works.
[59:12] It's dead. So if you tell me you have faith, I have faith, God will help me. And you're going high, put your pillow on your head. Instead of your head on the pillow, you put the pillow on your head.
[59:22] And you are crying. People are going, no, no, no, no, God is disappointed. But you say you believe. Yes, I believe, but I'm disappointed. So what's the meaning of that? Incongruent.
[59:34] Faith would... People are expecting you to cry and you are laughing. You say this has hit me hard. It's not a pleasant situation. But I know I'm fine. I know God's word will stand. I know God's word will stand.
[59:45] I know God's word will stand. I know God's word will stand. Sure, I believe God. I believe God. So number one, what you are looking at can weaken your faith.
[59:56] In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, I think verse 16, it says, whilst we look not at the things that are seen, it says, therefore we... Okay, before, verse 15, verse 15.
[60:08] For all things are yours, verse 18, right? Whilst we do not look at the things which are seen, don't look at the things that are seen. What you are seeing today, don't look at it.
[60:20] Don't look... It will threaten and intimidate you. Don't look at it. Keep looking at it. And that's all that is on your eyes, on your eyes, your vision. Your vision is the impossibility.
[60:31] You only get impossibility. Whilst we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen. How can I look at things which are not seen? I can't see that. Just as you look at it, you have to see it with the eye of the Spirit.
[60:44] Based on God's Word. That's faith. There are unseen realities that people who walk naturally don't know. There are unseen realities. And I see God doing it for you.
[60:57] Let your amen show. All right. So, how not to grow weak in faith? Number one, what you see. So, the things that will make you grow weak in faith, the things you are looking.
[61:09] And then number two, the things you hear. What you are hearing. Listen. You can hear one... You can hear one...
[61:22] reports from the doctors. And that's it. That's it. You will cry. You will lose appetite. Be crying and crying. But some things you can't avoid from coming to your attention.
[61:37] It's necessary. I'm not saying don't open your letters. Open the letters. Read them. Read them. But after you've read the letter, that tells you that we are going to repossess your beliefs are coming tomorrow morning.
[61:52] It really will make you panic a little bit. And you want to pay, but you don't have any means to pay. After reading the letter, first of all, begin to pray.
[62:03] And the Bible says that, pray and say, for his mercies endures forever. Mercy will cover me. Start talking about what God has said. And then look for somebody who is on the same sheet, faith level as you.
[62:18] And call them and say, can you imagine what they just told me? They just... The person will tell you, don't worry. They said it's the same thing. I prayed and God did it. Remember, the latest testimony, God can do it also.
[62:28] Then you are hearing something. Then your faith is coming. But you go here and say, hey, you have to leave the house quickly. Send everything around. Hey, they are coming to... Uh-huh. Hey, your husband, he doesn't love you.
[62:38] He doesn't love you. He has three girlfriends. He doesn't love you. You know what I did? So you expose yourself to hearing negative upon negative upon negative.
[62:49] Even when he brings the flowers, you see tongues. You say, look at the rose. Only when you brought the rose, it's full of tongues. It's even here. Now I'm bleeding. I'm bleeding. I'm bleeding. And you attack him for bringing his roses.
[63:02] So, negative. That's why when you want to forgive somebody who has hurt you, stop listening to the people who aggravate what the other people have done. As long as you keep talking about it, what they did against you.
[63:16] Just can you imagine what he did? Hey! You mean it? How? I don't believe this. Can he do that? So, guess what? You were already better after talking about it.
[63:28] You leave more wounded. Or, their friend will call you. Say, you see, especially when the person is an ex. Ah! I saw him with your friend.
[63:39] Yeah. I saw him. I'm telling you, I saw him. I saw him. As soon as you see that phone call coming, cut it. Because you are struggling, you are trying to work in forgiveness.
[63:51] They are not coming to tell you how many cars he's now bought for their new girlfriend. Won't you be hurt? You will. You are a human being. So, you have to cut off unnecessary information.
[64:03] You don't need it. You don't. Do you hear what he said? That's what they are saying. I don't want to know. I don't want to know. Cut people out of your life and you will have more peace inside.
[64:19] So, that's how to, not to, if you hear, the Bible says, ma, it says that, faith comes by hearing and hearing of the word of God. So, if you don't hear God's word, faith is not coming.
[64:34] Faith is not coming. What you are trying to say, I have faith, it's not faith. What word did you hear for the faith to come? It's an assumption. So, hearing, okay, the more you don't hear, the weaker you grow in faith.
