WHERE FAITH IS INVOLVED, IMPOSSIBILITIES DO NOT EXIST.
THERE IS NO IRREVERSIBLE CASE WITH FAITH BECAUSE WHATEVER GOD CAN DO, FAITH CAN MAKE HAPPEN.
FAITH ELEVATES MAN TO EXPERIENCE WHATEVER GOD CAN DO.
THERE IS NO CLOSED CASE WITH FAITH. WHEREVER FAITH IS AVAILABLE THERE IS A WAY OUT, THERE IS A WAY FORWARD
WHAT GOD HAS SAID WILL NOT CHANGE BECAUSE CONDITIONS CHANGED
THERE IS NO CASE THAT CAN CLOSE WHEN FAITH IS PRESENT
AS LONG AS FAITH IS AVAILABLE, THERE IS NOTHING UNOBTAINABLE
THE AVAILABILITY OF POWER DOES NOT EQUAL THE DELIVERY OF HEALING.
GOD’S SERVANT HAS SAID OVER THE YEARS THAT IT IS NOT THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE SOURCE BUT THE SOLIDITY OF OUR FAITH THAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE.
WHEN FAITH IS NOT IN PLACE, THE AVAILABILITY OF POWER HAS NO CONSEQUENCE ON THOSE THAT ARE AROUND
– Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr on UNDERSTANDING THE MYSTERY OF FAITH 4′ at Midweek Communion Service || LFC Canaanland
Our Father tonight we have come with gratitude in our hearts to give glory and praise to you for all of the answers you have given to our prayers. Every time we call you hear us and every time you hear, you answer us. For it again tonight we say thank you. Church Gist. Our Father we are before you again for your Word. Speak to us tonight, let your Word come with clarity in our direction. Let our lives be transformed tonight. We give all the praise and glory to you because we know it is done. In Jesus’ precious name, we have prayed.
Our teaching series in our Midweek Services has been captioned UNDERSTANDING THE MYSTERY OF FAITH. This is the concluding portion of this teaching. I believe God that tonight each one of us shall be transformed. All through scriptures, God identifies faith as a mystery. 1 Timothy 3:9. A mystery in simple terms is a hidden secret. Church Gist. Every child of God according to scriptures is a candidate for the unravelling of mysteries. Mark 4:11. It is a mystery and it is the heritage of every child of God to gain access to the mysteries of God. This mystery is very important because when it comes to the subject of faith, it is a non-negotiable factor in the life of a believer. I pray that for each one of us upon this mountain our faith will change levels.
What is faith? Faith can be described as our access to a world of unlimited possibilities. John 11:39-44. I know he has been dead for four days but did I not say to you that the condition for the transformation you desire is your faith? Did I not say to you that if you believe you will see the glory of God? Church Gist. Jesus made it very clear when faith is involved, impossibilities do not exist. Mark 9:23. Matthew 17:19-20. Where faith is available, impossibilities do not exist. I pray for each one of us that from this season onward our faith will shift levels.
In fact, there is no irreversible case with faith because whatever God can do, faith can make happen. There is no irreversible case with faith because whatever it is God can do, faith can make it happen. That means faith elevates man to experience whatever God can do. The realm of God is the realm of possibilities. When a man steps into the arena of God, impossibilities are dissolved. I pray again for each one of us tonight that as our faith is quickened afresh, each one of us will step into that arena of God. That is why God’s servant told us at the beginning of this series that when faith comes alive, victory comes along. It is impossible to be defeated where faith is available. The presence of faith is the eradication of defeat. Wherever there is faith, there is a way out. Church Gist. 1 Corinthians 10:13. There is no closed case with faith. Wherever faith is available there is a way out, there is a way forward. That means you can’t have faith and remain stagnated. Deuteronomy 2:3. Wherever faith is available, stagnation is not possible because faith always brings the way forward. What else? We discover that wherever faith is available there is always a way upward. Church Gist. You can’t remain grounded with faith. Men of faith will naturally keep shifting levels. Moving from one realm to another. You can’t remain grounded with faith. The Bible tells us about Joshua and Caleb, they said in Numbers 13:30 – “let us go up at once”. We can’t stay down, faith is at work, we can’t stay on the ground. Let us go up at once. Where there is faith, there is a way out, where there is faith there is a way out and where there is faith there is a way upward. For someone under the sound of my voice tonight, by the way God is quickening in your heart through His Word, I see each one of us experiencing a change of story.
Quickly, what makes faith a mystery? We will look at a few things quickly here tonight and I trust God that the spirit of God will give us light in the name of Jesus.
