Knowledge Only Becomes Power When You Act on It

Sermon outline

Hearing the Word is not enough: action is the climax of faith, so act on the yes of life, trust God as simply as you trust an airline, and release His creative power in your life.

1. Action is the great awakener of excellence

   Action is proof that you believe what you say; it frees you from the doldrums of idleness and takes you out of the crowd of spectators into the crowd of doers of the Word. Action transforms dreams into realities, upgrades your living standard and thrusts you ahead of the crowd, which is why some become leaders, managers and supervisors. Trust God, but also trust yourself to implement your ideas, because action turns knowledge and trust into power and achievement.

   Illustration: It's fine to spectate at sport, but in life God does not expect you to sit idly week after week without acting on His Word.

   “Action is proof that you believe what you say.”

2. The process of faith ends in action

   Faith is achieved by knowing the Word, analysing what you know, choosing and deciding, and its climax is one word: action. We know healing works because Jesus healed, and we know we will get through the storm because Jesus said we are going to the other side. Don't let the devil, religion or what you heard from your family rob you of God's best: you are the head and not the tail.

   “The process of achieving of faith is knowing, analysing, choosing, and deciding. And then it finishes off with a climax called, one word, action.”

   • Mark 4:35
   • Deuteronomy 28:13

3. Jesus is the way, and you are the light where God has placed you

   Jesus emphatically said He is the way, and the thief on the cross who said 'Lord, remember me' made it to heaven because faith burst into his heart. A nation that believes in God will turn around, because a godly person won't want to steal, rob or cheat. Whatever your profession, you are the light in that world: don't run away or criticise, but set an example, pick people up and tell them their value and their identity in Christ.

   “God put you there for a reason.”

   • John 14:6
   • Luke 23:42-43
   • Matthew 5:14-16

4. Build your house on the rock by doing the Word

   Jesus was an action teacher: the rock is doing what the Word of God says you should do. Don't argue with people who don't believe the Bible, because it has power to change you and others and doesn't need to defend itself. Some are going through hardship because they stopped doing the Word; among the many voices of the devil, the world and the philosophers, listen to the voice of God.

   “The Bible doesn't have to defend itself.”

   • Matthew 7:24

5. Act on the yes of life

   Believing is action: one does not really believe something until one acts on it, and knowledge only becomes power when you act on it. Many who can quote scripture are plagued by commonness, but you are a royal priesthood and a new creature, so reject ethnic tags and colour lines; the children dedicated that morning are not common either. Trust God the way you trust everything else, and remember His ability is your ability: greater is He that is in you.

   Illustration: When you buy an airline ticket you don't inspect the plane or ask the pilot for his licence, and you don't test the seat before you plonk into it. Trust God's Word the same way: just believe it, then act on it.

   “Knowledge only becomes power when you act upon it.”

   • Matthew 12:34
   • 1 Peter 2:9
   • 2 Corinthians 5:17
   • Genesis 1:26-27
   • Matthew 28:20
   • 1 John 4:4

6. Release God's creative power in your life

   If a single drop of dew holds a whole world of life, think how much God created with His words, which science is still discovering. You are a word from God, a verse, a chapter and a book still being written, and Jesus said you would do greater works, so take the limiter off. Pray for and bless Israel, and don't let traditional religious teachers limit you, because the power is in the Word: when you pray, believe that you receive.

   Illustration: A drop of dew on a rose petal, photographed under a microscope for a television special, held creatures moving, eating and giving birth: a whole universe in one drop. He also says the church sows every month into two ministries in Israel, a home that feeds children and an outreach to Jewish people.

   “You are a word from God.”

   • Jeremiah 1:5
   • John 14:12
   • John 14:23
   • Mark 11:24

7. Live in the realm of the supernatural: 'But God'

   Education matters, but above the natural world is the supernatural world where miracles happen. When you face a bad report, a huge financial challenge or unanswered prayers for loved ones, you can say 'but God', because He neither slumbers nor sleeps, and we call those things that be not as though they were. It was the invisible world that created the visible world; God is looking for a receiver and a reacher, and His angels have protected you more often than you know.

   Illustration: Some have walked away from car crashes without a scratch and wondered how; it was God's angels protecting them.

   “It was the invisible world that created the visible world.”

   • Psalm 121:4
   • 2 Chronicles 16:9
   • Romans 4:17
   • 2 Corinthians 4:18
   • Hebrews 11:3
   • Hebrews 11:1