Faith, From First To Last - Dr David Antwi

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[0:39] Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Amen and amen. The theme for this faith seminar is From Faith to Faith.

[0:50] Shall we all say that together? From Faith to Faith. Can you please say it again? From Faith to Faith. So, moving from faith to faith. And tonight, I would, by the grace of God, be speaking briefly on what I title Faith from First to Last.

[1:14] Faith from First to Last. Shall we all say that together? Faith from First to Last. Amen. Amen. Amen. In the book of Romans chapter 1 verse 16.

[1:30] Romans chapter 1 verse 16. The Bible says that, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, For it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, For the Jew first, and also for the Greek.

[1:44] Verse 17 says that, For in it, in the gospel, For in it, For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed.

[1:58] How is it revealed? How is it revealed? From faith. How is it revealed? From faith. To faith. Let's not say faith to faith. Faith. Say from faith to faith.

[2:10] From faith to faith. The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. From faith to faith.

[2:21] Now, can you put the NIV on the screen for us please? It says that, For in the gospel, A righteousness from God is revealed. A righteousness that is by faith from first to last.

[2:37] I submit to you, brothers and sisters, That it starts with faith. God can help you if he can't find faith. It starts with faith.

[2:49] It says that it's revealed from faith. So, faith is the starting point. And guess what? God's help ends when your faith ends. Stop thinking that what the politicians are predicting And what the statistics are showing, It won't be well with you.

[3:11] It's not based on what they say. It's based on your faith. From faith to faith. Now, God can help people when there is no faith. Religion teaches us that it has to be works.

[3:28] What you do. God doesn't look at what you do to define how he will help you. He looks at the faith in your heart that manifests in the things you do.

[3:40] Okay? So, two people can be doing the same thing. Religion will mark both of them. Correct. But God is not looking at the act. He's looking at the faith behind the act.

[3:53] Because when there is faith, there will surely be an act. You can't tell me you have faith and you can't see it. If you have faith, we will see it. There is nothing like secret faith.

[4:06] Just like pregnancy. Can we have secret pregnancy? We can have a secret. We will find out. So, there is nothing like secret faith. If you have faith, it will always manifest in your actions.

[4:17] In what you say. In how you behave. And guess what? For the help of God to be manifested fully. You know, I've been hearing Christians say this. That why is it that many Christians are struggling or are born again, but things have been worse.

[4:31] Now, born again is the entry pit. It starts from there. But what got you born again is the same principle that gets you enjoyed. Bishop Edebo says that we are not born again to suffer again.

[4:44] Praise the Lord. So, when you are born again and you find yourself suffering again, that means that you have to activate the faith again. When we talk about faith, we are not talking about some religious ideologies.

[4:58] We are not talking about some cerebral projections. Which is in your mind. Okay, this is what I believe. This is what I'm thinking. No, it's not about that. We are talking about Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1.

[5:16] It said now, faith is the substance. Say substance. Now, before I move on to that, you have to remember, brothers and sisters, that the Bible says that the just shall live by faith.

[5:30] In the book of God, Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4, it said the just shall live by faith. Galatians chapter 3 verse 11, the just shall live by faith. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 38, the just shall live by faith.

[5:42] And then Romans, the text we are standing on, it says that the just shall live by faith. But in fact, before it said the just shall live by faith, it said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of God for it is the power of God unto salvation. God can save you.

[5:54] God can help you outside His word. He said that the gospel, it is the power of God unto salvation for those of us who believe. People will trivialize it, but that's fine.

[6:06] So long as we believe it, it delivers the power of God. And it says that from, it said, for in the gospel, within the gospel, in the gospel, a righteousness that emanates, that proceeds out of God.

[6:18] The manifestation of God. The power of God. Let me put it this way. The demonstration of God is revealed in the gospel. How is it revealed? From faith to faith.

[6:29] Now watch this. God gives His word. Faith is someone reacting towards God's word. So if the word of God comes and there is no corresponding reaction from you, God can help you.

[6:44] Stop chasing for prayers. Unless you don't see that there's somebody's, somebody's advertising how he can cast out demons. I find a problem with when believers are looking, going around looking for the next powerful man of God.

[7:01] It's a sign that either you are not a believer or you are not growing or you are not actually serious. You should have clapped for me for that. What's your problem?

[7:15] Running around, looking for prayer. Are you not a Christian? Look at the Bible. Is that how they were doing these in the scriptures? So then what kind of, what was your type of Christian?

[7:27] Your breed is different. Shall faith? It says that righteousness, the manifestation, the demonstration, the power of God can only be revealed within the gospel from His word.

