Where is your Faith? - Part-1

[0:00] Thanks for checking in on this podcast. You are about to hear an inspirational teaching from Caris Ministries. If God has used this ministry to bless you in any way, please take a moment and write to us at amen at caris.org.

[0:15] We are always inspired and blessed to hear how God is blessing people all over the world through what he is doing here at Caris. Also, if you would like to support this ministry financially, you can do so online at caris.org so we can continue making podcasts such as this available free of charge.

[0:38] I'm talking about the general theme for tonight, tomorrow and Sunday is where is your faith? Ask someone where is your faith? Where is your faith? Say it again.

[0:49] Where is your faith? Ask another person, where is your faith? Where is your faith? Praise the Lord. Are we dealing with where is your faith? Today I want to talk mainly, focus mainly on the force of faith.

[1:04] Let's all say the force of faith. The force of faith. Say it one more time, please. The force of faith. For the last time. The force of faith. The force of faith. I suppose we all know what Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4 says.

[1:22] Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4. It says that, Behold the proud. His soul is not upright in him. But the just shall live by his faith.

[1:35] Let's all say the last bit together. But the just shall live by his faith. One more time, please. But the just shall live by his faith. For the last time.

[1:46] But the just shall live by his faith. So, the just shall live by his faith. Okay. And then in the book of Romans chapter 1 verse 17.

[1:59] It continues to say the just shall live by his faith. Galatians chapter 3 verse 11 says that the just shall live by. Say it again.

[2:11] The just shall live by. The just shall live by. And so, to live your life as a God person.

[2:22] It requires faith. Faith is a necessity. You need faith. I'm going to explain a few things about faith. Then I'll go on to that. So, where is your faith? Now, if I ask you.

[2:34] Where is your. Pistle. Or AK47. Some guys came around.

[2:45] And you saw them. And I said. Where is your AK47? He said. Now, if you don't have it. Why would I say. If I say. Where is your AK47? Then I should expect that you should have it. So, I can't ask you where.

[2:57] Something that belongs to you is. If you. I know you don't have it. So, if I ask you that question. Then that presumes that you have it. Say I've got faith. I've got faith. I'm going to show you in the scriptures.

[3:08] Whether you've got faith or not. All right. So, the just shall live by faith. We also see Hebrews chapter 10 verse 38. That the just shall live by faith. So, three things I want to establish before we move on.

[3:21] That it takes faith to live in God. All right. It takes faith to live in God.

[3:33] It takes faith to live the God life. It takes faith to watch this. Enjoy the goodness of God.

[3:47] I submit to you brothers and sisters. That without faith God can't help you. With God all things are possible. Yes. His possibility finds expression in the lives of those who have faith.

[4:03] All right. So, the possibility of God. His mighty acts. His wondrous acts. Can find expression in only in the lives of people who have faith.

[4:14] Right. So, first of all. The just shall live by faith. Let's all say that together please. The just shall live by faith. Can I hear the men say it please? The just shall live by faith.

[4:24] Can I hear the ladies please? The just shall live by faith. Hallelujah. And secondly. I want you to realize as I said earlier on. We talk about where is your faith. Every Christian.

[4:35] Every believer has got faith. Now, I'm going to explain something. So, every believer has got faith. Or has got a level of faith. Or I prefer this word.

[4:46] A measure of faith. Every believer has got faith. Now, being a Christian. And the faith we're talking about. We are not talking about. When you are filling an application form.

[4:56] They said. What is your faith? Religious faith. Okay. Religious persuasion. Of the Christian faith. There are some times. It's interesting.

[5:07] They put Christian faith. And then they add Catholic. I remember when I got born again. Those years. When we used to preach in my school.

[5:20] And my friends. When some of them. You preach with them. They said. I said. Are you born again? He said. No, no. I'm a Catholic. Are you a Christian? No, no. I'm a Catholic. What do you mean by you're a Catholic?

[5:30] Are you a Christian? That's what matters. It's not whether you're a Catholic. All right. But that. So. When we talk about faith here. We are not talking about. Okay. Because I'm a Muslim.

[5:42] I am a Hindu. I am a Pentecostal. Or I am a Catholic. Or whatever. That's that faith. No. That's not what we're talking about. I want to show you the realm of faith.