[64:48] I keep saying this, I keep saying this, I keep saying this. You are in, please, I want to watch EastEnders today. Hey, can you call pastor to bring anointing on yellow?
[65:02] I need anointing on yellow. Please pray for me. I'm watching EastEnders. And yet, you are believing God for faith to be healed. And listen, you are living in a cuckoo land. One, one, that faith will never come.
[65:15] That faith, what should you do? Listen, get earphones. Be listening to preaching messages. And it's not preaching on prosperity. It's not, it's not, it's not preaching on how to get a wife.
[65:26] No, no, no. You are in hospital. You need preaching on healing. Preaching on faith. And keep listening. Keep listening. Keep listening. Keep listening. Keep listening. Keep listening. Keep listening.
[65:37] Because faith comes by hearing. Other than that, the evidence will move you in a different direction. Because when God speaks, sometimes the evidence will also speak to you.
[65:48] But you need to not to be weak in faith. You need to be strong. Abraham, he did not, put you on the screen again, verse 19, Romans chapter 4, New King James Version.
[66:00] And, and not being weak in faith. Because the thing you don't want to consider, if you are weak in faith, that's all you'll be watching. You are believing God for a miracle.
[66:13] You are believing God for a breakthrough. You are believing God for answers. In your marriage, you want faith to rise. So your marriage can go in a certain way. And yet, you are watching this, what are some of the soap operas that are always fighting relationships?
[66:28] Some of the African movies. divorce courts. Or what? Aha! Divorce courts. Meanwhile, you are believing God that your marriage will go well.
[66:41] And you are listening to divorce courts and Jeremy, Jeremy Kyle. You are, you are actually wasting opportunities. Listen, growing weak in faith will be automatic based on what you are listening to.
[66:54] So you can't say, faith is not a matter of a choice. Okay, I choose. It's like, it's just like saying that, okay, okay, how many of you here like sleeping? Did you plan to sleep?
[67:05] You will never want to sleep. The only thing that I said this gentleman is when I said that if you want to sleep, you have to go out. So, the point I'm saying here is, you can't just, okay, me, I have, one day I was going to Birmingham.
[67:17] That's why I don't like going to Birmingham. Because I work so hard sometimes when I sit in the car and it's late. I didn't want to sleep. But human weakness will make you sleep.
[67:30] You don't want to not to believe, but your human weakness will make you not to believe. So you have to put in systems to help you fight against the human weakness.
[67:42] And how does it happen? You keep hearing the word. I need to finish this. Don't grow weak in faith. Because your weakness in faith will cost you your faith.
[67:55] Will cost you your destiny. Jesus said, be it unto you according to your faith. Not according to the pastor's faith. According to your own faith. Be it unto you. Jesus said it.
[68:05] Matthew 9, 29. Be it unto you according to your faith. So when your faith is weak, things that will happen to you are weak. You can't afford to be weak in faith.
[68:16] But that's what Satan wants. Some of us are friends who are destroying our faith. Let me finish it. Let me give one more point. Because my time is up. Are you just in the last point? I have last three, but let me give only one.
[68:27] Number one, Abraham, to walk by faith, you have to believe God. Number two, you have to not to be weak in faith. Number three, oh, oh, I like this.
[68:39] I like this. Verse 20. Verse 20. Please, I want you to do me a favor. Would you be able to read with me from the screen? Let's go. I'll read it in faith. Let's go. He stagged not at the promise of God to not believe how strong he made when he did go to God.
[68:57] Amen. He, what does he mean to stagger at the promise of God? Wait, wait. Problem. So God has, this is the promise of God. And then, but then, when I look at my situation, it makes me, I want to get there, but it's like, I walk zigzag.
[69:15] Because today, I, okay, maybe. Tomorrow, it can't be. Maybe. So you keep staggering at the promise of God. Staggering.
[69:26] Today, we see you jump, we show your power, and tomorrow, Savior, you can move the mountain. And then, you know, hit and run. Hit and run. Today, it's okay.
[69:37] Tomorrow, hmm, how are you? God is with me. And I start, how are you? Why didn't you come to church? Oh, hmm, it's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. But, when pastor is preaching, he says that God is blessing someone, and you feel that that's me.
[69:54] And you take a seat, and then two days later, then we say another word, the same service. You bring more envelopes. Jesus, yes, oh, please, tell me if I'm wrong. But this, this is my, this is my personal projection.
[70:06] Now, if God speaks to you, and you want to connect into the, why don't you, that's why you have offering time now. Why don't you just keep it? When it's offering, prove that you really meant it. And put it in the offering. How about that?