1. Faith provokes the healing power of God that makes whole.
In Luke 8:40-48, the Bible gives us a particular picture of the experience of a woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years. The Bible tells us that she had spent all of her living on physicians and could not be healed. She carried an incurable disease. The Bible tells us that she came behind him and touched the border of the garment of Jesus and immediately her issue of blood stopped. Look at what the Bible says, Jesus said “Who touched me?” Luke 8:45-48. Jesus said somebody touched me, many people are pushing me, many people are pulling me but one person is touching me. Why? For I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. It is not the pull, it is not the push, it is the faith. The faith was the contact point. Everybody was present, everybody was pulling, everybody was pushing but one person was touching. It was the difference maker. Where faith is available, it makes contact with the power of God to bring about the healings that we desire. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5. Faith is what connects, it is what collects, it is what accesses the power of God that brings our healing. Church Gist. It means therefore that it is our faith that makes the difference. Where faith is available, there is a contact point with the power of God. It draws on God’s power to bring about the healing that we desire. No wonder we are told when the Bible describes the man called Stephen in scriptures, Acts 6:8. It said he was full of faith and power. Where there is faith there will be power. What wire is to electricity is what faith is to power. It is the conduit of communication, it is what carries the power from God to meet the situation that needs to be addressed. That is why when faith comes alive, healing comes along. You and I can draw on the power of God to deliver the healing we desire. This is why it is important for us to understand that faith is a non-negotiable factor. When it comes to you and I taking delivery of the healing that we desire.
If you look through the scriptures you will discover in Luke 5:17-25. The power was present to heal them. If you go through that scripture, you will discover that even though the power was present to heal them only one person took it – the paralytic man. The availability of power does not equal the delivery of healing, it is the availability of faith that connects with the available power that brings about the healing we desire. That is why God’s servant has said over the years that it is not the authenticity of the source it is actually the solidity of our faith that makes the difference. When faith is not in place, the availability of power has no consequence on those that are around. So it is not enough to be where the power of God is, it is vital to have faith in order to connect with the available power. That man was healed but everybody else remained the same even though power was available. Church Gist. By the next chapter, Luke 6:17-18. They came from everywhere, these ones came with faith and they were healed. The same Jesus, the same power but a different outcome. The power was dependent on their faith. So our faith is what determines the outcome. I pray that via the encounter you and I have our faith will come alive. Whatever affliction of the devil may have tormented anyone of us, tonight by the quickening of our faith that affliction is coming to an end. Faith draws on the power of God that brings to bear the healing that we desire.
2. Faith commits the integrity of God to make good His Word.
Luke 1:45. Faith is what actually commits God’s integrity. Let’s take a few pictures from scripture that will help us to see how much value God puts in His Word. Psalm 89:34. Numbers 23:19. Repent means to say “I am sorry, I didn’t sleep well, I misspoke.” He cannot adjust what He said. Has He said it, will He not do it? Has He not spoken it? Will He not make it good? That is the value God places on His Word. Deuteronomy 7:9. That is the value that He places on His Word. Church Gist. It is faith that commits God to whatever He has said on your behalf. This means that it is faith that provokes the performance of God concerning any Word He has spoken. That means you and I can rest on what God says. We can anchor on what God says no matter the situation, no matter the circumstance, no matter what we are confronted with.
I love the account of Paul the Apostle in Acts 27:20. He was caught in a storm and look at the description the Bible gives us. Acts 27:24-25. He has spoken even though all hope that we will be saved seemed to have been taken away. There was no rescue possibility anywhere but yet I believe God that it shall be even as He has told me. When faith anchors on God like that, God performs His Word in the life of such a person. Church Gist. Faith is what commits the integrity of God to do whatever He has spoken. From now on I see every one of us seeing the performance of God concerning every issue in our lives in the name of Jesus Christ. As your faith and my faith comes alive, whatever it is that is a concern in our lives shall be turned into a testimony in the name of Jesus.
What does that mean to you and me? It means that when it comes to the subject of faith when it looks like you have come to the end of the road, as long as faith is alive God still performs what He has said. That is what happened to Abraham. Romans 4:18-21. Against hope, he believed. When the case looked closed, when it looked like there was no way forward, he believed what God had spoken. Please I want you to picture with me, we are talking about a man that was 100 years old. This was their reality, a man of 100 years old and a woman of 90 years old, if you were their relation and they told you that we are believing God for a miracle child will you not advise them that there are better things to do. 100 years old, the Bible says His body was dead. Sarah’s womb was already dead. There was no way practically speaking for them to have a child. Church Gist. Let’s just imagine that Sarah becomes pregnant at 90, if you see a 90 year old woman pregnant and then it is time to deliver, how will she push? Where will she get the energy to push? I read something some time ago that the birth of a child, the pain of it is equal to breaking twenty bones at the same time. A woman of 90 years old, how did she conceive and deliver? Hebrews 11:11. There is no case that can close when faith is present. When her time had passed, her faith was there and as a result of that she received the strength to conceive seed and deliver the child. Church Gist. How many of you know there was no caesarean section? Sarah pushed like every other woman will push, delivered like every other woman will deliver and carried her baby like every other woman will carry the baby. No matter what the situation may be, as long as faith is available there is nothing not obtainable.