[5:54] Or the force of faith. Faith is a force. It's a supernatural divine force. So. It's not just.

[6:06] Something that. Someone will say. I belong to this persuasion. So. It's not a philosophical persuasion.

[6:17] I'll go a bit into that. But the second point I want to make is. Every Christian. Every believer has got faith. Let's all say that together. Every believer has got faith.

[6:30] Pastor. Prove it. Why do you say. Every believer has got faith. Okay. In Ephesians chapter 2. Verse 8. It is so clear. That you can't miss it.

[6:40] If. If. If. You can't. You can't understand. Or. Anything that is intelligible. Or you can just read. Or. If you can read. It said.

[6:50] Let's read it together from the screen. Let's go. For my grace. You are saved. Through faith. And that. Not of yourself. It is the gift of God. All right. How are you saved?

[7:01] By grace. Through what? Okay. Now. When you read. Jude. Chapter 2. Verse 11. It talks about. The grace of God. That brings. I like that scripture.

[7:12] So much. Jude. So I said. How can I say Jude? Sorry. Titus. Titus 2. 11. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The.

[7:22] The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The.

[7:32] The. The. The. The. The.

[7:43] The. The. The. The. The. The.

[7:54] It's not God's fault. Because it's available to all. The grace that makes us saved has appeared to all men. Say all men.

[8:05] All men. Because there are a lot of people who have issues about the message of grace. They said, and when they get up, they say grace, grace. So you can, because grace is available, you can do all kinds of things. People are sinning and they say grace, grace, the grace, the grace.

[8:18] Because when you listen to the message of grace carefully, or not listen, but when you follow the message of grace very carefully, it sidesteps the act of men. Okay?

[8:28] So when you teach the message of grace so strong, it makes it look like it doesn't matter what anybody does. Because your works don't matter. It's just grace.

[8:39] Because grace doesn't need your work to function. So you don't have to do anything for grace to function. Once grace is there, it's just you are just a joy. In spite of what you do. So it comes across like that.

[8:51] And actually, Paul, the greatest theologian of Christianity, the greatest theologian actually taught so much about grace, he had to explain that.

[9:02] So shall we continue to sin that grace? Because people are saying that, you are saying grace, grace. And people are sinning. And they are fornicating. And they are okay in church. And you are telling the grace to take care of it.

[9:12] See, some people can't teach. For instance, I'm going to say this, because a lot of pastors of my kind of background and training, most of them believe that once you, if you are saved, and you fall into sin, you go to hell.

[9:27] But I believe from scriptures, if you are saved, you are forever saved. Now, what saves you is your belief in Christ.

[9:38] Now, if you reject Christ, then that's a different story. But, so you can lose your salvation to that extent. But then once you are saved, when I got born again, we were made to understand that if you lie, and you don't repent, and you die, guess what, because you lied, guess what, you are going to hell.

[9:57] Or, you are a Christian, you've been in church, every time, dying, everything. And one day, you don't know. Some demon came on you, or not demon, you yourself became a demon. And you found yourself on the wrong bed, doing something, and in the course of doing, you had a heart attack.

[10:15] You were so charged, that you had a heart attack. And you die, guess where you are going?

[10:31] Straight to hell. What do you mean by grace, grace, grace, grace? And so, why did I bring this in? This is just a digression, but I brought it in because of the scripture we just read in Titus chapter 2 verse 11.

[10:44] Actually, the grace that brings salvation, verse 12 of Titus chapter 2. So, Titus chapter 2 verse 11, let's see what verse 11 says. Verse 11 says, For the grace that brings salvation has appeared to all, okay?

[10:56] Before then, remember Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8 says that, For you are saved by grace, and through faith, and not of your works. So, grace means that my love works. So, that's why I keep saying, it doesn't matter what someone has done.

[11:11] Once we get to church, we are all on the same level. Before God, before grace. Grace, because grace doesn't take recognition of works. Because that, verse 9, they say that, look at verse 9.

[11:23] Verse 9 says that, Not of works, lest anyone should boast. That's when you feel you are good, because you've tried, you've fasted 89 days. And this one, it's been messing, I've come to church, I think, no, no.

[11:35] It says, it is not. I don't know how many of you have been there before, because when I got born again, I was surrounded with this very, very fiery, charged Christians.