[70:17] Instead of coming in front, like, it's good, but listen, if it's really faith, put it in the offering. Put it in the offering. A lot of pastors like it, because church, money is coming to the church.
[70:31] Mom, I want faith to come to you. Give the money, put it in the offering. If it's genuinely from God, if God has touched your heart, you want to sow it to a word, do it with the offering.
[70:42] Maybe you can't even separate that from your actual offering, but this one is a faith. Do it. Don't, don't come to the altar. After all that, shouting, hey Lord, hey, thank you Jesus.
[70:56] Today's service was powerful. Within one week, you've gone back to your boyfriend. Oh, all this, you are crying at the altar. You've gone back to your boyfriend.
[71:08] So you see, Abraham, he did not stagger at the promise of God. He said, if you don't do anything with him, he'll marry you. God's word, you know that God has told you you're going to get married soon.
[71:21] So well, he can invalidate God's word. And so he can go to hell if he wants to. And you stay straight for God. You stay pure for God. You stay faithful.
[71:32] Am I talking to somebody? You know, you should have come with your boyfriend. I got him. Oh no, I don't know who I'm talking about. You know, because you have a plan tonight.
[71:46] The devil is alive. Tonight gonna be good night for your future. But bad night for your, passions. So, stagger not at the promise of, but you look at your body and you are trying to go here and your body said, go this way.
[72:02] But you want to go here, but what is, so you now begin to forget about the promise of God. This is because this way I'm going. Your body is now the day. So you stagger at the promise of God.
[72:13] Today you are singing. Tomorrow you are, you are mooning. Now why, why is God treating me like that? Today you show God is so faithful. He stagger not, at the promise of God.
[72:25] I pray that may you receive strength not to stag. May you receive strength not to stag at the promise of God. So, hold on to God's promise.
[72:37] How do you identify a promise from God? First of all, scripture, find out what the scripture has said. Number two, find, I spoke about conviction.
[72:47] You do deep in your heart, this is what God is telling me. It's conviction. Not because others are doing it, but you have the conviction in your heart. As I'm talking, some of you know God is talking to you, really.
[72:59] You know that this is from God. It's conviction. And find what the word has, the word of God has said. Find the conviction in your heart and then number three, how do you identify the promise of God?
[73:10] A revelation. Sometimes something occurs to you. Oh, I never knew this. Wow, thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. I know God has shown me something by the Holy Spirit.
[73:21] And you begin to, you know that this is what God is showing you to do. Or this is what God is telling you He's going to do for you. Revelation. This is how you, and don't stagger at the promise of God. Hold on to the promise.
[73:32] Tell someone, hold on. Hold on. Change is coming. Change is coming. Do you know why you should hold on? Because God is too faithful to fail.
[73:44] Somebody shouts, I believe God. I believe God. Say it like you mean it. No, not like you. Say, shout, I believe God.
[73:55] I believe God. One more time. I believe God. I believe God. Now the third time, consider the situations you are going through, the situations in your family, the situations in your health, your marriage, your finances, your career, and shout, I believe God.
[74:09] I believe God. Meet unto you according to your faith. Please bow your heads with me. You want to say, Pastor, pray with me because I want to start all over with Jesus.
[74:22] I want to start afresh with Jesus. I want to be born again. Decide that I will not be disobedient to the voice of God I hear. See, your first obedience will lead to the next blessing. As you take this step of obedience, God is actually ready to bless you in a certain way but he's waiting for you to be obedient and take the step.
[74:40] I surrender. I made this decision about 25 years ago and I've had a fantastic journey with Jesus. I've had the best of lives and you have either backslided, you want to rededicate your life to Jesus.
[74:52] Just lift up your two hands and say this after me from your heart. Say, Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner but I believe you died on the cross to save me.
[75:04] I ask you to forgive me for all my sins. Wash me with your blood. From today, I invite you into my life to be my Lord and my Savior.
[75:17] I make a commitment that I'll serve you, I'll walk with you, I'll obey you and I'll bring honor and glory to your name. Holy Spirit, help me as I do this.
[75:27] I choose to walk by faith in Jesus' name. Amen. Father, I thank you so much for this. I pray for them. I pray for your grace. I pray for help.
[75:38] I pray for divine empowerment. Help them to become strong pillars in your house. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for listening. For more resources, please visit caries.org or call us on 0207-740-9960.
[75:55] God bless you. For more information, God bless you.