[7:43] From faith to faith. It starts with faith and when your faith ends, it ends. Okay, so you want to see God's help? Get faith.

[7:55] Get into faith. I'm going to show you how to get your faith activated. Listen, I'm here to tell somebody 2014 is not a problem. Come on, sir. I'm a receive. Man of God, Jesus told Peter, Satan has desired to shake you like wheat.

[8:09] You know, Satan has said, he wants to shake you like wheat. Satan has desired. Jesus made the announcement himself. Jesus was the newscaster for that.

[8:21] He made the say, Peter, Peter, Satan has desired to shake you in 2014 like wheat. But he says, so long as your faith is in place, you don't have a problem.

[8:33] I don't need to pray against Satan. I just need to pray that your faith will be intact. What you need is faith. It's because God can help you outside of faith.

[8:44] And Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1 says that, and now, let's look at this whole thing we talk about faith. And now, faith is the substance. Someone say substance. The Greek word translated substance is the hopus tassus, the reality.

[8:59] So, the righteous, the just shall live by faith. We are talking about shall live by a certain substance. That's why I said faith is not cerebral. It's not abstract.

[9:10] Faith is tangible. Substance is tangible. Faith is tangible. In spite of the fact that it may not be visible. We can only tell when you have faith by your actions.

[9:22] By just looking at you, I may not see. But certain actions, certain mannerisms will be emanating from you. That will let me know that you have faith. So, faith is not like, one day I'm sitting down.

[9:35] Most people have been doing that. Most Christians. Okay, okay. Okay, I'll be bored. I'll be bored. Okay, okay. I'll be bored. I'll be bored. You shake. I'll be bored. No, that's not faith. Get a word from God.

[9:46] Amen. And that word, when you hinge your life on it, becomes substantial. Watch this. When someone is walking by faith, that means the person has got evidence to prove. Faith is the substance of things hopeful.

[9:58] The evidence of things people haven't seen yet. So, so you are, watch this. The doctor said you can't have a child. But that's what they're saying. That's what, actually never saw anyone who was buried in the Bible, apart from one person who marginalized another person praising God.

[10:19] No one was buried in the Bible. So, you cannot be without a child. You can choose to say, okay, or choose to go with what the doctors are saying that you don't have a womb.

[10:34] Listen, you don't always need. You don't always need a womb that is alive to conceive. I can prove it to you from the scriptures.

[10:46] Bible says Sarah's womb was dead. What does it mean? What do you understand by dead? It's not dead. It's dead. It's gone. It's just like my pocket. Can the baby grow in this? No, it's dead.

[10:57] So, Sarah's womb was dead. But when I, when I, when I, when I, when I, when I, when I, when I, when I, when I, when, when she received and embraced God's word, the power of God, it's a womb.

[11:13] Bible says that God, who calls the, Romans chapter 4, who calls the things that be not as though they were and gives life to the dead. I see someone receiving life.

[11:25] Life is coming back in your marriage. Life is coming back in your health. The devil is a liar. You will not die. You will not die. No, you will not die. You will not end up in hospital bed. The devil is a liar.

[11:36] God says so. And Bible says that when God said it, it's settled. By faith, we understand that the wells were framed by God's word.

[11:48] Hebrews 11, 3. So, the things that we see, we're not made of things that exist. By faith, we understand the world. What world are we looking for?

[12:00] I'm, I'm busily couching my world for 2014. I know how it's going to be for me. It's going to be cool. It's going to be good. 24, a year by now, I will be far, far ahead of what I am now.

[12:16] Because I have seen it in God's word. In spite of whatever statistics, the devil is a liar. Faith is the substance.

[12:28] Say faith is the substance. So, when someone is walking by faith, he's walking by substance, which other people don't see. But it's a substance of things hoped for. So, what you are hoping for?

[12:38] The substance of it. The evidence of things not seen. Then you know how it starts? It's then, I discovered from the scriptures in Hebrews chapter 11, the Bible takes its time to begin to talk about, by faith, Abel.

[12:56] Hmm. It didn't mention Adam, though. Because Adam failed. But I said, by faith, Abel. By faith, Noah. By faith. So, it started the progression.

[13:09] So, it's kind of from the beginning. Faith has always been the key. Watch this. You know how it started in verse 3? Hebrews chapter 11, verse 3. It said, by faith, we understand that everything came into existence.

[13:21] I was teaching the other time. Those of you who have been following the teachings of faith seminar. I told the other time that God created by the world. From the text, when you study very carefully, it tells that you can find out that it is by faith God even created the world.