[11:45] Fasting 24-7. Always fasting. Always. Sometimes, when they're walking like this. We are the kind of believers who you dare not hug a sister.

[11:57] Brother, come. One of you, come quickly. You see a sister, say, hello sister, how are you? The Lord bless you. Yes, always holding the Bible. We hold the Bible like this.

[12:08] Sister, how are you? Are you on fire? How's the fire going? Are you praying? Are you fasting? You have to fast, okay? Are you going to church? All right, it's strong. Very modest.

[12:23] Full of fire. And so, when we got born again, it's like, it was always like that. We were very fiery.

[12:34] And I discovered that some of the brothers were, you know, good. They were fiery. And then, we are in a church. But the other people we know are not fiery.

[12:45] They don't even like praying like we pray. When it's prayer time, when like some of us do, when it's church time, when you know you will pray first, you will come. You will wait. And you know, first two songs are not that hot.

[12:56] So, you will wait. You come on, you will even sit in the car and wait. Now they are praying. You know what I mean? So, we don't like those believers. Those of us who are so fiery and we are always fasting.

[13:09] When the church is fasting, when we are doing 30 days in church, some of us will do 37. And some people, we know, they will be eating throughout. We come to church and we are all the same. So, we didn't kind of like them.

[13:19] But you know, the irony, some of them, you could see God blessing them. You could see God, some of them, like someone who has not, never, never, never funicated.

[13:30] Kept you so clean. Kept you, and you can't find anyone to marry. Oh, you are not married. No man. And these people who have been messing up, you see me, no, they are wedding.

[13:41] And they are wedding. And you are, see, if you don't take care, you will die in pain and bitterness because you think you deserve by virtue of your good works. No, I am not saying that what, the good things we do in obedience to God are not important.

[13:58] But I'm saying that we can't bribe God into giving us grace. Grace is in spite of works. Do you understand that now? And so, so when he said that, I said, yes, the message that tells us that we are saved by grace, the title chapter 2, verse 11, it says the grace of God that brings salvation.

[14:18] All right? So salvation is an act of grace. The grace that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Look at verse 12. Teaching. Verse 12. Teaching us.

[14:29] Did you see that? So what is teaching us? So that grace that saves you also teaches you. So you can't say I'm saved, but I do this way, it doesn't matter.

[14:40] Because that thing that saved you has been telling, it shows you what to do. So if you are genuinely saved, some things come naturally to you. I can't do this. I can't go here. I can't say this. I can't behave like this.

[14:51] Because salvation comes as a package and some things are installed in your system which begins to teach you. So there is nothing like just grace and work. Do anything. When you are saved and when you encounter grace, you can't just do anything.

[15:05] You can't do it. You can't do it. You can't do it. That's what Paul said. So should we continue that grace? God forbid. Romans chapter 6, verse 1 and 2.

[15:18] Shall we continue that grace we are bound? He said, God forbid. Verse 2. Talks about God forbid. Certainly not. How shall we who have died to sin live there? So it's not compatible.

[15:31] Grace, pure grace, when you encounter grace, you can't continue living recklessly. That's right. Say amen. Amen. All right. So how do I make use of this grace since it's appeared to all men?

[15:44] We discovered in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8, that for Ephesians 2, verse 8, for by grace, you see, by grace you have been saved. So grace saves us. But how do you get into that grace?

[15:56] Through faith. Shun faith. Faith. Is anyone here saved? Yes. How did you get saved? Through faith. That's it.

[16:07] You're going to the other side of the river, East London, and all the bridges are blocked, apart from the two tunnels. You must have gone through the tunnel. So you can't get there without going through.

[16:21] The medium, the doorway, access to the place is free. So it's, in Romans, Romans chapter 4, verse 16, it says, therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace.

[16:39] Therefore, it is of faith. See, faith is the only thing that makes grace effective. Yeah, grace, grace, grace, grace, grace.

[16:50] Grace is available to all men. Now, the biggest thing that God can ever do for anybody is to help you and save you not to go to hell and to give you of himself the best gifts God gave to humanity.

[17:09] When Bible spoke about the love of God, do you know what Bible said about God's love? He said, for God so loved the world that he gave money, no, that he gave job, no, that he gave healing, no, that he gave wife, no, that he gave husband, babies, no, that he gave his only begotten son.