So your faith must be kept alive. Whatever God has said will not change because situations changed. No! What God has said will not change because conditions changed. I remember the testimony of a particular family, they came to a Midweek Service like this. Very interesting case, they had a legal matter that had been going back and forth. They finally thought it had blown over and their father who was a judge had passed away. Suddenly the case came and rose again. Church Gist. The painful part for the family was that they took the case to the court where the father used to be the judge and the case forth like that. They tried and tried and had no way forward. Suddenly they came into a service and heard a Word from God. They held onto that Word from God, the case looked impossible but suddenly they got a call that the lawyers had withdrawn the case. The case ended without needing to appear in court. Their shame was terminated based on their faith. I see somebody’s faith tonight coming alive.
3. Faith is the master key to a world of unlimited possibilities.
In Mark 9 from verse 22, there is an account there that was very important. A man came to meet with Jesus and was explaining the condition of His son. This son was taken with a deaf and dumb spirit and oftentimes the Bible says that it will cast him into the fire and cast him into the water to destroy him. Jesus gave him a simple answer “If thou can believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” While men are waiting for God’s ability, God is waiting for faith’s capacity. There are many people who are wondering ‘God if you can help me, if you can do this..’ and God is saying ‘I am waiting for your faith. While men are waiting for God’s ability, God is waiting for faith’s capacity. Hear this, no matter how much rain falls it is the container you have outside that will determine what you can catch. If you put a cup outside no matter how much rain falls, you will catch a cup full. If you put a bucket, it will be a bucket full. If you put a drum, it will be a drum full. If you put a tank, you will get a tank full. The container determines the content. Your faith determines what you can collect. It is vital for us to understand, as far as God is concerned, this is the description of His ability. Ephesians 3:20. If you can think it, it is below Him. If you can imagine it, it is below Him. If you can desire it, it is below Him. If you can ask it, it is below Him. There is nothing you and I can think or ask that God cannot do. The ability of God is not the question, the capacity of faith is the question. I pray again for each one of us tonight, our faith will come alive. There are many who come to God but they are still hanging in the balance. They are trying to believe but they are questioning whether it can happen or not. That is the issue. As a result, you saw that man’s healing was delayed but when it came alive the miracle was delivered. I see each one of us taking delivery of that which we anticipate in the name of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 78:41. Their faith was a problem and as a result of that, there was a limit on what they could experience. So the limit of our faith is the limit of the experience of God that we will have. Where your faith stops is where God stops. As long as my faith can contain it, God is willing to deliver it. There is no impossibility when it comes to the availability of faith. I pray for each one of us again tonight, by the encounter we have had upon this mountain, our faith will come alive.
I remember the testimony of a sister. She had come for Shiloh and attended the Father and Mother of Nations Class and I was privileged to be in that class that year. She shared a scripture Acts 26:8. This woman had been barren for 17 years, trusting God for the fruit of the womb. She said well, there is nothing incredible about this delivery coming forth. So like other testimonies she had heard, she decided to exercise her faith. So she will wake up in the morning after Shiloh and begin to bathe an imaginary child. She will wash the clothes of a child and put them outside. What a parent does she was doing it while not being a parent yet. She did it the first month, nothing happened. Second month, nothing happened. Third month, nothing happened. Fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh month, it seemed like nothing was going on. At a point she had carried water and was about to pour it away, she heard the whisper to continue doing what she was doing, so she continued. One day after nine months, she felt pain and went to the hospital and they said “Madam you are ready to deliver.” That was how 17 years of barrenness ended. God circumvented the protocol and granted her, her miracle. There is nothing impossible with faith. There is a way this coming Sunday one of the wonders you will see is that you will see people gathering from everywhere. I was meditating and I asked myself a question, I have not seen fish with ears but I remember some years ago we had a pond and when you want to feed the fish, you will knock the pond and all the fish will run towards that place. I asked myself how did they hear without ears? I said to myself God who can talk to an earless fish can call ear filled people from every corner of the city. This Sunday there will be a kind of alarm that people will hear from the North, from the South, East and West and just like those fishes were running to eat, they will be running to Canaanland. That is what it takes, simple faith. Believe God, obey God, demonstrate your faith and leave God to perform wonders. We will see wonders.
As we conclude tonight let’s take note that there is a now mystery to faith. It is all about now. That woman with the issue of blood took her miracle at that moment. Blind Bartimaeus took his own immediately. The woman of Canaan who had her daughter afflicted with a demon took her faith immediately. There is a now dimension to faith that is why the Bible says now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. Faith is not what you postpone, faith is a now matter. As you and I take a Now position for our now faith we will begin to see now interventions.
——- Bishop David Oyedepo ——-
There is always the other side of the boat where the fish are waiting and wisdom is profitable to direct. As you partake of the communion tonight expect the right side wisdom that is at work in Christ to be transmitted into your life, so you will know the right side where the fishes are waiting. Jesus is the wisdom and power of God. Wisdom is a principal nature of Christ. We saw in Isaiah 11 that the seven spirits that rest upon Christ, wisdom, counsel, knowledge, understanding etc. Principally wisdom. Somebody will catch four tomorrow by just knowing where the answer is. Somebody will hit 10 tomorrow by just knowing where the answer is. It will not only impact your stewardship, it will affect all areas of your life. The wisdom of God will keep directing you on the right way to go.
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