[13:35] So, everything came to exist by faith. So, Hebrews chapter 11 defends faith and it begins to pull everything down. Faith started everything. And so, when faith started it, remember from faith to faith, okay?

[13:47] From faith to faith. Faith started it. Abel, faith. Noah, faith. Enoch, faith. Abraham, faith. Sarah, faith.

[13:58] Jacob, faith. And they continued the list. And then, when it comes to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 30, 30, 30, 39 and 40. That after he said that it started from faith. Now, things haven't ended now.

[14:10] So, it's now your turn. Check your Bible. It started from faith. So, why do you think you can exempt yourself from faith and be laughing based on God's programs?

[14:24] That's how. I like that song. That's the way it is. That's how things are. Men can't get pregnant.

[14:35] That's the way it is. You either take it or leave it. And when it comes to God, you know how things work? By faith. That's the way it is.

[14:48] By faith. And so, it's now your turn. I found out something, in fact, the last verse, when I was teaching, in 2 Timothy chapter 1, how it talks about, for the end of the law is this.

[15:02] Love from a pure heart and a good conscience and unfair faith. Then it talks about how the teaching of God's word, the objective is that faith will be built in people's lives.

[15:19] So, at the end of the day, there is the word of faith which we preach. Romans chapter 10, verse 8 and 9 says, the word of faith which we preach. It's the word that brings faith in our hearts.

[15:31] By faith, Abraham. By faith, Noah. By faith, Enoch. By faith, anyone who enjoyed the move of God had it by faith. And it's now your turn to begin to enjoy God.

[15:43] It's now your turn to. You see, God is about to manifest himself in you. Did you hear that lady's testimony? She said that I was afraid. This morning, I was afraid. But you know what? I just decided to go and pray for her.

[15:54] And I went and prayed for her. And even though she's not been born again for long, she took the step based on faith. And she began seeing the results of God. All right.

[16:05] Anytime you take a step of faith, God begins to manifest himself. And that financial challenge, that marital challenge, stop defining your doom.

[16:16] That, oh, I'm done. I'm done. You are not done. There is hope. As long as you have faith, your life cannot remain down. There's no one who works with God and stays down.

[16:28] You didn't hear what I said. No one works with God and stays. How do I work with God? Or by coming to church, lifting my hands, single, single, single. No. No. That's not how to work with God.

[16:39] Get his word. And believe him. By any means. Believe him. In spite of what you see, make up your mind. Be resolute. That you are following through. And so Hebrews 11.40 says that now they finish it all.

[16:52] They are not all complete without you and I. So it's our turn. Tell someone it's our turn. It's our turn. I discovered, Bishop, that God, will do it only based on your faith.

[17:07] Bishop, I found that. Now it's not based on somebody's powerful prayer. Even the prayer that he is, the Bible says, and the prayer of faith. God will do it based on faith.

[17:17] Someone say faith. Faith. And so we walk by faith and not by sight. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and 7. It says we walk by faith. Now, there's a difference between a step and a walk. Pastor Philip.

[17:30] Pastor Philip. Is it okay you take a step? Let's see. Most of us, what we do is we just take steps of faith.

[17:40] A step. And that's it. You took a step of faith. Got your marriage. And that's it. No. It starts from, a faith from first to last. The whole thing.

[17:51] So step must turn into a walk. A walk is a combination of several steps. Everything you are doing. And Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and 7, that we walk by faith and not by sight.

[18:06] Your life must be a combination of faith steps. Hey, hey, this is good. If someone doesn't know what the meaning of faith is, they have to look at you. And they can see, ah, so this is what they talk about faith.

[18:18] Faith is not religious persuasion, my brother. What is your faith? Catholic faith, Hindu, all those things. But when we talk about faith, the Bible faith, when we talk about Bible faith, we are talking about taking steps based on God's word.

[18:34] Someone shout, I believe. It's necessary to appreciate and understand that. Abraham, that's how the Abraham, this morning I said, people are talking about the blessing of Abraham. You cannot qualify for the blessing of Abraham until you are ready to walk in the faith of Abraham.

[18:49] Because it says, those who are of faith, Galatians 3, 9, those who are of faith, they're same. Those same people, not others.

[19:01] Those same people are blessed with faithful Abraham or believing Abraham. So if you want to walk in the blessings of Abraham, you might as well put your faith shoes on. Praise the Lord.

[19:11] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Now let me just say this quickly to you. It's necessary to understand and appreciate the fact that when we talk about faith, steps of faith, walk by faith, sometimes many people wonder, so pastor, you're talking about walk by faith, what do I do?