[17:31] Why did he do that? So that whosoever connects, believe in him, shall not perish. So, see, saving us from perishing is God's exclusive act of love.

[17:43] All right? So now, listen to this. So if, that's why Paul made this argument in Romans chapter 8 verse 32, 33, he says that if he who did not spare his only son, Romans chapter 8 verse 32, 33, if God, he who, he who did not spare his only son, his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him, say with him, shall with him, with him, so from the scripture, Bible says that God will give, if he has given Jesus, then he will give any other thing.

[18:19] Now, why am I saying this? I'm saying this to underscore the point that salvation is the biggest thing that we can ever have in life. What? And he says that we are saved by grace through faith.

[18:33] If the biggest, greatest thing in life you got it through faith, then all these other sad things is the biggest thing that he is. Right. Now, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 back there, he says that for by grace are ye saved through faith.

[18:51] How? Through faith. So, if anyone is saved, this text stands to imply inherent in the text is the suggestion or is the proposition that anyone who is saved has faith.

[19:05] God, that's the only way you can be saved. That's the only way you can be saved. All those who have been to Afghanistan and back have helmets.

[19:18] And I meet you, I come to you, so, yeah, I've been there, so, okay, where's your helmet? I didn't have some, no, then, either the statement is not valid or you didn't go. So, you have to choose one.

[19:29] Either we choose what you are saying that you went and the statement is not valid or the statement is valid and you didn't go. So, the same way, he said, you are saved by grace through faith and if you are telling me you are saved but I don't have faith, then either you are not really saved or the Bible is not correct.

[19:50] Now, which one should I take? Can you give me a reason why I should believe you instead of God? Right, so then, the point, I've said all this to bring home the point that if you are saved like yourself over here, then you have faith.

[20:10] So, it makes sense when Jesus said, where is your faith? Why are you dying? Put it out! Where is your faith? Where is your faith?

[20:25] They've canceled my insurance. They've cut my electricity, my gas and everything and I'm freezing to death and I can't drive because they've canceled my insurance.

[20:36] But you told me that you have a lot of money in your account, you don't know. So, where is that? No, I saw it, I saw when they transferred. So, where is the money? So, if you have this, you can't be having this and still be going through this.

[20:52] believers are not supposed to suffer like everyone suffers.

[21:04] Now, let's get this thing in balance. Sometimes, you may go through a wilderness but if it stays too long, it becomes questionable or there are some of the wilderness is, where are they usually?

[21:19] They went to Canerland. They are there. They are there. So, the wilderness is just to polish you for what is coming. That's why I am of a firm opinion that no believer can remain barren.

[21:32] Say amen. Amen. Particularly, if you are busy in church. You can't be busy in church and remain barren. Isaac, they were going to look for a wife of Isaac.

[21:45] There was a grace that came upon Abraham's servant in Genesis and when the servant got there, the right woman came, he didn't waste time, he said, ah, you are the one that thing, within 24 hours, Isaac was married.

[21:57] Why do you have to wait for six months? There is grace that brings marriage first. I discovered and I believe that I was trained to understand that it's necessary to move with someone for at least six months so that you can know the person very well in order to get married and that's counseling.

[22:28] It's necessary to do that so people don't rush into marriage because they don't know the person and they just jump into marriage. But the point I've discovered here through further studies is that it does not guarantee you can work with a person eight years and still don't know that he's a thief.

[22:54] You can work for nine years, ten years and still don't know that he's a womanizer because the guy is good at the job. It's just good.

[23:08] You can live with someone in the house and still not know the person. What I'm trying to say, Master, so she didn't go out for courts for a longer period.

[23:20] There's no guarantee for long courtship. What guarantees good marriage is finding the right person? You didn't think about that. What guarantees good marriage is finding the right person?

[23:35] How do I find it? That's why you have to come for a single seminar and read books so that we can find the right person. You don't waste all your time and I made everything, I regret, I regret, I regret, I regret, I regret.

[23:46] Find the right person. Shout hallelujah! Some of you are not happy, don't worry. So, it is necessary to understand that everyone has got faith.

[23:59] Look at Romans chapter 12 verse 3. Romans 12 verse 3. Is anyone born again here? Anyone born again here?

[24:13] If you are born again, say, I've got faith. Say it again, I've got faith. Then isn't it ironic that we allow people who don't have faith to advise us based on issues of life, major issues of life, diseases based on...

