UNVEILING THE STRONGHOLD OF FAITH

I was listening to a sermon yesterday by Bishop David O. Oyedepo, the Senior Pastor at Faith Tabernacle in Nigeria, Africa.  His testimony is powerful and this sermon was just as powerful and a message I needed to hear.  God has been challenging me to read more of his Word than any other book about his Word.  He has been challenging me to start living what I have learned thus far, instead of just writing it down and storing it for future use.  After I heard this sermon, I made a vow to God, just as Bishop Oyedepo did many years ago, I told God I would not look to any man, including myself, for any of my needs.  I would look only to God for all of my needs.  God also put on my heart to only read his Word and not any book about his Word for one year.  He told me those books are good to read, but I have been reading more books about his Word than his Word, and God told me that there is no power in any other book except his Word.  This sermon was a part of many sermons delivered at Dr. Bill Winston's International Faith Conference.  If you would like to hear this sermon and other sermons that were part of this conference, here is the link: 

http://www.billwinston.org/bwm_productIndex.aspx?id=258

This sermon was one hour long and here are the notes I took.  Since my notes are extensive (every word he spoke was powerful!), and you might not want to read a long blog or even have the time, I have typed what I thought were the main points in bold.  If you just what is in bold, you will still get a powerful message. 

Here are my notes:

Jesus is truth.  The truth has obtained for us power, riches, strength, wisdom, honor, glory, and blessings.  Revelation 5:12

All that Christ offers us is delivered by faith.  Nothing comes down from heaven except by faith.  As free as salvation is, it comes down by faith.  Every provision in redemption is only deliverable by faith.  Without faith it is impossible for us to access our inheritance.

We have a seven fold inheritance in Christ:  power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessings and the truth makes it available. 

Lack of knowledge of the truth is what makes a victim.  Isaiah 5:13

The truth will always triumph in any place. 

What is faith?  Faith is the most important force in all the universe.  Why?  "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."  Mark 9:3.    It confers divinity upon humanity.  Faith empowers us to operate in the very realm of God.  Faith empowers us to handle what only God could handle.  Faith is not a mere Bible principle.  Faith is our access to God.  We are empowered by faith.

The woman with the issue of blood went after Jesus and when she touched the hem of his garment, Jesus said power has gone out of me.  He said thy faith hath drawn power out of me and has made you whole.

Faith draws on the power of God to impart on our life.  Faith is a spiritual platform for empowerment.  Faith is about empowerment for triumph.  Every time your faith comes alive, virture comes from Christ to make you whole.  Faith is not a religious theory.  It is a mystery of the Kingdom.  1 Timothy 3:9.  Mystery is a Kingdom secret that gives you muscle.

Every time faith comes alive, God's integrity is committed to deliver.  Faith is not a religious logic.  It is a spiritual weapon.  Ephesians 6:16.  Faith is an ever winning spiritual force.  1 John 5:4.

Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, but it is much more than that.  Faith comes not just by hearing the Word of God, but principly by hearing from God.  Romans 10:17.

The stronghold of Abraham's faith was access to the voice of God.  Hearing from God is the stronghold of faith.  No one hears from God and doubts him.  The voice of God is the cure for the doubts of life.  If you have access to the voice of God, you are free. 

The voice of God was the root of Abraham and Moses' faith .  God still speaks today.  He said, "I am the Lord.  I change not."  Acts 4:20, 2 Peter 1:18.

Access to the voice of God is the bedrock for unshakeable faith.  How do we access the voice of God?  God speaks to us through a number of channels: 

1)  He speaks to us directly.  There is so much in the mystery of faith, but at the root of it is access to the voice of God. 

2)  God speaks to us through his Word.  Behind every verse of scripture is the voice of God.  In 1976, God spoke to me from Matthew 6:33, "Seek ye first my Kingdom and all its demands and all these things that others are dying to get shall be added to you."  Now from September 12, 1976 until today I have not had anything to ask.  God has simply been adding anything I need to me.  In 1983, the Lord said to me from Psalm 34:5, "My son, you have two eyes."  I said, "Yes."  "Can you make one to look up and one to look down?"  And I tried it and it didn't work.  He said, "Any time you are looking onto man, never claim you are looking unto me."  That is where I came by the law of absolute dependency on God.  Looking at no man for anything, including myself.  God has given us a blessed ministry, but I am not responsible for that ministry, so I sleep like a baby.  I am not responsible for that ministry.  I have no worries of any kind.  The voice that came to me on the night of September 1983, set me free from looking to myself or looking to people for help. 

3)  The Lord also speaks to us by the Spirit.  John 16:12-13, For when he comes, he will guide you unto all truth.  God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit.  Revelation 2:7-11.  The Spirit hears from God and he speaks it to us. 

How do we connect to this?  God is speaking all the time, but you have to tune in before you can hear him.  How do we tune in? 

1)  To hear the voice of God you must be spiritual.  1 Corinthians 2:14.  The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.  The voice of the Lord operates through a spiritual frequency.  Only the spiritual man can access the voice of God.  Revelation 1:10.  So if you are not in the Spirit, you cannot hear the voice of the Spirit.