[19:35] Is it going to church regularly and then I'll be okay? How do I walk by faith? How do I walk by faith? One.

[19:49] I just want to give you possibly two points in my time. One. How do you walk by faith? Stay on the word. Make the word of God your reality. What do I mean? Whatever God's word says, that's final for you.

[20:05] But the doctors are also saying, let them see. Who started talking first? So why do you take their own first? But economists, chief economists are saying, let them see.

[20:20] That's fine. That's what their job. Their job, they've been trained to find something wrong and say it. My friend said that doctors have been trained to find something wrong. So when you go to the doctors, I'm not saying don't go, but when you go get ready, you are likely to hear that.

[20:40] Dr. Pierre, is that not so? Yeah. He's here. Doctor is here. We'll tell you. Doctors are trained to find out what is wrong with your system. And nothing is perfect. So as we all grow, things keep kind of naturally.

[20:54] If you live naturally, then you die naturally. But that's why someone has to work by faith. Because looking at your family history, if you follow the natural trend, you know we have to start preparing for maybe something.

[21:15] We may have to buy a coffin very early. The devil is a liar. Say, I refuse. I refuse. I refuse. And so you have to find out what God's word has said.

[21:26] How do you work by faith? Just take God's word wrong. God said, what God's word said, I am the Lord that he let thee. I want to take that. Even if I'm taking medication, as I take the medication, I know my healing from God.

[21:40] Because he says he's the one that heals me. When I go to the doctors, like there's a gentleman here, he, he, he, diabetes. And he went to the doctors and the doctor said, it's gone.

[21:52] They can't find it. And so he went back to his GP. The GP said, no, let's give you some time maybe to come back again. The devil is a liar. I told you. GPs are good.

[22:02] They are helping us, isn't it? If you don't have a GP, you have to find one. Because it's been said that everyone needs a GP, a lawyer, and a pastor. So you need a GP, at least.

[22:15] It's good to have a GP. But the point is that, God healed the boy. And I remember when my wife got pregnant, after six and a half years of waiting, serving God, unto the Lord.

[22:26] I said, when we talk about present your bodies as a living sacrifice, I lived that. We were in school together. I lived that. And then I married. And then it looks like, nothing is happening.

[22:39] The devil is a liar. And guess what? It wasn't once a prayer topic for me. I've been praying, oh God, give me a child. Why? Because I've seen my child already. And I told you the other time, yeah!

[22:51] And after seven years, God gave me a seat. I went to a conference, at Winners Chapel, and I connected myself. And things started happening. No, no, God has a way of helping people.

[23:03] They are certain people you need to connect yourself with. Particles. I don't know, you can die midway. Yeah, particles of others' grace. I don't know, you will die midway, unless that's really. Oh, okay, we are all powerful.

[23:14] Okay, you die powerfully. And then, and, and, my wife took seat, and went to the hospital.

[23:26] She has feelings and pains, went to the hospital, and they wrote, they said, oh no, this one, it looks like we can't find a pregnant, the devil is a liar. And we went to the GP. They give her, we went to the GP.

[23:37] The GP said, oh, if the doctors, the scan is saying, I think, my sister, I think it's 99% chance that you don't have a child. Forget about it. And we left you, I was so down.

[23:47] I said, don't mind, don't mind those people. I've seen it already. There's no way you can't have a child. No, before we had our children, I was always praying and declaring that, watch my children, they are blessed. It was that, those of you have been blessed.

[23:58] For the past seven years, I've been saying that, before the children showed up, because I have already seen the reality. I had faith. The evidence of the hope was there. It was there. And within a matter of time, God opened the flag gates of heaven.

[24:16] As though one was not enough. This year, another one came. And guess what? You watch. We are going to be spraying like that.

[24:27] Sadia! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The Bible didn't say that, but it said that, he who laughs, lasts. So I'm going to make sure that I laugh best.

[24:41] But the point I'm making is that, if your faith is hinged on God's word, based on who he is, what he has said, there is no way you'll be put to shame. Bible said, and my people shall never be put to shame.

[24:53] My people shall never be put to shame. Hold on to that. Why are you crying? Because bed leaves have come to your house. No, hold. Oh, hey, hey, hey, hey, just pay what you can.

[25:05] And then just, no, because those are people, some believers, they don't pay. And they say, oh, the earth is the Lord and the fullness is the Lord. Praise the Lord.

[25:19] Oh man, I want to finish this. Let me finish this. So how do you work with faith? Stay on the words. Make God's word your reality. Remember, that's the way it is. Once God's word has said it, that is how it is.