[24:27] Now, watch this. If you got some money in your account, about half a million. Someone just willed it to you.

[24:38] You say amen? Amen! I think it's good. I mean, a financial advisor may not be born again, but when it comes to maybe where to invest, that's his job.

[24:53] Okay? So, then, when you go to a lawyer, a doctor, he may not be born again, but those are the speciality. However, sometimes their speciality begins to go so far that defy your confidence of what you know God is telling you.

[25:08] So, then you have to then put on your faith, or you have to walk in faith, and obey God's word at the experience of any other thing.

[25:19] However, what I'm saying is that sometimes people can give you advice, because that's the area of speciality. Alright? So, the fact that someone is not born again doesn't mean the person cannot give you professional advice.

[25:30] That's different. That's different from lifestyle advice. So, someone is telling you, he doesn't even understand the language of faith, and he's telling you, but why do you have to go to church?

[25:41] Why do you have to go to church too many times? And so, when you are born again, you've got faith, and so you have to be careful who advises you on the major subjects of life, and your matters of faith.

[25:52] Say amen. Amen. Romans chapter, what does it say? Romans chapter 12, verse 3. Did you see what's there? Romans chapter 12, it says, therefore I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly.

[26:10] Let's read that part together, last one. As God has dealt with each one, a measure of faith. As what? One more time.

[26:21] As God has dealt with each one, a measure of faith. So everyone has a measure of faith. The each one there is not talking about all humanity. It's talking about, I explained this some time ago.

[26:34] It's like, let's say, something like a helicopter, faith, okay, it's a gift of God, right? Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8.

[26:45] It says that, for by grace are you saved through faith and not of your death, for it's the gift of God, okay? So that gift, as soon as you open your heart to accept the word, it lands on you so that you can make use of the grace for salvation.

[27:01] Now, when the word is preached, this one receives, it comes, this one is not receiving, it's gone. So the one who receives has the gift of faith. That Bible says, God has given, Romans 12, 3, talks about how God has, it's God who deals with everyone in measure of faith.

[27:19] Amen? God deals with us in measure of faith. There was a time I was at an all night and the pastor was preaching and one of my friends was sleeping while me.

[27:32] And the pastor was preaching and said, women are blessed, all women rise to your feet. and the brother was sleeping so what did he have on it? He also jumped in his trees. Praise the Lord.

[27:52] So two things I've said so far, I just shall live by faith and then number two, every believer has faith and number three, you have an option. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7, he said, for we walk by faith not by sight.

[28:07] Okay? 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7, for we walk by faith and not by sight. Let's all say that, let's read it together. For we walk by faith and not by sight.

[28:18] That means that there are two ways. You can either walk by faith or by sight. You can choose to walk by faith and walk by sight. But I said, we, the we is talking about those who have got faith.

[28:30] Faith, thank you Jesus, faith is given to us for us to walk by. Say the realm of faith. Say the force of faith. Right?

[28:41] So, first thing, the just shall live by faith. Okay, we live by faith. Second, everyone has good measure of faith. Third point is that you have an option.

[28:51] You can choose to walk by faith or by sight. But the Bible said the way we walk is by faith and not by sight. All right? So, faith is a divine force. I want you, this is going to be interesting.

[29:02] You're going to find something very interesting. I never saw it till recently in one of my research and studies. I came across this, which is quite interesting. Okay, Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1. This is going to be interesting.

[29:23] Can we read it together? Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1. Now faith is a substance of things not for, the evidence of things not seen. One more time, please.

[29:35] Now faith is a substance of things not for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is a substance of things not seen. It's evidence of things that have not yet showed up.

[29:49] So, the evidence that those things exist is faith. So, you haven't seen it, but you have the evidence. So, believers work by faith. They work by evidence of things that normal human beings haven't noticed exist.

[30:07] People haven't seen that your marriage exists, is there. They haven't seen your healing exists. That's why they are making the diagnosis and all that is telling you because they haven't seen the healing, but it's there.

[30:19] They haven't seen your financial freedom and financial empowerment, but it's there. All right? So, it says that faith is the evidence of things not seen. Then, it went on to talk about how for by faith the elders have taken good reports.