2)  We have to engage in a quality walk in the Spirit.  Galations 5:25.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.  It is one thing to be spiritual.  It's another thing to be walking in the Spirit.  To be spiritual you are praying, you are studying the Word of God, but to walk in the Spirit means to be sensitive to the dictates of the Spirit in your daily walk.  In 1986, we were about to start our Bible school and a week before it was to start, we still didn't have a facility for it.  My wife said to me, the school is starting in a weeks time and we don't even know where to resume to.  And I replied humorously, "Is it your school?"  And as soon as I said that in faith, the Lord opened my eyes to a property in the city.  And he said, "That is for the Bible school."  I sent a fellow to check out the property.  When he met the owner of the property, he said, "Hello, Sir, are you the owner of this property?"  And he replied, "Jesus is the owner of this property.  I am the caretaker."  And the fellow said, "We need it for Bible school."  And he replied, "For Bible school?  Then it's free." 

You need to walk daily in the Spirit, because God can choose to give you directives at any time, in the morning, in the afternoon, in the night. 

3)  We need to engage in a lifestyle of praise.  Isaiah 30:29-31.  2 Kings 3:15, you shall have a song and then the Lord will cause his glorious voice to be heard.  Rejoice in the Lord always.  Rejoice evermore.  I hear from God every day.  God speaks to me every day.  I've never needed anyone to encourage me in 30 years.  In the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy.  The devil wants to depress you, so as to rob you of God's presence.  The devil wants to depress you, so you won't have access to God's voice.  He wants to depress to keep you in captivity.  You cannot be oppressed until you are first depressed.

4)  Engage in a lifestyle of prayer and fasting. 

Well, that was it.  The sermon cut off there.  Wasn't that an awesome message?  Like I said, it was an hour long, so these notes are just parts of it.  He said so much more and if you want to listen to the whole message, click on the link above.  I pray this message has encouraged you to examine your faith just as it has for me.  God bless!

HAVE YOU ACCEPTED JESUS AS YOUR SAVIOUR? HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO THE FATHER. HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN.

     If you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, please do so today. If you don't know what to pray, pray something along these lines: “God, I know that I am a sinner. Thank you for sending your Son to die on the cross for me. Thank you, Jesus, for paying for my sins, because I could never pay for them myself. Thank you for loving me that much. I believe this, God, and because I believe this, I am saved. Because I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for my sins, I am born again. Thank you, Jesus.”
And here are a few things about "being saved" which I heard in a sermon by Robert Morris. His website is at www.theblessedlife.com. He is a wonderful preacher and this message was awesome.

1) SALVATION IS A GIFT. It's not a goal to achieve. It's a gift to receive. Romans 11:6

2) SALVATION IS ETERNAL LIFE. Romans 6:23, 1 John 5:13

3) SALVATION IS FORGIVENESS. Forgiveness is complete release from the penalty that was before us. Acts 13:38, Jeremiah 31:34, Psalm 103:12

4) SALVATION IS JUSTIFICATION. Romans 3:24 and Galatians 2:16. God is a just God and it is justice for him to sentence us to heaven. God doesn't send anyone to hell. We are already on our way to hell. God and his grace sends us to heaven, because Jesus paid the full price and if we receive it, God has to let us go free because he's a just God. He can't punish two people for the same crime.

5) SALVATION IS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Romans 4:3. Righteousness means being in right standing with God. It doesn't mean doing the right thing. Righteous living is doing the right thing. We can be righteous and have righteousness because Jesus did the right thing. God took all of the sin in my account and put it in Jesus' account. That is why Jesus died for my sin. He was found guilty of my sin. The Bible says that God has made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. God took the whole world's sin and put it in Jesus' account. John 3:16. But you have to believe this to be saved. As soon as you believe, God takes all of Jesus' righteousness and puts it in our account.

6) SALVATION IS REDEMPTION. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. The word redeemed means to purchase back. God gave ownership or the deed of the world to Adam and Eve. He gave them dominion. Adam and Eve lost that to Satan. Jesus came and legally purchased it back. He purchased the world and every person in the world. He owns them all now. But since he created us in his image, we have our own will and it is our choice whether we want to serve God or not. If you are saved, you are not your own. You don't belong to you anymore.

7) SALVATION IS TOTAL COMMITMENT. Luke 6:46, Matthew 7:21-23. If God says I never knew you, that doesn't mean you have lost your salvation, it means you were never saved.

IF YOU ARE NOT SAVED, DON'T GO ANOTHER DAY WITHOUT A SAVIOUR. YOUR ETERNAL LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.

WHAT IS THE SHIELD OF FAITH?

What is the shield of faith? I believe! I believe! I believe! It doesn't matter what you tell me. It doesn't matter what I see. It doesn't matter how long I have to wait. I believe! I believe! I believe! Why? Because God is faithful. Why? Because God loves me. Why? Because I'm expecting God to bless me today. Why? Because I believe.