[25:31] And that's how things work. And then finally, finally, once you make God's word your reality, continue in focus.

[25:42] Bible talks, I can't quote it because of time. In Matthew chapter 14, when Jesus was walking on the sea, and then they saw Peter, they saw him, and then watch this. Peter said, Lord, Lord.

[25:55] They were all afraid. And Jesus said, fear not for its eye. Matthew chapter 14, from verse 26 downwards. Fear not for its eye. And then verse 29, Peter said, Lord, if it's you, just bid me to come.

[26:05] And then Jesus said, come. No, he spoke the word. All those in the boat, I believe, heard him. They could have joined. But as soon as, Jesus said, Peter, come.

[26:18] On the water, Peter, look at the water, look at Jesus. started taking, unconsciously, started walking because his focus was the word.

[26:32] I submit to you, brothers and sisters, that he wasn't walking on water, though phenomenologically, okay, when philosophers say phenomenologically, as it appears to the naked eye, he was walking on water.

[26:48] But how can, watch this, if he was walking on water, why should fear make him sink? What has fear got to do with water? Physically, if I'm walking on this and I begin to be afraid, would I sink or would I fall?

[27:00] No, no, it's not got to do with anything. And so, he wasn't actually walking on water, but he was walking on the word that was getting to him. That is said, if it's you, just give me a word.

[27:13] That is how you walk by faith. Stay on the word. That is the way it is. That's the way things work. My brother, there's no way you can stay on the word and sink. Watch this.

[27:24] Quickly, to the text, when you study the text very carefully. Remember, in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 2, it talks about, the gospel was free to us as much as them, but it did not profit them because they didn't mix it with faith.

[27:35] When the word comes, now it's your turn to out of faith, mix it with faith and hold on to the word. That's how to walk by faith. That's what, walking by faith is walking based on what God has said in spite of the old.

[27:48] Remember, he said, therefore, we walk by faith and not. So, you can choose to walk by faith or walk by faith. I see someone walking by faith. I see someone walking by faith.

[27:59] And I see you taking delivery of your testimonies. One of our sisters, during the June fasting, God just healed her of cancer. Cancer was just taken away.

[28:12] She kept coming to church, kneeling down, connected her faith. Cancer is a serious sickness. Cancer is no good. But your faith can take on you.

[28:24] Do you hear what I say? Your faith can take on you, man. Just believe God. Believe God's word. Peter started walking and Bible says that and when he saw the waves, he began to fear and so he began to sink.

[28:42] What a, so that means that, watch this, there seems to be a correlation between fear and sinking. Hmm. That also stands to imply that, okay, then when he wasn't sinking, fear was not in place.

[28:56] Then something must have been in place. When the word came and he took step based on the word, that was manifestation of his faith. So, that's why I said faith will always be seen.

[29:09] All right. If you have faith, we will see by the steps you take. We will know whether you have faith or not. But God willing, tomorrow, I will continue by talking about your words, confession.

[29:21] What you say will tell us where your faith is. But he, he, he took the word and started walking. And Jesus, he started, when he saw the storms, he was afraid.

[29:32] He started sinking right then and then he screamed, Jesus, help me. Jesus took him and guess what Jesus said? The first thing Jesus said, Jesus said, oh, ye of little faith.

[29:43] So, he started by faith but because the faith was little. I said the other time, little faith doesn't take you far. It will start you somewhere but the whole thing is supposed to be from faith first to last and your own is just part of it.

[29:56] See, so from faith to faith. Most people, what they do is from faith to miracle. from faith to testimony, from faith to a husband, from faith to a wife, from faith to a house, from faith to a car, from faith to a, something you are believing God, from faith to healing.

[30:15] No, it should be from faith to faith. Healing is within that. Wow. Because the righteousness of God is revealed from faith. It's like sandwich. From faith to faith.

[30:25] So if you start in faith and you don't continue in faith, you can't enjoy the goodness of God fully. I see someone getting blessed because there is no way you remain the way you are in the coming year.

[30:39] I see your faith rising. I see your faith coming alive. I see the glory of God manifesting on your life. In the name of Jesus, nothing will stop you. Nothing can stop you.

[30:50] The devil is a liar. I see God elevating you from one level to the other because I see your faith coming alive in the name of Jesus. Someone lift up your hand and shout, I believe.

[31:01] I believe. Shout, I believe. I believe. Shout, I believe. I believe. In the name of Jesus. Did you get something? Oh, come on. Give God praise. Give God praise. Thank you for listening. For more resources, please visit caris.org or call us on 0207-740-9960.

[31:19] God bless you. God bless you.