[30:34] But at verse 3, let's look at Hebrews chapter 11 verse 3. If the Bible is yours, I want you to do some underlining. You know what I discovered? That this text actually says a lot.

[30:49] Speaks volumes. Actually, every text speaks volumes. But if you look at it just from a normal, with the normal eye, you may not notice something over there. And I just discovered through my studies recently.

[31:03] For by faith, we understand that the wells were framed by the word of God. So that things are, this is what makes it nicer. So that things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

[31:16] What's the point here? Do you know that you can put a dash after the faith and then put a dash after the that, the first that?

[31:32] Does that make sense? Okay, let me use parentheses, brackets. You can put a bracket before the W of the we, after the faith.

[31:45] the we understand that, you can put them in brackets. Now, if you put those ones in brackets, how does it read?

[32:01] Just put them in the bracket and make it. So a parenthetical statement can be taken out silently without it affecting the original meaning of the text. So read it as though the we understand that it's not there.

[32:14] Read it. Let's go. So that things that are seen are not made of things. What are you trying to say, pastor?

[32:33] We can put it this way. We understand that by faith. So the faith is not so much focusing on the understanding but what wealth were made by faith.

[32:55] That's why he said so that things that do appear were not made by things. Because God is not visible. Okay. But the strong point is here that God is here that God made the world.

[33:07] How did make the world? How did we understand that we understand that by faith the worlds were framed by the word of God.

[33:21] God? So by faith the worlds were framed by the word of God. So that is why that accounts for the fact that things that are seen were not made of things that are visible.

[33:39] That's how faith operates. We walk by faith and not by sight. We walk by faith and not by visible things. Okay. And he's saying that faith, God made these things by faith.

[33:59] Does that make sense when Jesus said that if you believe, all things are possible to him who believes. But we only know that there's only one being who with him all things are possible.

[34:12] And who is that? God. In Matthew chapter 17, I think, Mark chapter 18, verse 20, Luke chapter 18, verse 28, 19, verse 28, there it talks about how with God all things are possible.

[34:28] Then Jesus comes on the scene and tells his disciples in the book of Mark chapter 4, verse 23, that if you believe, all things are possible to him who believes, not God.

[34:40] Okay. This is Mark chapter 9, I'm sorry, chapter 9, verse 23, man chapter 9, verse 23, Jesus said to him, if you can believe, all things are possible to who? Did you realize that him is not God?

[34:52] The ordinary man who believes, right? The ordinary man who believes, he says that all things are possible for you who believes. So as soon as you believe, you are operating in a realm which God operates.

[35:06] You don't get it. You don't get it. Because God operates in the realm of faith. That's why he said they're just. People who work with God can only do it by faith. Because God operates in the realm of faith.

[35:18] So faith is not just some ideology. Faith is a force. It's a realm. You stay there. So you don't, this thing shocked me when I discovered about Abraham that Abraham when God spoke to him he's going to have a child which I mentioned last last seminar.

[35:33] He didn't believe, like Bible says that he didn't believe or he didn't have the child because he was younger or older. His faith in God would have remained the same whether it was 20 years, whether it was 30 years, whether it was 50 years, whether it was 70 years, 80 years, or 100 years.

[35:53] The years was irrelevant. So faith is not based on circumstance. Faith is purely based on God's word. And so the point here is that you don't wait till you are in trouble before you try to walk by faith.

[36:05] Don't wait for trouble. Don't wait for trouble to try and pull out faith like a sword.

[36:17] Most of the time they say the thing is not working. The thing is not working. The thing is not working. There's a man who at least he was able to manage to do something. One day in his house and some thieves came to his house, some robber came to his house.

[36:30] And then he got up and he took, you know, he has a comb. The comb they have is like, so he took the comb and said, hey, hands up, don't run, hands up. Please, please, please, and he ran away.

[36:44] It was a comb. But if the thief begins to come and attack you, the comb will help you. Or it's like a gun without bullets.

[36:57] Now, if you wait for trouble before you say, okay, now I'm going to live by faith, that means you're actually using God. You're not working with God. But when you have faith, whether things are good or things are bad, faith is not only for good times.

[37:15] Neither is it just for bad times. So, things are so bad. When things are bad, I don't want to go to church, I just want to be myself this time.

[37:27] it's too much. I don't want to sing any song again.

[37:38] I'm tired. This fast day, I'm doing it again. And when trouble came, now all your faith has jumped out of the window. And I begin to say, I'm even tired. I'm even tired. God need to send a man to come and teach you about wilderness before you can say, oh, God.

[37:53] I'm even tired. I've waited. No, I'm not having a child. Everybody. Now, someone came to me some time ago and said, Pastor, all my friends are having children and I've been married and I'm not happy. So how long have you been married?

[38:05] Oh, eight months. I said, what's your problem? What's your problem? Oh, Pastor, I'm not happy. Eight months. And you marry just a year, two years.

[38:24] I'm afraid. And some people, three months of marriage, you're already worried. What if I can't have children? How can you be thinking like that?

[38:36] How can you think you can't have children? That's wrong. That's sick. How can you think you can't have children? It's like, oh, if I drink water, maybe it will come out of my ears.

[38:47] Oh, how can you be thinking like that? that is not your reason? That's for some right. Not having children is not getting married unless you don't want to.

[38:59] But it's not for you. It's not your portion. You say amen. Amen. Maybe I will never get married. Where's the baby coming from? The devil is likely speaking to you. God, where are you?

[39:11] We are naked. We are afraid. God said, where are you getting this foreign information from? Did you find this in my word? If you find it in my world, maybe I won't get married. Find it in my world, maybe I will never be healed.

[39:25] Maybe I will die early. No one is permitted to die young here. I was listening to Bishop He made a comment.

[39:36] He said that one of the things that is not difficult for him is to break news of bereavement. Oh, he will tell you straight. And one day he said to someone's father died.

[39:48] One of the people around, his father died and everybody was worried. We don't know how to go. He said, oh, what is it? Call help for me. He came to the office. He said, listen, if God wants to call somebody home, among the people around you, your children, your husband, your father, who would you prefer?

[40:12] Because someone must go, who would you prefer? He said, oh, I prefer my dad. He said, okay, then God has done it. And she said, she didn't really, oh, what did you, my dad, yeah, God has done it, God has done it.

[40:32] You said it, you said it, God did it, you said that God, I prefer it. I found it very funny.

[40:45] Praise the Lord. No one is dying young, and no one here will bury their child, never, no one here is permitted, you are not permitted, you are not allowed to bury your child yet.

[41:00] And you will die in good old age. Bible says that God saved Shadrach, Mezach, and Abednego because they trusted in him.

[41:12] Not because they are very good. No normal human being can quench fire. You can't quench violence of fire without any apparatus. Bible says they quench, they stop the violence of fire.

[41:24] And in Daniel, Bible says that because they have trusted in their God. I think Daniel 2.28 or 3.28 they trusted in your God. When you trust in God, things just can't happen to you.

[41:41] Hallelujah. Is someone getting something? Pull your faith, walk by faith. Tomorrow, if I finish, I'm going to have to go on releasing your faith.

[41:53] They were in the storm in Mark chapter 8. And they thought they were going to die. They came walking and walked Jesus up. Jesus, Jesus, we perish.

[42:04] Jesus. Like some of us do. Any little news we hear, oh, I'm dead, I'm dead. Please stop, please stop, please stop. You don't know what I'm talking about.

[42:15] You don't know. Now, I've got a children's attention, you know. In Matthew chapter 9, verse 29, it says that it shall be according to your faith.

[42:29] According to the law. According to your family. According to your faith, what's your problem? Stay in the realm of faith. Sometimes the devil suddenly brings some smoke. It's fearful, it's fiery.

[42:39] it's one of those things. It's one of those things. Now, people who have even cancer, one month to live, God said this is nonsense.

[42:52] You have to go to America and study. So he re-writes the whole thing. Haven't you been where you've sent him some documents and they possibly didn't write it well or they gave you a lesser one or they didn't approve it.

[43:05] And then the boss himself takes it and says don't worry, I cancelled the scientists and give a better one. He gives it to you. This is what God is doing. So don't be worried. Fear not. Only.

[43:16] Fear not. Only. Fear not. Only. All those things are mirage. To scare you, the devil is a liar.

[43:28] You walk by faith and not by sight. Where is your faith? In the time of storm. Stay in faith. May I summon to you brothers and sisters that every walk of faith, every claim of faith will be tested.

[43:48] You got faith? All right. All right. It will be tested. It will be not God coming to test your faith, but situations will come up.

[44:01] That's why you just say where is your faith? And when I was studying the text, one of the things that stood very clear, strong in my mind was, ah, okay, the faith, is it the faith they have in things working that things will not overshadow them or faith in Jesus?

[44:15] Because Jesus said where is your faith when they woke him up? Pastor, we are going to perish. Jesus said where is your faith? Is he talking about your faith in me or your faith that life cannot just? And when you read the other accounts in Mark, particularly Matthew, Jesus said why are you so fearful?

[44:34] They were afraid of the storms. All right? So the storms, what they know about storms is that storms can drown you. And Bible says categorically in Luke chapter 8, verse 23 downwards, Bible talks, says categorically that the water began to fill their boats.

[44:55] Now, water filling boats, naturally, you know that boat is sinking water. There's nothing wrong with boats being on water, but there's a problem when water is in boats. Some of us have got some problems, isn't it?

[45:10] Water is in your boats and you are screaming. But that's not the end of the story. Tell someone that's not the end of the story. That's not the end of the story.

[45:21] That's not the end of the story. So, this is where is your faith? When things happen like that, where is your faith? Now, I have submitted to you that by faith, God framed the worlds by his word.

[45:39] That is why things that appear are not made by things that are visible. So, even God operates by faith. My brother, he said faith is believing in God.

[45:51] So, God believes in himself. So, faith, that's why I want you to understand in my conclusion. I want you to understand that faith is not just a mental projection.

[46:05] It's not. Faith is not. And most of us, the problem is we have feeling generated or feeling based faith.

[46:19] Leave this for normal, unbelievers. I mean, it's not wrong. If you want to live in that realm, I woke up and it's still dark. It's 12 midday and the whole weather is so dark.

[46:32] You still know that the day is good. I woke up and the sun is so hot, bright day. It doesn't matter. You still know that day is good.

[46:43] because the scripture said, this is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

[46:55] Not that the sun is shining. It's once you have entered the day, it's yours. You didn't hear what I said? Once you have entered the day, it's yours.

[47:08] It's yours for rejoicing. It's yours for rejoicing. And so don't wait. So faith is not a feeling. Sometimes you may feel afraid in your mind, but the word of God in your heart makes you know.

[47:26] God is with you. So don't wait till you feel good before you know it's going to be good. Just feel faith. Go by faith. Faith is not a feeling.

[47:37] Faith is a realm. Faith is a force. And you're played by that force. And everything begins to line up. Faith is a force. It's a divine force by which things were created.

[47:49] And God said, now that's how you got to walk. Got to walk. Tomorrow I have to go into what faith can do for you. Because I can't focus on that.

[48:01] Because I have to close. Faith is going to help you. I discovered that stop looking for help. there is no help for you anywhere.

[48:17] And God can't help you without faith. Okay? And so faith is a necessary requirement for your mastery and excelling in life.

[48:30] Because I put, I remember I put on Twitter, on Facebook, some last week, that there's no future in the help of man. man. There's no future. There's no future in the help of man.

[48:42] And the only one who can help you can only do it by faith. Faith is unnecessary. And so stop looking for help and start building and charging your faith. And when your faith says yes, everything begins to line up.

[48:57] I see things lining up for someone. I said I see things lining up for somebody. I see things lining up for somebody. In the name of Jesus, faith is not a philosophical proposition.

[49:11] Faith is not a mental projection. Faith is not a feeling. Faith is not a religious opinion or persuasion. And one of the things I want you to understand is that nothing works without faith in God.

[49:26] In other words, nothing works in God without faith. And so your faith is necessary. That's why the enemy is trying to fight your faith. I see someone's faith coming alive.

[49:40] Tomorrow, I'm going to pick it up and continue from, I'm going to share on what can your faith do or what can you do in faith. By faith, Enoch did.

[49:52] By faith, someone did. By faith, God created. By faith, this one did. By faith, so you choose not that faith. When you choose to go by faith, the things you can achieve are amazing. Mind blowing.

[50:04] Socially, I see someone to be blessed. Did you get something tonight? Come on, let's appreciate God. Hallelujah. Thank you for listening. For more resources, please visit charis.org and call us on 0207-740-9960.

[50:19] God bless you.